The Don Of Comics
Ever since I could read, I’ve been engrossed by the adventures of the Duck family: Scrooge, Donald and the three nephews, with their assorted companions and opponents ranging from Gyro Gearloose to Magica DeSpell. For years and years, up to my 18th birthday, I was an avid buyer of the Dutch Donald Duck Weekly magazine, which featured stories from Duckburg written and drawn by Barks and those who followed in his footsteps (alongside various other Disney-related stories and text pieces in installments—the weekly mag was a great way to get kids into reading more than just strips).
In all those years though, I don’t think they ever printed Don Rosa stories, which is a crying shame, considering he is by far the writer/artist who is truly Carl Barks’s equal, and on occasion his better (yes, I’m blasphemous, I know!)
I did come across one installment of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck back in the day, printed in the monthly “Donald Duck Extra. It was the chapter expounding on Scrooge’s encounter with Bombie the Zombie, one of my very favourite Barksian characters in his unstoppability. Hmm, I’d like to see the Juggernaut go up against Bombie, I think. That should be entertaining if only for the style clash :)
Ever since, I’ve been on the hunt for stories by Rosa. Not once have I been disappointed, on the contrary: a Rosa tale tends to be densely layered, full of humour and mad antics brought to life by a supreme storyteller. His skills in moving the story along from panel to panel is hard to find in the world of superhero comics and his dedication to the details of real-life history is awe-inspiring. It always strikes me as baffling that lazy superhero writers will bemoan the heavy anchor of continuity while a crafty plotter like Rosa will take human history, which is far grander in scope than any superhero universe’s continuity, reboots and all, and weave existing facts all throughout a tale filled with peril and daring-do, particularly in his excellent Scrooge epics.
The particular example of his work I read today, “The Once And Future Duck”, a decade-old gem, does not star Scrooge, but it’s no less rich in expressionist detail, tongue-in-cheek action and madcap adventure. In a mere 24 (!) pages, Donald, the Nephews, Gyro and his all-important Helper invent a time-travelling helmet, go to Stonehenge, are thrown back in the past where they encounter King Arthur himself, snowballing into a couple of near-death experiences and the origins of the legend of the Holy Grail, the sword in the stone and of course Arthur and his knights themselves. Not only that, Donald gets to wear an armour giving him superpowers, kicking some serious Arthurian booty before falling prey to his own usual clumsiness. Luckily they get some (un)expected help and all’s well that ends well. That’s quite a bit of plot to pack in those few pages, but it’s done admirably in no less than a whopping 200 panels! In this day and age of decompression (a lazy tendency that’s luckily losing popularity in favour of actually developing a plot again), reading such a compact, rereadable mini-saga is a pure joy, even if it’s 10 years old already.
Not only is Don Rosa able to make it all fit seamlessly, he also manages to create not one but two cliffhanger moments, as this story was originally intended to be three 8-page chapters to be published in one of the many European weeklies devoted to the Ducks. On top of that, I think it’s both a laugh-riot and a lovely little “thriller”, combining the best of both worlds, the perfect type of story to be enjoyed by anyone between the ages of 1 and 101.
One of the highlights of Rosa’s non-Scrooge stories is his imaginative use of the oft-overlooked Helper, the little lightbulb-headed fellow who tends to silently bail out Gyro whenever one of his inventions goes spectacularly awry, much as this one does through no circumstances he could’ve really foreseen. The Helper is usually the unsung hero of the piece, but this time around Donald is well aware of his mighty feats, leading to a fitting denouement.
Giving Arthur and his band of heroes feet of clay was quite the nice angle, as was the use of the ancient, authentic-sounding names. It’s one of Rosa’s many talents to take a concept and turn it on its head for maximum effect. There are numerous references to Arthurian legend, all played for comedic value, each and everyone enriching the tapestry of the story for those who understand the references, without dragging the entertainment level down when the reader is still too young to fully comprehend it all. What’s especially cool is that for young kids, these types of stories might end up guiding them to the library (or these days, the internet) to start, *gasp*, looking up stuff and learning about things just because it’s fun!
It remains a travesty of sorts, then, that Duck-centric tales will usually be dismissed by a lot of fans as “silly” or “childish”, which is particularly ironic considering how many superhero readers are annoyed by that selfsame labelling when the general public does it to them. I’ll admit that there are a great many dumb Duck-tales (mmm, Ducktales, woo-hoo!) but when Rosa or Barks are involved—and luckily they’ve been rather prolific—we’re talking about some of the best achievements in comic strip storytelling.
Over at gemstonecomics.com, you can check out what Duck-related comics they publish and even order some back issues if you’re so inclined. Be sure to go over the contents first though and aim for Barks and Rosa tales, because an issue without their work might be disappointing for a first time reader. They may seem rather pricey, but you’d be surprised at how often you can reread these actually funny comic books, which really adds some bang for your buck. Even better, you could order “The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck” through Amazon.com: it’s one of the finest works in graphic form I’ve ever had the pleasure to read (and I’ve read a lot!)
Yeah, I’m shamelessly plugging here, but hey, as a fanboy, I just do my part in spreading the holy Duck-gospel! :)
In all those years though, I don’t think they ever printed Don Rosa stories, which is a crying shame, considering he is by far the writer/artist who is truly Carl Barks’s equal, and on occasion his better (yes, I’m blasphemous, I know!)
I did come across one installment of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck back in the day, printed in the monthly “Donald Duck Extra. It was the chapter expounding on Scrooge’s encounter with Bombie the Zombie, one of my very favourite Barksian characters in his unstoppability. Hmm, I’d like to see the Juggernaut go up against Bombie, I think. That should be entertaining if only for the style clash :)
Ever since, I’ve been on the hunt for stories by Rosa. Not once have I been disappointed, on the contrary: a Rosa tale tends to be densely layered, full of humour and mad antics brought to life by a supreme storyteller. His skills in moving the story along from panel to panel is hard to find in the world of superhero comics and his dedication to the details of real-life history is awe-inspiring. It always strikes me as baffling that lazy superhero writers will bemoan the heavy anchor of continuity while a crafty plotter like Rosa will take human history, which is far grander in scope than any superhero universe’s continuity, reboots and all, and weave existing facts all throughout a tale filled with peril and daring-do, particularly in his excellent Scrooge epics.
The particular example of his work I read today, “The Once And Future Duck”, a decade-old gem, does not star Scrooge, but it’s no less rich in expressionist detail, tongue-in-cheek action and madcap adventure. In a mere 24 (!) pages, Donald, the Nephews, Gyro and his all-important Helper invent a time-travelling helmet, go to Stonehenge, are thrown back in the past where they encounter King Arthur himself, snowballing into a couple of near-death experiences and the origins of the legend of the Holy Grail, the sword in the stone and of course Arthur and his knights themselves. Not only that, Donald gets to wear an armour giving him superpowers, kicking some serious Arthurian booty before falling prey to his own usual clumsiness. Luckily they get some (un)expected help and all’s well that ends well. That’s quite a bit of plot to pack in those few pages, but it’s done admirably in no less than a whopping 200 panels! In this day and age of decompression (a lazy tendency that’s luckily losing popularity in favour of actually developing a plot again), reading such a compact, rereadable mini-saga is a pure joy, even if it’s 10 years old already.
Not only is Don Rosa able to make it all fit seamlessly, he also manages to create not one but two cliffhanger moments, as this story was originally intended to be three 8-page chapters to be published in one of the many European weeklies devoted to the Ducks. On top of that, I think it’s both a laugh-riot and a lovely little “thriller”, combining the best of both worlds, the perfect type of story to be enjoyed by anyone between the ages of 1 and 101.
One of the highlights of Rosa’s non-Scrooge stories is his imaginative use of the oft-overlooked Helper, the little lightbulb-headed fellow who tends to silently bail out Gyro whenever one of his inventions goes spectacularly awry, much as this one does through no circumstances he could’ve really foreseen. The Helper is usually the unsung hero of the piece, but this time around Donald is well aware of his mighty feats, leading to a fitting denouement.
Giving Arthur and his band of heroes feet of clay was quite the nice angle, as was the use of the ancient, authentic-sounding names. It’s one of Rosa’s many talents to take a concept and turn it on its head for maximum effect. There are numerous references to Arthurian legend, all played for comedic value, each and everyone enriching the tapestry of the story for those who understand the references, without dragging the entertainment level down when the reader is still too young to fully comprehend it all. What’s especially cool is that for young kids, these types of stories might end up guiding them to the library (or these days, the internet) to start, *gasp*, looking up stuff and learning about things just because it’s fun!
It remains a travesty of sorts, then, that Duck-centric tales will usually be dismissed by a lot of fans as “silly” or “childish”, which is particularly ironic considering how many superhero readers are annoyed by that selfsame labelling when the general public does it to them. I’ll admit that there are a great many dumb Duck-tales (mmm, Ducktales, woo-hoo!) but when Rosa or Barks are involved—and luckily they’ve been rather prolific—we’re talking about some of the best achievements in comic strip storytelling.
Over at gemstonecomics.com, you can check out what Duck-related comics they publish and even order some back issues if you’re so inclined. Be sure to go over the contents first though and aim for Barks and Rosa tales, because an issue without their work might be disappointing for a first time reader. They may seem rather pricey, but you’d be surprised at how often you can reread these actually funny comic books, which really adds some bang for your buck. Even better, you could order “The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck” through Amazon.com: it’s one of the finest works in graphic form I’ve ever had the pleasure to read (and I’ve read a lot!)
Yeah, I’m shamelessly plugging here, but hey, as a fanboy, I just do my part in spreading the holy Duck-gospel! :)
posted by Peter at 9:31 PM
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