Friday Book Review: The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck

As Ryan reminded me about a month ago Donald Ducks 75th birthday came and went. For those of you who didn't know me as a kid I was and still remain a huge fan of the duck in the sailor's costume. So much so I even learned how to talk in Donald's voice.

That love of Donald transferred to the rest of the Duck clan including, of course, the irascible Scrooge McDuck. I spent a lot of time as a kid reading the various Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comic books by the amazing Carl Barks. Barks is the man who invented the character of Scrooge McDuck. I owe him a great deal as my love of things like mythology, geography and different cultures owes a lot to what my young mind was exposed to in Barks' stories.

Recently I was saddened to hear that Gemstone had lost the license to publish Disney comics. Only to be overjoyed that Boom Studios has picked up the license. Which is great news as we should now see some new Duck stories.

Which in a very round about way brings us to our book review of The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa. In this volume Rosa, a Barks enthusiast, carefully pieces together the life and times of Scrooge in 12 chapters. Rosa lovingly recreates the continuity of Barks' original stories into a consistent narrative that does not contradict the past. Basically, Rosa is a Scrooge McDuck fanboys dream come true.

Each chapter shows us a different stage in Scooge's life. From his early days in Glasgow, Scotland where he earns his number one dime to the development of Scrooge's giant money bin. The close of each chapter includes two or more pages from Rosa on how he teased the story to life from older Barks' stories, links back to how he created panels hearkening back to the older comics and trivia only hard core duck lovers could answer.

I really enjoyed this trip down memory lane and I'm very happy to have a book I can read to my daughter.