Egmont's "canon"

[Lars Jensen]

On November 15, Sigvald wrote:

> I understand that Egmont't have their own "canon" in many
> ways. For instance when some characters, which were often
> used previously, now are concidered non-existing in Duckburg
> and thus are un-wanted in new Disney Comics done for Egmont.
> I think this goes for characters like: Fethry Duck,
> Emil Eagle and even Ludwig von Drake.
>
> Can anyone here please tell us more about why this is
> happening, and which characters which are concidered
> non-existing by Egmont by now?

I think you're confusing the terms "canon" and "universe". As far as I
understand it, "canon" means whether or not a story actually happened.
"Universe" sums up which characters and places are usable in that
particular Disney licensee's stories.

To my knowledge, Egmont has never gone out and stated that any
particular story "didn't happen". (For example: A few years ago, they
printed my "Gall in the Family", which uses Scrooge's cousin Douglas
McDuck. The existence of Douglas contradicts other published stories,
where Scrooge is the only remaining McDuck. But still, Egmont published
my story without declaring it - or the other stories - non-canon.)

As far as the ECN universe is concerned, you mention Fethry Duck, Emil
Eagle and Ludwig Von Drake as characters you believe are currently not
used.

Sigvald, don't take this as a personal attack, but... do you ever read
the weekly? Cousin Fethry shows up all the time there, in newly produced
Danish stories.

But yeah, Emil Eagle and Ludwig are, sadly, not being used in Egmont's
production right now. The same goes for Grandma's mice Gus & Jaq as well
as Darkwing Duck, Newton, Clara Cluck and various others. A good rule of
thumb is: If you don't see certain characters in newly-produced stories
from Egmont, they're probably not using them right now. But (as in the
case of Fethry), remember to look carefully for the characters before
you conclude you don't see them!

As for why ECN don't use certain characters... Lots of reasons. All of
them pretty uninteresting, though. And who knows which "retired"
characters they may begin using again in the future.

Lars