Son of the Sun reprint and others

[Chris Hilbig]

   I've been under the impression that Gemstone operates trying to make 
publishing Disney Comics as economical as possible. (For them) That's 
why we in the US we'll mainly see Egmont and Barks material because 
Gemstone won't have to pay to produce it, because it already exists. 
(Three years worth of Egmont material that's never seen print in the 
USA or in English.) I don't know how the Disney license works out for 
them or what the schedule at Gemstone is, (I assume every now and then 
the staff gets a little behind in their work schedule. It happens. :P) 
but I'm left scratching my head as to why stories like "Son of the Sun" 
and "His Majesty Mc Duck", which you can find them in a non-yellowed 
"in-color" album over at Gladstone, when there is such a back-log of 
material from Europe. I think there would be a greater appreciation if 
the U$ title featured Rosa/Vicar/Branca material that hasn't seen print 
here in the US.

   Barks is sort of a different matter, there is such a vast collection 
of his work, it's probably very  easy to re-re-reprint his work.  What 
some fans may have seen, others haven't. In his case, I would suggest 
reprinting work that hasn't been seen in the past 10-20 years. I also 
agree with the idea of a classics title or special collection/library 
in TPB dedicated to Rosa, Bark, etc.  Gemstone could easily keep them 
in print for months if not years at a time.

  I'm also not much of a fan of mixing Mouse and Duck material in both 
"the Friends"  and "Adventure" titles, but I'm assuming Gemstone wants 
to maximize sales with this strategy. I don't know if this has been a 
success compared to both the Gladstone and Disney runs. (For 
Gladstone's second run, you had to purchase WDC&S, D and M, or DD and 
MM titles if you wanted to read any mouse stories. Otherwise, the Duck 
titles had been kept segregated from Mouse stuff.)

Nonetheless, selling Disney comics here in the US is a tuff bit. I 
remember towards the end of Gladstone's second run, shops here in San 
Antonio just quit carrying them. Although back issues of Disney Comics' 
run are still in ample supply, compared to Gladstone and other runs. 
But comic shops haven't been as enjoyable since most of them have 
converted over to being collector stores. On top of that, over the 
years comic stores have become few and farther between. So ordering 
online and through mail order has become more and more of an attractive 
alternative.

  Speaking of ordering online, can anyone recommend an online Italian 
comic shop that doesn't charge an arm and a leg for shipping?



Chris