Keskustelujen arkisto

Today (May 29th) it is 10 years ago since Swedish Kalle Anka readers, as the first readers in the world, were introduced to a totally new villain in the Duckburg-universe, as the French bon-vivant Arpine Lusene a.k.a. the master thief The Black Knight, was introduced in Don Rosas The Black Knight story. Lusene has later also appeared in Attaaaaaack! (2000) and The Black Knight GLORPS! Again (2004). Don Rosa created his new villain for a rewritten version of one of his old, but yet unfinished, chapters of his "The Pertwillaby Papers" saga, called Knighttime (1979+2001).

http://duckman.pettho.com/characters/lusene.jpg http://duckman.pettho.com/characters/bknight.jpg

In order to commemorate this jubilee I hereby present a half-official translation of Don Rosa's article for the "Black Knight" story. This article has previously only been published in Finnish and German.

Quote from user: Don RosaThe Black Knight

I often write stories where some famous lost treasure is being hunted, and at those times I tend to try to use as many historical facts and actual places as possible. At other times, I just want to do something completely different and I write a casual action adventure about The Beagle Boys trying to rob Scrooge of his money or Magica tying to steal the first dime. This story belongs to the latter category. It's not about finding a treasure, but guarding it.

The three usual Barks' villains all represent a different branch of crime. The Beagle Boys want to steal the largest part of Scrooge's wealth: the contents of his Money Bin. Magica wants to steal the smallest part of Scrooge's wealth: his first dime, for use in a spell to get rich. Flintheart Glomgold doesn't want any portion of Scrooge's fortune at all, he just cooks up schemes by which he can be the richest duck on earth.

Ten years ago I invented a new villain, Akers MacCovet, for my story His Majesty McDuck ? a real-estate agent that wasn't after $crooge's money, but rather his land and ground. But I have never used him again.

For this story, I decided to develop a new kind of threat to U$'s money - a smug masterburglar from the French Riviera, someone who is not looking for money but for a way to crown his fantastic career. Emptying the Money Bin would get him the fame he is looking for, but he has no use for the money inside. Therefore, he might be the worst threat to Scrooge's wealth... as you will see.

In movies, books and magazines there have been several French masterburglars. Cary Grant was one in Alfred Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief", David Niven one in "The Pink Panther". But as all Europeans know, the prototype of a French masterthief is based on the French adventure novels about the characters Fantômas and Arsène Lupin from circa 1910-1930. In America, these gentlemen are hardly remembered, except from a couple of now obscure movie adaptations from the 1930's. That is how I got to know them, but then I started collect the original books and when I needed an adversary for Scrooge I borrowed Fantômas' outfit and the wealth, smugness and sense of honor from Arsène Lupin. I named my villain Arpin Lusène, so that the homage would be obvious. As for his dialogue, I write it as an imitation of Peter Sellers accent used while playing inspector Clouseau [in the Pink Panther movies] -- it would be amusing for me to know how the Lusène's lines are translated in non-English languages.

Omnisolve?, a substance I invented for the story "The Universal Solvent" will also have an important role. "The Universal Solvent" story itself is a duck version of a story I wrote for a fanzine in mid-seventies. I planned to do a sequel to the original story featuring an adventure in the court of King Arthur, where a medieval armor would be transformed into an unstoppable weapon by painting it with Omnisolve?. That story was never finished in 1978, but it was developed to the duck adventure "The Once and Future Duck", and for this story I borrowed that central idea from that last unfinished fanzine story.

I think it's pointless to explain the plot any further, but I can point some details that might be of amusement. The reporter's wristwatch on page 10 should make "zeeee zeeee" -sound. Those who have read the Superman stories of the 50s and 60s might recognize the freckled redheaded cub-reporter as Jimmy Olsen and his watch's voice as the Superman's distress signal.

There are other secrets on page 10. On the third panel, there is an Italian restaurant "U Giancu", which really exists. Its owner, my friend Fausto Oneto (who makes an appearance as a waiter) has amazingly vast collection of comic art which covers the restaurant's walls from floor to ceiling, along with greetings by many European comics masters. On the walls of U Giancu there is also a hand-written message from Carl Barks (and from Don Rosa, if I may brag). For comics fans traveling to the Italian Riviera area, this is a must-see attraction.

If I didn't tell, nobody may have noticed the name on the safe in which $crooge keeps the Omnisolve?. It reads "Oso". That is a famous joke in Barks' Comics... The "Oso safe company"..., well, in English it sounds "Oh, so safe". I always use this name for safes in $crooge's office, because I remember gladly the Oso safes in old Barks stories. In addition the fact that I didn't understand the joke behind it when I was a young boy still amuses me! I really believed that it was the name of a real company that manufactures safes! It is thus a complete injoke that I have included to enjoy myself a little.

People have often asked me, what Black Knight is whistling while on his way toward the money bin. A gentleman as fine as him must whistle a fine tune, so instead of just drawing a couple of notes inside a speech bubble, I cut some notes out of a musical encyclopedia. As I recall, BK is whistling "The Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner.

D.U.C.K-spoiler:
The dedication can be spotted in the windows of a building, near the cap of the left most nephew.

By the way, Don Rosa is not the only artist who has drawn Arpin Lusene/The Black Knight. He has been drawn by at least three other great artists as well:

http://duckman.pettho.com/nonrosa1.png
Michel Nadorp ? Dutch cover for "The Black Knight" in DDE 7/1999

http://duckman.pettho.com/nonrosa2.png
Marco Rota ? Italian cover for "The Black Knight" in ZP 127 (2000)

http://duckman.pettho.com/nonrosa3.png
Marco Rota ? Italian cover for "The Black Knight GLORPS Again" in ZP 186 (2005)

http://duckman.pettho.com/nonrosa4.png
Maarten Janssens ? Dutch cover for "The Black Knight GLORPS Again" in DDE 1/2006

It's a bit odd that the first two covers be "remakes' of something Rosa has drawn (the car cut in half); I understand it's a visual high point of the story, but why do it again?
Were the publishers unable (rights-wise) to get Rosa's pin-up?

For a long time, Picsou wasn't allowed to use Don Rosa's drawing as covers.
(Now I think I've seen one recently).