Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: 'Return to Plain Awful'- The Don Rosa Library, Vol. 2

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!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DuckTales #4 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers. TailSpin. Darkwing Duck. Without the success of their predecessor DuckTales, none of these classic Disney cartoons from the late 80s-early 90s would have existed. In fact, the Disney Channel as it operates today as a leader in children's programming as well as the streaming juggernaut Disney+, if not for the pioneering nature of DuckTales.

Production for DuckTales began in 1986. At the time, it was a big gamble for Disney who was fledgling against a wave of new animation studios that was poaching quality talent away from the House of Mouse. In 1985, Disney saw a moderate success with the weekly TV series Adventures of the Gummi Bears. Debuting on NBC, the show was an all-new property, though loosely based on the popular gummy candies. It's surprise popularity enticed Disney to begin production on a daily syndicated series that would air in the late afternoon when children would be home. It needed to be based on a Disney icon. Instead of focusing on Mickey Mouse producers wanted a lead character with a bit of an attitude. And of you wanted attitude in the Disney universe, you headed over to Duckburg, Calisota!

Based upon the classic Duck universe comic stories of Carl Barks, DuckTales was an adventure heavy animated series that saw Uncle Scrooge and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie seeking treasures from across the globe; even the Moon! Enemies such as the Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold and Magical De Spell would be the standard flies in Scrooge's ointment as he constantly looked for new ways to fill his already overflowing coffers. 

To the dismay of Duck fans, Donald Duck would be missing. Due to an internal edict by Disney, the main trio of Mickey, Donald and Goofy were forbidden from being used in the newly developed television animation department. Thus, Donald was sent away to join the Navy (He already had the hat and tunic!) and the larger than life Launchpad McQuack was introduced to pilot Scrooge and his nephews around the world. (The policy forbidding the use of Disney's major Golden Age characters would be overturned in 1992 with the release of the syndicated series Goof Troop starring Goofy and his son Max. Again, thanks to the popularity of DuckTales!)

As DuckTales quickly dominated the airwaves, Disney immediately looked for ways to market the series through merchandising. The first thing Disney approved was a comic book series by their American license holder of the Disney comic book rights, Gladstone. The first few issues had Studio Program material featuring Donald in the episode based adventures. Yet on the covers it was  Launchpad on the engaging with Scrooge and family; not Donald! The rest of the book was filled with a classic Barks story, which also featured Donald.

I realize the mastery of those stories in my older age. But for a 12 year old who was a fan of the TV show as well as a subscriber to Gladstone's comic adaptation, the stark contrast of art styles between the TV show and 1950s Disney Ducks was confusing. Having Donald acting out stories that he wasn't even involved in on the TV didn't help matters much either. Once Disney 's Studio Program realized that Donald was absent from the series, the remainder of the first volume of DuckTales' 13 issues featured Launchpad instead. Those first tales featuring Donald are now considered non-canon by fans.

In 1990, Disney revoked the licensing rights form Gladstone. The studio decided to publish their own comics. Len Wein was hired as the Editor-in-chief. With a full length feature film hitting theaters later in the year, Disney Comics published the second volume of DuckTales. The 18-issue series was nothing like Gladstone's book. An all-new multi part story saw Uncle Scrooge, the nephews and Webby, the granddaughter of McDuck's housekeeper, Mrs. Beakley attempting to recover Scrooge's lucky dime from the clutches of Magica De Spell. 

In this issue, the Duckburg estate is celebrating the safe return of Webby from being held captive by Magica. As a present, Scrooge takes his nephews and Webby on a cruise where bad weather causes McDuck to be swept overboard. He awakens, marooned on the tropical island of his dreams because the native monkeys pay him in trade for coconuts and other fruits in rubies, diamonds and emeralds. However, everything becomes less than ideal when a giant ape arrives on the scene literally throwing his weight around!

While the story ends with a 'To Be Continued' blurb, thankfully things on Ape Island satisfyingly end to prevent readers from having to wait for Scrooge's rescue in issue #5. 

Volume 2 ran for 18 issues right up until the publisher imploded in 1991, cancelling all but a trio of series. DuckTales #4 was written by season one screenwriter Frank Ridgeway. Covers and art by Cosme Quartieri and Robert Bat.

Completing this review completes Task #4 (A Comic Book Based on an Animated TV Show) the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Walt Disney's Autumn Adventures #1

I could have finished this book earlier. I started in in mid-October. However, once I realized that there was some Thanksgiving themed stories, I decided to wait until now to complete.

Walt Disney's Autumn Adventures #1 doesn't just cover Halloween which is what I thought based on Chip and Dale hauling a gigantic jack-o'-lantern on the cover. Had I been a bit more keen, I would have noticed Gyro Gearloose using one of his new inventions to capture a turkey! No, this really is a book that runs the entire Fall season gambit.

The book is essentially divided into 3 sections: the coming of Autumn, Halloween and Thanksgiving. In the first part, Huey, Dewey and Louie get in trouble playing hooky during the first day of school in a Carl Barks classic while chipmunks Chip and Dale contemplate going south for the winter.

In the middle section, Donald's nephews and the Junior Woodchucks explore a haunted house owned by Uncle Scrooge in a DuckTales themed Halloween romp. Readers get to marvel at the genius of Barks once again when Donald tries out Gyro's latest invention: a jet powered broomstick, to disastrous effect. 

Thanksgiving stories include the Three Little Pigs and Li'l Bad Wolf feeding some turkeys when the Big Bad Wolf decides to use it to his advantage in another attempt to eat the piggies. Meanwhile, Pluto must save Horace Horsecollar's prize winning turkey from poachers after Mickey's dog accidentally lets the bird loose.

From the early 90s when Disney was self publishing it's own comics after the shuttering of Gemstone. It was a very brief affair that later lead to Marvel and then IDW publishing Disney comics for a time. Unfortunately, I can't accurately date this book as there's no copyright inside the book. However I do know that before they went defunct, Disney released another Autumn Adventures the following year. I'm on the lookout for that...

I had no idea that Len Wein was the EIC here. Based on his resume of horror works, heading Disney's comics division seems odd for him. Apparently, Wein brought some DC talent with him as Marv Wolfman among others is listed as one of the writers of a couple of other releases for the month in the back of this book.

A wonderful Fall holiday read that lasts the whole season.

Worth Consuming!

Rating:9 out of 10 stars.

DuckTales #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Dynamite Entertainment seems to be the new official home of comic books starring your favorite Disney properties. Hercules, Darkwing Duck and Lilo and Stitch have been leading a 90s resurgence and I think that's great. But what I really want is something with Peter Pan. However, my interest in Dynamite's Disney books was peaked when it was announced over the Summer that DuckTales would be returning to print!

No, this isn't the recently rebooted version of the show featuring the voice talents of David Tennant. Here, Donald Duck is off serving in the Navy. Launchpad McQuack is Scrooge's personal pilot and bodyguard. Della Duck is nowhere to be found. Nope, Dynamite has brought back the original 1980s syndicated animated classic version of DuckTales and I couldn't be more thrilled!

The first issue is basically an introduction to the main characters. Great nephews Huey Dewey and Louie are bored with counting Uncle Scrooge's money bin. Looking for a little adventure, the nephews ask Scrooge to tell them a story of one of his greatest adventures. Scrooge in return tells them 3 yarns. And that's issue #1. It ends with a 'to be continued' blurb. Normally I hate that. But in this case where there aren't any loose ends needing tightening up or a thrilling cliffhanger, I feel like the 'TBC' was more of a promise of more great things to come.

Next issue promises Magica De Spell. I've already told my favorite LCS to pre-order the entire series. So I won't be missing any of the action.  

Writer Brandon Montclare captures the spirit of the original series very well. I liked the vignettes about Scrooge's earlier days as an adventurer and explorer. I just wish we'd only gotten more of an origin story as to how the nephews came to live at McDuck Manor or that we could have gotten an full length adventure.

Tommaso Ronda's artwork was very good. It wasn't Carl Barks or Don Rosa quality. However, it was better than that more modern style of the reboot that makes everyone look more angular and exaggerated. While the reboot stories were pretty good. I thought the art needed to return to the drawing board 

The 80s and 90s heyday of Disney is in full swing at Dynamite Entertainment. For a company that a couple of years ago looked ready to cash in their chips, the publisher reorganized into what IDW was so close to achieving before losing those lucrative Hasbro licenses. Retro fun for the whole family!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Darkwing Duck: Just Us Justice Ducks: Disney Afternoon Adventures, Vol. 1 (Family Comic Friday)

The Disney Afternoon. From 1990-97, Disney ran a 2-hour block of TV shows in the late afternoons after school let out. The event was syndicated, but eventually ran on the Disney Channel. Shows like Ducktales, Tailspin, The Adventures of the Gummi Bears and Darkwing Duck ran in a rotation that was a direct competition to Fox Kids. As part of the Disney Afternoon marketing campaign, Disney's publishing imprint released a monthly magazine called Disney Adventures.

Along with features on upcoming Disney TV shows and films, Disney Adventures contained comics! Stories based on the Disney Afternoon line-up, along with adaptations of long-form Disney films were released on a semi-regular schedule. As many of these stories were multi-parters, this rather irregular schedule meant that part one of a Ducktales story might be released on issue #1 but part two might not appear in print until issue #5!

Disney Afternoon Adventures Volume 1 was released in the summer of 2021. So yes, I am a little late maybe on reviewing something new. But the reason I found out about this book in the first place is because Volume 2 was released just last month and seeing the advertisement for that collection got me rather interested! Plus, I've really been digging some volumes from the Carl Barks Library lately and I've been wanting so more Disney goodness to read.

My kid sister is 12 years younger than me. So I am rather familiar with the stories despite the fact that I was 12-15 when the shows these comics were based on aired. Well, Ducktales actually came out in 1987 and I am a fool for anything with Uncle Scrooge in it! But everything else in this book was stuff that I probably was too old for. Yet, because of her, I'm actually pretty familiar with most of the material in this book. 

There's a lot of short stories in this edition and they are rather fun little reads. But the highlights of this book are the two larger stories that take up much of the real estate of this 200-pager. First up was a comic adaptation of A Goofy Movie. The second tale was a 5-part adventure that crossed-over all the way from Tailspin to Darkwing Duck, with Goof Troop, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers and Ducktales filling in the gaps! A crossover that wasn't really a crossover, it was an epic romp on par with the works of Carl Barks, Don Rosa and William Van Horn! 

By the way- did you know that Tailspin took place 50 years before Ducktales and the other members of the Disney Afternoon? I didn't either. But now I understand why there weren't any flying pirates in modern day Duckburg!

I really enjoyed this book. I just wished that Fantagraphics did a better job letting fans know where these stories originally appeared. In the Carl Barks books, the level of research and background material on the Donald Duck stories is professional grade stuff. Here, we get a small bit of info on the material of origin on the ISBN info page and it's printed in a font of 3 at best!

A 3rd volume is scheduled for release in July. Hopefully, I can get both volumes for a good price. And hopefully, the amount of background material will get even better. Sure, these volumes are targeted for millenials and their children. But surely, even 30-something comic book lovers will delight in knowing more about the publishing and design history of these stories!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Gyro Gearloose - Free Comic Book Day 2008

The zany mad scientist/ inventor of Duckburg finally gets his own comic- though it’s a one-shot Free Comic Book Day edition. Sorry!

This book features several stories involving Gyro Gearloose and the residents of Duckburg, like when he helps Uncle Scrooge hide his money from the Beagle Boys. The best stories are the ones taken from 1980s Ducktales comics in which Gyro is trying to help Launchpad not crash anymore. Hir inventions never work, but it’s Scrooge’s pilot and his “eh? What can you do? At least we didn’t die!” attitude that makes those stories so gosh darn funny.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars