Don Rosa

Like many others, I really like Don Rosa's duck stories. I love his art, his stories, the gags, the small throwaway details, the breath-taking adventures, the incredibly well-researched Barks references, and I think he's given the Disney "universe" a much needed fresh impulse. I'm a real fan I guess :-)

I think the first time I really noticed Don Rosa and found out that I was a fan was when I read his story "The duck who fell from the sky". In this story in his style is very recognizable and deviate a lot from the usual Disney styles. I immediately felt that here was something different and also very good. Yet at the same time, Donald and Scrooge felt "right" to me, actually much more like my personal inner view of what they should look like than in the usual Egmont (not to mention italian) stories.

I've scanned the first splash half-page of the story, which should be a good sample and instantly recognizable, I hope. The "full"-sized picture is 1280x899 (263K), quite big.

This picture has quite an "underground" style, with lots of junk and a very rough-looking neighbourhood. Some people don't like this, but I think it both fits and contrasts well with the story and the standard Disney universe. Also there are lots of details and small throwaway gags in the background, which is typical for Don Rosa. I love those details, especially when you can read a story the fourth time and still find funny sub-plots in the background.

I read the story for the first time in Norwegian translation, of course. (Most Don Rosa stories appear here first, hooray!) But later I got hold of the U.S. version which I must say has a very beautiful cover - perhaps one of Don Rosa's best DD pictures. Full picture, 654x1024 (120K). My U.S. version has been literally read to pieces I'm afraid, so I'm hoping for album or hardcover versions.

It's very hard to say which Don Rosa story is the best, since I love so many of them. If we keep his monumental "The Life And Times of Scrooge McDuck" out of the competition for a moment, I wonder if it's his recent "The treasury of King Croesus" which is my personal favourite right now. Just to bug all of you who haven't had the chance to read this wonderful story yet I've included one of the opening pictures and let you guess how he manages to get away with it. The text is approximately "Arrgh! Down the drain again!". Full picture, 750x678 (235K).

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