Post by Matilda on Aug 1, 2022 16:44:01 GMT
I just read (in Dutch) the story about the Miniducks living underground below Duckburg who kidnap Daisy. I'm generally a sucker for stories with hidden civilizations of small people, and I like this story quite a bit. Well plotted, well scripted, well drawn. There are at least three distinct narrative threads which are woven together in a very satisfying way: the quandary of the Miniduck men being separated from the Miniduck women and not knowing how to hatch the eggs; the story of how the separation came about and is sustained and how that is resolved; and the history of the prize given for the best garden in Duckburg, involving Cornelius Coot! Though I do wonder how the gardening community of Duckburg is going to respond to Daisy's "losing" the historic & folkloric prize! It's not like she can explain.... But in an amusing way, what Daisy does with the prize reflects the ethical dilemma of repatriation facing the institutions of formerly colonizing nations. Not that Cornelius Coot knew that he was taking the golden bulb from a civilization within which it was a valued symbol, but still, the echo is there.
But here's my question: this is the only Disney comics story Madsen contributed to, and I see on Wikipedia that he's a media personality. Anyone know how this story came about? Was it like the story by Camilla Läckberg, Robbery on Rosebud Road, which was part of an intentional publicity campaign, bringing in an outside celebrity? Or did Madsen get the idea on his own and/or know someone in Egmont's Disney comics operation? I see from Wikipedia's personal info that the name of the first Miniduck the Ducks meet is the name of one of Madsen's children--happily "Storm" is a very believable name for a gnome!