Trzeci tom opowieści o Sknerusie i innych bohaterach z Kaczogrodu autorstwa słynnego amerykańskiego scenarzysty i rysownika Dona Rosy. Kiedy piraci i groźne ryby przeszkadzają Sknerusowi McKwaczowi zdobyć skarb w komiksie „Pod kopułą”, tylko Donald może coś poradzić... ale czy na pewno? W opowieści „Na wojennej ścieżce” Indianie wraz ze Sknerusem walczą ze złoczyńcą, a w historii „Siedem dni w Tybecie” kaczory szukają złota dawnego mongolskiego chana i trafiają do ukrytego świata, który wydaje się dziwnie znajomy. Kolekcja, składająca się z dziesięciu tomów, to pierwsze kompletne, chronologiczne wydanie kaczych przygód autorstwa ulubieńca czytelników Dona Rosy, podążającego śladem legendarnego disnejowskiego autora Carla Barksa, lecz posiadającego własny,niepowtarzalny styl.
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.
I've sadly run out of my Carl Barks books, so I'm reading my way through the other Duck artists I have on my shelf. My first irritation was with myself: why did I buy the boxed set of volumes 3 and 4, instead of 1 and 2? It's particularly annoying because unlike the Barks volumes, the Rosa sets include a sequential biography. That means I missed the story of how Rosa began making a living drawing Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. What made him stand apart from all the other artists waiting in the wings to take over these beloved characters? I'll have to track down the first volume to find out.
The biographical section (part 3) in this one is nicely detailed and covers Rosa's transition to a Danish publisher; while the number of American readers had dwindled from the glory days, the Ducks were more popular than ever overseas. It makes me think of my recent discovery that in Sweden, essentially the entire nation sits down on Christmas Eve to watch Donald Duck cartoons. I grew up loving these stories (and obviously still do), but that's a level of dedication we certainly don't have in even our Disney-infused American culture.
I should call it an autobiographical section, actually, since it's presented in Rosa's own words, with a quirky, charming, self-deprecating style that endeared me to him before I began reading the comics themselves. He also writes all his own story notes, with information about his inspiration for each comic and how they developed from the initial sketches to the final products (and some of the translation issues that happened along the way).
That part of this collection is quite good. Rosa's attachment to the Barks comics is clear, and he approaches his work like a fan: heavily referencing Barks stories wherever he can, and doing his best to stay true to the original materials.
Unfortunately, he just doesn't have the same spark. The comics are passable; it's fun to see the characters in new adventures, and Rosa's art, while overly detailed - some might say cluttered - is pleasant to look at. He crams a lot of work into each page, which sometimes makes it feel like reading extended versions of those magazine puzzles where you're meant to find a dozen hidden objects. This impression is helped along by the fact that he does hide the word DUCK in most of his comics, as a tribute to Barks.
Although the artwork is quite different from Barks's clean, iconic style, it's the storylines that really left me wanting. Rosa himself heavily criticizes at least three stories in this collection, with comments such as: "(Not one of my favorite stories!)"
Mine either.
One of his major issues is that rather than coming up with Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories, he uses (or reuses!) ideas he's spent years wanting to fit into a comic. That means the results don't feel natural. You can tell the storylines were forced into this structure, with the characters squeezed in to make a punchline land. (Except it doesn't...and it really wasn't worth the effort.) That's not how you create memorable stories, and Rosa acknowledges as much in his notes.
There are a couple of sequels to Barks stories, and they feel the way straight-to-video sequels usually do. Plus he gets awfully preachy - something that Barks was occasionally forced into by his editors, but certainly not the natural state of his subtle storytelling. Barks counted on his readers to draw their own conclusions, trusting in their intelligence. Rosa overexplains everything. He admits that he added four full pages to "The Island at the Edge of Time," trying to explain the International Dateline phenomenon in order to make a joke work.
"In fact, I'm still not too clear on it myself," he says, and that's visible. Readers can always tell when an author's writing about a subject he hasn't researched sufficiently and doesn't fully understand. It's dull at best and painful in places.
I was all set to stack this in my pile of books to sell, but the final story in this collection has me wavering. "Super Snooper Strikes Again!" is a sequel, in a way, to one of Barks's stories, but it does stand well on its own, with periodic nods from Rosa so readers will know he's honoring the original story, rather than copying it. (A complaint he received from international readers when the translations, without his knowledge, stripped out these references.)
It doesn't exactly feel like a Barks story, but it made me emotional. Rosa's love for the characters comes through here. It's full of the expected Donald Duck comic gags - he ingests a potion that temporarily gives him superpowers and makes a typical mess of it - but it has heart. This story centers around Donald's love for his nephews - he wants them to be proud of him - and his nephews' corresponding love for him - they recognize how hard he works to care for them, and they just want him to rest. It's sweet. It's tender. And it's a nice reminder that at the end of the day, no matter what turmoil the Ducks go through, they're a family. The kind of family that - despite its untraditional structure - sticks together.
That story alone may make this volume worth hanging onto.
This volume is a mixed bag, containing some stories I love, and some I don't.
On Stolen Time has some fantastically fun moments, such as the beagle boys climbing up a flock of birds, and the marble gag at the finale. This story has what I think are some of the best elements of Rosa's style where he takes a premise, in this case the stopwatch, and lets his imagination run wild with the possibilities. It also contains a lot of what I like about his artwork, specifically the extreme detail, which Rosa himself and others characterize as too busy.
Treasure Under Glass is one I fondly remember reading many years ago, when I was still collecting comics. The scene where the dome Blorps up from the water flinging the ship away is one that stuck in my mind, and then the follow-up with the villain driving his boat right over the edge of the flipped dome sealed the deal.
Return To Xanadu is a good adventure story, with plenty of mystery and exotic settings, and is a worthy sequel to the Barks story. It does seem that Rosa likes to punish Scrooge for his wealth by having him miss actual treasures by a hairsbreadth. This theme is continued in The Island At The Edge Of Time which is marred by Rosa's inability to succinctly explain the international date line, and then the unfortunate breaking of the fourth wall at the very end.
War Of The Wendigo is my least favorite with the heavy handed preaching, even though I am already on Rosa's side with respect to environmental concerns. The presentation here is too much of a false dichotomy and it fails to make a coherent point. The plot is more harrowing than funny which makes the gags feel mean-spirited instead of funny.
Super Snooper Strikes Again left me cold as well. A lot of people seem to like this story with the heartfelt ending of the boys seeing Donald as the greatest hero, but it struck me as maudlin. Perhaps my perception was colored by Rosa's comments for this story where he tears down superhero comics saying "I wanted to show that we Barks Duck fans think that the superheroes and their violence, mayhem, and pointless action are no match for the qualities of plot, characterization and humor found in most any Duck comic." To be sure, there are plenty of crap superhero comics, but his statement is another false dichotomy, and I am a fan of both those types of comics, plus other genres as well.
This might not be the strongest volume in the collection (Rosa himself admits that there are some of his weaker stories in here), but there are still some very nice ones. The episode from Scrooge's biography is as great as all of them and there are some nice sequels to classical Carl Barks stories (like the return to Xanadu aka Tralla La. Overall, it is still very nice volume and an enjoyable read not only for fans.
Another good installment in the series, and Don Rosa is really coming into his own. This is also the last installment before Don Rosa starts exploring Scrooge's youth. There's several stories in this I can't remember reading as a kid, some of them quite enjoyable. "The incident at McDuck tower" is a great gag story, while "The Master Landscapist" is also alright. There's more Bark sequels in this one, and I would probably have appriciated them more if I had a closer relationship to the originals. They're still nice stories, though. I don't mind the preachy parts of Wendigo, and the exploration of Xanadu is still a great adventure story.
I always liked "On stolen time" and "Super Snooper strikes again" as a kid, which might be why I still find them the highlights of this book. The first one is one of the sci-fi-like stories of Don, where he pokes holes in a classical fantasy (being able to stop time). Super Snooper is a commentary on the qualities of Donald Duck as a character (as opposed to violent action heroes), and has some heartwarming scenes.
The stories in this book are akin to grinding up the pure concept of joy and spreading it quietly on your gums as you imagine good bins, existential adventures, and unicorns. Finally Don Rosa learns the quiet poetry and the pained isolation and struggle his better dick stories have and we're off to the races with one of my favorite cartoonists. Even the politics of the comic-- ranging from capitalism is not the end all be all and may be destroying the world-- is nice. I love these stories. What else is there but exciting adventures and big weird ducks?
As always Fantagraphics did swell job. Again we can find here some epic stories like "Treasure under glass" and "Return to Xanadu" as well as classic very funny 10-12 pagers ("On stolen time", "The duck who fell to Earth") and more. Don Rosa at his best. At the end of volume another part of interesting Don Rosa's life history, as well as copies of envelopes which he was sending to his friend. Ofcourse all volume worth to read.
Great collection of Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics. Hilarious and witty and entertaining. I remember a few of the stories from my childhood. It always makes me happy to read those stories again. Overall, I highly recommend the Don Rosa Library.
Ik geniet onwijs van de tekenstijl van Don Rosa, al die sarcastische koppen, heerlijk! En de verhalen in deze bundel zijn erg leuk en fantasierijk. Natuurlijk zijn ze vaak gebaseerd op de verhalen van Carl Barks, maar ik vind dat Don Rosa er echt zijn eigen invulling aan geeft. Aanrader!
It was great to read the cover story, as the re-jiggered version of it on Duck Tales was one of my favorites.
Very interesting to see Rosa get a little political with a 3-parter on the saving the forests, along with his usual great storytelling and shout outs to Carl Barks. As with the previous volumes, Rosa's stories and comments on the stories are almost as interesting and entertaining as the stories themselves, truly a great job of preserving this stuff for future generations of Duck fans.
Uncle Scrooge comics were one of my favorites as a child. Had to pick this up when I spotted it at the library. As I remembered, there are some educational bits in there.. poetry, history, legends. Also some stories involve environmentalism. All with a great sense of humor and ducky family. Was nice to see I enjoy them as an adult as well.
Pretty strong volume. I especially like the SF stuff, personally, even if Rosa doesn’t so much. There’s one tale that’s a little too “afterschool special” for my taste (but it still has its merits)—Rosa bends over backwards to make a case for environmentalism, to the point that even the most ardent eco warrior may feel like grabbing an axe and killing a tree!
Similarly, Rosa strawmans superhero comics in an essay in this volume. There are a ton of bad superhero comics but there are also a ton of bad comics in every genre. Barks was called the Good Duck Artist for a reason: there were bad and not so good duck artists. Good superhero comics have the same adventure, humor, and humanity that the best non-superhero comics have. I do love how he pointed out sales figures for modern superhero comics… even the top comics sell embarrassingly little. You wonder how they even make a profit, especially when you consider the majority of the stuff doesn’t sell at all practically. (The mind boggles at this, but clearly DC and Marvel aren’t bothered as they both continue to make boneheaded decisions that further and further alienate their ever dwindling audience. Maybe TPTB have stock in manga?)
The art and stories bring so much joy but by and large the behind-the-scenes stuff is depressing as hell! I’m glad Rosa persevered and I’m glad too that Fantagraphics published these works of genius. Barks and Rosa are the best.
For me, again, it’s such a treat to revisit these comics in my rather difficult current situation. For me at least, I continue to love Rosa’s art, his love of puns (Coral Barques), and his flair for spectacle (a massive underground waterfall, the underwater dome and rotten ships, Donald carrying a ship, an airplane falling into orbit, etc). I also really click with the zaniness of the ten pagers, even if Rosa always says they are his lesser work. They make me smile.
Still, it really struck home to me that Scrooge is a total SOB who continually manipulates, underpays, and puts his nephews in horrific danger with almost no reward. He is just awful to them, and when Donald rightfully protests, he gets punished, and we as readers are supposed to see this as funny and maybe even just. Yick.
Also the Wendigo story really fell flat with me, but you can’t win them all. Quite a few Barks stories fall flat with me too.
Treasure Under Glass is the third Fantagraphics collection of Don Rosa's Donald Duck comics and it is full of delights. I read all these comics in their original US publication and it is great to revisit them in newly recolored reprints on quality paper. I enjoyed Rosa's revisiting classic Barks stories and characters; he pays homage to the originals but adds his own distinctive spin. Funny stuff and Rosa's detailed panels makes for slow, but enjoyable reading. Highly recommended and I can't wait to get to the next volumes.
Merece todos os parabéns a decisão da Fantagraphics e da Editora Abril de compilar as edições respeitando a ordem de produção e publicação. Poderiam misturar histórias por temas, para elevar o nível, mas o produto final perderia seu valor histórico.
Esse terceiro volume tem histórias em geral apenas medianas, nada muito impressionante. Vale acompanhar pelo amor que Rosa demonstra por Carl Barks ao escrever sequências às histórias clássicas desse, mas não produz seus próprios clássicos no processo, apenas boas histórias.
I den här volymen har vi kommit till tiden då Don Rosa fulländat sitt uttryck. Nästan varje serieruta är så fylld av detaljer och action att man kan läsa om serierna många gånger om och hitta något nytt varje gång. Både handlingar och skämt har, med få undantag, dessutom blivit bättre jämfört med historierna i de tidigare volymerna.
Terceiro volume desta coleção obrigatória para fãs de Don Rosa. No final de cada livro há os bastidores de cada história apresentada no volume, com capas, curiosidades e rascunhos de Don Rosa. Finalmente há um pedacinho da vida de Don Rosa contada pelo próprio sobre o caminho trilhado deste que considero um dos melhores artistas do Tio Patinhas.
i keep wanting to review these anything other than 4 stars but this has War of the Wendigo (one of my least favourite stories) and Island at the Edge of Time (one of my favourite stories) so i literally cannot rate it anything else
Mycket mer än bara en tecknad serie. Full av klassiska referenser och kärlek till mediet och dess storhetstid. På Kalle Anka & Co cirka 1955 som min mamma läste (och som jag läste sönder på 1980-talet). Fin läsning
I find Rosa work admirable in its attempts to recreate the grandeur of barks(sans racial caricatures)- but overall I just don’t dig his stuff. The best story in the collection ins the titular treasure under glass, and while it’s fine, it doesn’t stir me.
Fabulous collection in Volume 3 of Don Rosa's duck comics. Includes comments, behind-the-scenes notes, and more of Rosa's autobiography, all written by Rosa. Hardcover, sturdy, coffee-table collector's edition with great color and quality stock paper. A steep price at $29.95 but Daedalus Books was having a sale at $19.99 if you grab one while supplies last ...