Die-Cutting and Debtors in Duckburg

Torsten Wesley Adair torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu
Sun Sep 12 19:51:31 CEST 1993


On Sun, 12 Sep 1993, David A Gerstein wrote:
> 	Dear Folks,
> 	I noticed the comment about doing glow-in-the-dark, die-cut,
> etc. etc. covers on Gladstone comics.  The frightening part is that
> this kind of thing actually seems to make the slop Marvel and DC ladle
> out *more* successful.

That's because it's used as a marketing tool, and not as an artistic tool.
 
> 	Gladstone almost had a die-cut cover for D&M 20 (presumably
> those gunshot holes on the cover would have been cut out), but John
> Clark told me that at the last minute they found out it would have
> been too expensive.

Well, there was an anniversary issue of Uncle Scrooge which had a metallic
gold laminate for the coins (sort of like the metallic coverings on
scratch-and-win lottery tickets).

Hey, that reminds me!  No-one has done a scratch-and-sniff cover yet! 
Wow, Gladstone could sell millions!  Think of all the collectors wanting
to get the first scented comic book!  Of course, it would lend itself to
many jokes (gee, I knew Image Comics stikn, but did they have to go and
prove it?).

> 	I'm not sure who said that Gladstone, rather than Donald,
> would be a better replacement for Scrooge.  I guess WDC&S 124
> ("Billions to Sneeze At") is a good example of why Donald wouldn't
> manage our favorite tightwad's moolah all that well!  And Don Rosa's
> "Nobody's Business" backs that up.  Scrooge:  "Competing with the
> Gladstone luck in business is the only thing that could *ruin* me!"
> (US 220, 1987).

I said that Gladstone would be a better replacement because he is a minor
character.  Ask any person on the street who Gladstone Gander is, and nine
times out of ten, you'll get a wrong answer, or a blank stare.  

This is the same reason why Robin did not replace Batman.  If it doesn't
work out, a minor character stays minor.  If it does work, then the
company has a hot new property.

Oh, and don't forget the coupons for issue #0 of WDC&S, which will also be
available as a collector card series, complete with a special binder.
(Naturally, one of the cards will be poly-bagged with the special issue.)

And a gatefold cover, and a poster insert, and a certificate of
authenticity, and a magic decoder ring, and a sweepstakes ticket for all
sorts of fun stuff, and .. and .. and ..

I'll stop now.  I'll save my ideas for Uncle Scrooge POGs for another day.

Torsten Adair	torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu	Omaha, NE, USA
(Anybody else own a Uncle Scrooge Fanta bottle cap?)





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