Gemstone "suspends" four titles, raises price of other two

[Aaron Kashtan]

http://www.wolfstad.com/dcw/blog/200...onthly-titles/

This is unfortunate news, but it's also hardly surprising. I never read the four titles that are being "suspended," mostly because they never had stories by Barks, Rosa, or Van Horn. I dropped WDC&S and Uncle Scrooge because $7 a month was just too expensive. I'm reluctant to pay that much even for back issues. I was only willing to pay $7 for an issue that contained new Don Rosa material, but now that material has run out, while at the same time the prices are getting even higher.

In short, I'm not entirely surprised that Gemstone's publishing strategy has proved unworkable.

What do you all think about this?

[matt levin]

both deeply sorry, and indifferent, to learn this news:

sorry, because Disney's characters have earned a lifetime stay in our comics-conciousness, and because the comics themselves are packages of high quality;

indifferent because I personally own sooooo many of Gladstone/disney/Gemstone comics that, I too, felt $7 was way too much for me to afford, and only occassionally now sample Gemstone's $3 books.

Matt

[Hintermann]

I can understand the two Digest sized 'Adventures' titles being cancelled. The contemporary stories in those were very poor quality. But I'd be sorry to see the standard DD & MM 'Friends' comics go. They had some good stories, including several by Barks, Bill Wright etc. Also, the standard of contemporary stories in the 'Friends' comics was much better than the crappy 'Adventures'.

As for the 55 cent 'price hike' I have no complaints. Gladstone went from $5.95 to $6.95 around 10 years ago and so it is acceptable.

[shaxper]

This is ridiculous. Uncle Scrooge is way too expensive as is. $7.50 per issue when more than half of it is comprised of reprints or new material produced by second-stringers. If they're going to hike the price, they need to offer a little more quality in return. No more issues with a ten page Barks reprint and the rest of the issue written and drawn by unknowns. I really need to decide how much these issues are worth to me. I can find original Barks issues for less than $7.50 a piece.

[Hintermann]

This is ridiculous. Uncle Scrooge is way too expensive as is. $7.50 per issue when more than half of it is comprised of reprints or new material produced by second-stringers. If they're going to hike the price, they need to offer a little more quality in return. No more issues with a ten page Barks reprint and the rest of the issue written and drawn by unknowns. I really need to decide how much these issues are worth to me. I can find original Barks issues for less than $7.50 a piece.

It depends on your definition of 'quality'. I agree that some of the Euro stuff is pretty awful, but contemporary American & Canadian artists like Pat Block, David Gerstein etc do a decent job even if they are not in the Barks & Rosa league. You can only reprint classic Barks stories so many times before others start grumbling. Gottfriedson's Mickey Mouse was not as successful as Barks' Ducks the second time around; William van Horn is about to retire and Don Rosa does not seem to be doing many stories these days. So they have to get some 'second string' stories to fill in the gaps.

As for the price, the hike is not bad considering that the $6.95 tag has remained for almost 10 years. When Gladstone folded up in the late 1990s and it looked like there would be no more Disney comics in English, people were prepared to offer $15 or more per 'collector's' issue if only the comics could be brought back. Gemstone finally managed it a few years ago and I for one would not want them to shut shop for lack of funds.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Unfortunately, this just continues to marginalize the Disney comics. The costs make them seem a poor value to kids/parents who are thinking more in terms of comics-to-dollars than quality.

[Captain Jim]

Very sad news, but not entirely unexpected. Back in the 90's, Gladstone was constantly cancelling titles and changing formats in an attempt to make these books profitable. They eventually ended up with the same two titles (and in the formats) Gemstone now has.

Sir Tim appears to be out of touch with the recent history of DD & MM; they have been reprinting classic stories for a couple years now (Barks in DD and Wright, Murry, etc., in MM). Not the entire contents, but typically at least one story/issue. It was enough to bring me back after dropping the titles earlier on.

What's sad here is that Gemstone has always targeted WDC & US to collectors, while DD & MM were being developed primarily for the casual audience. I was already wondering how long even Stephen Geppi could afford to lose money on them, though. This is too bad; it's an indication that even his efforts could not re-establish a market for these titles except among collectors.

I hate paying the big bucks for the other titles, but if you figure out how much you're paying per page, it's really not much worse than anywhere else. And while few are on the par with Barks, Rosa or Van Horn, there are some other European creators who do a pretty decent job on the ducks (sadly, not so much the mice).

Bottom line, I don't want to see these titles disappear again, so I'll be hanging on.

[Deathstroke]

Having comics with stories good for kids is always a target to aim for but the price can't be prohibitive.

I don't think anyone is overly surprised by the suspension/cancellation of the four books. I'd like to be able to send my niece some comics besides the FCBD ones, but why pay for Disney, when I can get at least 2 Archies for the same price.

[Aaron Kashtan]

Sir Tim appears to be out of touch with the recent history of DD & MM; they have been reprinting classic stories for a couple years now (Barks in DD and Wright, Murry, etc., in MM). Not the entire contents, but typically at least one story/issue. It was enough to bring me back after dropping the titles earlier on.

I admit it, I haven't looked at either title in a long time. Sorry for the error.

[Hintermann]

Very sad news, but not entirely unexpected. Back in the 90's, Gladstone was constantly cancelling titles and changing formats in an attempt to make these books profitable. They eventually ended up with the same two titles (and in the formats) Gemstone now has.

Bottom line, I don't want to see these titles disappear again, so I'll be hanging on.

I have been a buyer and follower of Gladstone-Disney-Gemstone comics since 1985 when Glandstone first launched and to date I have every regular issue released. Even when Gladstone folded up in the late 1990s, I bought underground Black & White english copies of Don Rosa stories and read them alongside their Danish colour copies. While I can understand that a price hike is never desirable, I am sure that Geppi would not have done it unless he had strong reasons. I'll be 'hanging on' too and hope that so do the two titles left.

[shaxper]

I hate paying the big bucks for the other titles, but if you figure out how much you're paying per page, it's really not much worse than anywhere else.

That's the logic they're hoping you use, but it's a bit like rationalizing paying $60 for a four DVD boxed set when you only want two of the DVDs. Generally speaking, Uncle Scrooge features one desirable story (either a 20 page Barks reprint or a 20 page Rosa story) and then 20 pages of filler by an unknown. Occasionally, they've even provided a 10 page Barks story and made the other thirty pages filler. Now I'm not arrogant enough to claim that every artist that isn't Rosa or Barks is second rate, but the quality definitely does vary dramatically. Most fars aren't paying $3.47 out of that $6.95 for these stories. They're paying $6.95 for Barks or Rosa.

[Captain Jim]

I question that. There are a lot of other quality European duckmen. Jippes, Branca, Vicar, Milton, Rota, etc. Just because you're not familiar with their work does not make them "unknowns." While you claim you're not calling them "second rate", that certainly seems to be the implication. Most of this stuff I find extremely readable. Sure, there's a few duds, but I've read my fair share of duds in superhero titles as well. Most of these tales are very much in the spirit and tradition of Barks.

Unfortunately, I can't always say the same of the stories in the digests (largely Italian tales, I think) and that's why I don't buy these. Nor do I find many of the contemporary European Mickey tales in the tradition of the classic Mickey. But I don't really have any complaints about US or WDC (which often reprints a lot of great classic American work).

[Hintermann]

I question that. There are a lot of other quality European duckmen. Jippes, Branca, Vicar, Milton, Rota, etc. Just because you're not familiar with their work does not make them "unknowns." While you claim you're not calling them "second rate", that certainly seems to be the implication. Most of this stuff I find extremely readable. Sure, there's a few duds, but I've read my fair share of duds in superhero titles as well. Most of these tales are very much in the spirit and tradition of Barks.

Unfortunately, I can't always say the same of the stories in the digests (largely Italian tales, I think) and that's why I don't buy these. Nor do I find many of the contemporary European Mickey tales in the tradition of the classic Mickey. But I don't really have any complaints about US or WDC (which often reprints a lot of great classic American work).

I agree (Vicar is an Argentine, BTW). Back in the 80s when Gladstone took over publishing, there were some pretty decent Euro Duck stories from the likes of Ben Verhagen & Marco Rota. For some reason, there has been a dip in the quality of Euro stories in recent years, probably because of the writers determined refusal to stick to the popular Barks-Rosa 'timeline'.

As for Mickey Mouse, opinions on both classic & more modern stories can vary among fans. I grew up on a diet of Paul Murry and some Bill Wright stories. I personally find Floyd Gottfriedson's style badly dated and cannot bring myself to enjoy them at all.

[shaxper]

I can only base my opinions on the issues I've read (scattered issues post #320). I've never read a bad one, but I've only read one story in all that time that wasn't by Barks or Rosa that really stayed with me. The story was "Date With a Munchkin, " by Kari Korhonen in #350, though I've read other stories by that author and have not been impressed.