Keskustelujen arkisto

Scrooge's Quest
The Gold Odyessey
Formula One
Mythos Island
The Orb Saga
World of the Dragonlords

Of these Disney era stories - only Scrooge's Quest and The Gold Odyssey were serialized. The first of these - SQ will be recieving a trade sometime within the next month given the current shipping snafu. Initially, Egmont refused to print them overseas because they were too long. Ten years later, Egmont is doing multipart stories of its own - the very thing they were so adamant against. Italy meanwhile, has been doing epic multiparters for years now with no issues (See "Wizards of Mickey", "The Ice Sword Saga", and "Paperolimpadi (sp)".

Of the Egmont multiparters, "World of the Dragonlords" is the only one that went straight to trade and IMO is also the only one that was really epic in sense of the word - I.E. good all the way through. Mythos Island had a very strong premise with a sort-of-weak ending (there wasn't really much of a climax besides the island falling apart - and we'd seen that in every other part). The Orb Saga had weak chapters but a very strong climax and ending (I don't think it got good until Cesar Ferioli took over the remaining art chores and Meringue finally came into the story). One thing I don't like about the Egmont multiparters is (barring Dragonlords) each story is self contained for the most part. There are no cliffhangers and if they are, they kind of lack a lot of OOMPH. Everything, for better or worse, is VERY loosely connected until it absolutely needs to be - leading to chapters that feel more like fluff comedy with a stringy premise until the very end. Not *all* chapters for the sagas were like this mind you, but Formula One CERTAINLY was - most of its chapters in particular could have been any old racing story with the ducks - and to an extent - until it found its focus - The Orb Saga had the same problem.

My other gripe with the orb saga is that, while I have grown fond of Vicar's ducks thanks in part to good story selection on the part of Gladstone II/Gemstone, he draws a bleh Mickey (HE HAD A NECK). =\

I think Dragonlords was by far the best and CERTAINLY deserved its trade status as opposed to being serialized.

What is your opinion on the epic serial stories listed? Which one do you think was executed better? Which one was executed worse? Should they continue, how would you like to see them handled or are they just fine as they are?

Don't get me wrong - it's not that I didn't like Mythos Island or The Orb Saga. I was glad to see them as I *like* reading longer adventure style stories - especially serialized ones and those that provide a means of crisscrossing the mouse and duck camps effectively (which isn't often). To be honest, I preferred both serials to Formula One which wasn't awful but didn't really succeed in pulling me in as the other two did. I wasn't really that impressed with the Orb Saga at the start because it kind of meandered without much direction in the middle (to me anyway) until Meringue came into play (I think it was the parts following the Gyro Gearloose segment. I have to check). Mythos Island however was VERY consistent. The ending was a little eh, but it was pretty darn good overall and I was glad to see it printed here.

Also - PLEASE don't think that I'm saying Scrooge's Quest or The Gold Odyssey were better stories. That's the last thing I'd want anyone to think. I only brought them into the picture because they were the only things I could think of done prior that were similar in SCOPE to what was tried with the Mythos/Orb Sagas.

I guess when I think of serialized stories I'm used to seeing them in an overreaching arc that's connected throughout (Quest/Odyssey/Dragonlords are good examples of this), rather than stand alone stories that are VERY LOOSELY connected except when they need to be (F1). I suppose that's part of what led to my disappointment with F1 as opposed to Mythos/Orb. I'd often surmised that longer stories USUALLY (that's the key word here) meant a greater and more elaborately constructed adventure with a lot of character development, or a larger threat with a grander scope of story, and/or plenty of turns and twists before you get to the end. At least...I guess that's what I think of when I see a lot of over-arcing serials I've read from other characters/writers in the states (maybe early EARLY DC/Marvel multipart stories before they became all trade happy, padded, drama-bomby, and/or ever unchanging) or maybe even mangas to stretch the comparison wildly off for a bit. I suppose that, in and of itself, makes a huge difference in terms of readership - I.E. location and what people in different locales are used and expect to based on what Lars said. Maybe I should get that line of thinking out of my head.

Speaking of Lars:

Quote:Thing is, it's only a problem for some readers. A large part of the Scandinavian readership are casual readers who buy the weekly in the supermarket and might therefore skip an issue or two. Which means that a strongly serialized story such as Dragonlords might turn off these readers. Which again means that Formula One etc. are perfectly constructed for Egmont readers. It's different in the US, where Gemstone's readers are much more inclined to subscribe, either directly or through a comic book store, and therefore unlikely to miss an installment.
That's what I didn't figure. Thank you for explaining that. I always forget that in the Scandinavian locales Donald is printed weekly rather than monthly and to a more casual audience than your more dedicated fan. It would also explain a preference for shorter vignette pieces as opposed to longer, more intricately developed ones...To each his own.

How do they perceive long stories over there then - IE those that usually run your standard 24 to 32 pages in the states?

Scrooge's Quest (Marv Wolfman & Cosme Quartieri):

DDT #1 - Pt 1: The Ice Demon
DDT #2 - Pt 2: The Nemesis of Napalabama
DDT #3 - Pt 3: The Fall of New Atlantis
DDT #4 - Pt 4: Shipwrecked
DDT #5 - Pt 5: Down, But Not Out, in Duckburg
DDT #6 - Pt 6: Witch Way Did She Go?
DDT #7 - Pt 7: All That Glitters is Not Glomgold

The Gold Odyssey (Bob Langhans & Cosme Quartieri):

DDT #9 - Pt 1: Terror at the Top of the World
DDT #10 - Pt 2: The Moon of Gold
DDT #11 - Pt 3: The Once and Future Warlock
DDT #12 - Pt 4: Lost Beyond the Milky Way
DDT #13 - Pt 5: The Doomed of Sarras
DDT #14 - Pt 6: Planet Blue
DDT #15 - Pt 7: The Odyssey Ends

Formula One (Per Hedman & Fleming Andersen):

WDCS #666 - Pt 1: The Wonder Down Under
WDCS #667 - Pt 2: Gadabout Gadget
WDCS #668 - Pt 3: Moonstruck
WDCS #669 - Pt 4: Pitstop Problems
WDCS #670 - Pt 5: Wheels of Fire
WDCS #671 - Pt 6: Final Refuel

I think they are all good stories.