DCML digest #619

[Don Rosa]

From: "Olivier" <mouse-ducks at wanadoo.fr>
>>>Hi, Francesco!
>I worked in Disney in 1997 for some pages
>of special about Lo$ called "Duck".
>>>What do you mean?
You wrote a column about L&T that was entitled "Duck",
and which was published by Disney in the corresponding
magazines?

In case Francesco does not reply: he refers to the Italian limited-edition
book which contained my "Lo$" as well as other material about the series
and $crooge and me. The book title was "D.U.C.K." (which I hope you know
of?), and I think it was sold only at the Expocartoon comic fair in Rome
one year. The regular newsstand version had a better title! I guess the
assumption was that people at Expocartoon would already know what
"D.U.C.K." meant, but I think that was rather presumptuous...?

From: Kriton Kyrimis <kyrimis at cti.gr>
>>>> Don's "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff". This is a strange printing: ....
  I know that Komix is in constant touch with Don, who keeps
  sending them tips on how to best print his stories, because he knows
  they care, so *why* do they keep making these horrible mistakes? Is
  it so difficult to get the single-part version from Egmont, rather
  than having to doctor the multi-part version?

I don't know what the errors are that you refer to until I get my copy, but
I would also wonder why errors would be made. I am answering every single
question they send me and send them any art they need to present my stories
properly. I naturally want to be proud of what I see in the pages of such a
nice looking comic.
But to answer you question of "Is it so difficult to get the single-part
version from Egmont?"... YES, it is. From what I am told by publishers,
even Egmont publishers, Copenhagen never sends out anything but the
serialized versions of my stories, even when the one-part versions are
*specifically* requested... and when they sometimes *do* send out the
requested one-part version, they often do not send out the matching script.
I am often contacted by desperate publishers, Egmont and non-Egmont, for
the correct versions of my stories who say it is easier, faster and safer
to get it through me than from Copenhagen.

>>>Despite
my reservations about the inappropriateness of Komix as a medium
for printing the Space Circus, I was looking forward to reading it.

I LOVE Sergio's work, always have since I was a tad, and he is one of the
ONLY friends I have ever made in the industry... he is one of the nicest
and most genuinely GOOD people I've ever come across. When I go to comic
conventions, I never "hang out" with other professionals... I still hang
around with the same people I always have, the other collectors of old
comics and the dealers in same. But I know three other "professionals"
simply because they are the only three American comic book people who get
invited to Europe and I often cross paths with them overseas -- Sergio,
Jeff Smith and Neil Gaiman. (I also know Mark Evanier well, but only
because I've always known him, since we were both jes' plain comics fans in
the 60's.) And though I love Sergio's work, I also do not like seeing it in
a Disney magazine. That seems to be a break in a tradition that I see no
reason to make. And it's also rather annoying that he and Mark are being
paid a royalty for the reprinting of their work inside the pages of KOMIX
even though none of the rest of us whose work is being reprinted in those
same pages are getting a red cent. That seems a bit insulting, y'know?
But the reason I mention Sergio is that I spent some time with him at his
table in San Diego last week, and I told him I thought it was interesting
that we would be sharing the pages of a comic book in Greece even though he
didn't do Disney stuff. And he was *totally unaware* of the fact that his
work was being put into a Disney comic title! He knew his work was being
used in Greece, but he did not know where or how it was being used. So...
we can't blame him for any of this!

To: "Olivier" <mouse-ducks at wanadoo.fr>

Thank you for telling Antonio about the place where he can always check for
 info on my "Lo$" series (you said
http://ob7.free.fr/mouse_ducks/  and
http://www.geocities.com/komixgreekpage/englishindex.htm ). There's also
Dan Shane's site that he reminded us of the address for. As with
http://www.duckhunt.de/ , none of these are *my* websites -- I have no
reason to establish a website when these folks do a much better job of it.