Uncle Scrooge #331

June 27, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: His Majesty, McDuck and other stories

Scrooge’s money bin isn’t part of the United States! Will this be a windfall… or a disaster?

Writers: Don Rosa, Carl Barks, John Kane, Flor Collins, Lars Jensen & Chris Spencer
Art: Don Rosa, Daan Jippes, Marsal & Manrique
Colors: Scott Rockwell, Russ Miller & Marie Javins
Letters: John Clark & Susie Lee
Editor: Arnold T. Blumberg
Cover Art: Branca & Gary Leach
Publisher: Gemstone Comics

Frequently, the best things we see in Disney comics are reprints of the classic stories by Carl Barks, but it’s easy for forget that Don Rosa has been doing Disney comics long enough to justify reprints of his work as well. The lead feature in this issue, “His Majesty, McDuck,” is a reprint of a Rosa story from 1989. In it, Scrooge McDuck discovers that the land his money bin is on is not, technically, part of the United States. Anticipating a windfall in back taxes, he declares his land a sovereign nation, not realizing until too late that if he’s not part of the city of Duckberg he gets no utilities, no allies, and no protection from the likes of the Beagle Boys.

This story is frequently spoken of as one of Rosa’s best comics, and that’s definitely a fair judgment. The story is full of small nods to classic Carl Barks stories, a trademark of Rosa’s that is appreciated by longtime fans. More importantly, though, the story milks a lot of comedy out of simply taking Scrooge’s basic nature and milking it to the extreme. This is a comedy caper tale that grows entirely out of proper characterization, and that makes it a big success.

Next is “Whaling Whalers,” part of artist Daan Jippes’s ongoing project to redo all of the stories that Barks wrote, but didn’t draw himself, so while this script has appeared before, the artwork here is new for the American audience. Huey, Dewey and Louie’s Junior Woodchuck Troop is taking a boating expedition to view some whales, but are horrified when they discover that their Uncle Scrooge is also at sea, on a whaling boat. What follows is the standard “Scrooge learns the error of his ways” story – cute, but not spectacular. I’m assuming that at the time the story was written (just listed as “the early 70’s”) whaling was not illegal, because while Scrooge may be a ruthless businessman, Barks’s version of the character always made his money “square.”

Kane, Collins and Marsal contribute this issue’s Grandma Duck story, “The Price of Fame.” When a magazine decides to give Grandma’s home an “extreme makeover,” she’s sorry to see some of her beloved mother’s furniture taken away. Gus Goose, however, is anxious to see the makeover, hoping to get famous in the magazine spread. This is a short story, with a neat little twist and the standard Grandma moral.

Finally, Jensen, Spencer and Manrique contribute “Spendthrifts Anonymous.” Scrooge joins a support group for people who spend too much money, hoping the convince them to drop their cash with his business, but when his membership becomes suspect, Donald Duck has to follow him to see if he’s really a free-spender like he says. There are some very nice comedy beats in this story, but it seems like every issue of Uncle Scrooge has at least one story that feels out of character for him. As I said with the whaling story, Scrooge ins someone who prides himself on making his money fairly and honestly, and seeing him try to con members of a support group is rather beneath him.

Kids who read the issue probably won’t realize that, and the moral of the story will come through nice and clear, which is the point of course. I really love this title, and the first story is worth the price of admission alone. It’s nice that Gemstone always packs the book with back-ups, though. There aren’t as many stories in this issue as usual, but the length of the first two tales make up for it. Another solid, entertaining issue that parents should share with the kids.

Rating: 7/10

Uncle Scrooge #329

May 2, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Dream of a Lifetime (and other stories)

When the Beagle Boys invade Scrooge’s dreams, will Donald Duck be able to save his fortune?

Writers: Don Rosa, Lars Jensen, Chris Spencer, Per Hedman, Kari Karhonen & Paul Halas
Art: Don Rosa, Manrique, Marsal & Vicar
Colors: Scott Rockwell, Russ Miller, Barry Grossman, Terry Letterman & Janice Miller
Letters: Todd Klein, Susie Lee, Willie Schubert, John Clark & Jon Babcock
Editor: Arnold T. Blumberg
Cover Art: Daniel Branca
Publisher: Gemstone Publishing

This issue of Uncle Scrooge, like all the Walt Disney comics published by Gemstone, features several short stories. Headlining this issue is the fantastic two-part “Dream of a Lifetime” by Don Rosa. The nefarious Beagle Boys have stolen a machine from Gyro Gearloose that allows them to invade Scrooge McDuck’s dreams as he sleeps in an effort to plumb the combination to his vault. Gyro and Scrooge’s nephews arrive too late to stop them, and since the connection can’t be broken from the outside, their only hope is to send Donald Duck into the dream after them. The result is a hysterical romp through all the various eras of Scrooge’s life. For the first time, Donald gets to see his uncle as he was from the beginning, and for fans of Rosa’s brilliant “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck” (which was itself culled from decades of stories by Carl Barks, who created the character), it’s a chance to revisit many of those scenarios with a twist, even going so far as to allow Donald to meet his own mother as a baby.

The story isn’t short on action either – there’s plenty of combat in the dreamscape across in a half-dozen settings, from the Australian outback to the streets of Glascow to the deck of the Titanic. Even the action gets comedy fed into it, though, as Donald’s nephews try to subconsciously supply him with weapons by feeding suggestions to the sleeping Scrooge that don’t always go the right way. The art is the same sort of dazzling, detailed work that we’ve come to expect from Rosa. If he had spent his career drawing superheroes instead of ducks, he’d be a comic book superstar. The story ends with the sort of heartwarming capper that proves why Rosa is the best creator to tackle the ducks since Barks himself.

As usual, with this title, the other stories have varying degrees of quality. Jensen, Spencer and Manrique present Gyro Gearloose in “Call of the Wildlife,” in which he invents a whistle that can call any animal, not just dogs. Hedman and Manrique’s “How to Induce a Miser” is a cute story about Daisy Duck inviting Scrooge to dinner to coax a loan out of him, but the meal is a disaster as her broken-down house keeps thwarting her. Halas and Vicar contribute the best back-up tale, “Considerably Richer,” in which Scrooge is horrified to learn he is no longer the richest duck in the world and sets out to confront the new titleholder. Finally, Karhonen and Marsal’s “Bossing the Boss” probably doesn’t work as much as the rest of the book. When Donald complains to Grandma Duck about how hard a slave driver Scrooge is, she tricks him into doing some farm work to convince him to lighten up. This story doesn’t really jive with the original Barks interpretation of the character – one of Scrooge’s defining traits is that he’s not some pampered millionaire, he’s a duck who has worked hard for every dime he has, and it’s hard to imagine he would find chopping firewood or painting a fence as daunting as he does in this tale, even with Grandma going harder on him just to prove a point.

All of the stories in this volume have fine artwork, though, with much of it being clear and brightly-colored enough to have leapt from te frames of a cartoon. This is the sort of comic book that parents can read with their kids and not be bored or feel patronized to. Funny, exciting stories like “Dream of a Lifetime” make this a great title month after month, and the best value for a comic fan who wants to share their hobby with their kids.

Rating: 8/10