Keskustelujen arkisto

To add to an earlier query - I too have seen the take along pocketbooks for sale in my Books a Million back home in Birmingham. I believe they had a decent number of them on the store shelves as well, so some book stores were indeed ordering them and keeping them in stock with graphic novels and such.

Quote:Maybe I overreacted a little bit but I have seen two of the previous companies go out of business just a few months after They cancelled most of their comic books.
The thing you must remember however is that each of these implosions were under different circumstances. Disney's problem was that they glutted the market more or less, with no understanding of what made the titles work and maintaining their previous fan base. Their sales were not what THEY wanted to be - unrealistically rivaling Marvel and DC - and as a result of a million other things, they folded in on themselves massively. Gladstone's implosion was largely due to the fallout and probably some equal mishandling of the original line. They tried to recoup their losses in various ways but it wasn't enough to really save an already damaged franchise.

I don't foresee Gemstone imploding any time soon however - as a matter of fact while they aren't reaching Sonic the Hedgehog levels of sales that Archie has, they've managed to carve out quite a nice niche in the market from what I can see. they seem to be at a point where they are not doing phenomenal but CERTAINLY in no way at all badly. There's no need for alarmist reactions like the way things played out in the mid through late 90's I think, because those were entirely different sets of issues.

Quote:When Disney had their implosion back in 1991 only three comic books survived. The surviving titles were Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Uncle Scrooge, and Donald Duck Adventures. When Gladstone had their implosion in 1998 the same titles minus Donald Duck Adventures survived. There was only two of them. In 2006 Gemstone cancelled most of their titles and have only two comic books left to publish which are the same two that Gladstone published at the end of their second run. You do the math. I know it may sound like I'm negative but I'm being realistic. There's always a possibility that Gemstone might go out of business but who knows? Maybe they will succeed and do better than their predecessors. One can only hope.
Technically Gemstone's cancellation of its titles was NOT a bad thing. (it was a bad thing in that we lost Donald and Mickey but hear me out here)

To be honest, it was actually a very smart thing for them to do. Gemstone probably would be able to maintain a third book if they wanted to - the frequency of the specials proves this. However, the only thing they really did was get rid of the pocketbook materials and consolidate the "Adventures" titles into the main books. They'd be able to do this more effectively with a bimonthly in Donald and Mickey's case - but Scrooge really shows what a good idea this was in the long run. Gemstone's sales were only really wonky at the start I think, and their delays were printing issues more than anything. Given how many specials they seem to want to be putting out in addition to their main material I don't think they'd bother if they were in any sort of dire situation or foresaw one coming any time soon.

basically, there's no sense in pessimism for pessimism's sake. Realism can only be applied so far unless you really know or understand all of the things underneath the surface basically. Not that any of us would outside the people inside Gemstone themselves.

now is this ssaying that Gemstone cant do any better than what they are now? No - that's ludicrous. In fact there's a lot I wish they could do now that they just can't. But that's not to say that right now they are doing bad or that they can't continue to improve or get better on any current situations.

WB, thanks for your insightful "armchair" analysis of the current Gemstone situation. For what it is worth, I think you are are right on the nose with the stuff you wrote.
I especially like how you brought up one-shots, annuals, etc. While I would *much* rather see a 3rd monthly title than these (and will never give up trying to get one!), you are right that the very fact they are publishing so many of these points to a company that is not planning on closing up shop anytime soon. If that were the case, wouldn't it be much more likely they just published the two monthly titles and nothing else?
Also, consider the Barks and Rosa libraries. While we can't be sure that either of these will come out in the next year or so, the fact that Gemstone wants to publish these and has tenative plans to do so is also a good sign. Why would they be thinking about *big* projects like this if they were not planning to be around much longer publishing Disney comics?
I agree that Gemstone could do more (3rd monthly title! :)) and hope they do more, but I think with all they are publishing and plan to that this shows healthy signs for them as a publisher.
Now of course, Gemstone could go out of business. However, almost any company could. I will worry more about that though when the signs point to a more troubling environment or situation.

Quote from user: WBHaving brought that up, will we be seeing any of the following in this library:

- Daan Jippes' redrawn late Gold Key era Barks stories: Pawns of the Loup Garou, King Scrooge the First, A Day in a Duck's Life, all Barks written Junior Woodchucks material, 10 page C&S stories written by Barks after retirement I.E. Officer For A Day?
See http://www.amazon.com/Donald-Duck-Family-Jippes-Collection/dp/1603600450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207249551&sr=8-1 .

Quote from user: WB- His final material that was based off of thin ideas that he had pitched to Geoffrey Blum (in which he recieves said idea credit for them although Geoffrey wrote the dialogue): I.E. Dime and Dime Again by Carlos Mota, Queen of the Apple Festival by Daniel Branca? (based off the lost Western 10 pager), and Powerplay on Killmotor Hill by Massimo Fecchi (the latter two of which will see print in the states shortly)
"Queen of the Apple Festival" is, as you write, based on Barks' lost 10-pager. And "Powerplay on Killmotor Hill" is based on Barks' storyline for a proposed 1950s Uncle Scrooge cartoon. Only "Dime and Dime Again" originated as an idea Barks suggested to Blum (if I remember correctly).

Quote from user: WB- And this is a LONGSHOT that I wouldn't mind if they were or were not included given these were not written by Barks himself, but perhaps the tribute stories that Egmont created a couple of years ago that were dedicated to him just before his death?
In my opinion, those stories are no more Barks-oriented than most of the stories Egmont produces. I don't see a point in including those in a Carl Barks Collection.

Quote from user: Lars JensenSee http://www.amazon.com/Donald-Duck-Family-Jippes-Collection/dp/1603600450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207249551&sr=8-1 .
I know about that lars. The reason why i brought these up is because the material was largely ignored in previous Barks library outings (mostly because Daan Jippes had not finished with all the stories - and lets be honest, who'd want to see Kay Wright and John Carey artwork in a Barks collection. Yuck. XP).

Although Barks did not draw these stories, they were produced during his tenure at Western right alongside the rest and his writing style is VERY revalent in them. I just felt they should be included in the library itself if only because of A) how important they are to Carl Barks' body of work as a whole. B) Completists sake and C) since they have been redrawn by a Barks successor who has proven he can do the stories justice, they won't look at all an eyesore compared to previous artists who tried to tackle such an endeavor.

I can understand them not being in last time because they just weren't finished. But it just seems odd that the slightly inferior "written by Vic Lockman/Bob Gregory, only drawn by Barks" material are included and get thier fair shot as part of the complete library while the vastly superior "written by Barks, drawn by Jippes" material is excluded from inclusion.

However - if the Barks library mandate as stated by Gemstone is that the story in question must feature Barks artwork to be included in the series and nothing else, then I retract my query in full. :)

Quote from user: Lars Jensen"Queen of the Apple Festival" is, as you write, based on Barks' lost 10-pager. And "Powerplay on Killmotor Hill" is based on Barks' storyline for a proposed 1950s Uncle Scrooge cartoon. Only "Dime and Dime Again" originated as an idea Barks suggested to Blum (if I remember correctly).
Thank you for the clarification. David actually explained this to me in full a few days ago as I didn't understand that the stories in question weren't necessarily based entirely off of Barks' notes but were moreso piecemeal things put together to capitalize on basic Barks ideas. Having known that NOW I can understand why they wouldn't count for inclusion in a library unless one were just minimalizing every single thing Barks may have just happened to be associated with, hence my query about the Egmont dedication stories. You're fully right on that.

Quote from user: Robb_KBy the way, - Daan Jippes drew Blum's story, - NOT Daniel Branca.
Simple mistake, man. Especially considering how prolific (and both equally good in their own right) both creators are. Either one could do the story justice IMO, but that's just me. :P

Quote from user: WBQuote from user: Lars JensenSee http://www.amazon.com/Donald-Duck-Family-Jippes-Collection/dp/1603600450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207249551&sr=8-1 .
I know about that lars. The reason why i brought these up is because the material was largely ignored in previous Barks library outings (mostly because Daan Jippes had not finished with all the stories - and lets be honest, who'd want to see Kay Wright and John Carey artwork in a Barks collection. Yuck. XP).

Although Barks did not draw these stories, they were produced during his tenure at Western right alongside the rest and his writing style is VERY revalent in them. I just felt they should be included in the library itself if only because of A) how important they are to Carl Barks' body of work as a whole. B) Completists sake and C) since they have been redrawn by a Barks successor who has proven he can do the stories justice, they won't look at all an eyesore compared to previous artists who tried to tackle such an endeavor.

I can understand them not being in last time because they just weren't finished. But it just seems odd that the slightly inferior "written by Vic Lockman/Bob Gregory, only drawn by Barks" material are included and get thier fair shot as part of the complete library while the vastly superior "written by Barks, drawn by Jippes" material is excluded from inclusion.

However - if the Barks library mandate as stated by Gemstone is that the story in question must feature Barks artwork to be included in the series and nothing else, then I retract my query in full. :)

Quote from user: Lars Jensen"Queen of the Apple Festival" is, as you write, based on Barks' lost 10-pager. And "Powerplay on Killmotor Hill" is based on Barks' storyline for a proposed 1950s Uncle Scrooge cartoon. Only "Dime and Dime Again" originated as an idea Barks suggested to Blum (if I remember correctly).
Thank you for the clarification. David actually explained this to me in full a few days ago as I didn't understand that the stories in question weren't necessarily based entirely off of Barks' notes but were moreso piecemeal things put together to capitalize on basic Barks ideas. Having known that NOW I can understand why they wouldn't count for inclusion in a library unless one were just minimalizing every single thing Barks may have just happened to be associated with, hence my query about the Egmont dedication stories. You're fully right on that.

Quote from user: Robb_KBy the way, - Daan Jippes drew Blum's story, - NOT Daniel Branca.
Simple mistake, man. Especially considering how prolific (and both equally good in their own right) both creators are. Either one could do the story justice IMO, but that's just me. :P
Branca can't do it now. He's deceased.

All that comes up is:
"This item is currently not available."
Nothing else. Only a small pic of the (possible) cover. No description, no date, no info whatsoever... no nothin.'

It is still on Canadian Amazon's lists:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1603600639

That does sound like a good plan impulse but I'm not sure it's going to work. I hope it does though.