Disney-comics digest #456.

[James Williams]

Don,

Though I've not seen LOS Part V yet, I've a lot of comments on
this thread.  

>Anyway, I'm just wondering if these people are adverse to seeing 
>ghosts in comics because Barks never used them, or are there radical 
>religious fundamentalists in the woodwork? 

I'm a borderline "Christian Fundamentalist", so I'm probably qualified
to answer this question.  I'm pretty sure that the people objecting to
the use of ghosts in your comics are objecting because they think that
ghosts and such are inappropriate material for children stories.

The problem is that people assume that children will believe or act
like what they see and read.  Most children I know are smarter than
that.  I wish the same could be said about their parents.

>one reader said they liked Lo$ II better than I (one)

I've only read chapters 2-4 and #2 was by far my least favorite.
This list keeps calling it one the best chapter and I cannot
figure out why.

>Now, is this because this reader knew that Barks never seemed to 
>deal with ghosts? 

So?  You're Don Rosa, not Carl Barks.  And, I like Don Rosa, just fine!  
In fact, I'd prefer having one Don Rosa and one Carl Barks, then having 
two Carl Barks.

I'm one of those people who thinks Jack Kirby was the best comic book
artist ever.  Rick Buckler and Greg Theakson do amazing imitations of
Jack Kirby.  Logically, you'd think that I would love their artwork.
In truth, I hate it.  Why?  Because they aren't being true to
themselves.  "To thine own self be true".

>I personally love to mess with ghosts in stories, as some of my very 
>favorite movies deal with ghosts and such... like WONDERFUL LIFE, GHOST
>& MRS. MUIR, BISHOP'S WIFE...

Here is the irony in all this.  Sure these three movies involve the
supernatural.  But, they use the supernatural to reflect upon real
life.  If a religous person stops watching these movies because they
contain ghosts, they never realize that each of these movies has an
important message - the importance of each and every person, that love
is more powerful than death, and that faith and deeds go hand-in-hand. 
Very "Christian" messages, which the religous person missed because
they stop watching the movie when they discovered it involved ghosts.

>I mean, I'm well aware of the fact that there are people who think if you 
>watch BEWITCHED or I DREAM OF JEANNIE or read LIL' HOT STUFF and
>CASPER you're gonna burn in hellfire for all eternity since these are
>occult TV shows and comics designed by covens of witches to corrupt the
>souls of humanity.

It's funny that this thread should come up this weekend.  On Friday, 
I started on my newest duck story which deals with this exact subject.

James Williams