+Postage Due+Disney-comics digest #91 (second try).

Don Rosa 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM
Fri Sep 3 15:43:43 CEST 1993


COMMENTS ON #91:

Gil:  You might have an idea about reprinting my old "Pertwillaby
Papers" and "Captain Kentucky"... but it wouldn't be ME that does it. I
think a FEW people would find it interesting, but I don't think many
people would like it as they might like what I do with the Ducks but
have no interest in what I may or may not do with something that ISN'T
the Disney Ducks. It would be vaguely similar to when Barks started
trying to sell paintings of "Famous Waterfowl in History". Nobody wanted
them. 
	Also, that was not my wife as the girl who burnt Lance's arm
with the coffee pot in C.K. (By the way, that same gag was in the first
draft of part XI of the "Life" series, but I cut it for space.) That was
Feather Fluff and I created Feather many years before I met my wife (who
is NOTHING like her anyhow). I would never have told your friend
anysuchathing!

HARRY: 
	Don't ever worry about criticizing my work! I relish it since
otherwise I'll never improve! I wish you or somebody could sit and go
through every panel of each of my stories and tell me just what's right
or wrong or great or sucks ducks. Those covers in the WDC IN COLOR
series had some bad ones... but not all! The one with the treasure chest
was, I thought, one of my best! The one with the body cut-outs was one
of my worst, but that was DISNEY'S fault... they forced us into using
that idea and there isn't room here to explain their weird, random
decisions! The one with the big Beagle Boy was a good idea, but the
Beagle was out of proportion and too hairy! Some of the others were good
but meaningless, and that one with the world map was one of my favorite
ideas, but the Ducks were poorly drawn, especially $crooge's head.
	As for mirrored covers and other art, you seem to want to know
which version was correct. The cover for the "Treasure Under Glass"
story was used NOWHERE as I drew it. They didn't mirror it in Europe,
but deleted the background. It was mirrored in America to get the chest
out from under the UPC code.
	The "Return to Xanadu" cover was used correctly in America. They
flipped it in Europe, I assume because there is no comic there where
$crooge is the title character and I had $crooge on the left side of the
cover where the main character should be (as in the direction we read).
	The "Super Snooper Strikes Again" art was flipped in America for
reasons I'm not sure of. I don't recall which way they flipped it but it
might have involved the fact that certain types of action should always,
to my mind also, be directed certain ways. For instance, if $crooge is
marching off into some unexplored jungle, that should be to the right,
into "unexplored regions" to our eyes. When he returns it should be by
marching left. Otherwise he would seem to be marching back into the
section of the comic we've already read and it would "feel" wrong to our
mind's eye. 

And now for GEIR!!!!!!

	WOW! That was wonderful! Everything you said was perfectly true.
Many things you said were things that I knew but it would have been in
bad taste for ME to tell of them. The most profound facts you mentioned,
among many, was the idea that Barks resents people who are devoted fans
of his work but loves people who want to help him make money from it. I
noticed that many years ago! Barks seemed to have hated the Ducks and
dislikes anyone who seems to like them too much. But... I can't really
say too much about all the wisdom you dolled out... again, for me to
comment too much on it all would be tactless and in bad taste... I'll
leave it go at saying that you're correct in your conclusion that the
guy is 93 years old and whatever he does, good or bad, cruel or kind, we
should give him a break and not attack him. I know he's broken my heart,
but he's done it slowly by revealing himself to me over about 7 years,
so it was never too brutal (not until Atlanta -- THAT was a brutality I
can't forgive).
	Anyway, I'd like to request that Per place Geir's letter into
the library somewhere. I think it's that important. I know you can do it
since Geir seems to have sent it TWICE and you have an extra one laying
around. Anyway, I'm going to print a copy out -- I might need to read it
over again sometime when I get peevish, which happens more and more of
late.
	Had I told you that I was visiting Norway again late this month?
Well, I'm not so sure now. They are two weeks overdue in calling me
about their plans. I have a suspicion that when they heard Barks wanted
to visit, they decided they wouldn't need me any longer, or Barks may
have even told them that he didn't want me to get any more publicity if
they didn't want to make him mad. Anyway, it now seems that I won't be
coming to Scandanavia again. See if you can find out if this is another
result of my "evil genius" at work.





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