#guud geluk

[lucktales]

(This triggered something inside of me so if anybody cares a bit about Donald Duck and its popularity in the Netherlands: here you go. A full-on 700 words about it by the one and only lucktales.)

Actually, there is another 'type' in the Netherlands and they are 'the' pockets, comic pockets of around 300 A5-sized pages with stories about Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and friends.

They are compilations of different stories, written and drawn by different Italian, Dutch or Danish writers/illustrators. The stories are always translated into Dutch, but because of these comic pockets, the Donald Duck Weekly ('Donald Duck Weekblad' in Dutch) has the opportunity to not show some characters in the weekly and that makes it more special because none of their stories are re-used.

Fun fact: They also have a special Daisy Duck Monthly ('Katrien Duck Maandblad' in Dutch) and also a Donald Duck Junior, which has a bigger and clearer font for children with dyslexia or younger children in general.

Left to right: - Donald Duck Weekblad: 26th week paper of 2023 (also the most recent and I have literally TWO OF THEM currently laying on my desk) (usually Donald is on the cover though, to clear up confusion with the Katrien/Daisy version) - Katrien Duck: 6th month paper of 2023 (most recent too) - Donald Duck Junior: 21st week paper of 2009

And about the pockets, I am pretty sure there are already more than 1.000 pockets ever published. The 'main' pocket series is now close to its 400th edition, but there are also loads of other series, like the 'Dubbelpockets', literally translated to 'double pockets' and the 'Thema Pockets', literally translated to 'theme pockets'. These two are kind of the same and are like the normal ones but have twice as many pages and there is one general theme for all the stories (e,g, 'farming' or 'cowboy').

Left to right: - Donald Duck Pocket 116 - Donald Duck pocket 306 - Donald Duck Thema Pocket ('farming')

Then there are a few series that aren't that big but not that small either: one of them is the 'History Pockets' in which you travel through 12 different time periods such as the Renaissance, the Middle Ages and the 19th century.

There is also a series called 'Premium Pockets', about the different alter egos of characters, such as 'Superdonald' (the superhero life of Donald), 'Dubbelduck' (literally: Double Duck, the secret agent life of Donald), 'Mickey's Mysteries' (the detective life of Mickey Mouse), 'Darkwing Duck' (hard to explain but DuckTales fans know this one) and a few others.

Left to right: - Superdonald: Saviour Of The Planet - DubbelDuck: The Power Of The Organisation - Darkwing Duck: The Fear Of The Night

Fun fact: Next to these big and fairly big ones, there are tons of small series, a few recent ones include 'Donald Duck de wereld rond' ('Donald Duck around the world', five comics of around 500 pages with stories related each to a different continent), 'Club Donald Duck' (a still on-going series about young Donald Duck and his friends, written like 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' with drawings and text).

So, that was my rambling about Donald Duck in the Netherlands, and one last thing: these things aren't just for nerds, EVERYBODY knows Donald Duck Weekly and the pockets. They are everywhere, at coffee shops next to the newspaper, in the supermarkets next to the tabloids, literally everywhere. People collect them and keep them together on a shelf (fun fact, the sides of the pockets form a picture when you get them all!).

- Left: Donald Duck Weekly Company produces all kind of merchandise like beanbags, wallpaper, duvet covers, school and sports bags, pencil cases, drinking cups, posters and wall stickers. - Right: put a few pockets next to each other and there you go, a fun picture to brag about to your friends ;)

I spent way too much time on this *sigh*

EDIT: HELP IDK WHY THE PICTURES ARE SO BIG

Which one is your favourite?