Keskustelujen arkisto

Preview of Donald Duck #1 http://issuu.com/idwpublishing/docs/donaldduck_01-pr
I think it's also a good idea to use this thread once the issue is out.

Wow! I didn't know you were allowed to use the word "sexy" in a Disney comic! Is this a first?

Quote from user: sirtaoYou might be surprised what they were allowed to use in Italian Disney comics back then.
Yes, but I'm surprised Disney cleared the word in an English, American translation. Granted, it's a pretty tame word these days, but they're usually pretty prudish and conservative about these things, even though I get the impression they really couldn't care less about a comics line starring their classic characters after their bitter experiences from the early 90s.

sirtao, I am the "whoever" who said he wants to know where and when these stories were first published. The pencilers, inkers, letterers, colorists and translators are identified but the origins of the stories are not. The first panel of the "Shiver Me Timbers" story in Uncle Scrooge #2 has the code "H97246" but I have no idea what that means. Does the "H" refer to Hungary? Hindustan? Herzegovina? Do the numbers refer to the 246th day of 1997? Issue #246 of a comic published in 1997? The mileage on the artist's old Hyundai?
For everyone's amazement and amusement, here is the cover of IDW's Donald Duck #2:

"Holland." Thank you! Now I at least know where the story first appeared...although I still do not know when. I like the cover of that Dutch comic...although shouldn't a duck know how to fly? When Donald Duck comics were published under the Dell imprint, almost every cover was a simple gag depicting Donald and occasionally also Huey Dewey & Louie. When Gold Key took over, each cover drawing was just a depiction of a scene in the interior story. For the first few issues, they even had two or three panels on the cover---along with words such as "How did Donald get in this mess? The story continues inside." Gladstone did quite a few gag covers but they also re-used several of the covers from the Dell comics. Disney, Gemstone and BOOM Kids did not do very many gag covers. I'd love to see a return of the gag covers. Each one was essentially a one-panel comic strip.

Quote from user: NectariaQuote from user: Thomps2525sirtao, I am the "whoever" who said he wants to know where and when these stories were first published. The pencilers, inkers, letterers, colorists and translators are identified but the origins of the stories are not. The first panel of the "Shiver Me Timbers" story in Uncle Scrooge #2 has the code "H97246" but I have no idea what that means. Does the "H" refer to Hungary? Hindustan? Herzegovina? Do the numbers refer to the 246th day of 1997? Issue #246 of a comic published in 1997? The mileage on the artist's old Hyundai?

For everyone's amazement and amusement, here is the cover of IDW's Donald Duck #2:

The "H" refer to "Holland" because this story was first published in Holland/Netherlands. Maybe the story was first written in 1997 but it was not published until in 2003! Well, I noticed that the new logo for Donald Duck magazine looks very similar to the logo that was used in the Dutch Donald Duck magazine. Here you can see an image of the Dutch Donald Duck series:
http://coa.inducks.org/hr.php?image=http://outducks.org/webusers/webusers/2013/09/nl_dd2013_37a_001.jpg&normalsize=1
"H" - refers to Holland, which much of the rest of The World uses to refer to The Kingdom of The Netherlands (of which Holland makes up only 2 of 13 provinces (equivalence of "States" in USA)). There is no Province called "Holland", but, rather 2 provinces along the west coast of the country, called Noord Holland (North Holland) and Zuid Holland (South Holland - from where my family hails, and where I dwelt from 1986 through 1995).

H 97246 refers to the 246th story bought and assigned a story number in 1997. Yes, it was only first printed in 2003. Jan Gulbransson and I have had several stories only first printed more than 10 years after they were accepted, bought and paid for, with one 15 years later, and the record-setting printing delay of 23 years later (with THAT one, we sold it to "Oberon", which became "De Geillustreerde Pers", "VNU", and "Geillustreerde Pers" again, before it was printed (and, it may even have become "Sanoma Uitgevers" before it was printed (I forget now)!

I offer a big "Thank you!" to Robb, Bence and Nectaria. I assumed the H97246 was a code for a country and a date of publication. I didn't really think "H" meant Hindustan or Herzegovina but I wasn't thinking of Holland either. I used to work with a woman whose husband is from the Netherlands and both of them were often correcting people who referred to the country as "Holland."
I just opened one of my many boxes of Disney comics and pulled out a comic at random: Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #262 from July 1962. It cost 12 cents! The first story is Carl Barks' "Way Out Yonder." The fourth panel has very tiny letters and numbers reading "WDC #262 - 627." The first part of that code is self-explanatory. The "627" is the last two digits of the year, then the month shown on the cover. I don't know why such a code would be necessary...unless it's so the editors would know where the story first appeared if they ever decided to reprint it. On the inside back cover is the offer of a free 16-page Goofy & The Tiger Hunt book with each paid subscription. A one-year subscription was $1.25 and a two-year subscription was $2.25. Foreign subscriptions were $2.25 per year. There is no expiration date but I'm sure the offer is no longer valid, especially when a single comic is now selling for $3.99!

Well, I guess I can spend my $2.25 on something else. Yeah, I knew the 1962 offer was no good now---but I wish it was. When I started collecting comics, they cost 10¢. Here in Los Angeles County we have a 9% sales tax rate. On a $3.99 comic, I'm forced to pay another 36¢ in tax. At one time, that 36¢ would have gotten me three comics and left me with six cents change. When I buy a comic now, the sales tax is three and a half times more than what I used to pay for an entire comic! What would Uncle Scrooge say?