Keskustelujen arkisto

As you said, his way of drawing (well, inking) the stories is so painstaking you can easily understand his getting tired of it, however much he enjoys the whole process.

But then, maybe after a while he will do another big story, which will be all the better after a rest.
If not, well, he has given us ltos of great stories and we cannot blame him for enjoying life.

Rosa completed "The Prisoner of White Agony Creek" in August of 2005.

Quote from user: BenceRosa completed "The Prisoner of White Agony Creek" in August of 2005.
After a hiatus of such length it is doubtful to me that Mr. Rosa will ever again write/draw a Scrooge story of any significance. I hope he proves me wrong.

Quote from user: Robb_KHow does a hiatus of a measly 2 years ensure that a writer or artist will never again write or draw a Scrooge story of significance? How does it have ANY bearing on that possibility?

Are you assuming that the longer he is free from his Duck story production, the more he will realise that he enjoys his free time, and will want it all the more?

Sometimes being away from one's loved work allows one to get perspective on it. That may lead to returning with a fresh perspective and even better stories. Maybe he's working on his drawing? Maybe he'll return and blow us all away with fantastic stories and much improved drawing!

Maybe he won't return at all.

Maybe he'll return just as he was.

Maybe his secret will be revealed that he is only a cyborg with a small alien inside, who drew using aspecially-programmed motor?

I predict that he'll draw more Scrooge stories. Let's check back in 5 years and see who was right!
A hiatus of two years from something that one loves to do and was 'born to do' is not 'measely,' in my opinion, and ought not be dismissed. It does not 'ensure' that he will never write again??I never said that??it just begins to stack up the odds considerably considering how much the man has already worked and what he has accomplished. The fact is that Mr. Rosa has written and drawn AT LEAST one story each and every year??and very often several per year??from 1987 through 2005 for a total of about 83 stories. That's an average of 4 or 5 stories per year! Since 2005?¦ zilch. So, yes, perhaps 'the longer he is free from his Duck story production, the more he will realize that he enjoys his free time, and will want it all the more.' It's only natural at a certain point in a veteran's life for the hunger to wane??Eye of the Tiger, and all that sort of thing.

As I stated before, I hope he proves me wrong?¦ and I hope it won't take five more years.

(Note: Somehow two chunks of this message got sent during its writing. Incomplete and chopped. Even though the texts were longer. That's somehow a problem I have with PunBB. What could be causing it? I've deleted those messages, which were dated "Today 16:56" and Today 18:27.)

Quote from user: MorequackI'm not familiar with the details but I believe Mr. Rosa has had ongoing serious disagreements with the Disney Co. and with U.S. publishers in the past. I don't know if there are any current dynamics at play that would dissuade him from working on new stories. I'm thinking outloud, trying to find out if anyone has heard anything.
Rosa also has had disagreements with European publishers. The Dutch publisher, Danish publisher Egmont, and reportedly the German publisher.
Publishers can be difficult people, as they want to make money and money and money and money... Etc. For their stock-holders.
(Wasn't there a strike in Italy , a few years ago? By Disney artists?)

If it's really true that Don Rosa has to sell parts of his comic book collection to pay for his retirement, then that's a shame. And I'm willing to believe it, concerning pay rates I have heard.
Maybe Rosa makes pin-ups because they cost him much less effort than writing stories, and still bring in money to pay some of his monthly bills? Just a guess.

BTW. How was Barks's retirement arranged? How much did Barks receive? Did Barks need to create paintings during his retirement, after 1966, to have a decent living?

Quote from user: Robb_KQuote from user: Lars JensenI don't know how much Don Rosa earns, but I'm certainly satisfied with my page rate.

And which "dirty hand of money and politics" are you talking about?
Yes, but Lars, Don takes a PAINFULLY long time to work out his stories - and even much longer to draw them! His "hourly rate" might be lower than ours, if you count all the time he puts in (including research).
Don't other creators research? Barks did research, for example. Still, Barks made many stories continuously for about 24 years.

Quote from user: Lars JensenQuote from user: MorequackI'm not familiar with the details but I believe Mr. Rosa has had ongoing serious disagreements with the Disney Co. and with U.S. publishers in the past. I don't know if there are any current dynamics at play that would dissuade him from working on new stories. I'm thinking outloud, trying to find out if anyone has heard anything.
As far as I know, everyone would like Don Rosa to produce hundreds and hundreds of story pages every year. The fact that it doesn't happen has nothing to do with anyone's hands, dirty or otherwise. :)
As far as I remember, someone of Egmont has told on DCML that Don Rosa gets more money than others. I think this was during the strike that Rosa had at Egmont, at the time when 'The Dream of a Lifetime' was his last story. (In the year 2002 or 2003?)

Quote from user: Lars JensenQuote from user: Robb_KYes, but Lars, Don takes a PAINFULLY long time to work out his stories - and even much longer to draw them! His "hourly rate" might be lower than ours, if you count all the time he puts in (including research).
Well, lots of that time is spent on drawing posters, writing forewords and going to conventions, most or all of which he is being paid for. (For his sake, I hope he is.) And, honestly, I spend truckloads of time on research for many of my stories.
At least in The Netherlands the page rate is said to be awfully low:
script page: ?¬75
penciled page: +/- ?¬140?
inked page: ?¬60?

If those figures are correct the total is: ?¬ 275 a page (without lettering)
Is this comparable with Egmont? I've heard the Dutch page rate is lower than Egmont's. Which sounds believable to me, as Egmont has a bigger audience.

Quote from user: Robb_KYes, i research my long stories (or scientific stories) too. But, I think he has to spend a lot of extra time to make sure he doesn't put elements in his stories that conflict with anything Barks included in his stories. But his real slowness is in drawing all those little details and shading hash lines, as well as general drawing and inking.
Then why do a lot of elements in Rosa's conflict with elements Barks included in his stories? For example, in 'A Letter From Home' the crooks don't turn into gold when holding the Philosopher's Stone.
And in 'The Lost Charts of Columbus' Barks's "Codex Raptus" doesn't fit, as a law counts from the year (792 A.D.) it was established. So, having earlier dates, prior to the Codex Raptus, as in 'Lost Chart of Columbus', doesn't effect the meaning of the golden helmet.

I guess the slowness is caused by a lack of education, as with many Disney comics creators. Barks was educated by drawing lessons by mail, and later by working at the Disney Studio in the 1930s and early 1940s. Barks could work fast while still keeping up a high quality. Barks knew what he was doing, technically. That made him flexible and dynamic.

Quote from user: Robb_KBut, if he gets paid an hourly rate for going to conventions, I don't feel sorry for him.

like you, I won't complain about the story writing rate.
Would you dare to do so? And would it help? I think Don Rosa should be paid for going to conventions. It would be a shame if he (or any other Disney creator) wasn't paid for that work(!).
My experience is that most Disney creators don't dare to complain, even if they wanted to. And if Don Rosa managed for himself to get more income than other creators, then it is deserved. Should he have waited for others to defend themselves?
I've heard Disney creators complaining that Rosa is too greedy, but if so, why wouldn't he be? It's his job! Jobs are to earn money. And isn't the publisher greedy?

Just count how many work gets into the wastebasket, rejected and unpaid. Work that costs you money, as creator. Have you calculated that with the pay rate?
It happened with Barks, and it still happens. At least in The Netherlands. With Frank Jonker, for example. And what does get approved can be changed by any editor.
Lars Jensen gives an example of doing research for Mexican flowers. But at least in The Netherlands he shouldn't be surprised if those flowers would be changed into any flowers anyhow. Isn't that killing for inspiration and enthusiasm?

Quote from user: ScroodudeI think part of the problem is Rosa's own continuity he's created. The Beagles have already discovered a safe entrance into the bin and almost have all the combinations. Scrooge has already reconciled with his sister. Rosa has already stated that he never wants Scrooge and Goldie to meet again. Perhaps he feels there's not much more he can do.
A gossip on McDuck.nl was, in 2005 or 2006, that Rosa has a writer's block. And looking at his later stories, I think they have less thinking power in them than his earlier stories.

For example, 'A Letter From Home' mismatches 'Life of $crooge'. In Lo$ 9, 'The Billionaire of Dismal Downs', Scrooge left with his sisters. In 'A Letter From Home' his sisters stayed with his father. According to Lo$ 9, Scrooge is told by his father that his father is proud. ("No arguin, lad! Joost PROMISE ME you'll always be true to yourself and know ah'll always be prood o' ya!")
But in 'A Letter From Home', years later, Scrooge desperately wants to know if his father is proud, despite the information in Lo$ 9. And so, Scrooge asks his sister (Matilda?) about his father. But as shown in Lo$ 9, his sister left with him just before the father died.
How can this be explained away?

Quote from user: arthurToday Dan Shane wrote on the DCML:

Quote from user: Dan Shane (on DCML)Some members have asked what Don Rosa??s next story might be, and it has been suggested that he is in retirement.

As many here know, I see Don quite frequently. I can promise he is just as active as ever, designing covers & pin-ups and providing texts and bonus material for various Egmont ROSA HALL OF FAME books and Gemstone special issues. But he is just not currently working on a story.
For a comic book artist, who's supposed to write and draw comic book stories, this looks much like retirement. Doesn't it?
Barks also did such work in his retirement, drawing illustrations and supplying bonus material.

Quote from user: MorequackHmmm, pin-ups... (I have a pin-up of Uncle Sam wanting me...) Ask him why he's no longer making STORIES, that which his fans really care for. :/
Exactly. That's what I read more, complaints about Rosa doing pin-ups stuff rather than writing stories. I wonder if Rosa has become a sort of marionette for the benefit of publishers, promoting reprint issues with old material.
And is Rosa somehow obliged to refer to Barks? I guess there must be quite a pressure on him, with editors and fans asking him for Barks sequels.

Quote from user: ScroodudeI think part of the problem is Rosa's own continuity he's created. The Beagles have already discovered a safe entrance into the bin and almost have all the combinations. Scrooge has already reconciled with his sister. Rosa has already stated that he never wants Scrooge and Goldie to meet again. Perhaps he feels there's not much more he can do. On the other hand, it opens doors to future stories. I wouldn't mind seeing Matilda in future duck stories and the reactions of the rest of the Duck family. Scrooge and Matilda is a relationship that I would definitely like to see Rosa explore. As for future treasure hunts I vaguely remember reading a long time ago about a "Golden Palace" somewhere in South America - of all places in a Disney kids encyclopedia that "starred" Scrooge himself - and thinking it would make a fine Rosa adventure. Oddly enough, Scrooge says he's too old for treasure hunts at that point. I guess he just said that so the book wouldn't go too far off-topic. I wish I still had that book now so I could give out more details, but I imagine it wouldn't be too hard for Rosa to Google. Or perhaps a "sequel/prequel" to "The Golden Fleecing" with Scrooge hunting for the original animal the fleece grew off of (came in contact with "The Philosopher's Stone?" Went in "The Golden River?" Originally from "The Twenty-Four Karat Moon?")
Why sequels. I think Rosa could be good at original stories, like 'Island at the Edge of Time' and 'A Matter of Gravvity'. And not to forget some ten-pagers. Where have those times gone?

Quote from user: MorequackIf Mr. Rosa loves doing Duck stories and was 'born to do them' to paraphrase what Rosa has said, well, he would be doing them. But it sounds to me like he may be burnt out on telling stories and drawing them. After all, it is hard work??particularly the way he does them. And he has long-established himself now so he has nothing left to prove. 'The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long.' But that's just my two cents. I wish Mr. Rosa would come on here and chew me out and prove me wrong.
"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long." How does this saying fit with Barks then? Barks shone like the sun, for about 60 years.

But then, Barks didn't have internet. In an interview, reprinted in a Stripschrift in The Netherlands, Barks has said that a window would have cost him hundreds of hours, getting too distracted by looking outside.

Barks said in part, describing how his ideal work room would be: "En dan zou er nog ergens ver achter mijn rug een klein raampje in de muur mogen zitten. Want ik heb wel begrepen dat een raam met een fraai uitzicht erg afleidend werkt. In dit huis hier zou mijn tekentafel aan dat raam moeten staan dat uitzicht biedt op een schitterende berg. Die berg zou me honderden uren werk hebben gekost."
(source: 'Duckman' Barks over Carl Barks'. Edited by Daan Jippes. Stripschrift ..., page 18-21.)

Internet takes away a lot of time. My run-of-the-mill theory is that in Don Rosa's work can be seen when he got an internet account. :) But that could be just coincidence.
However, I think the quality of 'Life of Scrooge' falls down within the 12 chapters, getting from (for Rosa's standards) rather polished art to chaotic, muddy art. What happened, within such a short time?

Unfortunately, Rosa isn't the only one having a fall-down in quality in later work. Just look at Freddy Milton's art, Mau Heymans's art, and Vicar's art. As if they all get weary of drawing. And who wouldn't?
Some even say that Barks turned into a bad artist in later stories. Especially after Western decided to save costs on paper quality and paper size. That's what you get as reward for being a popular artist. In The Netherlands we've had balloons being forbidden, because it would be cheaper to let them be added by a computer. Cheap, cheaper, cheapst. It's offensive.

May I suggest that Disney creators who say they're satisfied with the system, are not fully telling what they know for themselves? Even Carl Barks complained. Saying that a plumber is better off, or something like that.

Just a bunch of thoughts and loose ends, as a reply to messages in this topic.

Quote from user: OlivierBarks himself admitted he was running out of ideas in the last decade and had to recycle earlier plots; there are some good stories in the '60's, but his peak was definitely the late '40's - early '50's (roughly, of course), both narratively and artistically.
Still, in the 1960s and also 1970s, bright Barks was at a peak in comparison to many other artists. A lot of Disney artists fall down with 10 years.

I doubt that Barks's peak was "definitely" in the late 1940s and 1950s. In later stories I see a more mature creator, who knows better how to tell a story more fluently. Some stories of Barks's peak are greatly over-estimated, if you ask me.

If there was a peak then I'd say it went down when the comic book title Uncle Scrooge started, in the early 1950s. I see a lapse in quality when Barks starts writing for that milch cow title. I think the Donald Duck stories, like 'Race to the South Seas', 'Lost in the Andes', 'The Magic Hourglass', 'Pixilated Parrot' are of a better quality than some long-winded Uncle Scrooge adventures. 'Back to the Klondike' has much less adventure than 'Lost in the Andes', for example. And they're both 32 pages.

In especially the first Uncle Scrooge comics, Barks seems to be searching how to treat Scrooge as main character, instead of the developed secondary character Scrooge was in Donald Duck stories.
Just look at how the Atlantis-story is filled up with gag sequences. Even the much-praised 'Back to the Klondike' has long-winded sequences of average gag sequences. These stories just go on and on and on, until the plot is finally saved by a remarkable finale. Just read how awful long it takes before the ducks get to see Goldie or Atlantis.
I think that later Uncle Scrooge stories are better told. I think these stories use less pages to still have an exciting long adventure.

To me, Barks is one of the very few Disney comics creators, or maybe the only one, who kept on growing and developing himself as story-teller. Getting better and better. Despite the well running dry. Despite the frustrating cut down of expenses by the publisher.

He certainly did have a peak of creativity at the time he came up with all those new characters.
I would have to think more about it, but it seems it was usually in two steps: he would create a character for a very limited one-shot appearance (Scrooge, Gladstone, the Beagle Boys, Gyro), to get the action going or as a coda; later, he would use the character again and eventually flesh him out.

My apologies to the original thread starter, for digressing from Rosa to Barks.
Speaking of creating characters, I like Arpin Lusène / The Black Knight a lot; he is quite different from the other adversaries (more specifically, thieves)-- as Rosa once said, Magica is after the dime, the Beagles want the whole fortune (but don't care for the dime), while Lupin is not interested in the dime nor the money as such but in what stealing them would mean for his reputation (hence the sly decision of glorping everything out of existence if he can't rob anything, the point being the Money Bin would be empty after his visit); in a sense, he is another status-seeker (Barks' story).

One story we're still waiting for from Rosa's hand is the "Secret Origins" story of Huey, Dewey and Louie. A deleted pencils page from his Xanadu story (published in Uncle Scrooge #357) mysteriously hints at how the high llama has information pertaining to it. Does anyone know more?