Italian comics seem to be quite popular in the tumblr side of the fandom so was surprised to see it have some hate here I love the Italian comics . They’re my favorites followed by the danish ones . They gave Donald character depth and he has lots of issues besides his bad luck I also like how he has his own serious stories instead of being reduced to be a second fiddle to Scrooge or Mickey . Or just being a comic relief character. Yeah he can be a comic relief and a side character to other characters but he’s also a main character in a lot of serious plots and has his own adventure stories away from his family and friends ( duck avenger and double duck ) . And contrary to Don Rosa making Donald a total doormat in order to elevate Scrooge . They make him fight with Scrooge and even make calculated plans to take revenge when he gets really angry with Scrooge mistreating him . Their Donald is competent while I find Don Rosa and the dutch Donald to be lame
Barks may simply have remembered her name wrong rather than trying to suggest a new one.
That may be the case. In a letter dated Oct. 23, 1967 from Carl Barks to Carlo Chendi (who used to send him issues of Italian Topolino), the Duckman asked: “I’m wondering who the blonde duckess Briggitta is. She seems to be giving Uncle Scrooge a rough time.”
So... 1. yet another name mistake (it could either be a typo or a misinterpretation); 2. Barks actually knew Brigitta years before meeting Scarpa and doing that sketch!
Post by napoleondecheese on Oct 15, 2023 2:24:10 GMT
I like most Italian stories I have read, but a few things about the Italian style have always rubbed me the wrong way.
Dogfaces with human ears. I know artists from other countries do it too, even Barks at times (as I understand, more towards the end of his comics career) but I always have felt it's 'wrong'. Dogfaces should have dog ears, when they are humans with dog noses they look off and even kind of creepy. It's especially jarring to me when the Beagle Boys are drawn that way. BEAGLES. It's in the name.
Sometimes they are just too much in love with Italian-made characters. I like Brigitta, but I think Italians overuse her, for instance. The way Goldie always seems to defer to her, so to 'shill' her also feels odd, like something American Goldie (be Barks, Rosa, DT 87 or DT 17) wouldn't do. Thankfully they use Reginella sparingly and only when there's a good idea for her so she doesn't overstay her welcome.
The Phantom Blot is seen unmasked too often. I'm not against the Blot having a 'real' face but I think it only should be shown in special ocassions so it's a big deal when that happens.
They go overboard with Jerk Scrooge too often.
I do like the design for Italian Typefaster but it feels like she should be her own character, maybe the original's niece. She looks too young.
Sometimes they are just too much in love with Italian-made characters. I like Brigitta, but I think Italians overuse her, for instance. The way Goldie always seems to defer to her, so to 'shill' her also feels odd, like something American Goldie (be Barks, Rosa, DT 87 or DT 17) wouldn't do.
I see this from Americans a lot - I think you guys have a bit of a hard time getting that Goldie is a pretty minor character that made a total of four appearances between 1953 and 1980, two of them obscure Brazilian ones never published in Italy. During that same period, Brigitta made 63 appearances. Of course a major member of the actual cast is going to get "shilled" over what's essentially just a one-shot character. It's like complaining that Gladstone gets more attention than Whitewater.
Yeah, feels a bit weird to me to see complaints that Goldie defers to her etc as if Goldie was even a character that existed before the 80s (and yes, I know she literally did, but not the one you're talking about. Before Life and Times, before Rosa, Goldie was a one-off tiny old woman who was tough but very much a standalone cooky character. She then only gets one more use in the present day- to setup Dickie Duck.)
Why would they use the character who had literal decades more of stories over the character who had a handful of stories, most of which created much more recently?
And in a more general sense, feels extra weird to say Italian-produced comics are too in love with Italian-made characters. Yeah? Are we complaining here that US Disney comics used too much Scrooge?
Post by napoleondecheese on Oct 17, 2023 2:17:29 GMT
Well, for better or worse Goldie is an 'original', a Barks created character, and Barks is the father of Scrooge himself. And even in Italy, at least from what I have seen, Scrooge and Goldie still have better rapport than Scrooge and Brigitta do-- Brigitta is basically this stalker Scrooge tolerates at best, fleeting sparks aside, while Goldie is still the Girl from Back Then Scrooge actually looks back at fondly.
Like I said, I do like Brigitta, objectively she is better than Scrooge deserves, but most of the time Scrooge is perfectly entitled to be annoyed at this person who meddles into his privacy and tries to muscle into his life in a regular basis, while Goldie is more respectful of distances.
It's not exclusive to the Italians either. I remember numerous Egmont stories pre-L&T where Scrooge visits the Klondike and meets a Goldie expy. So even when the idea was there, they didn't think to bring back this specific one-shot character.
It's really for a character hard to become an established part of Duckburg. I think the rationale for a long time was that any Disney comic could be your first, so stories shouldn't be overburdened with continuity. Rosa has caused that idea to be thrown somewhat out of the window, and it's led to more interesting stories, but I think the basic idea is a sound one.
Goldie is more of a "lore" character. She's a very important part of Scrooge's past, but hardly impacts Scrooge's present. Her most memorable appearances are in flashbacks, or in "special occasions" celebrating the past.
By contrast, Brigitta works really well in current-day Duckburg. She can be a vehicle for gangs with her obsession with Scrooge, but at the same time, she's a smart small-business entrepreneur and (often with Jubal Pomp) can play against Scrooge at his own game.
She's arguably the most used Italian character because she works really well in a variety of situations. By contrast, the likes of Atomo, Gideon, Portis, or Kildare have more situational use, characters such as Rebo, Reginella, or OK Quack are de-facto part of their own "mini-series", and Boomer Buff or Charlie Doublejoks are too linked to their authors.
The Duck Avenger and Trudy are the only other Italian characters used frequently. Trudy creates an interesting dynamic with Pete (though I think something is lost with her around), and the Duck Avenger is just cool, especially in his original Avenger concept or and the PK series (DA as a comic superhero, on the other hand, doesn't really work IMHO).
Well, for better or worse Goldie is an 'original', a Barks created character, and Barks is the father of Scrooge himself. And even in Italy, at least from what I have seen, Scrooge and Goldie still have better rapport than Scrooge and Brigitta do-- Brigitta is basically this stalker Scrooge tolerates at best, fleeting sparks aside, while Goldie is still the Girl from Back Then Scrooge actually looks back at fondly.
Like I said, I do like Brigitta, objectively she is better than Scrooge deserves, but most of the time Scrooge is perfectly entitled to be annoyed at this person who meddles into his privacy and tries to muscle into his life in a regular basis, while Goldie is more respectful of distances.
bats has superior insight into the topic compared to me but that is a simple exaggeration.
Yeah, the dynamic tends to be moreso "Scrooge does have affection for Brigitte but also doesn't want to be tied down and backs down from being pursued". It's doublefold, when done at its best, and very old school screwball romantic comedy- the two leads do like each other, but the man's too much of a man for sappy things and is intimidated by the woman being the one courting, the woman courts exaggeratedly in a comedic way, so in the end nothing ever gets done.
The addition of "when in reality Scrooge pines for Goldie" only really works after Rosa. Again, remember Goldie, the character you're thinking of, didn't exist before that. When Brigitte was created and through the first 20 or 30 years of this character's history, Goldie was just a one-off fling Scrooge had in his past, whom he might look fondly, but who was otherwise so irrelevant he'd outright forgotten her until being given memory pills. Rosa was the one who created the mythology of Goldie being to Scrooge as Rosebud is to Charles Foster Kane, with the paintings in the office, with the crying remembering her on Christmas night, etc.
And — the Italians have done some decent Goldie-centric stories. I quite liked "A Tale of Two Biddies" (which I localized, so I might be biased), which pitted her and Brigitta against each other, and she's showing up even more recently with more frequency in both the Italian and Dutch weeklies. Rosa zeroed in and enlarged a detail from one of the earliest (and best) Scrooge stories, and a lot of us like that idea and the new stories it inspires. "Scrooge pines for Goldie forever" doesn't have to be a "rule" - it just shows how multi-faceted these characters and stories can be.
I don't usually express my opinion on authors and characters, but I don't really like Goldie. Scrooge even completely forgot about her in Back to the Klondike. And Barks also showed us another former Klondike interest, Katie Mallard. Why should Goldie be more meaningful? Plus, in Barks' (and Scarpa's) representation, she was this old weak woman and it made sense.
Then Rosa came along and made her Scrooge's no. 1 reason in life and idk, this kind of contradicts her first appearance, I suppose. I mean, Rosa's work is great and we all love it, but I see it as standing on itself. We should ignore everything else to make his stories fit somehow.
Yes, Goldie is appearing A LOT in Italian production lately. Scrooge sighs and daydreams about her... and in the flashback they all are happy and flirty. And, again, I don't think it is faithful to Barks' story. This week's Topolino features a Klondike story set after her month at Scrooge and they behave like best friends (if not more). I consider it extremely wrong on multiple levels.