Various stuff

[David A Gerstein]

	Dear Folks,

	A few things to comment on today.


	Disney Auto Albums
	==================

	The 32-page story titled "Micky und Goofy und das Wunderauto"
in German is Dick Moores' 1952 "The Wonderful Whizzix."  It has been
reprinted in this country more times than ANY other MM story, I
believe.  Its most recent reprinting was in 1990, in WDC&S 553-555.

	This is a favorite story of Don Rosa's, and I agree that Goofy
is wonderfully developed in it, but I know that Rosa would never do a
story with such obvious "My Mother The Car" overtones with the Ducks
-- he'd find that far too hokey for Barks' realistic Duckburg!  I tend
to find it too hokey for Gottfredson's Mouseton (or Mouseville, or
Hometown, or what have you) as well.  The story involves the founder
of a car company dying and his spirit inhabiting this car...


	Upcoming U$A and DDA:  too much Barks?
	======================================

	Seems like we're partly split on this issue, but that more
people would like to see less Barks and more foreign stuff.  Again,
EVERYONE who writes in on this topic is appreciated, because you know
Gladstone's Gary Leach reads our comments and passes the important
stuff on to John and Bruce!

	BTW, all of Van Horn's and Rosa's stories will be appearing
here -- I didn't mean to imply that they won't be.  Most WDC&S issues,
and perhaps some DDs, will have Van Horn, and Rosa's work will appear
in U$A aside from the already-running LO$, I believe.

	But I think that as of right now, there are fewer long foreign
stories planned... mainly short ones, which will appear in the second
halves of double-size U$A and DDA in the next two years.  They'll also
be in U$, and occasionally in regular-size U$A and DDA (although not
too often I think).

	U$A 30 features "The Golden Fleecing" but will also have the
first part of Romano Scarpa's "The Feast of Assurbanipal," a story
about a treasure of *lentils* -- really!! -- from Babylon, and the
low-down come-uppance Scrooge gets from them.  U$A 30 is 64 pages.
U$A 31 features the second part of the lentil story in a 32-page
issue; #32 will have the conclusion of the 71-page lentil story
as the backup story to another Barks adventure (which I don't know the 
identity of) in another 64-page issue.  You get the idea.  But I don't
know how many issues of the 32-page variety will have foreign material
like U$A 31 -- I suspect very few, but I actually have absolutely no
idea, and John Clark has not told me, he just implied that we'd be
seeing "most of the stories that were in our old albums again", or
something to that effect.

	How do I know about the Assurbanipal story?  Simple -- I'm in
the midst of writing the American script now!  The only reason I know
anything about the format of U$A 30 and 32 is that I had talked with
John about how the lentil saga would be broken up...  I know nothing
about other issues so far in advance as U$A 30.

	* * * * *

	In any event, let's hear what everyone has to say about the
merits of Barks vs. foreign.  I'm sure Gary and John will want to hear
what we have to say.  

	That's all for now, folks.

	Your friend,

	David Gerstein
	<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>