The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Vol. 2

As nearly flawless as Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck was, the story was far from over. After the 12-part story concluded, both fans and Rosa himself wanted more. So, the Kentucky cartoonist returned to McDuck's scrap book to uncover more episodes in the life of the World's Richest Duck. Featuring the return of Glittering Goldie, Teddy Roosevelt and those dastardly Beagle Boys, these stories are like the frame around the Mona Lisa. As much as it  encapsulates the masterpiece, it's not what draws in millions of visitors to the Louvre. But it doesn't mean that their existence isn't important to putting together a complete portrait!

Concluding this volume is 'The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter From Home'. It was Rosa's final published Duck story.  A sequel to an earlier work of his called 'The Crown of the Crusader Kings', this story is also a sequel to Carl Barks' 'Secret of the Old Castle'. That classic was the first Duck story a very young Don Rosa ever read, inspiring him to become a comic book creator, it brings the story of Scrooge McDuck full circle in more ways than one. Sadly, poor vision due to a detached retina resulted in Rosa retiring actively from comics. Because I want to know more of what happened after this story and I kinda want to read what Rosa hints in the introduction as what he envisions the final McDuck story to ever be. I have a feeling it finally brings Scrooge and Goldie together. I also think that if that story ever came to pass, I'd weep uncontrollably as my favorite Disney character's story officially came to an end. 

This second volume includes a couple of stories published before Rosa undertook the herculean effort of crafting the original Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck story. Fantagraphics has published all of Rosa's Duck works in a 10 volume set. While I have a feeling I can skip the 2 volumes that reprint his magnum opus, I don't think I can get around not getting the other 8 volumes just because I have this deluxe edition book. Maybe I can get trade credit for this later on...

A great read of which I can't wait to read again when I get those Rosa books in the future. And after that, I just might read Rosa's swan song a few more times after that!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.