Opinion

[Søren Krarup Olesen]

BARRY:

First, thanks for a very nice reply, Barry. My list of opinions may have
come out a bit "bombastic". That was only party attempted.

> I think even Don would say Carl Barks set a standard that nobody will 
> surpass.
> Certainly he was inspired by Carl Barks as well, But Don has done some 
> brilliant stories.

Agreed completely.

>> 7) Don cannot compete with the best Disney comic stories written, due to
>> the fact that he never made any.
> 
> 
> Obviously this is just your opinion, but I think you are in the minority 
> for Disney Comic Readers.

Nah, that was just me being silly, actually. You know, it's just that
Don once wrote that he didn't do *Disney* comics. There's nothing more
to it...

> Every single comic story about Uncle Scrooge has to be partially 
> credited to Carl Barks for creating the character. But I have seen many 
> Scrooge stories where the  story is *_poor_*. Carl Barks and Don Rosa 
> included. But both Carl and Don have far surpassed the bad with the good.

Yes, I have noticed your focus on Scrooge. Surely there are tons of bad
stories out there, I mean plain bad. But other stories (especially the
Italian ones) have tried to redefine Scrooge and put him in a more
contemporary context. Many people may not like that; Scrooge struggling
with his computer or cellular, stuff like that. The character itself,
however, his nature and believes are universal.

> Søren, Did you actually read the Life and Times Scrooge book?
> It is great.

Erm...well, to be honest with you, I didn't really finish the reading. I
got it from an ex-girlfriend many years ago and was supposed to use it
as a sorta relaxation during a flight from Copenhangen to Seattle. I
guess I only got through the first chapter or so. Later I picked it up
again but found it hard to get through and stopped about half-ways after
which I sold it. Whether it was due to lack of well-known Disney
characters or simply because of feeling bored, I don't know...

> The art is Don's own style and while not as smooth as some artists, it 
> is far better than many Disney Duck artists who followed Carl Barks.

Is it? The *art* I mean! Isn't it more a question of putting many
details into a panel, which at the same time depict a humorous
situation. That doesn't define "good art" in my humble opinion. Real art
is something like Al Hubbard or Carl Buettner and those gentlemen
weren't "smooth" but classes above Don. But it doesn't matter, really,
since Don made it work.

> Carl Barks set a standard too high for anyone.

Yes. Yet, certain Dutch artists apparently strive for getting to this
hight and it's difficult to understand why since they can draw just
about anything in any given style they wish. Strange.

> It was always disappointing as a kid to see Scrooge stories after Carl 
> retired.
> Not until Don Rosa did Son of the Sun did I really enjoy U. Scrooge 
> stories again.

By coincidence I was born in 1966, so the disappointments I might have
had were of a different nature ;-)

> Søren, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, even in this case, 
> when it is wrong.

Thank you. Funny, I didn't know that opinions could be wrong (with the
possible exception of one John McCain but that's another story).

Søren