Keskustelujen arkisto

Am I the only fan? :3
I'd really like to see her in future comics. :/
Only her and Scrooge left of the Clan McDuck.

Quote from user: Opel Rekord1985Am I the only fan? :3

I'd really like to see her in future comics. :/

Only her and Scrooge left of the Clan McDuck.
I think it'd be tricky to reconcile her sudden reappearance with her absence from previous Duck continuity. In Rosa's version of events, she and Hortense left Duckburg when Donald and Della were still very young, because of her inability to accept what Scrooge had become (Chapter XII of Life of Scrooge). But how does that explain her decision never to visit Grandma, Donald or the nephews (who were completely unaware of her existence in "Letter from Home")? Rosa also states that Donald and the boys themselves were estranged from Scrooge until the events of "Christmas on Bear Mountain". Why, then, does Matilda stay away from the rest of the family? It's not like Donald and HD&L were part of a pro-Scrooge faction of the family (at least until that point) that she wouldn't associate with. This conundrum is the reason I never really liked Rosa having brought her back into modern-day Duckdom.

That said, I believe I read somewhere that Rosa had been planning to use her in future stories, if he hadn't retired. Can anyone confirm this?

If she does appear it will half to be someone other than Don Rosa writing this stories.

The idea that characters like Matilda are "tricky to reconcile" with "exisiting continuity" is a silly one; there should be nothing to stop Disney writers and artists from using previously unknown characters if they please. One point I never tire of making: if Carl Barks had been so preoccupied with continuity, we wouldn't have Uncle Scrooge, Gladstone Gander, the Beagle Boys, Gyro Gearloose, and many other characters--Barks never said "my gosh, people will wonder where these characters were in earlier stories--I can't bring them in." Rigid continuity concerns are for superhero fans, not Duck fans.

Well?¦if we want to run with the Rosa chronology, the idea is that Scrooge thoroughly alienated his sisters in 1930. Given that, in this scenario, he's only "redeemed" in 1947, it seems plausible to me that this alienation would be so ingrained that it would persist until "The Old Castle's Other Secret." And given that Matilda isn't as closely linked to Donald and the kids as Hortense, it doesn't seem SO wildly implausible that this new character should just appear, in realistic terms.
No, I think the reason why trying to make the character into a regular seems like a dubious idea is a little more subtle than that. There was some talk recently on Joe Torcivia's blog about whether the designation of "fanfic" is appropriate for Rosa's work. And I would modify what I said there somewhat and say that, insofar as Rosa's family-drama stuff goes, yes, there is, and this is why: because one thing about the main characters in Disney comics is that their relationships are just assumed to be what they are, if you see what I mean. There's no specific, subtextual background drama to Scrooge's relationship with Donald or Donald's with Gladstone or any other you can think of. Sure, their relationships must have developed into what they are at some point, but that stuff is always just assumed. I feel like when you introduce this level of intense, specific, psychological continuity to the proceedings, you are doing something which, even if they can't quite articulate it, a lot of people kind of intuitively understand is contrary to the way Disney comics work, and that's where the "fanfic" notion comes from. Scarpa could come up with his own original characters, but there's nothing like that in their characterizations, which is why they're generally unobjectionable (in that sense, at least). That Rosa has no problem doing this sort of thing to the extent that editors let him is a good part of what distinguishes him from?¦well, from every other creator ever, for better or worse.
Don't get me wrong: I fuckin' love "The Old Castle's Other Secret," along with Rosa's whole continuity. But at the same time, I feel like it would just be peculiar for Matilda to become a standard character used by other writers, and I think that's the objection, explicit or implicit, that others also have to the idea.

I find GeoX's take on why people think "fanfic" when they read Rosa to be very convincing. I'm not, however, entirely convinced by that argument that Matilda couldn't be a continuing character, used by other authors.
First, on the plausibility of Rosa's storyline: I find it perfectly believable that Matilda's deep alienation from Scrooge would last till A Letter from Home, and that this alienation would keep her from visiting Duckburg. She *has* stayed in letter-contact with Donald, but her wish to keep it secret that she's the castle caretaker in order to keep distance from Scrooge (so she had sworn Donald to secrecy on that) is enough explanation for HDL not knowing about her. That would not be believable if they were her grandsons, but I think it is believable given that they are her grandnephews. And therefore, it is reasonable (for people who care about such things) for her to show up in stories when there are loads of past stories (incl. holiday gatherings et al.) at which she did not appear. We can just assume these new stories take place after A Letter from Home, and all the other stories took place before it.
Second, on whether she could be used by other authors: I think I see GeoX's argument re the background drama to the relationship. A story which *depended on* knowing that psychodrama would feel somewhat like fanfic squared. But it seems to me that Matilda could be used as a character without much or any reference to the backstory. She and Scrooge have reconciled (Not to say they won't fight again! But they won't write each other off again...), and she could interact with the whole family (in Duckburg, Scotland or anywhere else) without direct reference to the past. One could throw in a joke about or a reference to the past estrangement for readers who care about those things, as Geoff Blum threw in references to Barksian history. (I realize that's a different *sort* of history; I'm just saying the reference could be thrown in similarly). People who cared would enjoy it, people who didn't could blip over it. I think her personality and her ways of interacting with the others (post-reconciliation) could stand on their own in narratives, without having to have the dramatic backstory explained or known by the reader. From the POV of the non-continuity-concerned reader, I fail to see why including Matilda in such a way would be any more odd than having Rumpus or (sob, shudder) Brigitta in certain stories and not in others.

I have been thinking about that very question. It must be admitted that, as it stands, there's not a whole lot to go on in terms of Matilda's character. In the L&T, you had the whole "boy-crazy" thing, but I think we can assume that that is no longer operative. And in "The Old Castle's Other Secret," she's basically just defined by her riff with Scrooge. In my mind, there's no question about it: IF you want her to be a flexible, recurring character, it's going to be necessary to make up some additional aspects of her character/background more or less out of whole cloth.
Now, as it happens, I was free-associating about this very topic while I was out running in the wintry mix, and here's what I came up with: Matilda is an archeologist--this based on the rather slim rope that she might have become interested in the topic from looking after the ancestral castle, which could have led her to go back and earn a degree. I think she would mainly teach, but also have some interest in fieldwork. This way, there's a clear reason for her to become involved on occasion with Scrooge's globetrotting. I picture her as being more concerned with the pursuit of knowledge than treasure, and, naturally, more culturally sensitive. This more or less aligns her with HDL and presents an opportunity for some conflict with Scrooge--only she would have more actual power to get in the way of his efforts; there's no uneven power dynamic here, leaving the door open for a kind of relationship that you don't usually see in Disney comics.
Also--as long as we're doing this, we might as well go whole-hog--we can also run with Rosa's notion that she's married to Von Drake; it seems plausible that, in this scenario, they could've met at some sort of academic conference. This would allow her to be used for more a more domestic sort of story. It's easy--for me, at least--to picture a situation where she's constantly having to pull his fat out of the fire in both social and professional/science-oriented situations, with a mixture of affection and exasperation. Seems like you're opening up a lot of possibilities here.
Anyway, take it or leave it, but if this is something that someone WANTED to pursue, I think they profitably could. If anyone has feedback here or wants to provide their own ideas, I'd be very interested to hear.
EDIT: Five hundredth post!

Quote from user: GeoXhere's what I came up with: Matilda is an archeologist--this based on the rather slim rope that she might have become interested in the topic from looking after the ancestral castle, which could have led her to go back and earn a degree. I think she would mainly teach, but also have some interest in fieldwork. This way, there's a clear reason for her to become involved on occasion with Scrooge's globetrotting. I picture her as being more concerned with the pursuit of knowledge than treasure, and, naturally, more culturally sensitive. This more or less aligns her with HDL and presents an opportunity for some conflict with Scrooge--only she would have more actual power to get in the way of his efforts; there's no uneven power dynamic here, leaving the door open for a kind of relationship that you don't usually see in Disney comics.
A few years ago, I wrote a lenghty pitch to Egmont about a character who would be an archaeologist and interact with Scrooge pretty much the way you describe. It wasn't Matilda, though, and I'd rather keep the archaeologist bit connected to my mystery character, in case the pitch is ever revived.

Of course, that doesn't prevent anyone else from using Matilda as an archaeologist.

Quote from user: GeoXAlso--as long as we're doing this, we might as well go whole-hog--we can also run with Rosa's notion that she's married to Von Drake
In Disney's 1960s TV cartoons, it was established Ludwig Von Drake is a bachelor. Besides: AFAIK, Egmont writers aren't allowed to use Ludwig.