Keskustelujen arkisto

been gone for quite a while. :)
I was talking to a friend about the status of Ludwig Von Drake the other day who was curious as to why he'd never appeared in the comics. The general answer that I gave him was that if America were doing and/or had the budget for their own stories/multiple series again, as it stands we <i>probably would</i> see Ludwig from some of the creators in some form or fashion, seeing as how a couple of editors at Egmont don't like him and as a result ban the creators from ever using the character in stories that could potentially be good.
This kind of depressed me a little because I got to thinking.
What happens if 10 years on down the line an new generation of artists and writers come along and say - someone wants to use Arpin Lusene in a new and viable story after Don has gone and retired or say someone gets it in their head that they don't like or don't know how to properly use Horace Horsecollar again and he vanishes from sight for another decade or two.
Editor bias really seems to stifle a lot of good ideas that artists writers could use in the stories. I remember hearing one story of an editor at another company that forced all the characters in the book to become vegan since he himself was a vegetarian. It also seems a bit silly that just because one editor doesn't like a certain character, they automatically assume no one else on the planet must like that character either or that said character must never be used again. It's a shame really that a few bad writers get a hold of a concept, don't know how to execute or use the character in a good fashion multiple times and as a result, no one else is allowed to try with that character. =\
Perhaps I am looking at it too deeply though.
Currently - what characters are banned at Egmont from use besides Von Drake? And I'm also rather curious to hear what the other writers on the forum think of the "dead character' mandates that seem to go on.

They weren't allowing us to use Emile Eagle for a long time. I still have 2 Gyro stories "on the shelf" because of that.

that's what i mean though about some writers and editors not truly understanding the character and how they work. For example - I see Ludwig more as an accomplished professor and not an inventor. Unlike Gyro, when Ludwig does invent A) it's more for practical purposes - IE things that can be used by everybody the world over or B) Already explaining in detail how things and concepts around the world works.
To write him off as nothing more than a Gyro Gearloose clone is lazy and unimaginative. And that is what i imagine a lot of people do without realizing it. The same goes for Emil Eagle also who is an evil inventor who often aspires to lofty heights with his schemes (and fails miserably at them usually due to his own hubris and bumbling), but is not the out and out Darth Vaderish mad scientist that others have tried to portray him as - especially when dealing with Mickey. I see him more as the selfish manipulative type to swindle and abuse others inventions for his own gain over inventing some death ray to take over the world and enslave the planet. But that is my own personal view. Anyways, the thing is that good stories can be told with characters that share similarities with others, but you have to be careful in how you use and execute them so that they aren't clones of someone else. Thats one of the things of good writing and being familiar with the universe you are working with. It just seems a bit unfair that said characters are banned solely because "such and such editor doesn't like this concept and is too bull-headed to think anything interesting can be actually done with it".

I almost forgot about Emil Eagle. Maybe I should do a thread about whether he belongs in The Mickey Mouse Universe or The Donald Duck Universe?

[quote=WB]It's a shame that none of the really good writers really care to use
Who says they don't? I haven't asked any of them, but as Rob pointed out Emil has been persona non grata at both Egmont and the Dutch for many years. It wouldn't matter if [insert whoever you think is the greatest writer ever to have lived] came up with the best story in history, featuring a brilliantly realized Emil Eagle -- Sanoma presumably *still* wouldn't buy it! What writers want has nothing to do with it.

This is a fascinating thread here, and I probably should have moved my discussion of Ludwig over to this one (rather than the one about Don Rosa's eye problem). I think from here on, I will. :)
As for Ludwig, I think it was Walt Disney himself who came out with him. Apparently, he wasn't too crazy about Scrooge McDuck, so he came up with another "uncle" for Donald to have. Somehow or other, Ludwig von Drake was "born" (and in the same year I was, 1961. Were our destinies intertwined somehow? :) ).
Amazingly, Barks only used him in one of his stories: http://disneycomics.free.fr/Ducks/Barks/1964/flowers/Thumbnails.html
Egmont and some of the other editors didn't care for Ludwig; but Rosa, God love him, managed to "sneak" him into a couple of his stories:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/Mouselady/PPD1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/Mouselady/LSS1.jpg (look to the far right, just beside the picture of Scrooge screaming! :D )
And Ludwig has shown up in the Oncle Picsou and other foreign comics also. :)

Quote from user: Robb_KI sneaked him into 3-4 stories for Egmont, but, I think all but 2 were shelved.
DANG. :(

Quote from user: WBthat's what i mean though about some writers and editors not truly understanding the character and how they work. For example - I see Ludwig more as an accomplished professor and not an inventor. Unlike Gyro, when Ludwig does invent A) it's more for practical purposes - IE things that can be used by everybody the world over or B) Already explaining in detail how things and concepts around the world works.
Of course, DUCKTALES used Von Drake once in "The Golden Fleecing," in which he was a psychiatrist. I've seen LVD used as a shrink in one or two fanfics, as well. This, I believe, tends to unnecessarily limit his capabilities. I always saw him as the Mister Whoopee of the Duck universe, "the man with all the answers" (at least theoretically so). Surely there should be SOME sort of role for LVD in Duck comics, just as there should be for Launchpad and Fenton Crackshell, who are dissimilar enough from Donald that they should easily be able to fit into a story with the other Ducks.