Boom May Roundup

Barks/Rosa Collection, Volume 4
Well, it's not actually called that, but these would have been the stories in Gemstone's collection of that title. When each of the previous books in the series were released, I didn't own at least one of the stories therein, so they were quite exciting for me. Naturally, this isn't the case this time, so my excitement is somewhat limited. "The Mysterious Stone Ray" is a Barks classic, of course; "Cash Flow," well...it's okay. It's a very early Rosa story, and he was still kind of finding his footing (the only, tenuous, connection between the two is that they both featuring the same eccentric scientist). Still, maybe there's some soul out there who's at the same place with his or her collection that I was a couple three years ago, in which case, he or she will probably really appreciate this!
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"Night of the Saracen"

I have praised this Marco Rota story in the past. When I went back and reread it, however, I realized...well, I'm forced to admit, it's not exactly a great story. Or is it? Comics consist of both words and pictures, so how much importance do you place on each of these elements? Because if you heavily favor the art side of the equation, it probably is a great story--indeed, it features a climax that may well be the most visually stunning thing in duckdom.  But if we privilege the writing…well, the premise certainly would have lent itself to greatness, but the execution is somewhat lacking.  Details? Okay.
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It's the Led Zeppelin IV of duck comics!

I had assumed that the cover to the limited-edition version of DD363 on Boom's website was just a version of the art to which for some reason they hadn't gotten around to the title. But no. This:
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"Donald and the Wheel"

This is a story in the same vein as "Donald Duck in Mathmagicland" before it and "Uncle Scrooge and Money" after--a putatively "educational" comic based on a short animated feature. I had never heard of it until I stumbled on a listing for a copy of the comic book on ebay whilst browsing duck comics in general. The cartoon isn't as well-known as "Mathmagicland" (which has some degree of prominence due to class-room showings) or "Money" (which has a certain cachet as Scrooge's first animated appearance); the comic is more obscure since, unlike the other two, it's never been reprinted in the US. There's probably good reason for that, though--"Mathmagicland" is rather obviously the best of the three, and while I may find "Money" ideologically troubling, it's at least somewhat competently constructed. "Wheel"--less so, and the subject matter is kind of inexplicable--math and money both make sense as things that are generally important to people, but did someone really think there was a tragic wheel-appreciation deficit in the world? Regardless, the cartoon's actually pretty entertaining, with most of the dialogue in song form, some of it quite loopily infectious. It was not converted well, however.
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"The Course in Confusion"

And now, let us amuse ourselves with a silly story that was drawn by Pete Alvarado, written by ?, and published in an HDL back-to-school special in 1960--because that's just how we roll. I wish to dedicate this school-related post to the protestors in Wisconsin. Keep fighting the good fight, guys. And lest anyone take this the wrong way, let me state that I'm pretty sure most teachers are better than Daisy is in this story. I mean, how could they not be?
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"Three Little Cupids"

Okay okay, so this is a totally predictable seasonal choice--but hey, why wouldn't you take the excuse to write about a nice story like this one? No reason that *I* can fathom.
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Barks Tribute Cover Mock-Ups

Now, enjoy these, from the same magazine from which I got "From Egg to Duck."
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"From Egg to Duck"

UPDATE, 02/17/14: Forget the below script; I made an unofficial English version of the story, which you can download here.  Read a bit about it here.

And now, a Duck Comics Revue exclusive: an in-depth look at what must--if only by process of elimination--be the most famous duck story never to be released in English, anywhere, Marco Rota's memoir (of sorts) of Donald, first published in 1984 to celebrate the character's fiftieth birthday. Told you I'd have something interesting for you. I'm quite excited about it. It took a hell of a lot of work, and it's going to be by far the longest entry I've ever written. So kick back, relax, and enjoy.
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Quick Boom April Roundup

Donald Duck: The conclusion of "Foreign Correspondent?" I did not know it was being broken in half. I am miffed. Miffed, I say! Also, a sequel that I didn't know existed, to "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold!" by Jack Hannah. That's certainly fucking interesting.
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"Forget Me Not"

So I finally got my hot little hands on a copy of WDC 715, and I am just about as pleased as punch. IF NOT MORE SO. The first pleasant surprise was that it's printed on very high-quality, glossy, acid-free paper--by far the best I've ever seen in a non-prestige-format comic book. I know I've groused in the past about Boom's books providing less value for money than Gemstone's did, but that complaint is inoperative with this issue, at least. I don't know if Boom is upping the quality specifically in honor of their new "classic" format, or whether they've been doing this a while; all I know is that the only other individual Boom issue I own (WDC700, for the metafictional Van Horn story) is of much lower quality. I hope they keep this up.
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One Hundred! Plus: Fun Side Project!

Hey, guess what? This is this blog's one hundredth post! This doesn't mean I've covered a full hundred stories, but it's still a milestone of sorts. I have planned what I hope will be some interesting posts in the near future to commemorate this awesome event, but for now, how 'bout we look at some duck cartoons for a change?