Keskustelujen arkisto

Thanks for telling me that I don't speak Italian that well but thanks anyway.

Quote from user: SimI wouldn't want to be misunderstood. That sentence isn't mine and I personally like Rumpus and I am also really interested in this new character. Is it a creation of your, Robert?
Yes. I have introduced 2 new characters. One is a Duck Family member (not in Donald's immediate family), and a new villain nemesis of Scrooge McDuck-who wants to get all Scrooge's money, and is very intelligent and very crafty and conniving, but whose weaknesses are strong ego and boundless greed.

Quote from user: Lars JensenMany Arild Midthun stories are specifically created to appeal to Norwegian readers, so it's understandable that they feel "Scandinavian" to you.
Where does this difference come from? Is it the pace the stories are told at? Or the way the characters behave? Just being curious.

Dear Lars, your stories are really good. I like especially the TNT-series (they have more fantasy than a lot of the so "called" classic Rosa-stories; I think his best comics are the ones which are not sequels of the Barks cosmos). But the problem is that your work is one of the few exceptions: Casty is next to Gottfredson and Scarpa the best Mouse artist we have ever seen and regarding Duck comics there are Italian author Silvia Ziche and you and Flemming Andersen and the great maestro Giorgio Cavazzano. The main problem lies in the traditional 4 panel stories of Egmont which are really weak now (Van Horn seems to have retired now). There are too many authors who didn´t grow up with Disney characters and who don´t have the right feeling for them. And there is too little communication between the Italian authors, the Dutch and the Danish ones (again you are one of the few examples who uses also characters of other Disney-"worlds"). In any case let me use the occasion for saying "Thank you" for your work.

That´s a good massage. For me he is next to Barks the greatest Duck-artist!

Quote from user: Gerd SyllwasschyQuote from user: Kurt AppelVan Horn seems to have retired now
Not quite. He likes to take some months' downtime between stories nowadays, but he's still working.

Quote from user: Lars JensenBence, why do you feel they are "too Scandinavian"?
I just meant that Arild Mithun hasn't drawn many longer comcics so far, yet many of them have Scandinavian themes, like "Donaldus' Locket" (D/D 2006-002) and "Duck Of Thunder" (D 2010-069).

Quote from user: Lars JensenIt's not the first time I've seen that comment from DCF posters, and I'm disappointed it's so easy for people to casually dismiss the hard work of me and my colleagues. I'm currently working on a new TNT story. So far I've spent a total of 1½ month on it -- researching, writing, rewriting, researching again and then re-rewriting -- and last night I stayed up until 4 in the morning to complete the first draft. I've contacted a number of Egmont employees as well as my former co-writer and editor David Gerstein to make sure the story ends up as good as possible. I expect to spend at least another 1½ week scripting, polishing and digging up art references.
I didn't want to offend you or any other writer visiting this forum and I'm sorry if I did. At the same time I have to say I think the result of hard work is not always a quality end product. Look at for example Transformers 2. Many would say it's a bad movie even though nobody would doubt that many people worked really hard on that film for a long time.

Quote from user: Lars JensenEveryone, please give me a serious answer: in which way can I possibly do more to demonstrate that I'm "as enthusiastic as Don Rosa"?
Write comics that have "weight", comics that feel special. I think one of the best things you have done in the last few years was reintroducing Whitewater Duck in "Smarter Than The Toughies" (D 2002-107). That was a genius idea!

I'll list a couple of Duck-comics from the past 20 years that I feel really "matter" and are not just the usual "run-of-the-mill" stuff (all of them non-Rosa comics just to show that I really believe that Don Rosa wasn't the only one making amazing comics with the Ducks in the recent years):

The Black Moon by William Van Horn (D 92207)
The Poorest Duck in Duckburg by Pat Block (AR 209)
The Hauntland Treasure by William Van Horn (AR 216)
Secrets by William Van Horn (D 98154)
Old Jack's Island by Marco Rota (D 99286)
World Wide Witch by Daniel Branca (D 2000-187)
Scrooge vs. Scrooge by Arild Midthun and Olaf Moriarty Solstrand (D/D 2005-035)

Quote from user: BenceQuote from user: Lars JensenBence, why do you feel they are "too Scandinavian"?
I just meant that Arild Mithun hasn't drawn many longer comcics so far, yet many of them have Scandinavian themes, like "Donaldus' Locket" (D/D 2006-002) and "Duck Of Thunder" (D 2010-069).
OK. Well, yeah, those stories are aimed at Norwegian readers.

Quote from user: BenceQuote from user: Lars JensenIt's not the first time I've seen that comment from DCF posters, and I'm disappointed it's so easy for people to casually dismiss the hard work of me and my colleagues. I'm currently working on a new TNT story. So far I've spent a total of 1½ month on it -- researching, writing, rewriting, researching again and then re-rewriting -- and last night I stayed up until 4 in the morning to complete the first draft. I've contacted a number of Egmont employees as well as my former co-writer and editor David Gerstein to make sure the story ends up as good as possible. I expect to spend at least another 1½ week scripting, polishing and digging up art references.
I didn't want to offend you or any other writer visiting this forum and I'm sorry if I did. At the same time I have to say I think the result of hard work is not always a quality end product. Look at for example Transformers 2. Many would say it's a bad movie even though nobody would doubt that many people worked really hard on that film for a long time.
(First I'd like to repeat that many, many people have posted these kinds of comments over the years, so I'm not angry at you in any way for posting them once again. I'm just disappointed at seeing that kind of remark... again!)

Regarding your reply: there's a difference between feeling something is a bad end product and stating writers are lazy/indifferent/"unenthusiastic". The former is simply stating your impression of the story as you read it in your comic book. The latter is effectively accusing current writers of being hacks. And I know plenty of people who are very enthusiastic about creating Disney comics. Last time we had a seminar for Disney comic creators, people were walking around smiling, laughing and enjoying themselves talking about creating stories for the Donald Duck weekly.

If your problem is with the end product and not with writers being "unenthusiastic", you should write that instead. That would also make it easier to discuss your problem and how to solve it (if possible). :)

Quote from user: BenceQuote from user: Lars JensenEveryone, please give me a serious answer: in which way can I possibly do more to demonstrate that I'm "as enthusiastic as Don Rosa"?
Write comics that have "weight", comics that feel special. I think one of the best things you have done in the last few years was reintroducing Whitewater Duck in "Smarter Than The Toughies" (D 2002-107). That was a genius idea!
Thanks. You're gonna love D 2011-022, then. :)

Personally I think it's fine to do the occasional story that "has weight". But I also think we should be careful not to do it too often; if every story reintroduces a character or establishes something important or explains something from a previous story I'm worrying it will come off as overkill. Learning something new about a Disney comics character is fine... but sometimes I just want to see Donald beat up Gladstone.

And how do we define "having weight"? "Smarter Than The Toughies" reintroduced Whitewater, yes, but D 2006-356 "Horsing Around" delved into how April, May and June feel about Donald and Gladstone and D 2000-176 "Wild Wild Mim" showed Madam Mim being boy crazy (which we hadn't seen much of in the preceding decade). Did those stories have weight as well?

Quote from user: BenceI'll list a couple of Duck-comics from the past 20 years that I feel really "matter" and are not just the usual "run-of-the-mill" stuff (all of them non-Rosa comics just to show that I really believe that Don Rosa wasn't the only one making amazing comics with the Ducks in the recent years):

The Black Moon by William Van Horn (D 92207)
The Poorest Duck in Duckburg by Pat Block (AR 209)
The Hauntland Treasure by William Van Horn (AR 216)
Secrets by William Van Horn (D 98154)
Old Jack's Island by Marco Rota (D 99286)
World Wide Witch by Daniel Branca (D 2000-187)
Scrooge vs. Scrooge by Arild Midthun and Olaf Moriarty Solstrand (D/D 2005-035)
Most of these stories I haven't read in ages, so I don't remember much about them. Could you do me a favour and explain why these stories "matter"?