Don’t let the days pile up like Scrooge’s piggy banks,
before you get to your local comic book shop to pick up a copy of UNCLE SCROOGE
# 28 (Legacy Numbering # 432) from IDW!
In it, you'll find Part Two (of Two) of "The
Bodacious Butterfly Trail", a 1962 Italian odyssey - with the emphasis
remaining on "odd" (…If anything, the “Odd Ante is Upped” from last
issue!) - written and drawn by the great Romano Scarpa, with translation and
dialogue by the also great Thad Komorowski, neither of whom had an “Odd
Auntie” to my knowledge!
Indeed, Part Two of "The Bodacious Butterfly Trail"
fills the entire issue, cover to cover!
That’s Bodacious! …Don’t worry, I’m not gonna continue my overuse of the word "Bodacious" in this post… just maybe a little?
We open with Huey, Dewey, and Louie apparently auditioning for
a road show version of the classic stage play “It’s the Bodacious Butterfly,
Charlie Brown!”, with the little bald kid’s trademark exclamation of
exasperation performed in triplicate!
Good as they are, our troika of “Penut-ian Protagonists”
still fall somewhat shy of the master and originator of this time-honored thespian
technique, Sir Charles Brown.
 |
| No one does it with quite the exquisite panache as Sir Charles! |
Even Darlene Decibel, coming off last year’s stellar performance
in the Mickey Mouse adventure neo-classic “Night of the Living Text”, failed to
make the Bodacious Butterfly grade, being beat-out by our boys.
Disappointed, she returned home to Mouseton to continue her existence
as a perky cheerleader, all the while waiting for new horror-oriented roles to which
she might apply her… er, unique talents!
Back to our story, and about darned time, wouldn’t you say? It’s still Mardi Gras time, where playing
practical jokes on one another seems to have supplanted drunken revelry as the
Number One activity.
Getting into the spirit of things, the boys momentarily
forget that they’re in an issue of UNCLE SCROOGE, where they’re supposed to be
calm, cool, and resourceful...
...And revert to their shared vengeful jokester persona
of the Donald Duck short cartoons and most covers of WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND
STORIES.
 |
| See? |
Nice reference to "The Goofy Gophers" by Thad! ...Brilliant! Brilliant!
UPDATE July 16, 2017: In our Comments, Section, Thad correctly points out that the "Riot! Riot!" quote actually belongs to "Hubie and Bertie", and not "The Goofy Gophers".
The illustration of the Gophers, however, will remain as a testament to my bodacious blunder - and a reminder to research my references more thoroughly! After all, "thorough research" is a Blogger's first responsibility, so that EVERYTHING you read on the Internet is 100% accurate! ...Just ask all the rest o' them Blogger's out there! ...On second thought, don't!
"Ahhhh, sheddup awready!"
Back to Huey, Dewey, and Louie, the little stinkers are even “double agents” (…and with
three of them, might they be considered “triple double agents”?) playing a
Mardi Gras joke on SCROOGE, as well as Donald…
…But making Donald believe they are on HIS side!
The little devils!
The Beagle Boys get involved...
...And are introduced in this very lively and (for a comic book) uncharacteristically "animated" sequence!
Don't you LOVE how they try to "pull-back", but CAN'T?!
A superb job by Romano Scarpa...
...That is reminiscent of a Warner Bros., or an early Hanna-Barbera cartoon!
From Yippee, Yappee, and Yahooey "Witch is Which" (1964).
And, as much as I love these cartoons, even I must admit that Scarpa packs a much greater punch... especially for a still image!
Finally, I'm no historian... save maybe my special niches within comics, animation, TV, and movies (...you know, the kind o' things we discuss here) - but that "world history stuff"? Nuthin' doin'!
So, I asked Thad "Did Mardi Gras really exist in the time of Columbus?", or was Scarpa just a joshin' us historically-challenged readers with faded memories of th' ol' school-daze?
And he replied "It did exist, under a different name. But this is a comic book, son... and as Bullwinkle says, 'Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what can you believe?'"
...And, I can't think of a better thing to go out on! Thanks, Thad!
Just remember, I do not speak for IDW, or anyone in its employ. I speak strictly for myself as both a long-time fan and as a dialogue creator – and those opinions are strictly my own.
Then, let's collect our piggy banks...
Then, let's collect our piggy banks...
...Our butterflies...
...And ourselves - not to mention our copious history notes...
...And build up as much momentum as a bunch of Beagles running full-tilt to oblivion...
...To get the discussion going in our Comments Section! See you there!
It'll be... Bodacious! What else?
Update July 25, 2017: These added illustrations refer to a comment exchange of July 25, 2017.
Please review the comments, and refer to these illustrations as examples.
Uncle Scrooge: "Back to the Klondike".
Tom and Jerry # 137.
So, what are you waiting for? Go read those comments, and let us know what you think!
21 comments:
Well, drunken revelry really wouldn't be appropriate in a Disney story, would it? https://www.tripsavvy.com/carnevale-festivals-in-italy-1547305 According to this link, pranks are a part of the Carnivale in Italy, where this story originated. Of course, the editors could easily have changed this into an April Fool's day story, but then they would have had to have published it three months earlier. Actually, I'm glad to see that David and Thad left it as a Carnivale/Mardi Gras story instead, to keep the character of Scarpa's work intact.
As for the Nephews as pranksters in a Scrooge story: Scarpa's work does follow it's own rules, doesn't it? Unlike a lot of other writers, Scarpa wasn't afraid to introduce his own characters like Brigitta into the mix, or write a two-part, 60 page gag story. Scarpa's pacing takes cues from both Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson's work in that we get a Barksian treasure hunt with a late 40's Gottfredson style series of set-ups and gags (appropriate for its Mardi Gras setting).
Scarpa's art often does have a very animated look to it, not just the Beagle Boys' attempted Bin break-in, but Scrooge's reaction to his "treasure" he finds later in the story as well.
"AAUGH!" is just one of those all-purpose screams of anguish, and perhaps Charlie Brown has helped cement it as a cry of disappointment so that when Huey, Dewey and Louie shout it, we all know that something awful has just happened. (They could have yelled "Waugh!" like Howard the Duck, but a good old Charlie Brown "AAUGH!" really drives the point home best.
Deb:
Ah, yes… Of course, Carnevale! You’d think I’d have remembered that from “The Treasure of Marco Topo”, where Scarpa actually took his characters there – oddly sans Donald and his nephews, who get in on the fun in here in “The Bodacious Butterfly Trail”!
Looking for that first link above, I realized that I never did a true and proper recap of >“The Treasure of Marco Topo” at this Blog, as I was far more concerned with what looked like the end for American Disney comics, in those dark days before IDW. Hmmm… Maybe I’ll go back and revisit it someday.
And, HERE, for ease of reading is Deb’s link on Carnevale!
Scarpa’s “animated look”, particularly during the period of this story (as opposed to his “Bowling-Pin Beagles phase”) is one of the very best, and most unique, things about his work! This issue provides a wonderful example!
“Waugh!” would actually seem MORE appropriate for a duck than “AAUGH!”, hence Howard’s use of it. But this works perfectly here. Another nice touch by Thad!
Thanks for the kind praise, Joe.
"Riot! Riot!" is actually Hubie and Bertie's line.
Oh, and I have/had quite a few odd Aunties...
I also meant to say: it was originally Carnivale in Italian, and I was going to carry it over, but David suggested just "Americanizing" it with Mardi Gras, which is essentially the same thing... (countdown to comment from outraged "traditionalist" in 3... 2... 1...)
Thad:
This normally “Outraged Traditionalist” has no kick coming over “Carnivale”, after such an unforgivable (…and bodacious) blunder as misattributing that “Riot! Riot!” quote to the wrong pair of Looney critters!
The quote, as you rightfully point out, is from those house-hunting, cat-confusing mice “Hubert and Bertram” (as they are known formally), rather than the Goofy Gophers – also formally known as “Maximillian and Toshington”!
Dunno about “Hubert and Bertram”, but “Maximillian and Toshington” really does seem to fit those extraordinarily polite burrowing creatures, doesn’t it?
I will immediately update the post, and offer up myself for the penalty of 100 lashes with a wet butterfly!
WHAT? Ya think I’m gonna volunteer for something that’ll HURT?
Finally, I actually had one “Odd Auntie”, and she was one of my most favorite family members! You know, the kind that’s unlike the rest of the family – full of fun, not a care in the world, and unconcerned for herself even though she often SHOULD have been! Everyone should have one of those!
I much enjoyed seeing the Butterfly story at long last in color, on good paper, and with Thad's fine localization. I particularly liked the matching thoughts from Scrooge and Donald in the bottom panel on p. 23, part 1.
Guess what, Debbie: in the French version they did indeed change it to April Fool's Day! Not that the French don't celebrate Mardi Gras--but I guess they don't associate it with practical joking.
On Scarpa's art: I agree that the panel where the Beagle Boys try to back up is amazingly good at showing that motion in still form. I also like his depiction of the "still form" of the shocked Scrooge near the end. Sometimes HDL's faces are pretty weird-looking, though! (first panel of last page, third panel of p. 25 in part 2)
In the French version, the note on the gold rock parachuted down at the end is: "The block overloads the plane. If you can carry this back, it's yours. Scrooge" I'm curious as to which is closer to Scarpa's...NOT because I think closer is necessarily better!
This was my favorite Scarpa story, before I read his Robin Hood story, which GeoX titled "The Legend of Donald of the Woods." I think one of the reasons I like it is that Scarpa's Duck stories often seem fairly bizarre to someone raised on Barks, with odd non-sequiturs and illogical events and fruitless detours and exaggerated behavior. (My sense is that Scarpa's Mouse stories are a bit more grounded?) So, in this one, the silliness is the whole point of the story, and thus it doesn't bother me, I can go with it and enjoy it. Also, the twist at the end is pretty clever. Though in my Duckworld, it would have been HDL who would have figured that out, not Scrooge! (This goes along with your observation about their character here harking back to the cartoons.)
Elaine:
April Fool’s Day makes much more sense in terms of our modern-day (1962) Ducks, but how did the French tie April Fool’s Day in with Columbus? This is why I’d never write a story about “History”. Because, unlike Carl Barks, I’d never fully have my facts straight!
Oh, along with the “overly-accelerated Beagles”, I loved the stone-still, leaning Scrooge, too! That’s why I pictured it. Scarpa was apparently a master at motion AND still life! Whatever this story may have lacked in overall logic and coherence, not to mention having “Too-Many-Moving-Parts” (like other Scarpa opuses such as “Shellfish Motives” and “The Duckburg 100”), it more than makes up for with wonderfully spirited art!
“In the French version, the note on the gold rock parachuted down at the end is: ‘The block overloads the plane. If you can carry this back, it's yours. Scrooge’”.
Hmmm… If anything, THAT sounds more like Scrooge, than what was printed! I guess I can spoil that much now: “What? You think I’d leave you without your share? Happy Mardi Gras – Uncle Scrooge”.
The off-panel final comment in the alternative version could have been something along the lines of: “That’s our Uncle Scrooge!”, “Whadda ya know! Good ol’ Uncle Scrooge!”, or some such.
What WAS that final comment, Elaine? And, Thad, what did Scarpa’s original translate to? More like the published version, or more like the French version? Inquiring Bloggers’ minds want to know!
“Though in my Duckworld, it would have been HDL who would have figured that out, not Scrooge! (This goes along with your observation about their character here harking back to the cartoons.)”
In my “Duckworld”, or “Headcanon” ( I owe you 2 cents royalty, Elaine! …Or, it can be a wash for your use of “Core Four”!), that would also be the case. That’s why I added that Barks illustration of the boys sussing-out the Beagles… even though it was from an issue of WDC&S, and not UNCLE SCROOGE!
Wikipedia reports that the earliest association of April 1st with foolishness is found in the Canterbury Tales (1392), so they're safe with Columbus, at least in terms of dating...I don't know when April Fools' Day made it to Italy (if ever). Wikipedia says that in Spain and Hispanic America, the equivalent pranking day is December 28 (fooling the gullible on that day having arisen from the fact that it's the Feast of the Holy Innocents!!).
Last two panels in the French version: In the next-to-last panel, Donald cries: "Not possible! [you could translate that: I can't believe it!] A chunk of gold!" Nephew says: "Unca Scrooge thought it over!" (the verb is "a réfléchi" which is a bit difficult to translate here--he reflected, considered, had second thoughts). Last panel comment: "For once!!" So it's a comment positively acknowledging that Scrooge has given them a cut, not a comment noting he only did so when driven to it by necessity, which is what your suggestion "That's our Unca Scrooge!" would be. I suppose "Good ol' Unca Scrooge!" could be read both ways at once: as appreciation for this uncharacteristic gift, and as snark.
As for the message on the rock, I rather think the French is closer to the original, because the difficulty is set up in the first panel of the last page: "I know, these tons of gold are a heavy load..."
I don't get any royalties for "headcanon"--it's an expression that's everywhere in nerdish fandom. It's frequently seen on Tor.com and on Feathery Society, for instance. You just hadn't run across it before I said it because you had largely dropped out of online forums and fan sites due to excessive nastiness in the comments. I *do* get royalties for "the Disney interregnum," though! (And yes, I like the irony of getting "royalties" for an "interregnum," heh-heh.)
Elaine:
“Wikipedia says that in Spain and Hispanic America, the equivalent pranking day is December 28 (fooling the gullible on that day having arisen from the fact that it's the Feast of the Holy Innocents!!).”
Well, Columbus DID sail in the name of SPAIN, so Scarpa may be due more credit than I intended. Though, after you’ve pranked someone, wouldn’t saying “Feast of the Holy Innocents Fool!” sound just a tad awkward?
“[Well,] whaddaya know! Good old [Unca] Scrooge!” was Carl Barks’ closing quote from the ultra-classic “Back to the Klondike”, so I would have used it on that basis. But, if the intent were explicitly as it was published in the French (all that gold was just too darned heavy for take-off), I would definitely have used “[Sigh!] That’s our Uncle Scrooge!”.
“I don't get any royalties for "headcanon"--it's an expression that's everywhere in nerdish fandom.”
This might be a complete and total surprise to many of those who know me – and, quite frankly, is to ME, myself – but I guess I’m not nearly as “Nerdy-Fannish” as I had a-figured!
Honestly, I first heard the word “Headcanon” in communicating with you, and only later saw it fall into general use, as did Dana Gabbard’s “Disney Implosion” and my own terming of WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES, MICKEY MOUSE, DONALD DUCK, and UNCLE SCROOGE as the Disney comics “Core Four”!
“Headcanon” is a perfect word to describe the individual things YOU, yourself, accept in your own fannish domains. …Like, for you, Mickey is “not real” (AARRRGH!) and, for me, Duck Avenger is the sort of thing best left to TINY TOON ADVENTURES’ Plucky Duck! …Though, my REAL Detective Mickey would be disappointed in my not observing the general fandom birth and rise of the term “Headcanon”, because I was too distracted by reading the obviously fictional adventures of “The Plucky Duck Avenger”!
I *do*, however owe you for my occasional use of “Disney Interregnum”! Don’t spend it all in one place… or on one stick of gum!
The Italian original, as translated, reads: "Well, I think a clover of gold is right for you, no?"
Thank you, Thad!
Well, ain’t that sumpthin’! So, according to Scarpa, Scrooge actually IS doing the right thing by his nephews… to whatever extent he’s doing it.
The Wikipedia entry on April Fools' Day does in fact list the various forms of the jokester's gotcha phrase in different Spanish-speaking countries. Check it out! The simplest one is just "Innocente!" which can mean innocent or gullible.
Anyway, Columbus sailing in the name of Spain is irrelevant, since Scarpa made it about Carnivale and the French made it about April Fools' Day. No one brought up Holy Innocents' Day until I decided to confuse the issue with a random fascinating fact. We can only applaud Scarpa for his historical acumen if the Italians were already pranking each other at Carnivale time in the 15th century.
The outraged originalists can hardly complain about Americanizing Carnivale as Mardi Gras (basically the same thing), when the French translators turned it into April Fools' Day!
I have long been really interested in the ways that differing holiday and seasonal customs show up in Disney comics internationally, and how those differences are dealt with in translation. Some customs are so culture-specific that the story just doesn't get used anywhere else--the glaring example of this is the Dutch Sinterklaas stories. Those stories focus on a holiday and its traditions which are virtually unknown outside of the Netherlands. In a bunch of them, Sinterklaas himself, and his blackface Moorish "helper" Zwarte Piet (literal translation is "Black Pete"!), actually appear as characters. Another example is the story where the children confuse Magica with Befana, the Italian Epiphany gift-bringer. As I think I mentioned before, that story was published in French and they translated Befana as (the French equivalent of) Mrs. Claus, which made no kind of sense! But there are many other milder examples. Eating oliebollen at New Year's. Sticking pictures of fish on people on April Fools' Day. Even having fireworks displays on New Year's Eve, which I've seen in a bunch of European Disney stories--maybe they do that in the American South, where it's warmer, but I don't associate fireworks with New Year's outside of the millennial extravaganzas. To a certain extent, international media have spread American holiday traditions (like Santa Claus) around, superseding local customs, but happily some cultural specificity survives, and it's fun to see those differences showing up in Disney comics. And then even more fun to see how translators deal with the differences.
Re: Thad's report on the Italian original--well, that's fascinating. So the French translation not only turned Carnivale into April Fools' Day, it reimagined Scrooge's reason (or at least, his official rationale) for giving Donald & the boys some of the gold. They decided they had to keep Scrooge more Scrooge-like! So now all the outraged originalists can go complain about the French translation, circa 1966.
Elaine:
Oh, those wacky “outraged originalists”! (Do I owe you royalties on that?) Hopefully, they will go complain about the French translation somewhere else, as I don’t intend to entertain such discussions anymore – save the *actual differences* in scripts themselves, without the accompanying grumbling debates over translations and localizations, and how any divergences can lead to the Fall of Western Society. Perhaps, there is a French Blog at which the French translator can be duly vilified for his or her departures!
So, let’s hear it for Thad and IDW for keeping to the original, and for the French translator for, as you say, “ keep[ing] Scrooge more Scrooge-like!” Both approaches work, and merely differ by the individual translator. For the record, unless I was editorially coerced into retaining the original final bit as-is, I would very likely have gone the French route. …Nevertheless, I like them both!
“Culture-specific” holidays, as you note, ARE a sticky wicket – and are a whole ‘nother discussion!
@Debbie
"As for the Nephews as pranksters in a Scrooge story: Scarpa's work does follow it's own rules, doesn't it?": it does, to a certain point... but, on a general level, his version of the Nephews tend to be closer to that of smart little detectives compared to other Italian writers of the time, like Martina who often portrayed them as hellions. Of course, these two portrayals are not mutually exclusive.
@Thad
"it was originally Carnivale in Italian, and I was going to carry it over, but David suggested just "Americanizing" it with Mardi Gras, which is essentially the same thing... (countdown to comment from outraged "traditionalist" in 3... 2... 1...)": I am one of those who prefer more faithful translations, but this is one of the cases in which I am fine with what we got. Carnevale and Mardi Gras are close enough that until recently I didn't even know an English word for the former even existed, as I remember that in school translations we were asked to turn Carnevale into Mardi Gras, and vice versa. Even in books/movies/tv series the two terms have always, to my knowledge, be regarded as equivalents, and the same thing happened in the translation of Rosa's Lo$ part 2, with the Mardi Grass Gang becoming "Banda di Carnevale".
@Elaine
"I don't know when April Fools' Day made it to Italy (if ever)": it definitely made it to Italy, though I don't know when it happened. We call it "pesce d'aprile", meaning "April's fish", and one of the most common jokes is trying to attach a paper with the drawing of a fish to the back of other people.
@Joe
"“[Well,] whaddaya know! Good old [Unca] Scrooge!” was Carl Barks’ closing quote from the ultra-classic “Back to the Klondike”": if we want to nitpick, we could notice that the lettering of the last part, and the strange shape of the balloon, point to "Good old Unca Scrooge" having been added by the editor. Of course, this hasn't stopped Rosa from homaging that line in "The Dutchman's Secret" (as "Good ol' Unca Scrooge!").
@Elaine
"To a certain extent, international media have spread American holiday traditions (like Santa Claus) around, superseding local customs": well, in Italy the Santa Claus tradition didn't replace local traditions like the Befana. They exist together, and there are even new "crossover" traditions involving both of them.
Trivia: at the time of this story, the "176-" rule for Beagle Boys' numbers wasn't mainstream yet for Italian authors.
Drakeborough:
I’ll address the comment directed to me and, hopefully, the others will do the same.
“"“[Well,] whaddaya know! Good old [Unca] Scrooge!” was Carl Barks’ closing quote from the ultra-classic “Back to the Klondike”": if we want to nitpick, we could notice that the lettering of the last part, and the strange shape of the balloon, point to "Good old Unca Scrooge" having been added by the editor. Of course, this hasn't stopped Rosa from homaging that line in "The Dutchman's Secret" (as "Good ol' Unca Scrooge!").”
I just looked up the final panel of Carl Barks’ “Back to the Klondike” and, yes, there is a faint difference in the lettering.
Please see the added illustrations at the end of this post, for examples of what I’m discussing as part of this comment!
I don’t really feel the BALLOON itself is shaped differently enough from other balloons in the story to be noticeable as such – see the last panel and the one directly above it (done as one single scan for convenience of editing) – and, honestly, the lettering never truly “called-out at me” as being noticeably different, though close examination DOES (as you note) reveal some very slight variation, if one looks for it.
In contrast, I offer the final panel of Harvey Eisenberg’s wonderfully riotous “Rabbit Trapping” story from Dell’s TOM AND JERRY # 137 (1955). Note how clearly Jerry’s last line is inconsistently lettered with the rest of the story. There, SOMETHING has clearly happened! …And, if you really wanna go-deep on THAT one, the ALTERED lettering actually looks like Eisenberg’s OWN lettering, while the story – as with other Eisenberg stories from that period and beyond – was lettered by someone else! Go figure!
It certainly COULD be the case with the Barks story, but it looks less conclusive – unless it’s been documented somewhere. Has it? Such a thing was probably not uncommon at Western (Heck, just look at what we go through today at IDW!) but, given the other epic alterations editorially performed upon “Back to the Klondike”, this one hardly pings the radar!
Either way, and you certainly could be correct on this, it’s become the “De-Facto” closing line of “Back to the Klondike”, regardless of who wrote it, phrased it, or lettered it. And that would be what Don Rosa was later tributing.
The butterfly story is a classic... ask anybody in Germany who has read a bit of Disney and they will know it. It was the title, cover and first story of the first "Lustiges Taschenbuch" ("funny pocketbook") ever published in Germany. Since we're now celebrating the 50th anniversary of its release this year, there will be a "nostalgia" reprint box of the first pocketbooks (with original design and partially black & white pages!). Additionally, German Egmont editor-in-chief Peter Höpfner has co-written a sequel (drawn by Flemming Andersen) that will be released in LTB 499 this October!
Julian:
I’ve seen relatively few of the “Lustiges Taschenbucher” (Did I use the correct plural?), but I’ve liked what I’ve seen!
Consider, as I’ve documented elsewhere, that it was in a Lustiges Taschenbuch (# 62?) where I first saw the story that Gladstone Series One called “The Blot’s Double Mystery”. By my getting them to print that story – which also required them to first print the Floyd Gottfredson and Bill Walsh origin of Eega Beeva, “The Man of Tomorrow”, and THEN “The Blot’s Double Mystery”, I helped bring about the USA comic book debuts of both Eega Beeva, and the great Romano Scarpa! …And all that sprang from my chance receiving of a Lustiges Taschenbuch!
The correct plural is "Lustige Taschenbücher" (we & our Ümläüts, er Umlauts!) ;-)
Oh, *that* one. Ironically enough the only story I've really liked from that LTB 62 is exactly that "Blot's Double Mystery" - really great story - even if it also contains one of the rare Gottfredson stories still easily available in Germany!
Now having read all those comments above, I found some bizarre differences to the German version of the butterfly story. Namely 1) there is no "tradition" (April Fools, Mardi Gras, whatever), whatsoever tied to the prank they want to play on each other and 2) there is no message whatsoever on the gold clover in the final panel except "The end"!!!!! However, the framing story in that legendary LTB #1 sort of destroys the good ending for Donald and the boys, as they get jailed for trying to smuggle the gold across the border. Argh!
Another thing I've never noticed about the story is... well that Scrooge never knows the truth about Brigitta and her connections to his family hunting butterflies in the jungle!
I'll report back when I've read the new sequel. In the meantime you can already see the first page here: https://www.lustiges-taschenbuch.de/ausgaben/alle-ausgaben/ltb-499-der-kolumbusfalter-kehrt-zurueck#preview
Looks familiar, eh?
There will also be a "Collector's Edition" containing the "nostalgia" reprint of the 1st LTB and the variant cover of the new one...
Oh by the way @Elaine: Are you telling me that you've never seen fireworks on New Year's??? If there is any New Year's tradition here in Europe it's that one! Actually private persons aren't allowed to use fireworks at any other time of the year without permission!
Yes, it was LTB 62, also containing one of the few Gottfredson stories widely available here in Germany. "The Blot's Double Mystery" is the only story I really like in that book, however.
Back to the Butterfly Trail:
Now having read all those comments, I found some bizarre differences to the German version. Namely 1) there is no "tradition" (April Fools, Mardi Gras, whatever), whatsoever tied to the prank they want to play on each other and 2) there is no message whatsoever on the gold clover in the final panel except "The end"!!!!! However, the framing story in that legendary LTB #1 sort of destroys the good ending for Donald and the boys, as they get jailed for trying to smuggle the gold across the border. Argh!
Another thing I've never noticed about the story is... well that Scrooge never knows the truth about Brigitta and her connections to his family hunting butterflies in the jungle!
Oh by the way @Elaine: Are you telling me that you've never seen fireworks on New Year's??? If there is any New Year's tradition here in Europe it's that one! Actually private persons aren't allowed to use fireworks at any other time of the year without permission!
Julian:
Apologies for any delay in posting these comments, as both four days of New York Comic Con and other matters prevented me from Blogging.
New Year’s is not really associated with fireworks in the USA. Oh, I’m sure some places may do it, but we tend to save that for July 4th Independence Day, when they look so cool against the skies of a summer night.
I can’t speak for what was added/changed (or not) in this version of the Butterfly story, because I didn’t dialogue that one, but things are sometimes done to make it work better for the local audiences, of ANY country a story may be published in.
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