In this unique episode we ask Mr. Rosa about how technology has changed his craft, if he knows anything about online comics and Creative Commons and how he feels about the enthusiasm about comics in the Nordic countries.

Links mentioned in todays show

• Wikipedia: Mr. Keno Don Rosa
• Göteborg Book Fair
• Egmont
• Wikipedia: Kalle Anka & C:o
• Wikipedia: Kalle Anka Extra (only in Swedish) and Kalle Anka Extra at Egmont
• Wikipedia: Hall of Fame
• Don Rosa Samlade Verk (Don Rosa - The Collected Works) is the new series that he was there signing, the complete work consisting of 9 books of about 2400 pages each. Every book is 58 EUR.
• Wikipedia: Scrooge McDuck
• You can read more about The Phantom in the Swedish market on Wikipedia in English and Swedish. Or go to other sources like Seriefrämjandet or blogs dedicated to the subject.

Book signing

When I arrived at booth B08:42 at the Goteborg Book Fair, I found a long queue. I grabbed (and paid) for a book, and took my place in line. After about 40 minutes I arrived at the table where he sits, Mr Rosa himself. He shakes my hand, and signs my book. This was not all.

I returned to the line, and went through the queue once more. This time - since I had queued twice - he offered to draw a picture in my book. Anything I liked. He promptly refused to draw some form of representation of myself (Don Rosa is not found of drawing portraits or caricatures), so he drew Scrooge McDuck from his younger years, gold digging in Yukon. We had a conversation about comics in the USA, about a few stories from other signings like this one, and he also mentioned what goes through his head when he draws like this (usually "Oh! No! Ah! No!" and so on). This was still not all.

For the third time I returned to the end of the line, and waited. You see, I struck him a deal. If I wait in line for one more time, he would draw me a companion for Scrooge, namely Glittering Goldie - from the same time period. And as you can see below, the result was fantastic! With few strokes with his pens he manages to depict not only their interest for each other, but also the difference between them. She is sparkling and living her life to the fullest in her successful saloon, he is on the other hand toiling away with his hands, working in a close relationship with the nature to find the hidden treasure of the gold rush. I love the contrast in this picture! And this was still not all, you see, after that I managed to get an interview with him, as you can hear in the episode. :-)

Let us wrap this up!

Send your feedback to the group !aiitr at Identi.ca or mark it with hashtag #aiitr at Twitter, you find me at both Identi.ca and Twitter as @AlltInomIT.

Theme music today by EHMA.
Music is released under the copyleft "Licence Art Libre 1.3".