Creation, Translation, and Adaptation in Donald Duck Comics: The Dream of Three Lifetimes

230 Pages·2021·2.048 MB·English

by  Peter Cullen Bryan

PALGRAVE FAN STUDIES
Creation, Translation,
and Adaptation in
Donald Duck Comics
The Dream of Three Lifetimes
Peter Cullen Bryan
Palgrave Fan Studies
Series Editors
Louise Geddes
Adelphi University
Garden City, NY, USA
Lincoln Geraghty
University of Portsmouth
Portsmouth, UK
This book series represents the interdisciplinary field of fan studies. It
considers the different ways in which fan studies exists at the intersection
of media (old and new), cultural studies, and reception studies and as a
result, rethinks the production of the fields of literature, art, philosophy,
theater and performance, film and television, and beyond. The series
welcomes a diverse set of methodological approaches including Marxism,
race theory, gender studies, affect theory, the history of print, convergence
theory, digital studies, material culture, and participatory culture, as well
as geographies, historical periods, and disciplines. The aim of the series is
to showcase how fan studies can offer new theoretical frameworks for
understanding significant artistic, literary, historical, and cultural
movements, and in turn, how these innovative approaches to representing
contemporary culture and media theory have expanded the Humanities.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/16367
Peter Cullen Bryan
Creation, Translation,
and Adaptation in
Donald Duck Comics
The Dream of Three Lifetimes
Peter Cullen Bryan
Communication and American Studies
Penn State University
Middletown, PA, USA
ISSN 2662-2807 ISSN 2662-2815 (electronic)
Palgrave Fan Studies
ISBN 978-3-030-73635-4 ISBN 978-3-030-73636-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73636-1
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A
cknowledgments
No project is a buried treasure waiting to be dug up, nor does it result sim-
ply from being smarter than the smarties or tougher than the toughies. Just
as the Donald Duck came from the work of a dozen hands, so too is this
book the result of many hundreds of hours of toil that were only possible
with the support of others. This is the dream of a lifetime (to borrow a
phrase from Don Rosa that he borrowed from Sergio Leone), but unlike
Uncle Scrooge, I did not go it alone. This project represents a further devel-
opment of my doctoral research, and I am firstly appreciative to my disserta-
tion committee. Charlie Kupfer always kept a sunny disposition even on the
darkest days when I feared I had hit a brick wall, and gave the early founda-
tions to what would develop here. Simon Bronner pushed the arguments
further, inspired new lines of inquiry, and helped undergird the fan studies
portions of this work with a keen understanding of folkloric traditions.
Anthony Buccitelli aided in filling out the theory, locating connections
between the various aspects of an at-times scattershot process, developing
new, interdisciplinary angles to this. Sam Winch located new ways of seeing
and new capacities for understanding the intersections of visual culture, art,
and audience. Roderick Lee provided insight into the nature of the business,
and pushed me to dig deeper into how Disney works, exactly.
There are others still. Peter Kareithi imparted the power of a story retold,
and embodied new perspectives for understanding audience and reception.
John Haddad helped developing the frontier framing and gave feedback to
early versions of some of these chapters. Charity Fox helped to comprehend
aspects of performance and masculinity in transnational spaces. Michael
Barton mentioned seeing Donald Duck comics on a newsstand in Germany
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
that first prompted my curiosity about Erika Fuchs. From my time at
Western Michigan University, Jennifer Machiorlatti set me on the road to
American Studies, and Paul Johnston gave me a grounding in linguistics.
Peter Berg cultivated an excellent archive of fanzines at the Michigan State
University Special Collections, and mentioned that I was likely the first
scholar to examine those fanzines since they were donated. Lynn Bartholme
ran the Popular Culture Association’s summer school, held at the Ray and
Pat Browne Library of Bowling Green State University, which provided the
much-needed original Gladstone Comics and fanzines without breaking the
bank of a poor graduate student. Nicole Freim has likely sat through most
of these chapters as presentations as chair of the Comics section of the
Popular Culture Association, which has always provided a home for inter-
disciplinary work like this. Special thanks to everyone who sat through pre-
sentations on these topics at various conferences; special thanks to Paul
Malone with helping to get the German side of things in order; Zack Kruse
for introducing me to the magic of Comichron; Alexandra Hentschel at the
Erika Fuchs Museum for kind words early in the process, and who I will
hopefully meet once the pandemic is over; Brannon Costello and Brian
Cremins for the feedback on the Gladstone Era; Phil Smith, Mitch
Goodrum, and Dorian Alexander for providing additional focus on the
frontier; Sabrina Mittermeier who inspired the final push for publication in
the midst of this pandemic, and all of the other Disney and comics scholars
that have kept me writing, many of whom are cited in this text, while others
still I eagerly look forward to reading. Thanks as well to the organizers of
the Popular Culture Association, Northeast Modern Languages Association,
the Comics Studies Society, and the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture
Association, which have helped grow these ideas from seedlings into the
result here. The grand work continues!
I would be remiss not to thank my friends and family members. My
mother Mary instilled in me a certain productivity in the night hours,
often reminds me that we live many lives (as with the creators I will discuss
here), and inspired me to keep telling stories. My father Bill imparted
incredible work ethic, overcoming even the most difficult challenges, but
still finding moments to rest. My sister Katie always pushed me to be a
little better (I beat her to a PhD, and this book will slightly edge out her
own first effort). Moira has been a friend in Disney since we were young,
and might be the most to credit/blame for the trips to Disney World.
Delia took the path of the world traveler, and this book was in part inspired
by that spirit, of seeing what else is out there. My uncle Chris and aunt
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
Collette both inspired the early parts of this journey, and have offered
assistance throughout. My partner Brittany Clark has been eternally
patient in the creation of this work, and has carried me through some of
the darkest hours. Matt Denton has been a kind friend for many years, and
inspired me to take up writing by being the superior artist in grade school.
Peter Lehman forced me to rethink The Three Caballeros, and why Disney
works. Julia Morrow’s friendship helped carry the difficult years of grad
school and since. Emilia Yang put me on this track toward Henry Jenkins
and fan studies more broadly. Sean Rodeman reminds me of why the
Ducks matter and prompts me to question what comes next. Dan Benzing
has boosted morale throughout this long process, in part because he was
the first non- academic I met who knew who Carl Barks was. There are
hundreds of others who have aided in this journey, and I hope there will
be time enough to thank them in person. I love and appreciate you all.
I do regret that some loved ones are not able to see what came of this.
My grandfather Francis Xavier Cullen is not alive to see this day, but I am
grateful for the love of learning he passed down to my mother, and to me.
My other grandfather Robert Bryan worked to inspire a joy of history in
me, having lived through some of the worst of it. Joseph Cullen passed
away before I completed my PhD, and I wish there had been one more
conversation about this. Martha Goode helped me find joy in the world in
many uncertain hours, and helped me grow as a person at a crucial
moment. Jeanine Ruhsam, who I once shared a thoughtful late night
drink with at a conference in Chicago, where some of the first threads of
this book were laid down.
I would thank as well the fans that came before me. This book would
not exist without John Spicer, Hans von Storch, Jon Gisle, Gangolf Seitz,
Maggie and Don Thompson, Elke Imberger, Klaus Spillmann, Jürgen
Wollina, Stefan G. Bucher, and countless others. This book is most of all
dedicated to the three dreams at the heart of this. Carl Barks found
humanity in some ducks, weaving stories that will last through the ages
long after even I have left this Earth. Erika Fuchs saw Germany in those
same ducks, figures that embodied the German past and spoke for that
history, good and bad. Don Rosa exemplifies the nature of the modern
media landscape, reconstructing an old property on behalf of international
business while leaning heavily on his own fandom. There is no book with-
out these authors and the care they put into their efforts, and each deserves
consideration as part of the grand present of popular culture.
c
ontents
1 “A Duck’s Eye View of Europe”: How to Read Donald Duck 1
References 26
2 “The Empire-Builder from Calisota”: Donald Duck and
the Rise of Disney 29
McCay, Bray, and Early Animated Propaganda 31
Building The House of Mouse 37
The Duck Appears 40
References 45
3 “Donald Gets Drafted”: Donald Duck at War and as
Propaganda 47
Animation as Propaganda 49
Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros 53
The Darker Side of Propaganda 60
Merchandising, Merchandising 66
References 67
4 “The Buckaroo of the Badlands”: Carl Barks Remembering
the Frontier 69
Carl Barks as a Creator 71
The Philosophy of Carl Barks 77
Carl Barks and Frontier Theory 82
Carl Barks and the Sheriff of Bullet Valley 88
ix
x CONTENTS
Scrooge McDuck as the Frontiersman 92
Carl Barks Goes Back North to the Frontier 94
Carl Barks at the End of an Era 97
Finding Carl Barks 99
References 101
5 “The Good Duck Translator”: Erika Fuchs and the
Exporting of Donald Duck 105
Cultural Exchange and the Occupation of Germany 106
Konrad Adenauer Joins the West 112
Cultural Diplomacy and the Duck 116
Saludos Amigos and Three Caballeros Revisited 120
Disney Comics and the Power of Donald Duck 122
The Good Duck Translator 125
Erika Fuchs and Translation Studies 129
The Fuchs Effect Illustrated 135
References 139
6 “Guardians of the Lost Library”: Developments of the
Duck Fan Communities 143
Comics Collecting Communities 146
Pre-Digital Fan Communications 151
Gladstone Comics Arrives on the Scene 164
Gladstone Grows a New Fan Community 168
DuckTales (Woo-ooo!) 171
The Eisner Era 174
The End of Gladstone and the Rise (and Fall) of Disney Comics 176
References 181
7 “The King of the Klondike”: Don Rosa and
(Re)envisioning the Frontier 185
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck as Fan Fiction 191
Don Rosa and “The King of the Klondike” 198
Don Rosa and “The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff” 199
References 208