Gemstone Reaction and Suggestion.

[JTorci3511 at aol.com]

Everyone:
 
Let's hear it for Chuck, Dean, Robert (...all great guys, as my experience  
has shown) and everyone else who's acted as voices of reason in the Gemstone  
situation.  
 
Some of the comments I read here were downright shameful.  Ungrateful  to the 
almost Herculean efforts of Steve Geppi to secure a comics publishing  
license from the monolithic Disney Enterprises, Inc., disrespectful to the  memory 
of Bruce Hamilton who, even though I sometimes disagreed with his  direction 
during the Gladstone II days, is directly responsible for all we as  American 
fans have today, and unappreciative of the efforts of David, and Gary  to 
communicate with us (and do it "square", to paraphrase a favorite character)  during 
this difficult time!  
 
So, let's keep it on an even keel -- as it has been lately -- and see what  
happens.     
 
Also, let me "second" Dean's suggestion for a prestige Donald and Mickey  
title.  As with all "Great Minds", I've expressed a similar idea in  a letter I 
sent to WDC&S #675 last week, some of which I'll excerpt  here:
 
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The month of November brought some sad news from  Gemstone, concerning the 
(hopefully temporary) cancellation of DONALD DUCK  AND FRIENDS and MICKEY MOUSE 
AND FRIENDS.  The first unhappy news, I must point  out, since the coming of 
Gemstone some 3 ½ years ago… still pretty good by any  standard.   
Rather than echo some of the criticisms posted online  concerning the 
cancellations and content of the remaining titles, I’d prefer to  thank the team at 
Gemstone for their superlative efforts thus far, and pledge my  support for 
future projects.   
Still, for me, it is a blow to lose the abovementioned  titles.  More so than 
any other  title, format, or packaging, they were the “real deal”.  The 
direct descendents of the Dell  DONALD DUCK and MICKEY MOUSE titles, to which we 
all owe so  much.   
Oddly, as these titles “leave the building”, we also  receive what is, in my 
opinion at least, the BEST issue of WDC&S  published by Gemstone… and maybe 
one of the best ever.  With the three meaty continued stories;  “The Orb Saga”
, Gottfredson’s “Mickey Mouse Joins the Foreign  Legion”, and the unexpected 
surprise of “The Protector of Shambor” –  not to mention the hijinks of a 
good William Van Horn snowball-throwing romp – I  find myself anticipating the “
next issue” in a way I haven’t since the original  run of “The Return of the 
Phantom Blot” in 1964.   
Could that anticipation lead to possible  inspiration?  Consider this… If the 
 squarebound format of WDC&S and UNCLE SCROOGE is, as  indications show, a 
successful one, WDC&S # 675 is a perfect example  of how great a prestige DONALD 
AND MICKEY title could be!   
Frankly, I’m not at all interested in the reported thick  black and white 
collections.  Excepting that material originally seen as daily newspaper strips, 
these  comics were MEANT TO BE IN COLOR!  And, in such a DONALD AND MICKEY 
title, they would be!  It could encompass the material that  would have appeared 
in the departed titles, and would be the perfect place for  classic reprints 
ranging from “Lost in the Andes” to “The Red Wasp  Mystery”, as well as Barks 
ten-pagers, Romano Scarpa’s Duck and Mouse  adventures, and new works from 
fan-favorite contemporary creators.   
We might have lost four titles, including the DD and MM  “Take-Alongs”, but 
we need not miss a beat with such a welcome alternative to  take up the slack! 
  Please  give it some consideration.   
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So, hopefully, between  Dean's suggestion and mine, we can give "legs" to 
this idea!   
Joe Torcivia.  



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