With the new Ducktales show imminent, I thought I'd finally read this. Outside of a few small instances, it has aged pretty well. I can see why it's considered one of those comics that frequently ends up on those "best graphic novels ever" kinda lists. It has a lot of episodic adventures mixed in with an ongoing story. Based on the notes from the author after each chapter, apparently it also has a lot of callbacks to older Scrooge comics as well, but since I haven't read them I can't really comment except to say it's cool that Don Rosa went to the trouble of keeping that continuity while simultaneously telling a riveting "origin story" of sorts for such a well-liked character.

قصة حياة دهب تم نشرها زمان في مجلة ميكي علي حلقات أسبوعية وهي السبب الرئيسي الي خلاني احب عم دهب

قريتها اكتر من مرة بعد كدة مجمعة في قصة واحدة وقريت كمان النسخة الانجليزي بس نسخ بي دي اف ومش لاقيها دلوقتي ورقي

قصة ملحمية عن حياة دهب من الطفولة حتي ما وصل إلية في النهاية من شخص معزول مكروة من الجميع وكيف رجع الي الحياة بعد لقاء اقاربة بطوط والأولاد لكن جانب القصة الاكير كان عن نشأتة والمعاناة التي عاناها في الفقر حتي وصل لثروتة الهائلة لكنة اكتشف في النهاية انها لم تجلب لة السعادة

A masterpiece, exceeding any expectations that I had. Such a fascinating character study of a character that has been such a big part of me growing up. A wonderful adventure book, a heartbreaking tale and for me just pure bliss. I loved every second.

Now onto the companion book!

One of the signs the world is becoming a better place is that comic books are increasingly accepted as a "serious" form of art. There are many excellent comic books out there - from the more childish Asterix and Lucky Luke to Calvin and Hobbes to gritty graphic novels like Maus; yet the best one, I believe, is Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.

Most people know of the titular character only as Donald Duck's rich and stingy uncle; however, there is much more to him. Scrooge McDuck is the last of clan McDuck, a formerly powerful Scottish family that has fallen on hard times. He grows up in a poor family in Glasgow; on his tenth birthday, his father gives him a shoe polishing kit, and bribes a coal miner to have his shoes shined by the young Scrooge, but to pay him with an American dime, which would be worthless in Scotland. This inspires Scrooge to, become tough, and make a fortune "square".

Thus begins Scrooge's journey to riches. He spends decades travelling the world, partaking in adventures and trying his hand at different professions, including sailing steamboats on the Mississippi, being a cowboy in the Dakota badlands (and meeting Teddy Roosevelt), prospecting for copper (and briefly becoming the owner of the Anaconda copper mine) and searching for diamonds in the Transvaal before finally finding gold in the Klondike.

If the hallmarks of good literature are insights into the human psyche and compelling narratives, then the Life and Times certainly qualifies. It is undeniable that the story itself is exciting. Don Rosa has done a masterful job recreating real historical contexts in which Scrooge's adventures take place - the portrayals of life on the Mississippi (replete with quotations borrowed from Mark Twain) or the Wild West are historically accurate (as far as I can tell, that is). So is the limning of stunning landscapes such as the aforementioned badlands. The narrative itself follows a classic dramatic structure of exposition (Scrooge's background and ambition), rising action (his path to riches), climax (finding gold in Klondike), falling action (Scrooge's alienating his family) and denouement (Scrooge reconciling with his nephew, Donald, marking the starting point of all his chronologically subsequent adventures).

In other words, the plot's structure and embellishing elements are expertly crafted. Rosa's magnum opus is all the more impressive for his success in tying this biography to his own and Carl Barks's stories. Rosa must have put a tremendous amount of effort in going through past stories, noting chronologies and events and deciding which would become part of the life and times. For the most part, he has managed to maintain a remarkable consistency between the L&T and past stories - though he has had to make minor alterations where he found inconsistencies in the canon. I am only mentioning all this to point out that writing this tome was not a simple job; it required meticulous research and hard work.

This leaves the (arguably more important) element of insight into the human psyche. The fact that Scrooge is a duck notwithstanding, I think the comic book does a good job exploring very human emotions and relationships. The book shows Scrooge's development from a naive but ambitious young lad to a hardened but principled man to an immoral robber baron who loses his way to a weak and lonely old man, before finally showing him rediscovering his ideals and reconnecting with his family.

Furthermore, and again regardless of his actual species, Scrooge is far more human than other comic book heroes such as Asterix, Tintin or even Batman. The former two never show weakness, and even the latter, though often tempted to break his moral code (e.g. by killing criminals) never does so (Superman vs Batman doesn't count). In contrast, Scrooge is shown to be at times idealistic and weary, selfless and greedy, honourable and dishonest, kind and miserly: complex.

Now, all these qualities are depicted quite blatantly in the book. Usually, we seek subtlety, which we consider refined and sophisticated, in our high art. A good novel suggests to the reader that a character possesses certain qualities or vices, it does not explicitly tell him/her. This is because a novel is more powerful, and is message is better received, if the reader works that message out him/herself. But the L&T handles this quite well, because even though all of Scrooge's qualities and vices are exaggerated, the fact that he is is so multi-faceted means that despite the comic extent of, say, his penny-pinchingness and love for money, he comes across as more than a simple caricature.

(A quick note on his love for money: to be fair to him, while Scrooge is obsessed with the idea of being the richest duck in history (to the extent that, though through his own choices he misses out on the opportunity to own Croesus's treasure, he feels consoled when he discovers his wealth was vaster than the Lydian king's), physical money has a more emotional appeal to him. As he tells Donald, the money he keeps in his famous money bin is only a small part of his fortune - the rest is invested in businesses and assets around the world. The money in the bin is the money he earned himself through his hard work, and every coin is associated with a memory of his adventures. In other words, even his love for gold is not as simple as it first seems.)

Because of this complexity, Scrooge can be a divisive character. Many readers will consider him fundamentally disagreeable; he is, after all, an unabashed self-proclaimed capitalist; profit counts more than, say, the environment. He is also exploitative, manipulative, suspicious and often unkind towards others, including his own nephew. But for others, myself amongst others, these are counter-balanced by his virtues: a fundamental decency and belief in the value of hard work. Scrooge represents the quintessential self-made man, who took on the world and won. He is tough, but with the exception of one episode depicted in the L&T, he is honest and true to his word. In spite of his greed, he often displays a kindness and philanthropy that he keeps hidden from the world - for example, in one story he realises his land is technically its own independent nation, and as a result, not only he does not have to pay taxes, but he is owed a refund on all the tax he has ever paid. But when he realises this would bankrupt the government, he "accidentally" sets his land's independence claim on fire.

At the end of the day, this is what makes this character so compelling. He blends the naivety and idealism of the classic comic book hero with the flaws and complexity of real people - and gets the balance just right: he is believable and relatable but inspirational.

(Though this is primarily a review of the L&T, I just want to mention here that there is a lot of material and food for thought in the themes explored in other Scrooge stories. Consider the stark difference between Donald and Scrooge: the nephew is lazy and unaccomplished, but finds pleasure in the little things - enjoying a soda or fishing; the uncle is immensely rich and successful, but as he himself admits, "there was a time I could enjoy such a view [of a virgin landscape]; now all I see is timber potential" - though he still finds fulfillment in hard work and adventure. These two attitudes are the extremes on a spectrum that ranges from indolent hedonism to the joy of creation and accomplishment - and determining which is the "right" band in this spectrum is far from trivial; yet the stories do a good job exploring the question.

Or consider the relationship between Scrooge and the only woman he has ever had romantic feelings for, Goldie O'Gilt (because of course that would be her name). Though their love for each other is evident in many stories, it is never articulated between them - in most cases, because of both the characters' pride.

Again, many novels and works of art feature these themes (e.g. Pride & Prejudice); these are serious matters, and though their handling by Rosa is less subtle than, for instance, that of Jane Austen, it is no less powerful.

Beyond these philosophical themes, the plots of the stories themselves are incredibly clever. Refer to this Cracked article for a list of plots or ideas that originated in Scrooge/Donald stories (including the plot for Inception, down to the "kick"/falling down trick for waking up).)

A quick note on Don Rosa himself because his life is one of those feel-good stories of a person discovering their passion, leaving their unfulfilling job to pursue it (the passion, not the job he just left), and doing so successfully: Rosa was born the heir to a prominent construction company, and though he fell in love with comic books from an early age, and drew as a hobby (honing his skills by copying classic Barks stories like "the Golden Helmet"), he felt pressured to go into the family business. However, in the early 80s, comics were past their heyday, and magazines were even publishing amateurish fan art instead of work by professional artists. This encouraged Rosa to write to the editor of the publisher of Donald/Scrooge stories that he "was born to draw Scrooge strories" and that that was his "manifest destiny". Following the success of his first story, he left his family business and became a professional artist.

Rosa's writings show that he considers himself a humble successor to Barks, whom he regards the rightful "owner" of Scrooge McDuck. I disagree with this self-assessment. Though Rosa is heavily influenced by Barks, I think he has exceeded him, by far. His Scrooge has a more consistent personality, his stories are much more researched and nuanced, and even his drawing style is sharper, more alive. He gives the impression of caring about his stories more than Barks did about his.

Anyway, in closing: the L&T is not only one of the best comic books I've ever read, but I'd even say it's one of the best books I've ever read. I very strongly recommend it. It's hard to find it as a stand-alone tome, though there are some sellers on Amazon. The stories making up the volume are included in the Don Rosa library, volumes 4 and 5.

Best adventure graphic story ever. I've never been so much entertained. Witty, funny and very enjoyable. Also, a lot of movie/book/popculture references to be found. Won Will Eisner Award in 1995 - fully deserved.

So incredibly good!

I've always liked Scrooge McDuck, mostly because of Duck Tales. So when I saw he had his own biography comic books, I was all for it. The thing I wasn't expecting was for them to be really, REALLY good!

Scrooge wasn't always rich, in fact he was really poor. And he worked for everything he got. The first few stories are awesome as they travel through riverboating to cowboys in the West to prospecting across the world. The interesting thing about the stories is that Scrooge actually fails! A lot! I think that's what endeared him to me so much was that he not only built an empire on hard work, but after multiple attempts. Granted, all the backstabbing and betrayal throughout the years from the people around him hardened him to the scroogey Scrooge his is, but we all know how that ended up when his triplet nephews showed up. I was just impressed with the storytelling, it doesn't seem like the kind of books that would be that quality, but it really is.

And the art is pretty fantastic. Don Rosa puts an insane amount of detail in his books. There's the main story going on on every page, but there are at least 3 or more gags going on in the background per page as well. You have to really look or you'll miss half the jokes! And any wide scene deserves scrutiny, because all those little people are each doing unique things. Good stuff.

I would own this book in a second, but because of its age and apparent rarity, I can't shell out the $100 or more that vendors want for it. That's a shame because it's a quality read.

If you can find it (I read it from the library, only one in the network had it and it was almost destroyed), read it. You'll be surprised how good it is!

Gober Bebek senantiasa mengajarkan perjuangan atau usaha jika kau ingin mendapatkan sesuatu. Di balik lucunya kisah dalam komik Paman Gober, ada banyak pelajaran kehidupan yang bisa kita dapatkan. Bahwa menjadi sukses itu butuh perjuangan ketekunan.

https://dionyulianto.blogspot.com/202...

Don Rosa

That is far beyond a comic or graphic novel, as they call them nowadays, this is art, subtility, irony, reflection and wisdom. A masterpiece of one of the greatest comic artists and writers of all time. All the subtle social critic, the innuendos, the background events. The ingenuity to fit both the situational and superficial humor for kids and the deeper, hidden messages for the adults. A mixture of real events and persons with fiction, an appraisal of the industrial age and capitalism, a character reminiscing about himself, ethic questions and the relativity of good and evil. An allegory about the worth and meaning of money, friendship, love and the history of mankind.

I could go on like that, so please just read it! It has nothing to do with average Disney cliches and downplaying of controversial topics, it is pure and distilled soul and brain food. I guess I have read it already 3 to 4 times over the years and still find new aspects in it, like elements of stories hidden in other stories and extreme continuity, coherence and consequence. And, as if it couldn´t get even better, Don Rosa is so modest to say that he finds his work average. Just wow man.

Tropes show how literature is made and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

Many years has passed since the last time I read Scrooge McDuck's stories and was delighted when I found this comic book. It was an opportunity to read a compelling version of his life, of the origin of his wealth, but also to see how the character has changed and what he has sacrificed to achieve success.

The book is divided into chapters, everyone telling a different adventure during the life of Scrooge, whose exploits are often intertwined with historical events and characters that really existed. They are funny stories for all ages, with a basic moral, but also touching and sometimes a little sad.

A splendid Grahic Novel that I recommend to all lovers of the character.

A pleasant discovery: reading the reviews I found that Tuomas Holopainen, frontman of Nightwish (one of my favorite bands), also wrote an album based on this comic. I can't wait to listen to it!!!

There are so far only several books which I gave 5 out of 5 stars. The best rating ever should in my opinion be given to works of art who are not only amazing in terms of story, style, heroes, but also in terms of the idea behind them and the way this idea came to live.

When I first encountered "The Life and Time of Scrooge McDuck" probably 20 or more years ago, I was a huge fan of Donald Duck comic books, in which Scrooge McDuck was a supporting duck. We all knew the story of him getting rich in Klondike, but that was it. Then - Don Rosa came along and created a world full of multi-dimensional heroes, plots that made sense and were placed during well-know historic events, amazing drawing, great humor and the story of Scrooge McDuck, which was very human, starting from his childhood in Glasgow, growing up in poverty, going to the USA, traveling all around the world, meeting the love of his life, choosing money instead, losing all the people he loved and getting the second chance during his 90s. This book is absolutely perfect, you can read it over and over again, and still finding something you haven't noticed before, some hidden detail, something happening in the top-right hand corner. This book is filled with references to historic figures and events, and it is so true, that it could be made into a movie with real actors.

Recommended to everyone, no matter their age or the level of their love to comic books - I myself am not a fan of comic books, but this is something else. It is a real work of art

This is the Best comic I have ever read.