Gemstone game over. Due to economical problems, American publisher Gemstone has canceled all Disney titles. It is not yet certain who will take over Disney' comic-book license for the U.S.A.
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Barks/Jippes. When Carl Barks retired as a comic artist he still wrote numerous story scripts which were originally finished by artists like Tony Strobl or Kay Wright. Since the 1990s Dutch artist Daan Jippes has been busy redrawing Barks' scripts. Gemstone Publishing now presents Jippes' versions in the new trade paperback series The Daan Jippes Collection.
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The myth of modernity. Thomas Andrae has made himself a name as an associate editor of the Carl Barks Library. His new book, Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity, analyzes Barks' animation and comic-book work, focusing on the element of social satire.
This 306-page book was published by the University Press of Mississippi. It is available in a hardcover and a softcover edition.
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The complete cartoons. Last week the DVD set The Chronological Donald - Volume Two was released as part of the ongoing Walt Disney Treasures series. It contains all Donald Duck cartoons originally released in the years 1942-1946, among them 10 films with story contributions by Carl Barks, and a 10-minute documentary about the duck man. Thus all animated movies on which Barks worked as a story man are now available on DVD: the 24 Donald Duck cartoons from 1937-1941 have already been published with The Chronological Donald - Volume One, his 2 Pluto cartoons are included in The Complete Pluto - Volume One.
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100th anniversary of Al Taliaferro. On 29 August 1905 Charles Alfred Taliaferro was born. Taliaferro began his career at the Disney Studio in 1931 and had a major part in the development of the Donald Duck newspaper strip which he continued to draw until shortly before his death in 1969.
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Bruce Hamilton died. American comic-book collector, dealer, and publisher Bruce Hamilton died on 18 June 2005. Hamilton not only promoted Carl Barks' second career as a painter, but also initiated the Carl Barks Library and, with his company Gladstone Publishing, brought the American Disney comic to a new blossom. It was under his direction that new talents like William Van Horn or Don Rosa emerged.
The image shows Bruce Hamilton as Carl Barks saw him (detail from the oil painting »July Fourth in Duckburg«).
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100th anniversary of Floyd Gottfredson. It is 100 years ago today that Floyd Gottfredson was born. Gottfredson was responsible for the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip from 1930 through 1975. Artists like Carl Barks or Romano Scarpa were strongly influenced by his long adventure stories.
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Erika Fuchs is dead. On 22 April 2005 Erika Fuchs died at the age of 98 years. Frau Dr. Fuchs was editor-in-chief of the German Micky Maus weekly for more than three dozen years and translated most Disney comics into German from 1951 through the mid-70's. Her exceptional literary skills were on par with writers like Carl Barks and still continue to influence the German language.
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Romano Scarpa dies at age 77. On 23 April 2005 Italian comic writer and artist Romano Scarpa died at his home in Málaga, Spain. Scarpa became famous for his Mickey Mouse comics which continued the tradition of Floyd Gottfredson's adventure stories, but he also had an enormous influence on Italian Duck comics. From his brush came unforgotten classics like »Topolino e la fiamma eterna di Kalhoa« or »Paperino e la leggenda dello scozzese volante«.
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A Scandinavian Carl Barks Library. Starting in 2005, a complete edition of Carl Barks' Disney comics will be published in the Scandinavian countries. Similarly to Another Rainbow's Carl Barks Library, it is planned to edit 10 sets with 3 books each; however, the comics will be sorted chronologically, not separated by their original publications. All stories will receive new coloring, Geoffrey Blum will write the editorials. (Source: Georg Tempel at the German Comicforum.)
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Three »new« Barks stories. According to the Gemstone newsletter, Geoffrey Blum, well known for his essays in the Carl Barks Library and Gladstone's comic books, has turned a total of three story ideas by Carl Barks into comic scripts at the request of Danish Disney licensee Egmont.
»Dime and Dime Again« is based on a letter Barks wrote to Don Rosa on 22 April 1991 (reproduced in Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color 42; see also the gallery). Art by Carlos Mota. This comic has already been published in Europe; Gemstone plans to present it in Uncle Scrooge 321-322.
»Race for the Golden Apples«, finally, is the attempted reconstruction of a ten-pager which Barks submitted on 3 January 1952 for publication in WDC 144. The editors did not approve of the story and never published it. Barks' artwork is probably lost and he had only vague recollections of the story. Blum's script is to be drawn by Daan Jippes.
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Pocket-books from Gemstone. In July Gemstone will publish the first in a bi-monthly series of »Take-Along Books«. Each book is priced at $7.95 and will have 128 pages in pocket-book format. The first issue will contain 3 long comic stories from recent Egmont production. Gemstone plans to switch to a monthly schedule in early 2004.
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Conversations is out. The book Carl Barks: Conversations, edited by Donald Ault, is available now. This highly interesting volume contains an introduction by Ault to life and work of the Duck Man, a comprehensive chronology, and 24 interviews ranging from 1962 through 2000.
At the moment Ault is working on another book about Barks entitled The Comic Vision of Carl Barks which, however, will not be published before 2004.
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Gemstone's march of comics. In an interview John Clark, editor-in-chief for Gemstone Publishing's Disney comics line, shed more light on the upcoming publications. Gemstone's first Disney issue will be a reprint of MOC 4 which is to be distributed as a giveaway on Free Comic Book Day (3 May).
In mid-June the monthly series Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Uncle Scrooge will be launched. Both will be 64-page »prestige«-format books at $6.95, thus smoothly taking over where former Disney licensee Gladstone stopped 4 years ago. The first issue of Uncle Scrooge (no. 319) will publish Don Rosa's »The Dutchman's Secret« for the first time in English.
2 additional monthly series will follow in mid-September, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse and Friends, each with 32 pages at $2.95.
All these series will also be available in Europe, e.g. from Dreidreizehn in Germany.
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Don Rosa back in business. The month-long dispute between Duck artist Don Rosa and his publisher Egmont about the use of his name on Egmont products seems to have been settled. On the Disney Comics Mailing List, Rosa recently expressed his confidence that they have come to a mutual agreement which will allow him to create new stories.
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Disney comics are returning to the U.S. Gemstone Publishing has finished negotiations with the Walt Disney Company and will launch its line of Disney comics in the U.S. this year. Plans are to start in June 2003 with two monthly comic books, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Uncle Scrooge Adventures. The issues will include comics by William Van Horn, Don Rosa and Pat Block as well as selected European artists and Carl Barks reprints.
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Carl Barks: Conversations. The University Press of Mississippi will publish a Carl Barks volume as part of their Conversations with Comic Artists series in February 2003. This book, edited by renowned Barks expert Donald Ault, will contain interviews with the Duck Man ranging from 1960 until just before his death in 2000.
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