"...Clyde, an evil gunman, broke his little finger to deceive the judge and escaped from prison."
Isn't this Clyde, from Bonnie and Clyde?
Opening the envelope, Colin scanned the contents of the comic strip, muttering to himself as he casually made a note of it.
Unlike what Little John and the others had worried about, there were quite a few letters on the table.
However, Colin found them clearly much easier to handle than Little John and the others.
In the Main World, although his unlocked Super Brainpower was still suppressed, it greatly increased his work efficiency.
Letters that might take an ordinary person three or four minutes to process could be categorized by Colin in mere seconds.
This naturally allowed him to work much faster than Little John.
Skillfully opening a reader's letter, Colin scanned the content in the comic, and his activated Super Brainpower immediately provided the answer.
While processing the mountain of letters on his desk, Colin still had the leisure to ponder the plot for the latest *Superman* comic issue. In fact, from the letters he had already opened, he had seen many good creative designs that could perhaps be used for future comic characters.
And so, amidst the rustling sound of flipping envelopes,
inside the newspaper office, an hour quietly flowed by.
Colin stopped flipping through the letters, reached out and rubbed his temples to alleviate the fatigue brought on by prolonged use of Super Brainpower.
He picked up the cold coffee in front of him and drained the rich, bitter coffee.
Colin let out a light breath, glancing at the densely written notes on the paper in front of him.
Although he had already anticipated that the launch of the second issue of *Messenger Comics* would cause a craze,
the sheer volume of reader letters still somewhat exceeded his expectations.
Colin had clearly underestimated the popularity of *Superman* in this era of entertainment scarcity during the Great Depression.
"Sir, this is the last batch of letters, containing reader designs and names for characters."
Holding the paper he had just organized, Little John brought it to Colin.
With Harry's help, Little John's work efficiency had significantly improved.
One was responsible for opening letters and the other for recording; together, they were much faster than when Little John worked alone.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Taking the paper from Little John's hand, Colin casually thanked him.
Lowering his head, he was about to read the recorded content, to see if there were any suitable settings for a newspaper comic strip, when his Super Hearing picked up footsteps from outside the door.
Stopping his movements, Colin looked up at the newspaper office door.
A few seconds later, a man carrying a suitcase walked in.
"Excuse me, is Mr. Collin Roper here?"
...
"Roy Disney?"
Inside the Messenger Newspaper.
Colin looked at the man in front of him, who claimed to be Roy Disney, with a somewhat surprised expression.
Not long ago, he had just seen news in the newspaper about Walt Disney's intention to produce color animation. He hadn't expected the other party to come looking for him now.
Could it be that, in this era, Disney's strongest legal department already had a rough prototype?
To be honest, the reason Roy Disney came to him was nothing more than for the 'Mickey-like' toy soldier that had appeared in *The Messenger* comic strip.
He frowned secretly. Colin hadn't expected that Disney would go to the trouble of coming all the way to New York just for an insignificant image in a comic.
Although Roy Disney was not as famous as his younger brother, Walt Disney,
his arrival more or less indicated Disney's intentions.
However, in this era,
Walt Disney Studios was still far from developing into the behemoth it would become in later generations. Therefore, Roy's arrival only surprised Colin; it didn't make him flinch or feel any fear.
To be honest, The Messenger Newspaper, which had established itself in New York with *Superman*, and Walt Disney Studios, which had just gained fame with Mickey Mouse, were not without the ability to contend.
"Before we discuss the purpose of my visit to New York…"
Unaware of Colin's thoughts at the moment,
Roy glanced at the layout inside The Messenger Newspaper, especially lingering for a moment on the ubiquitous envelopes in the newspaper office, before taking out a copy of *The Messenger* from his suitcase and handing it to Colin.
"Regarding this newspaper, I imagine Mr. Collin Roper, you wouldn't be unfamiliar with it."
As expected, it was because of the comic strip content.
Seeing *The Messenger* handed over by Roy, a hint of understanding flashed in Colin's eyes.
"Of course."
On the surface, he still nodded calmly.
*The Messenger*'s prominent title was printed right on the newspaper; he couldn't deny it.
"However, *The Messenger*'s distribution area is only within New York City. Mr. Roy Disney, where did you get this newspaper?"
As he spoke, a perfectly measured look of surprise appeared on Colin's face as he asked Roy.
"From a friend of mine."
He casually explained how he had gotten the newspaper.
Roy Disney flipped through *The Messenger* in front of him, turning to the page in the comic where Mickey Mouse appeared.
"To be honest, when I first saw the comic strip in the newspaper, I immediately showed it to my brother Walt. Both of us were quite surprised by the appearance of Mickey Mouse's image in the comic."
"Regarding this…"
Hearing Roy Disney's words, Colin pondered for a moment, just about to open his mouth to inform the other party that what appeared in the comic was not the Mickey Mouse they had imagined, but merely 'similar'.
"…the main purpose of this visit is to discuss cooperation matters regarding Mickey and Superman with the newspaper office."
Colin: "Why does that sound so familiar?"
Harry Donenfeld: "Why does that sound so familiar?"
However, in the next second, what Roy said
Colin's words, which had been on the tip of his tongue, stopped: "Ever since the *Steamboat Willie* animation came out, I've loved the image of Mickey Mouse. I believe this animated character, who whistles and has vivid expressions and body language, will definitely become a classic in American animation history in the future."
"If Walt heard your praise, he would absolutely be thrilled about it, Mr. Collin Roper."
"In fact, he also highly praises the *Superman* comic strip that you serialized in *The Messenger*, considering it a truly excellent work."
"Unfortunately, due to the production of Disney animation, Walt is unable to personally come to New York and meet you."
(end of chapter)