tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post7444862121590637361..comments2024-03-28T03:15:52.497-04:00Comments on Duck Comics Revue: "A Spicy Tale"GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-4677715955233676462023-05-25T13:27:30.709-04:002023-05-25T13:27:30.709-04:00By the 1960s, Barks was running on empty, having c...By the 1960s, Barks was running on empty, having churned out hundreds of pages of these things, and the public’s taste was leaning towards camp. Many of Barks’ 1960s Scrooge stories have a gaggy, campy feel to them, as if he realized that the old stories weren’t going to fly anymore played straight, either that or the editors wanted more humor in the Disney books, to the detriment of Barks’ storytelling. I can’t say as that I can meaningfully comment on the racist stereotyping in the old stories, but there does seem to be a double standard going on in reprinting them. No one would think twice about not reprinting a Tony Strobl or Paul Murry story with these old stereotypes, but when we get to more significant artists like Barks, Gottfredson and Rosa, who are much more highly regarded, people are going to start squawking about it when stories are “put in the Disney Vault” and withheld from being reprinted. It’s a tough call to make. I certainly don’t agree with rewriting the material, especially when the author is long dead and can’t have any say in how such a rewrite would be handled, but I can also see not wanting such material out there perpetuating harmful stereotypes. (Although as someone here already said, today’s kids aren’t interested in sixty-one year old comic books, especially with the vast array of modern graphic novels written specifically to their interests now available). There’s no easy answer.Debbie Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648307522331962265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-70503041261172287202023-05-20T16:10:44.463-04:002023-05-20T16:10:44.463-04:00Now that I think about it there were several Barks...Now that I think about it there were several Barks stories that were frequently mentioned in articles and Rosa's commentaries that were surprises when I finally got to read them. Many of these were 60's stories so the difference in Barks' storytelling between those years and the earlier mythology-setting ones explains how they weren't the stories I was expecting. Examples include how North of Yukon had a lot of the story about the press, and Loony Lunar Gold Rush being so... loony.Lugijanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-62458688010239169392023-05-20T15:45:35.414-04:002023-05-20T15:45:35.414-04:00I enjoyed listening to your guest episodes, hopefu...I enjoyed listening to your guest episodes, hopefully you get to do more of them.<br /><br />I have eaten crocodile once. It tasted like something between a chicken and a fish, which makes sense considering the animal kingdom tree. I could see myself eating it again if it's the only choice. But it wasn't boiled with skin included like in the comic.<br /><br />I read this story when I was a kid but it was a long time before I got my hands on it again. In between it got a kinda mythological scale in my mind since the nutmeg tea was referenced in several Rosa stories and I remembered that the story featured Scrooge's addiction and large predator animals. Once I read the story again it was a bit of a disappointment. Large animals, sure, but they didn't do much and the action ends abruptlyLugijanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-63465033711328125212023-05-16T02:08:46.964-04:002023-05-16T02:08:46.964-04:00...of course, most kids don't engage with retr......of course, most kids don't engage with retrograde tropes in their popular culture period, not because anyone's stopping them, but because they just aren't <i>interested</i> in pop culture from before they were born. What kind of children are THEIR parents raising? And how will they ever learn "what's right and what's not" if they're not constantly engaging with old-time-y racism? O the humanity. GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-46087276508326334282023-05-14T16:39:34.773-04:002023-05-14T16:39:34.773-04:00"If a parent says "I'd prefer that m..."If a parent says "I'd prefer that my child not be exposed to sixty-year-old racist tropes"...it is extremely hard to argue with that."<br /><br />Is it, though? What kind of child are you raising if you are forbidding them from having any contact with any sort of work of fiction that conflicts with your own sensibilities? How are you teaching them to discriminate and make their minds up on what's right and what's not? Is it that difficult for any normal child to realize things they read were written in another time by other cultures and that they don't have to follow every manner of behavior seen there?J. Bencomohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09740348725581287331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-7618457921106153282023-05-13T03:58:41.257-04:002023-05-13T03:58:41.257-04:00@Achille Here's one story that made the nutmeg...@Achille Here's one story that made the nutmeg a plot point, although it's sadly not a good story: https://inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2006-127Specialist Spectrushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573706778596800678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-40990261061925866382023-05-09T20:43:34.418-04:002023-05-09T20:43:34.418-04:00The term "panther" can refer to a melani...The term "panther" can refer to a melanistic jaguar as well as a leopard.Lokenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-91832458524902264222023-05-09T14:39:15.891-04:002023-05-09T14:39:15.891-04:00Yeah, the nutmeg tea's become a Known Factoid ...Yeah, the nutmeg tea's become a Known Factoid in excess of how well-remembered this story actually is (including by me: somehow I'd forgotten about the delightful giganticised animals! I have no clue how that happened). It's in Rosa; it's in <i>DuckTales 2017</i>; and I'm fairly sure I've seen it in other non-Barks stories although I'm blanking on a specific example just now. <br /><br />Crocodile meat prepared in a normal way doesn't seem overly off-putting, but they appear to have put a whole alligator, scales and all, in a big pot. I wouldn't want to eat <i>that</i> either. Who knows where that thing's been.<br /><br />The wild tropical nutmegs I think can be taken in stride with relative ease, but also, the witch-doctor guy randomly has a (carved!) Halloween pumpkin to hand, it is worth highlighting. Puts things into perspective.<br /><br />It's a bit hard to make sense of the blocking, but I think that mosquito was sneaking up on Huey. Whacking him seems fair enough. Achille Talonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11636339293230261724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-40034963135322391072023-05-09T10:39:44.432-04:002023-05-09T10:39:44.432-04:00Crocodile tails are considered a delicacy and the ...Crocodile tails are considered a delicacy and the same goes for alligator tails:<br />- https://answerpantry.com/what-part-of-the-alligator-do-you-eat/Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18113204783597409765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-75001567946374390012023-05-09T06:52:05.144-04:002023-05-09T06:52:05.144-04:00Good catch on the panther. My assumption re the n...Good catch on the panther. My assumption re the nutmeg was that it's some super-exotic variety that grow far afield. Not sure about this story in general, but I know nutmeg tea is a thing in Rosa.GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-2878729752243588652023-05-09T06:02:11.293-04:002023-05-09T06:02:11.293-04:00What's a panther doing in Amazonia? That's...What's a panther doing in Amazonia? That's jaguars. Luckily those can also be melanistic and thus black. Nutmeg is not exactly neotropical either though I suppose it could be feral trees descended from imported cultivated stock?<br />Also, shouldn't the whole area around the giganticizing lake be crowded with giant animals? Surely the drinking trio can't have been the only animals drinking there, even that very day? Also also, what did that mosquito do to deserve that ass-whooping?<br /><br /><br />I am very fond of Scrooge's depiction here: slightly manic, really worried and apparently addicted to nutmeg tea. A far cry from the borderline superhero Scrooge that Rosa is so fond of. I take it this story was not an inspiration for anything in 'The Life and Times...'.<br />BrianLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880867575515761505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-41669890930333489242023-05-08T23:00:50.835-04:002023-05-08T23:00:50.835-04:00Speaking of the "Scrooge gets the shakes"...Speaking of the "Scrooge gets the shakes" panel...I get a vibe from the first page that's reminiscent of "Tralla La." Scrooge is wrung out by counting his cash, and DAMMIT HE REALLY NEEDS HIS NUTMEG TEA!! Without it he gets the shakes. His fear that if people find out that he's "such a fanatic" for the tea they will corner the market on the nutmegs and make him pay a premium price...which he will HAVE to pay...also makes clear how dependent he is on his special tea. This is an addiction-level need, and it's a way to soothe the burden of caring for the billions. <br /><br />All the "savages" talk does keep me from purely enjoying the story. But I'm fond of the nutmeg tea itself, and of the depiction of Miss Quackfaster's character, and of the giant panther. My favorite panel: The last on page 10, where chained Scrooge is yelling about buying low and selling high, and the chicken to his left is saying, "Grawk?" <br /><br />I am amused by the fact that Barks needed to clothe the women (first panel of page 14) because they couldn't have naked torsos, that they look pretty much like women of Duckburg in their dresses and earrings, and that seeing their clothing there tells us that apparently there are no women in any of the other panels showing villagers! <br /><br />HD&L don't get to save the day in this one. They do at least have solid ideas about finding a varied diet. But they mostly are warning of danger or looking scared. They don't succeed in chopping down the post Scrooge is chained to...which leads to an unusually heroic moment of self-sacrifice from Scrooge, as he tells the boys, "Leave me here and run for your lives!" Elainenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-62089904184240008702023-05-08T16:01:17.167-04:002023-05-08T16:01:17.167-04:00Also as an meat eater I will say that - Yes, If I ...Also as an meat eater I will say that - Yes, If I had a chance I would try crocodile meat... but only if I was on vacation in some country where it was a dish made by the locals, but If some of my friends would just randomly both crocodile meat on the black market and got idea to cook it and try it... Um, let's just say I would be more sceptical to try it. With local I would trust more they know how to prepare it in a proper way so it would taste amazing and I woudn't end up with some scale stuck in my throat by acident. <br /><br />Frankly I always wanted to try locust as I hear stories it's in fact delicious. I maybe a shamless meat eater but I'm eaqal opertunity meat eater. Pan Miluśhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10466750056193176803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-551059807915824222023-05-08T15:42:22.425-04:002023-05-08T15:42:22.425-04:00One of two times Barks used Quackfaster. I recall ...One of two times Barks used Quackfaster. I recall she is only in few panels here but that's still way more of her then in her debut story. It's interesting Rosa presented her as much more neurotic while Barks version feels - like Anonymous pointed out - not very impressed by Scrooge's antics. <br /><br /><br />As for the tribe -- I get it's tricky. I spend two episodes of a podcast with my two friends (also hardcore Disneyfans) talking about it, but sadly it's in Polish. I get why they tropes are problematic, no question but at the same time idea that some of Barks great stories would never see the light of day again or be alter feels like a worse move, and I don't think ALL cases are the same. Some are harsher then others, some are more light (I know it's beating a dead horse but it's like Crows in Dumbo vs. Indians in Peter Pan) I actualy like argument to not reprint them in magazines and only use them in some special collection that are aimed at older fans that have commentary etc. or even some warning. Heck, I woudn't mind if Disney just stick all the problematic comics in one age restricted volume so older fans can appriciate them and kids woudn't see them [In the podcast I joke that they can do that with cartoon on Disney Plus and make a special 18+ section for them called "Disney Ooops!"] <br /><br /><br />..but I'm some white dude from Europe so maybe I'm missing something and I will agree I'm looking at this from perspective of an older fan who understand it's the product of the time. When I was a kid and Europan Cartoon Network was still showing a lot of Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry that has zero censorship of this kind (including the "All This and Rabbit Stew", a cartoon that is now conisder part of "Censored 11") and while I can't say that they effect me in anyway I didn't realise they where problematic until I was an adult.<br />Pan Miluśhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10466750056193176803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423579092779163824.post-73335629961166527482023-05-08T15:01:06.966-04:002023-05-08T15:01:06.966-04:00I like the secretary and the implication that she&...I like the secretary and the implication that she's been around for decades and knows Scrooge's every mood without ever being too impressed.<br /><br />Also note the stubbornly pedagogic storytelling (very barksian) when we're firmly told about the family relationship. "It's my nephew, Donald Duck!"<br /><br />You missed the amusing "Scrooge gets the shakes" panel. Nutmeg tea is strong stuff.<br /><br />Note Garés inking on the panther, Carl would have made a much slicker ink drawing.<br /><br />Note "Fibber" relettered by the editorial office. I wonder what it said originally?<br /><br />Did you ever write about that other great "tutor corpsman" story with Gyro? That's superb storytelling.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com