Are Gag Stories Valid?

James Williams James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov
Thu Oct 13 20:56:29 CET 1994


Don,

>I see these as ADVENTURE characters -- and only adventure stories seem 
>worth dealing with. "Gag" stories are too forgetable.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.  I think gag stories 
are extremely important.  Here's why:

First, they give the characters versitility.  One of the reason that 
Donald Duck is so popular is because of his versitility.  How many other 
characters fit so perfectly in both comedy and adventure stories?  I've 
always considered him "the Cary Grant of comics".  This is also why
Donald is more popular than Mickey.  Mickey shied away from doing gag
stories and ended up becoming too one dimensional.  I was thrilled when
David said that his Mickey stories were gag stories not adventure stories.

Second, they give the readers value.  Go buy a comic book from Marvel
or DC.  The odds are, it didn't contain a full story.  At most, you got
one part of a story.  You'll have to buy more issues and possibly other
titles before you get the full story.  Go buy any comic published by
Gladstone, you always get at least one complete story each and every
issue.  That one story is often a gag story because the are
shorter.  A good example is this months WDC&S.

Third, historical presidence.  Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, 
and HD&L all started in gag cartoons.  Donald's first solo strip 
was a gag strip.  Scrooge's first appearance was in a gag story.  
I could list a dozen more examples, but you get the point.

>I might try another 10-pager, but I really can't get inspired by
>the whole idea. 

That's fine.  "Should Don Rosa do gag stories?" is a very different
question then "Are gag stories valid?".  In my opinion, you should
do whatever makes you happy.  If that means nothing but adventure
stories, that's fine with me.  I promise you, I'll buy them.

James Williams






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