Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

Anonymous asked: Uncle Mod, help! I really want to love the new Ducktales, but the designs are so very different from what I'm used to- and I'm worried their version of Gladstone will be without the depth he's developed in the comics I've read as a European. I don't want to be 'one of those' fans though, I really do want to like the new show. How can I see the new Ducktales like you do, with such enthusiasm?

Oh gosh anon that’s a toughie, and I really do understand, but the way I come at it is this- all adaptations of the duck family and their stories are exactly that; adaptations and interpretations. Different visions of similar themes- or, as I like to think of it, different realities of a cartoon multiverse, aka AUs!

Even if they have a lot of similarities, the original Carl Barks-style Scrooge is quite different from the old Ducktales cartoon version of Scrooge, in both design and character. Neither is invalid, but they come from worlds apart and can therefore be seen as two separate characters.

Donald is perhaps the best example of all: you have the original animated screwball-type Donald, the old comics version, the modern comics version, a freaking secret super hero persona version, and do I need to mention KH?

You said it, Donald.

Anyway, I think approaching the new take on Ducktales in a similar way to this is the best method, so while we might be used to this version of Gladstone-

we have to remember it all started with this version!

I know. Wow.

So yes, the Ducktales take on the characters is different, and always has been, but that doesn’t make it bad, and it in no way replaces or invalidates the comics! In terms of Gladstone’s new design I think they really built from the old Ducktales cartoon design more than anything; so perhaps seeing him as a hybrid of the old Barks personality and that cartoon’s visual is what to expect.

But whatever the case, it’s a stand alone adaptation! A separate dimension from what has come before, which will neither replace nor delete what we’ve known- nobody can take what you see as the ‘true’ duck universe away from you, that’s something unique and special to every fan. I think it’s both very brave and wise of them to go their own way with the look of this show, partly for this very reason, because it makes it easier to see it as an Alternate Universe, and accept it for what it is- something new, but grounded in something timeless and beloved by the people making it. If you like, see it as the duck world making a TV show based on their local celeb, Scrooge, and the new characters as duck actors representing the characters you know and love!