Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: Return to Plain Awful

The Don Rosa Library #2

by Don Rosa

Jumpin jacksnipes! Duckburg's richest tycoon is on the hunt for legendary square eggs and he's bringing Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie along! It's our second complete, chronological book of Duck adventures by internationally celebrated fan favorite Don Rosa following in the footsteps of Disney legend Carl Barks with his own distinctive style! Famed for his prizewinning Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Rosa wrote and drew two decades worth of ripping Duck yarns and is among the world's most beloved modern cartoonists.

Star stories in our second Rosa book include Return to Plain Awful, Rosa's sequel to Barks Lost in the Andes. Then, in His Majesty McDuck, Scrooge beats the IRS by seceding from the Union... only to have his new country colonized by the Beagle Boys! Plus more!

Presented with a rich archive of Rosa's cover art and behind-the-scenes factoids, these Duckburg epics are getting a definitive, comprehensive North American edition for the very first time at a bargain price worthy of Scrooge himself!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Adventure

216 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

Keno Don Hugo Rosa, known as Don Rosa, is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created for Disney-licensed comic books, first published in America by Dell Comics. Many of his stories are built on characters and locations created by Barks; among these was his first Duck story, "The Son of the Sun" (1987), which was nominated for a Harvey Award in the "Best Story of the Year" category.
Rosa created about 90 stories between 1987 and 2006. In 1995, his 12-chapter work The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck won the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story.

Reviews

[♛ Garima ♛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are really massive volumes, I spend almost entire day reading stories...following stories are part of the vol. 2

1. The crocodile Collector
2. His fortune on the rocks
3. Return to Plain Awful
4. The curse of Nostrildamus
5. The starstruck duck
6. His majesty, McDuck
7. Give unto others
8. Forget me not
9. On the silver platter
10. Making the grade
11. Back in time for a dime!
12. The pied piper of Duckburg
13. Leaky luck
14. The money pit

and there are lots of 'Behind the scenes', backstories, ideas and history...overall very enjoyable portrait of childhood memories.

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing what is clearly a theme, Rosa denigrates his own artwork, comparing it unfavorably to the artwork done for the DuckTales story in this volume, but for me that is precisely backwards; I rather dislike the "cute" almost rubbery Disney animation style on this short story, with it's skewed and tilted perspectives, and the inclusion of Bubba Duck is horrible, and should be eradicated. In this volume the worst stories are the ones either written by other people, or illustrated by other people, and all the best ones are entirely by Don Rosa, especially when they aren't interfered with by editors or publishers. Of course the centerpiece story "Return To Plain Awful" is one of the best, but that is unsurprising since Rosa is always at his best when doing the longer adventure stories, that have always been my favorite style for Uncle Scrooge. "The Money Pit" is also a lot of fun, and even a bit harrowing with Donald being buried in the collapse. The funniest story is probably "On A Silver Platter" which plays exuberantly with the titular platter acting as a portal that preserves some amount of the physics, kind of like a cartoon version of the the Portal game. This story really allowed Rosa's imagination to run wild.

[Rudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Rosa starts picking up steam in this second volume. There's some great stories in this one, like the classic (sequel) "Return to Plain Awful", the first of the hilarious Magica-trilogy "On a silver platter" and some other good ones. Two of them I had either forgotten, or never read. "His Fortune on the Rocks" is a short but really funny story that probably relies too heavily on word play for it to be translated to Norwegian(?), while "Back in time for a Dime" was a very sweet take on the joy of collecting. There's also some interesting extras in this, like the Ducktales-comic Don Rosa wrote, and an unpublished comic.

[Flavio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosa, pelo que vejo na internet, não é dos autores mais populares, e isso me espanta. Ele teria um traço sujo e amador, seus roteiros seriam excessivamente mirabolantes e complexos, e a reverência exagerada à Carl Barks seria uma muleta na qual ele se apoiava.

O criticado “traço sujo e amador” me lembra Robert Crumb, os “roteiros mirabolantes” são resultado de sua criatividade, e mostram uma complexidade que me agradava quando criança, porque não subestimava minha inteligência.

A “reverência exagerada” agrada o adulto que relê essas histórias, e vê o cuidado que o “sucessor espiritual” de Barks têm com seu mestre, dos detalhes na caracterização dos personagens ao respeito à continuidade estabelecida previamente.

[nur'aini tri wahyuni · Rating 2 out of 5]

kurang cocok dengan Donal dan Paman Gober versi Don Rosa ini. unsur sejarah yg mengiringi perjalanan sebuah petualangan memang menyenangkan, tapi penggambaran dan deskripsi dalam buku ini terlalu 'berat' buat saya. padahal baca komik bahasa indonesianya.

[Elliot A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious collection of Uncle Scrooge comics, featuring Donald Duck and the gang. I really enjoyed all of them except for one: “His Majesty, McDuck”. I have no idea why, but this one left a bitter taste in my mouth and I wasn’t really too invested while reading the rest of it.
Other than that, it was great entertainment.

ElliotScribbles

[Cassandra Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely better than Don Rosa's first outing story wise, but I'm still not the biggest fan of Donald Duck. He's irritating. And Rosa tries so hard to emulate Barks' style, so Donald never evolves. Oh well. I guess it's silly to expect comics on ducks to feature character growth. :)

[Devin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun! The title story was probably my favorite along with the stories with Magica. This book felt like it flowed much better than the first one. Rosa is starting to get in his groove it seems.


Definitely recommend this volume


Will be reading volume 3 soon hopefully.

[Riddhish Bhalodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

More stories all still superb like in vol 1. The art is still playful and great!!

[Hanussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Až na pár výjimek sbírka výborných komiksů od Rosy, kterého (spolu s Barkesm) považuju za nejlepšího autora kačeřích příběhů. Je tu i pár příběhů téměř epických rozměrů. Každý komiks je navíc doplněný o poznámky autora a část jeho životopisu, takže i provedením je to super kousek.

[Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another flawless volume in Fatagraphics’ Don Rosa Library. Beautifully printed, colored , and bound, with lots of extras packed in back.

Highly recommended for any comics fan.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the in depth info they include in this volumes about story ideas, where, how and who they were written for, and hidden mickeys and dedications.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Rosa gets a lot of hate from Duck fans. But no matter how much a collector might despise his work, the harshest critic of Don Rosa is Rosa himself. And I just don't know why.

Rosa is a disciple of the greatest Duck creator of them all, 'the good Duck artist' Carl Barks. And sure, you never want to exceed your hero. But while Don Rosa is no Carl Barks, I think it should be said that Carl Barks is no Don Rosa either!

The artist originally born as Keno Rosa has a style in the vein of Harvey Kurtzman with tiny little inclusions of hidden images and inside jokes- usually in the background. I absolutely love that. Each Duck story of Rosa's that I read, I feel like a detective trying to find all the Easter eggs hidden in every panel. Thank goodness Rosa wrote his own commentary situated at the end of this volume as sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I just can't find where he hid the word 'D.U.C.K.' in the art of the first page. (Note: you should also be on the lookout for hidden Mickey's and portraits of Barks throughout...)

In this volume we get to enjoy a number of adventures throughout Duckburg and the furthest reaches of the globe. The cover story sees Uncle Scrooge tagging along with his nephews to Plain Awful in hopes of securing the market on square chicken eggs. But he'll have to beat rival Glomgold Flintheart to Peru first!

My favorite story has Scrooge declaring his money bin a sovereign nation. The headaches that come about with tariffs, passports and an invading army of Beagle Boys makes this story so relevant to today's headlines that you would swear that this story wasn't written over 35 years ago.

There's a couple of real hidden gems that I don't feel like Rosa gives himself enough credit for. First is a storyboard for a never published promotional comic highlighting Donald and his nephews' inaugural trip to Disney MGM Studios. As it's Rosa's only story to have Donald and Mickey interacting in the same universe, it's not to be missed! Then there's Rosa's only foray into the DuckTales realm. He only penned it and it's less than 8 pages, but this prehistoric time travel romp with Magica De Spell was so fun!

I needed this book as a bit of retail therapy and a pick-me-up after a very difficult weekend. I had a ball with this book. I laughed, I examined and I appreciated the artwork and I distressed. I just wish Don Rosa knew how much somebody appreciated his body of work. He's ton better than he gives himself credit for!

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ducks are at it again. These adventures take them many places. These are more modern tales based on the older Barks tales. It shows in friendlier story lines.
As in all the Ducks comics, the drawing is wonderful. The backgrounds by Don Rosa are not as detailed as Barks drew. The colors are vivid.
There is commentary both at the beginning and the end of the book. This gives information about how the different tales came to be written, little hidden images in the different covers and panels, and information about the creator, Don Rosa.
Comic books are considered children's books. The stories transcend that age group, even being more meaningful to older readers.
It may be tempting to flip through the pages quickly as the reading is easy and fun. Slowing down to really look at the panels or, perhaps, reading them a second time at a slow pace to admire the pictures is advisable.

[Florian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a pleasure to read these evergreen and wholesome stories. But though every volume is a 5/5, nothing compares to Don Rosa's masterpiece The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Vols. 1-2 Boxed Set

[David Corleto-Bales]

I had been initially skeptical about anyone following in the footsteps of the legendary Carl Barks, (who stopped drawing Donald Duck cartoons in 1966 after 24 years) but Don Rosa, who picked up the baton in the 1980s, absolutely did the series proud, keeping with the rhythm and traditions that had been set down by his idol.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Rosa’s Duck work. Barks brought me in but Rosa (and Van Horn) locked me in as a lifetime fan.
Silver Platter is a blast. As is Money Pit. But Return to Plain Awful is the highlight.
And I loved the storyboard only comic.
Backmatter… all by Rosa himself is such a treat.

This was a reread. I’ll be giving all volumes 5 stars I think.

[Niklas Bergljung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Precis som första volymen så innehåller den här inte Don Rosas bästa arbete (bortsett från Return to Plain Awful som är fantastisk) utan det är extramaterialet i form av kommentarer till alla serier från Rosa själv som gör den här boken till ett måste för alla hans fans.

[Jark Lulle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories that are great are great but there is too much filler here. I guess it's too early in his career. A lot of breadwinning jobs to get a foot in the industry, Rosa explains at the end of the book.

[Jameson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars (ignoring any redone coloring problems and definitely ignoring the appalling treatment of Rosa by Disney Comics.)

Rosa is even better than Barks, in my view. He has an incredible sense of story and scale and detail. All of it is, of course, built on Barks, but there it is.

[Uuttu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyvää Don Rosaa: mukana on myös harvinaisempia tarinoita, joihin Rosa on tehnyt käsikirjoituksen tai piirrustukset. Elämäkerrassa tulee uutta juttua Rosan vaiheista, tarinoiden luomiskertomukset taas toistavat aikalailla samoja juttuja kuin aiemmatkin.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun volume of stories with some particularly classic Rosa work

This is an interesting volume as it contains some “oddities” - stories written but not drawn by Rosa and a story drawn but not written by him.

Plenty of “first and onlys” in this one.

[Scotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently was trying to explain the appeal of this series. It doesn't feel like it's written for kids, more of an all ages type story. But Rosa takes us on fun adventures and mysteries using fun characters we love. Excellent writing and artwork, and I enjoy the humor.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved Uncle Scrooge since I was a kid. Great to read episodes that were later than the ones I remember, as well as all the behind-the-scenes stuff.

[Dave Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great compilation of Don Rosa penned comics featuring my favorite ducks.

[Ravi Nagavarapu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great blast from the past. it was great fun reading old Comics all over again.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 5 out of 5]

8.5/10

[Judith Groen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Lovely! I laughed out loud so many times, this was great. Don Rosa is a true Duckmaster.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume, the second released by Fantagraphics, one of the comics is a direct sequel to Barks's "Lost in the Andes." This time, Scrooge and Flintheart Glomgold visit the town of Plain Awful along with Donald and his nephews. In other stories, Scrooge sets up his own country through a legal loophole (with the back story involving both Sir Francis Drake and Duckburg's founder Cornelius Coot), he and Donald fight Magica de Spell by way of a magic platter, and Rosa comments on people who only collect things in order to resell them. Rounding out the collection are a few oddities, including an unfinished comic with Donald and the boys visiting the then-new Disney MGM Studios, a DuckTales story written but not illustrated by Rosa, an incomplete Barks story featuring Gyro Gearloose that Rosa completed, and a few short tales that were written by other authors but had Rosa's art. Rosa is known for his strict adherence to Barks's continuity and the many background details he works into his drawings.

[Matthew Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

More pretty good duck comics by Don Rosa, although I feel like much of the material here is a bit on the weak side. At his best, Rosa brings an energy and liveliness to his stories, and while he does do that here, he also sometimes seems to be going through the motions to try to incorporate research that he completed or pay homage to Carl Barks. It seems like he hadn't quite nailed the formula at this point, but he's getting there. I look forward to reading more and revisiting some fun stories like "Treasure Under Glass" or the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck series.