"Money Is the Root of Upheaval!"
So I haven't really been saying anything about the current IDW stuff for a while. It's not that I'm not buying and reading the books; just that, for whatever reason, I haven't felt like I've had much to say about them. They're good; I like them. I might be cool with not quite so many of these damn Donald/Fethry team-ups, and I don't like WDC being reduced to a quarterly (expanded page count or not), but it seems ungracious to complain too much. I also like the Fantagraphics Disney Masters books. Oddly enough, that Jippes/Milton one seems especially good; there's only one previously-unpublished-in-the-US story, but most of them were previously only published in low-quality Gladstone I editions, so it's cool to have them in good quality. I must say, I object on ideological grounds to Paul Murry being referred to as a "Disney master," but aside from that, it's all good.
Well. Anyway. That's neither here nor
there. The point is: I read this story right here. And as soon as
you see it, before even reading it, you inevitably think "there
is absolutely no question that the most
interesting thing about this is going to be that it's written by
Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman." Not that this is
actually a massive shock; the man was actually quite a prolific
writer of Italian stories in the seventies. Nor is this even his
first appearance in the US; he wrote two Kay-Wright-drawn stories for
Western. Still, most Anglophones surely aren't aware of this. It's
actually sort of surprising that this is the first of his Italian
stories ("real stories," we might call them) to appear in
English, but it is, and it's bound to be a surprise for most.
But of course, there's also the
feeling: I have my doubts, you might think (or maybe it's just me),
that a vintage superhero guy moonlighting in duck comics is going to
have any particular feel for the field. And
that's why you temper your expectations.
Welp, let's see what's what. That
cover's nice, anyway. Very colorful. It's the always-reliable
Dave Alvarez, according to inducks. The issue itself fails to list
the artist.
Here's how we start, basically. I like
the idea that Scrooge has a museum that he likes to visit.
Reflective Scrooge is Good Scrooge. I DON'T so much like the idea
that it's private to keep out the riffraff, but I guess that goes
with the territory. Swings and roundabouts.
Would it be more interesting if
Scrooge's museum was less gold-themed? Sure, but it's actually
fairly heterogeneous anyway. It's all good.
Okay, three things: A) Gregor Samsa
either changed into a cockroach or a beetle, but definitely not a
flea; B) JEEZ, Scrooge, you've GOTTA remember what happened the last time
you tried out Midas' gold-creating powers (I have a pretty strong
feeling that the problem is that Siegel didn't remember, or ever know
in the first place--I'd love to know whether he had actually been a
Disney-comics fan before he started writing them); C) That
painting's expression is truly indescribable. By me, anyway. Say
what you want about this story, but Scarpa's art is definitely a
plus. Probably THE plus, as we'll see.
[I realized after publishing that, duh, "The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone concerns a DIFFERENT way of turning stuff to gold. Still, I think the basic point more or less holds--Scrooge would know enough to be careful with that shit.]
[I realized after publishing that, duh, "The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone concerns a DIFFERENT way of turning stuff to gold. Still, I think the basic point more or less holds--Scrooge would know enough to be careful with that shit.]
Definitely one of those "wait,
what?" moments. But hey, as I said above, Scarpa's art is solid
here. Good sense of momentum at weird random pharaoh charging at our
hero.
There's not much point in objecting to
this, I suppose, as it's so firmly a part of the kind of story this
is, but I must say, I really feel like it devalues time travel to
make everyone so cavalier about it. No sense of gravitas at all!
That's what Barks and Rosa are good at; they treat things like this
more seriously, and thus make them mean more.
Okay, maybe not always Barks in his goofier late period, but you know
what I mean.
Are you sure? Because I kind of think
you did get rich by concerning yourself with the
details. Otherwise, why the obsessive coin-counting? "Rasher
than the rashies" is good, though. All credit to Joe Torvicia's
localization (and I know that at times I have objected to IDW's obsession with the idea that every damn story needs to have a pun for a title, but yeah, that's a pretty good one. Fits well with the story).
"About five thousand years ago."
Really fills you with confidence, dunnit? Wouldn't it have been
easy to make him specify a more specific, and thus believable, time?
Hmmm.
God that looks so good. Say what you
want about these Italian stories, they really do benefit IMMEASURABLY
from the art. Imagine this as drawn by Kay Wright. Now stop doing
that, because you're just filling yourself with crippling apathy.
MOTHERFUCKER. Can't trust anyone these
days, can you?
Here's what I think: I think you
shouldn't introduce the idea that people are being oppressed if you
don't plan on addressing that oppression in any
way. That's definitely a minus in this story. Also in
that one episode of the "Zodiac Stones" serial with the
native Hawaiians, though really, that one was dull enough already.
...but hey, that's silly and cute,
isn't it?
And that's...something that you have
now seen. Congratulations! A winner is you! He does look perhaps a bit too much like he's sneezing, but it's still an image the likes of which you've never seen before or will again.
The story feels like it's starting to
go off the rails when you have this other stuff and it becomes
apparent that it's not in any way related to the ancient Egypt
business. To me, at this point it starts feeling like that
bizarre-ass Gottfredson/Walsh story "Uncle Wombat's Tick-Tock
Time Machine" where they start by going to ancient Roman times
and then for some reason that truly surpasseth understanding go to
a future ruled by sentient plants. I think this story is actually
significantly better than that one, once you learn to just roll with
it, but nonetheless, this brief "Old West" segment feels
like by far its most superfluous aspect. If time travel is so
trivially easy, why are you just now coming up
with the idea of doing this thing? In addition, it seems kind of
unethical to me, though admittedly I guess the ethics of time travel
are pretty hypothetical. Wasn't this the plot, more or less, of some
multi-part Ducktales episode?
But once again, silly as it it, at
least there's a good sense of momentum. I was pretty on-the-fence
about this story at first, but I really do think Scarpa's art is
sufficient to push it into the "recommended" column.
And then we get into this future stuff,
which is friggin bonkers, but in a fun way. What?
Oh! Okay! I...guess? What is going
on here? This makes no sense, but in an amusing way.
More good art. I will take the
opportunity here to say that I really appreciate that Siegel didn't
get the memo that Italian Scrooge (except in Scarpa's hands, more or
less) is supposed to be a horrible sociopath. Sure, he bonks Donald
on the head once, but that's standard operating procedure. No
problem there. Not that the characters are particularly
strongly-characterized here, but that is often better than the
alternative.
Yeah, okay. That's pretty dark. I'm
slightly surprised--but glad--that IDW was able to get away with it.
WHO INDEED. This story sort of feints
at character development for Scrooge, but doesn't go very far with
it. I'd like to have seen it lean more into that, a bit.
Mmmm. Starting to feel a bit HG
Wells-y in here, innit? You can't not be interested in what'll
happen next.
And here we go, BAM. That image is
eerie as hell, and easily enough to justify the
entire story on its own, if nothing else did. I don't know--because
I really don't know how these things worked--whether the idea for the
architecture came from Siegel or Scarpa, but either way, MAN. This
is just something else.
I decline to say ANYTHING about current
events here. I think the story would be cooler and creepier if this
abandonedness went entirely unexplained, but I suppose that was never
going to happen. It's still the story's highlight.
WHAM. See? Worth reading.
Definitely.
Wow, you actually learned something.
Sort of. Credit where due, I suppose.
Yeah. He'll be back. A perfectly fine
ending. I keep thinking about how many Italian stories would be so
much better with endings like this instead of ones
where Donald gets horrible, unfairly screwed over. It wouldn't have
taken much, dammit.
So the final analysis? Well, I
wouldn't call Siegel's writing, ahem, super or
anything, but almost as good: he basically stays out of the
way. He does goofy, but he doesn't go anything egregiously
terrible, and Scarpa's energetic art is enough to make the whole
thing basically work. I can't say I'm desperate
for it or anything, but I would definitely be interested in seeing
some more of Siegel, just to get a better idea of what his deal was,
duckswise.
Labels: Jerry Siegel, Romano Scarpa
34 Comments:
Another thing: have you noticed that IDW has started using the Italian color schemes in their colorings? Blue-red coat for Scrooge, blond Gyro… not that I'm against it, I kind of prefer these colors, but it's somewhat curious.
Yes, Scarpa's art here is great. I felt that the biggest fault in the story was the fact that the oppressed slaves of the pharaoh were left under his thumb...Siegel should have had the leaving time machine collapse the monument on him or something. Loved lots of Joe Torcivia's dialogue: rasher than the rashies, and "exit on top" is our motto, and I'm not a duck! Also the comments on the comics conventions: Gyro acknowledging that his growth pill works on his costume, too, and the comment in the last narration box: We couldn't have them overshoot the present AGAIN, could we? Also, loved the title!
Yes, Achille, I noticed the colors, and while I don't care what color Scrooge's coat is, Gyro's blond hair is alien to me.
Speaking of dark, though, the human world ends in a pretty awful way in this story, and that's left to stand as the inevitable future, I guess.
And just you wite, 'Enry 'Iggins! Next season of DuckTales is apparently going to be chock full of time travel! But I'm sure they will treat its implications with suitable gravitas....
Elaine, I don't think that future is inevitable, any more than any other future shown in other Disney stories (such as the one with the sentient plants that GeoX mentions, the nightmarish future where Scrooge's financial-aid A.I. had taken over Duckburg and exterminated humans, or, most recent to American shores, the World of Tutor in Casty's eponymous story).
Time travel in Disney comics seems to work strictly by the "Wibbley-Wobbley-Time-Wimey" logic, e.g., what the rules are depends on who's doing the time-traveling, whether we're going to the past or the future, what time machine is used, what you do once in the alien time period, and the color of the socks you're wearing.
This means that a many-worlds hypothesis, or the ability for time travelers to rewrite time, is completely valid. Since the Ducks have seen the nightmarish future and come back with the knowledge, it's perfectly possible that the way this informs their behavior from then on (even unwittingly) will be enough to avert that timeline and instead steer mankind to a more pleasant future.
Also and unrelatedly, another Fair Lady reference? That's the second time you've used that quote in two weeks or so. Huh. (I mean, I highly approve of regularly quoting My Fair Lady/Pygmalion; there are immensely worse things to quote. I'm just amused.)
Ah, so much to say and so little time to say it! Where shall I begin?
The TITLE! Yes, the title! Originally, it was something like “Pharaoh and Far Between” (or SOMETHING like that) but the Pharaoh-business is over and done with by Page 15 of the 32 Page story! More than HALF the story is NOT about the Pharaoh!
Now, you don’t think I’d let even a historic creator like Jerry Siegel get away with THAT, do you? Money and the harmful societal effects of its blind pursuit and accumulation was the running thread among all the “Time-Stops” made by our travelers – hence “Money is the Root of Upheaval”! And with nothing but the greatest respect for Mr. Siegel and the industry he more or less “created” with his partner Joe Schuster, I feel this is a much better and more appropriate title!
The Pharaoh’s NAME, as I’ve given it, was a huge-loving-tribute to one of my most favorite “villain actors”, the great Victor Buono, who (appropriately) played “King Tut” on the 1966 BATMAN TV series.
Whoever said Gregor Samsa was the ONLY human being Kafka ever turned into an insect. Perhaps the FLEA is an ex-wife or ex-boss of mine! I can dream, can’t I!
Perhaps BARKS’ (and Rosa’s) Scrooge “did get rich by concerning [him]self with the details.”, but this was the ITALIAN SCROOGE that Siegel was writing! And, there’s no doubt THAT VERSION is often "Rasher than the rashies" !
Yes, every instance of dialogue Elaine mentions is my own! And our “Bertram of the Month” is one of the western claim jumpers!
Finally, yes Siegel’s story was wonderfully dark (as are a number of his DC Comics stories), but with that “WOW Moment of Wonderment” thrown in – as he often does!
But, this one was darker still in Siegel’s original version. The term “Banker Warlord” was my own very appropriate designation for the wealth-warring factions, but here’s how Siegel saw it:
Pic 1
Screen: This record is for future visitors to the planet Earth! Behold the last ten thousand years of “The Great Wealth Wars” that would finish mankind! Each Banker-Warlord, in pursuit of more and more money for themselves, eventually destroyed one another – all for the sorry sake of economic superiority!
Pic 2
Screen: I am the last living being, and my time is short! It was our greed for money that dimmed our sun, destabilized the Moon’s fixed orbit, and doomed the Earth! [This is SOOOO Jerry Siegel! Great!]
Pic 3
Gyro: Ack! The recording stops here! That means life on Earth is…
Donald: …Finished!
Yeah, that got changed… and I suppose I can understand why! But Siegel saw loads of death and destruction… not just “being driven off the planet”. You gotta respect that!
For my part, I set “Siegel’s On-Panel End of the World” in the impossible-to-conceive year of 844008 so as to soften any fears it might generate. And also to have it peacefully co-exist with Casty’s “Terrifying World of Tutor”. No spoilers but, if you’ve read “Tutor”, you’ll know what I mean!
Scarpa REALLY did a wonderful job realizing Siegel’s vision! Better, I’d say than some of the artists Siegel worked with at DC!
That’s all for now… Hope I get to translate more Siegel in the future… preferably before 844008!
So… wait… didn't Siegel write his script in English to begin with? Why was there a need for a localization here (well as you did it, Joe)?
And in what year was the End of the World supposedly happening in the original, if not 844008? (I read this story in French long ago and the dialogue was pretty much as you describe, with no doubt that mankind had ended… but curse me kilts if I can remember the year given, or find the issue again.)
Regardless, as I described above, there are already many conflicting futures in Disney comcs — even within Casty's own work: remember the bug-people-dominated future Earth of Mickey Mouse on Quandomai Island? — and so a perpetually-evolving tree of possible futures is my best explanation.
Incidentally, I don't know where that title the story came with came from, but in both French and Italian, the title was the non-punny, but rather poetic and evocative, Uncle Scrooge and the Waltz of the Centuries.
Achille:
I have absolutely no insight into this – only complete and utter speculation.
I’d imagine Siegel prepared his original script in his “native” American English, and submitted it to Mondadori as such. Mondadori, naturally, published it in Italian, and that (aside from other European languages into which it may have been subsequently translated, such as your documented French… German(?), and others) may be the ONLY way the story exists today.
When Siegel did this work, there was NO American market for European Disney comic book stories (and, presumably, not much of a British one), so I’d suspect that Siegel’s “English version” was never published as such – and no longer exists!
The version I received to work from (as per usual) was pure 100% Italian!
“Uncle Scrooge and the Waltz of the Centuries” was a better title BY FAR than “Pharaoh and Far Between” - which was the title as it was given to me!
But I still think “Money is the Root of Upheaval” really nails what this story is about! Glad I got to use it!
Sure! I'm not disputing that! (That dancing title, by the way, sounds even better in French and Italian, as it has a pleasant alliteration there.)
You didn't answer my question re: the original year of the apocalypse, before you decided it was safer, censor-wise, to place it in the distant Year 844008.
(…Also, this escaped me earlier, but the coincidence is amusing that you, GeoX, would put this out just on the day I happened to watch the Doctor Who episode The End of the World, where a different set of characters travel to the far future and watch in dismay as the Earth is irrevocably destroyed… That story even has an Æsop against green too! But tell you what, for all my Whovian fandom, I'll admit it: Upheaval/Waltz/Pharaoh is probably the superior story out of the two. And it's weird to say this, but that's because the Who tale is much too weird and silly compared to this.
It's a weird episode.)
Oh, sorry... The Earth was destroyed in 487,000, if my old notes are accurate. I don't believe a year was given for Scrooge's "Day as Supreme Magnate".
I wanted to be DOUBLY SURE that no one gets scared of the world-ending, so I put it TWICE as far into the future. I'm such a considerate soul!
That WHO story must really be something. Which Doctor starred in it?
The Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston. It was the second episode of the 2003 revival, and the new team was still getting its footing, resulting in the most puzzlingly bizarre episode of "recent" (if something from 15 years ago can be called that) Doctor Who I have seen so far. Suffice to say the villain can only be described as a "vain, bitchy trampolin" — and that's how one of the characters describes her.
Scrooge’s private museum seems to be the Disney version of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, a place for the hero to store his mementos and to re-energize between adventures. In this case, Siegel may have beat Don Rosa to the idea of Scrooge’s memento room. If it weren’t for all the end of the world stuff, I’d almost think Scarpa wrote this one himself. Siegel has Scarpa and Bill Walsh beat for fast-paced insane writing. You hardly have any time for the first insane idea to register before he hits you with the next one!
Oh, and as for the colors...Scrooge’s blue and red coat makes me think of DuckTales. His coat has been so many colors over the years it’s hard to keep up with the changes. Blonde red shirt Gyro is just wrong to me, though.
I've gotta say, I love love love "Uncle Scrooge and the Waltz of the Centuries." I actually kind of think the only problem with it might be that it's too good for this story. The punny one does feel a bit more tonally appropriate.
That particular episode of Doctor Who was a good example of the production team trying very hard to make it contemporary and have a "2005" stamp on it during those early days - they played the opening verse of Britney Spears' "Toxic" at one point - it's only in the final minutes of that episode where it hints at what the show is really going to be about - that the Doctor can travel to ANYTIME and ANYWHERE and it's only when he's traveling with someone unlike him that he gains perspective or empathy about the experience.
"Gregor Samsa either changed into a cockroach or a beetle, but definitely not a flea"
The original German uses "Ungeziefer", which means "vermin". So, I'd say that "flea" isn't less accurate than "cockroach" or "beetle" .
I didn't know that that word was used for him; interesting. Just the same, though, his anatomy is described in sufficient detail to rule out "flea."
True. But actually, considering he mentions his "many writhing legs" or something of the sort at one point, another interpretation (which I've always subscribed to) is that he's a woodlouse.
I'm pretty sure the Kafka story also mentioned him having a "shell" on his back.
Btw, "original German"? Kafka wasn't German, didn't he write in his native language?
His native language was German. He was born in Bohemia, which had a large number of German-speakers.
Say, another observation: the time machine's counter begins at "2018 A.D.". Have IDW returned to refusing to acknowledge the stories' true age?
Hi, I just found this blog about an hour ago, doing a web search for Luciano Bottaro prompted by the recent American publishing of some of his work.
This is some kind of paradise for me. I grew up outside the States, reading translations of the great Italian duck and mouse stories in a weekly Disney digest from 1981 to 1983. I was already familiar with the INDUCKS resource, thanks to which I was able to put names to the different styles of art and writing that I fondly recalled, but I never expected anything like this blog! Thank you, GeoX! Anyhow, regarding your curiosity about other Jerry Siegel Disney stories, the very first one I thought of was a Donald classic. The title translates to something like "Beware of Dock Number ??" I can't remember the name of the dock! It's been so many years since the last time I re-read that story. Taking a wild guess, I think it's 33. Anyhow, the artwork is great. I'm 99 percent sure it's drawn by Gino Esposito. And Siegel's story is not only hilarious -- Donald gets to live out his fantasy of being a film noir style private eye, only for it to turn into a nightmare. But -- and here's the best part -- it has a happy ending for Donald! That's all I'll say, hope I didn't spoil too much. And thanks again for this blog!
You're very welcome! Thanks for your kind words. Please stick around and comment whenever the spirit so moves you.
And the story you're thinking of is...this. That's not me having encyclopedic Jerry Siegel knowledge; that's just me checking inducks. Looks intriguing, and I'd like to see it translated. I know IDW people read this, so...make it so!
"Patrick said...
His native language was German. He was born in Bohemia, which had a large number of German-speakers."
Ah.
I've always thought he was a Czech. I guess what confused me is that he was born in the capital of Czechia, Prague, but apparently Prague was a part of Bohemia when he was born, not Czechia.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bohemia is a region of Czechia ("Czechia" is a bit of a made-up name, btw); I think the "historical" names and regions were Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia; both in the times of Austro-Hungarian Empire (Kafka time) and of Czechoslovakia (the union of the 3 regions), there was not much need to think in a name for Bohemia+Moravia (sometimes Bohemia-Moravia was - and is - used), but after the independence of Slovakia, it was needed to invent a name for the "Czechoslovakia minus Slovakia": Czech Republic? Bohemia-Moravia? Czech Countries? Czechia?
But, independently of the name (and in the last years, "Czechia" seems to be gaining ground to "Czech Republic"), Bohemia is the more important region of today Czechia (I think Moravia is a less populated and less developed region) - then, perhaps "Bohemia" and "Czechia" are not very far from being two names for almos the same thing.
We've all learned a lot from this thread!
I am italian, this is one of the best italian stories ever. I have read it when i was a child in the first '80s, i was terrorized :D Glad you americans can enjoy this. By the way, i like "new" colors, original ones were flat... sorry for my bad english :)
Your English is very good. Really, the only significant grammatical error in is "I have read it when I was a child." This is finished action in the past (you're not a child anymore), so it takes the simple past, not the present perfect. The English teacher in me could not resist saying that. But I want to encourage everyone to comment, whatever they may think their English is like!
Just to notice that the original Italian title is not
US and the Waltz of the centuries
but the more violent
US and the RAID in the centuries
As concerns the original script, in volume 28 of the Italian Scarpa library (where this story appears) Luca Boschi says that Siegel wrote his scripts on tissue paper, so to minimize the weight of the transatlantic mail, often sending more scripts at once per shipping. The dialogues were translated, most often by Capelli (future editor-in-chief of Topolino in the 80's) and then also ri-adapted so to sound more like the ones of the Italian writers, most often by the writer Dalmasso.
That future bit with the diamond houses did make an impact on me and it stayed with me... I totally forgot everything else about the story when I recently read it.
Regarding your "In addition, it seems kind of unethical to me, though admittedly I guess the ethics of time travel are pretty hypothetical." comment... this bit actually got censored in the localization. That wasn't meant to be some never-claimed gold Field he had just discovered in the present, that was "the world's richest gold vein" that had very much been claimed by someone else during the rush, and his plan was specifically to beat the legitimate discoverers to the punch and register it before them. They're the people seen entering the registration office as Scrooge and Gyro are pulled away, I assume this localization rewrote their dialogue as well.
This has to do with nothing but I just wrote a song about my expirance of reading Calr Barks stories in the buthtub. Imagine music and listen for your enjoyment:
I’m gona jump in to bathtub now,
I’m gona read some Barks!
Each time smile growing on my face,
Imagination sparks!
Some people prefer PlayBoy mag,
or “50 shades for Gray”
But I prefer some ol' Carl Barks
That’s how it’s gona stay!
Cose it’s Barks in the bath tub time…
(I haven’t got it wet once)
Cose it’s Barks in the bath tub time..
(This is better than any video games)
Cose it’s Barks in the bath tub time…
(It's the word!)
These are the Tales of Donald Duck
He realy get’s to shine
He may not have his Uncle’s wealth,
One soda and his fine.
Plain-Awfulians are a bunch of squares,
The Terra-Firimians roll,
And Zombie here won’t eat your brain,
but give you fucking doll,
Cose it's Barks in the bathtube time.
(So rad... so very rad..)
Cose it’s Barks in the bathtub time.
(Boy Donald sure like to set things on fire)
Cose it’s Barks in the bath tub time..
(As soon I’m done I’ll shall imitate him)
Cose it’s… Barks… in the… bath… tub… tiiiiimme!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home