Don Rosa on Disney

Legendary comics creator, Don Rosa, who drew Disney’s Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck comics for twenty years, has written an intriguing, sometimes sad, and very long explaination on why he quit creating comics. Detailing Disney's crappy work practices and his own struggles it' worth reading.

http://career-end.donrosa.de/

That was an excellent, heart-breaking read. Unbelievable that Disney hasn't improved their lousy work-for-hire policies after all these years. Don Rosa deserves much better treatment, although he's been extremely classy about it. The gratitude he expresses for being able to work on the Disney ducks, and for the fan reaction, is impressive to see.

Mark Evanier takes slight issue with Rosa concerning a few points about Carl Barks, but not with his central thesis:

http://www.newsfromme.com/2013/02/11/don-rosas-comics-and-stories/

Thanks for posting both of those, guys. Disney's system is certainly unfair, unjust and unappreciative of its employees. It's been that way probably since the company's inception and can only influence Marvel's policies for the worse. Still, I wouldn't have worried about Don Rosa in his retirement years except for his eyesight problems. Geez, what a horror story for anybody, much less a visual artist like him. With decent eyesight he could've taken on commissions from his fans worldwide as Carl Barks did and probably made as much or more than he did at Disney. It would've made for a comfortable and productive retirement. It sounds like he can still, with incredible effort, make some simpler larger drawings, but what he went through I wouldn't wish on anyone, well maybe the CEO for Disney...

I used Terry's post for this weeks blog. See what happens when you post stuff!

Here's the editorial graphic I made for it too...

I never thought I'd be starting a career in the highly lucrative field of Journalism so late in life,