The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: Towards an Epilogue-ish Thing

Man, I keep trying to write a definitive epilogue, and it keeps not quite working. Let's consider this a work in progress, shall we? For now, a few thoughts on an important and, I think, oft-missed aspect of Rosa's work.
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On another note...

...I would draw your attention to the fact that, thanks to my tireless efforts (okay okay, it was a few hours of work max--but it's absolutely true that I didn't get tired!), all of the books in the UK Literature Classics series are now fully inducks'd--in case you wanted to see exactly what all it includes. To answer Joe's earlier question, no, that one Murry/Lockman King Arthur thing is the only Western-produced story in the whole series. There's also the one Disney Studio Program Goofy story; aside from that, it's all Italian stuff.

I also added cover scans--with the exceptions of the first and fifth volumes, you're lookin' at my personal copies there. I must say, for all the criticism you can level at these stories--and not wholly due to translation issues, either--most of the covers are just gorgeous--I'd buy a few of them as framed prints, absolutely.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Twelve: "The Richest Duck in the World"

Hey everyone, Merry Christmas. Hard for me to believe that this is it, given how submerged in this stuff I've been for the last month or so, but it it is. Last installment of the series. This can't help but come across as a little anti-climactic given the last one, but it's mostly a fitting ending. If inducks is to be believed, an alternate title for this is "The Recluse of McDuck Manor;" per Rosa's expanded commentary, this was Byron Erickson's idea, but Rosa preferred the title that we have before us now. No ambiguity here: sorry, Byron, but Rosa was right and you were wrong. That's a terrible name for the last installment in the series. "The Richest Duck in the World" creates an obvious sense of the series' final culmination, whereas that other title just makes it seem like one more segment like all the rest. And in any case, doesn't it violate the dictum that each title is meant to be a "positive" reference to Scrooge?
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Eleven: "The Empire-Builder from Calisota"

Okay, here we go! Scrooge's downfall! Ready?!? Yeah, I know--you were born ready.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Ten B: "The Sharpie of the Culebra Cut"

Man, until I reread this story for this project, I'd forgotten how doggone good it is. There's just a lot to like here: Scrooge's sisters are shown off to to their best effect in the series, so is Teddy Roosevelt, there are some really funny sequences, and also some good action. What more do you want, dammit? I have my quibbles as always, but in general, this one's a classic.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Ten: "The Invader of Fort Duckburg"

Rosa judges this as "perhaps the most enjoyable chapter in the series." It's certainly enjoyable, but also, I can't help feeling, a little insubstantial. How much I will have to say about it is open to question. Let us see. There's a LOT of Barksian stuff here, but I'm certainly not going to make an effort to catalogue it all--that's what Rosa's commentary is for.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Nine: "The Billionaire of Dismal Downs"

Interesting installment here--first, because it's the lone part of the series that isn't really an adventure story (well…"Of Ducks Dimes and Destinies" too, I suppose, but that's still more action-oriented than this). And second, because it really showcases the contradictions and incoherencies that pop up in Rosa's conception of Scrooge. For instance, the beginning starts off with a letter to his family detailing what went down after he struck it rich:
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Eight C: "Hearts of the Yukon"

So according to Rosa's commentary, this story was "commissioned by Gladstone Comics as part of Canada's centennial celebration of the Yukon Gold Rush." Am I to infer from this that the Canadian government actually contacted Gladstone and asked "hey, can you do a comic for us?" Because I'm already quite fond of Canada, but if that's an actual thing that they did, man, it would really push them over the top in my esteem.

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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Eight B: "The Prisoner of White Agony Creek"

So now we come to the last (sob) story that Rosa ever wrote. And it certainly provides a fitting cap to his career. It is excessive, in ways both good and bad, but in either case quintessentially Rosian. Note also that the title, for once, doesn't refer to Scrooge himself. That's how devoted Rosa is to this romance!
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Eight: "King of the Klondike"

Well, here we are--money is about to be made. Some of the previous entries, entertaining though they are, could really be said to be basically just making time--but this one, obviously, is pivotal.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Seven: "Dreamtime Duck of the Never-Never"

Barks did three Australian stories, in three different decades. "Adventure Down Under" (1947) is okay, but it's pretty badly tainted by its portrayal of savage, murderous aborigines; "Riches, Riches Everywhere!" (1955) is one of his weakest adventures, a not-very-atmospheric thing that furthermore wholeheartedly endorses the notion that Scrooge's fortune is luck-based; "Queen of the Wild Dog Pack" (1966) is clearly the best, goofy-as-hell but in a fun way. Point is, though, none of these exactly provide much in the way of a jumping-off point for Rosa--hence, this whole thing is inspired by a throwaway comment in "The Loony Lunar Gold Rush"--same as "Transvaal," actually; it's a sure bet that Barks never imagined he was providing such inspiration while he was working on that story.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Six B: "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff"

An' now, a brief jaunt back to America for more cowboy hijinx. You just can't have enough of 'em, right? Well, maybe. You'll recall "Pizen Bluff" as a place that appeared in several Barks stories.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Six: "The Terror of the Transvaal"

Man…this story had never been my favorite part of the saga, but upon rereading it for this project, I realized that I really kind of hate it. I know I was critical of a few previous entries, but really, neither "Buckaroo" nor "Cowboy Captain" is anything worse than average, and both have elements that elevate them to some extent. Whereas this one is just terrible, for reasons that will become apparent very shortly. And yes, I feel bad about having to say this, especially given that Rosa himself is almost certainly reading this. Sorry, Don--I guess all I can say is that, on balance, this is the only installment in the series that I actively dislike. As the song sez: seventeen out of eighteen ain't bad. And at least, at a mere twelve pages, it's also the shortest ("the food is terrible, and the portions are so small!").
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Five: "The New Laird of Castle McDuck"

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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Four: "Raider of the Copper Hill"

(This is one of the five parts of the series that doesn't start with "the." "Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies" and "Hearts of the Yukon" are obvious, but I don't understand the others.)
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Three B: "The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark"

This is one of two entries in the series--the other being "Sharpie of the Culebra Cut"--that really have no Barksian basis. As Rosa explains it, he wanted Scrooge to be in Java when Krakatoa erupted in 1883. Hence, his justification: "The greatest sport in Java, both in 1883 and today, is the annual bull race on Madoera Island. And Scrooge is working on the world's biggest cattle ranch at the time!" Well, whatever gets you through the night, I guess. Not that I think there's any need for specific Barksian justification; it just feels a little odd, given how maniacal most of the series is about being based around details from Unca Carl. In theory, I'd say it's actually a good thing for Rosa to strike out on his own like this.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Three: "The Buckaroo of the Badlands"

We follow up one of the better entries in the series with one of the weaker (Rosa himself acknowledges that it's a bit subpar). It could have been worse; from the sketches include in the Gemstone book and Rosa's own account, it's clear that his initial conception would have been substantially worse. So kudos to Erickson for rejecting that--but the question remains: could it have been better had Rosa had more space to work with? I'm going to answer in the affirmative.
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Two: "The Master of the Mississippi"

According to Rosa's essay, it was mandated that most of the installments in the series not be longer than fifteen pages. To his credit, none of them feel notably compacted in spite of this limitation; he managed to work well within these limitations. The question must be asked, however: why? I mean, I suppose you could, if you were so inclined, make an a priori argument that letting them go on for too long would lead to a lot of self-indulgent noodling around (as though the series isn't self-indulgent by design).
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter One: "The Last of the Clan McDuck"

Part One! This consists of Young Scrooge getting a work ethic, driving those pesky Whiskervilles off the ol' McDuck estate, and getting motivated to go to America. That's a lot to fit in fifteen pages, but to Rosa's credit, it feels neither rushed nor over-stuffed. It's not really a favorite of mine--and, though it's obviously not its fault, parts of it can't help feeling redundant after the "zeroeth" chapter--but it sets up greater things to come!
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Public Service Announcement

Never fear, the L&T Marathon is right on track, but right now, I must make note of this:
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter Zero: "Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies"

(I was considering spelling Scrooge with a dollar sign, but I'm not gonna lie to you: I would like for this series to be as high as possible in google search results for "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck," and the non-standard spelling would not have been helpful in that regard.)
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Introducing the DCR Holiday Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Marathon

Hey, guess what, kids? Now, it is beginning of a fantastic story! I've written a little about Rosa's Life & Times series before, but honestly--that amounted to little more than a whole lotta uncritical fanboy gushing--not really all that interesting. I've often thought that it deserved more than that--what with being the most ambitious project in Disney comics history* and all. These days, I'm slightly older and slightly wiser, and I think--hope, anyway--that I can bring a critical perspective to the series that I couldn't earlier. I've also been thinking it would be fun to do a li'l something special for this holiday season. Sooooo...
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"City of Golden Roofs"

To be clear, when I wrote "new posts starting December seventh," this is NOT what I was referring to. We'll have something completely different on Wednesday. But it so happened that I recently reread this Barks story from and was immediately bitten by the duckblogging bug.
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New post starting December seventh.

...and they will knock your fucking socks off. So be sure you're wearing socks when you check back. Otherwise, I cannot be responsible for the consequences.