The real world (was Universes)

[Lars Jensen]

"Glittering" Katie Sullivan wrote:

> What I love about Barks and Rosa stories is that I feel like I *am* in
> those places, at those times.  Lesser creators may send characters to
> some random, fictional jungle that could be anywhere from Africa to
> Mexico to the Disney backlot in Burbank. There's just this generic,
> "fake" feel to it.  Barks and Rosa don't do that, and that's what
> makes them my favorite comic book creators.  They thread authentic
> visual and linguistic detail into the stories to make the places seem
> real.  They don't insult my intelligence by creating silly, cheesy
> settings that have no context.  They even *gasp* do research!
> I like reading about real places, even seen through the lens of a
> world with talking ducks!  Things like that help me connect with the
> story and the characters.

Sorry, but you're being a little vague here. Let's ignore stories set in
Duckburg and surroundings, since those (fictional) places are by now
integral parts of the Duck stories and couldn't be replaced by
real-world settings, even if we wanted to. And we won't talk about
fantastical places, such as Tralla La, which would have to be
fictitious, no matter what.

Sometimes writers create stories set in real-world-like places. Are you
saying you would prefer these settings to actually *be* real-world, such
as Australia, rather than fictional variations thereof, such as, uh,
Kangaroonia? And that using Australia would be an indication that the
writer has put some attempt into it, rather than merely coming up with
Kangaroonia where (s)he wouldn't have to spend time doing research?

And how does everybody else feel?

Lars