Floyd Gottfredson Library

[Francesco Spreafico]

Jonathan H. Gray wrote:

> I remember seeing it and thinking to myself "HOLY COW. I can
> see how this could be gotten away with back then, but they'd NEVER
> get away with printing this today."

We used to think that in the Eighties... I was thinking, and hoping, that 
now times were a little more mature, that people could actually use their 
brain when reading this stuff... like you or I do!

> It also doesn't help much that -
> if I remember correctly - it begins with the infamous "Mickey's
> Suicide Attempt" subset of strips.

The one suggested by Disney himself, by the way... it can't get any more 
"Disney-ish" than that! 8-)

> Don't get it twisted, now. I'm not standing up for Disney's
> censorship. I detest censorship. (Remember how we were almost banned
> from seeing the far more harmless "War of the Wendigo" during
> Gladstone Series 2?) On the other hand though, I can see the dilemma
> that the guys who DO WANT this stuff printed in context are facing:
> Given that a disclaimer just won't cut it for the hardcore
> unnecessarily prudish types, do you run the risk of not printing 1 or
> 2 stories in what was supposed to be a full collection or jeopardize
> the entire shebang by risking the ire of the censors and depriving
> the fandom further of something they've been begging for for years?

But what would the risk be? Let's assume somebody protests... let's assume 
it becomes big in the news (and we're assuming a lot here!), what would it 
do besides boosting the sales?
Okay, this might be a very practical poing of view that "Disney" wouldn't 
consider because comics for them are completely insignificant, economically 
speaking, and so they would stop the series anyway.
Then why not just start from, say, 1934 and print the 1930-1933 *last*? That 
way the series would be complete, definitive e there could be no stopping it 
at all by Disney, since it'd be already over.

> And to gild the lily a bit more, lets say you are allowed to print
> it, but only if strips are omitted and or totally redrawn?

That would be the same. Actually I think it would even be worse! 
Redrawing... terrible!

> if now is the best time for Gemstone to do this with minimal damage,
> I say go for it.

But if there is censorship involved it means that now is not. Probably the 
time are not as ripe as I thought they were... apparently we're still in the 
Eighties!

> Furthermore, for every "me" that DOES understand the
> historical context and significance behind it and doesn't really
> care, you also have the "opportunists" and or "stupidly offended at
> everything types" that feel it is their job to sanitize society
> whether society likes it or not. And everybody knows that its always
> the loudmouths that ruin it for everybody else.

But consider that sales will be considerably lower this way. When all the 
people I've told about this reprint who were very exited about it found out 
about the censorship, they said "No thank you". Me, I'm buying it anyway 
'cause I'm a sucker for these things, but most people, who would have, 
won't.

> Leonard Maltin DVD Treasure approach, but sadly what is done for the
> cartoons can't quite be done for the comics yet. We haven't reached
> that point, apparently. But hey, look at how long it took us JUST TO
> GET the cartoons out there and uncut to begin with.

But that's the point, isn't it? These are "just comics". As a friend of mine 
said about this, people would be horrified if this were about censoring any 
other art, but these are just comics, who cares? (I'm not talking about you, 
nor Gemstone, of course!)

Best,
Francesco