Praise the GOAT
- netrom88
- Jun 3, 2016
- 6 min read
The United States is the most powerful country of all time. The Americans have fostered the greatest athlete of all time when it comes to basketball, American football, baseball, and boxing. The King of Pop was American, and so was the King of Rock. But did you know that so is the King of Duck?
Who is this King of Duck, you ask? Allow me to let you in on the secret.
I grew up as a big fan of comics. Batman, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Superman. You name it. I read it. But the one magazine I read religiously was the one that included stories about Disney characters. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were some of my favorites. But my absolute favorite was Scrooge McDuck. And that is where the King of Duck comes in.
The character of Scrooge McDuck was created for Disney by an artist known as “The Good Duck Artist”, Carl Barks. But Barks is not the King of Duck. While he was the one who put down the foundation, there was another artist who allowed the character to reach its full potential.
During the first half of the 1950's there was a little boy named Keno roaming around Louisville, Kentucky. He was introduced to comics through his sister, and this would be the Big Bang that threw Keno into the universe of comics.
Keno went to college and got himself an engineering degree. His profession, however, would not utilize everything his education taught him. And the world thanks him for it.
Just like me, millions of other kids grew up reading Keno's work. To us he is known as Don Rosa, and he is an absolute legend. To put it into some perspective: At some point I stopped buying the magazines. But I still get them if there is a Don Rosa story in it.
Being a follower of Barks, and a huge fan of his work, Rosa made sure to honor the stories Barks had produced. As long as something happened in a Barks story, it's considered canon. Rosa follows Barks' story of Scrooge religiously, but that doesn't mean that there is no room for improvisation. Barks did not tell the whole story, and where he left holes, Rosa made it his mission to fill in some of the blanks.
Rosa spent years filling in several blanks, and the stories he came up with are still stuck in the minds of those who read them. It might seem childish to someone who doesn't know what a Don Rosa story really is. But those of us who do, know that this isn't a story that is only fit for people under the age of 13. We know that these stories are timeless and ageless. They include adventure, drama, humor, and romance. All you need to enjoy these stories is a heartbeat and the ability to feel.
No Don Rosa story makes this more obvious than the story that made me think of Scrooge McDuck as my favorite character. It is also what I believe is Don Rosa's masterpiece. It is the epic story called “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck”.
In it, Rosa tells the story of how Scrooge grew up in Scotland, and how he went on to become the richest duck in the world. We get to join him on his epic adventures, spanning several decades and all continents. We get to be a part of his ups and downs, triumphs and heartbreaks. We see what Scrooge is shaped by, and ultimately why he becomes who he is.
The thing that struck me as different with Rosa's tale was the fact that Scrooge isn't some heartless, angry, old man. His money isn't just coins of metal in a bin. Each coin is a story. Each coin is a memory. How the coin was earned is much more important than the simple fact that it was earned. To realize that that's what really matters to Scrooge was eyeopening, and it serves as a lesson to all of us who read the story. Appreciate it. No matter what it is.
One chapter of Scrooge's story in particular shows how Rosa's storytelling is able to really touch the reader. It certainly did in my case. It is called “Hearts of the Yukon”, and revolves around the relationship between Scrooge and the love of his life, Glittering Goldie. Maybe in a way like no other chapter about the life of Scrooge McDuck, “Hearts of the Yukon” is key to how Scrooge's life turned out. Had it not been for a few pivotal decisions made in that chapter, Scrooge might have ended up completely different.
In the chapter, Scrooge continuously pushes Goldie away, ultimately sealing his own fate as a loner. I am willing to bet that I was not the only one with a lump in my throat when, in the last frame of the chapter, we see Scrooge walking away from a letter written by Goldie. We will probably never know exactly what the letter said, but in my mind, if Scrooge had read it, he would have headed back into town instead of leaving it and Goldie behind.
Rosa lets his readers hanging like that on several occasions. He does this so that the individual reader can decide for themselves what the facts are. This is one of his methods that I like, and that makes him stand apart from other duck artists. The other factor that puts Rosa in a league of his own is his art. The images themselves.
No other stories involving the Disney characters are made with the same attention to detail as the ones made by Don Rosa. If a character is sweating bullets, Rosa will show that in his drawings. The historical figures we meet look like their real life counterparts. And there are hidden gems all around. Especially in a story's opening frame.
Each opening frame has the letters D.U.C.K. Hidden somewhere in them. This serves as the artist's signature, as well as an homage. Since all of Rosa's work on Scrooge McDuck is based on the work of Carl Barks, the D.U.C.K. letters are a message to “The Good Duck Artist” himself. They stand for “Dedicated to Uncle Carl from Keno.” It is a very nice touch, and discovering where the letters are hidden is always one of the sweetest moments when reading a Rosa story.
As a contrast to the sweetness of the images and stories Rosa has created, the message saying that he is no longer going to create more stories like these hit hard. Unfortunately, Don Rosa is struggling too much with his eyesight to continue making these tales. While the ones he did provide us with are more than enough, there will always be that sense of wanting more. His stories and his art is at such a high level that there will always be a demand for more. At least in Europe.
The fact of the matter is that Don Rosa and his stories are several times more known and loved in Europe than in his home country. Whenever he comes over to Europe to sign people's comics there are long lines of people waiting to see him. It seems like the people of Europe have a much closer connection to his work than the American people. There are pictures of him sitting at comic book conventions in the U.S. without anyone there to ask him for an autograph or a chat. This is surprising to me.
In a culture where being the best is something that is praised above anything else, the fact that Don Rosa is not praised is baffling. Because this man is the greatest to ever do what he did. Why do I say that? Because of all the things I listed earlier. His art and his storytelling is on another level, and I feel like it should be appreciated to a higher degree in his home country. The artist himself, however, might disagree with me on that one.
I can imagine that being relatively unknown is something Rosa appreciates. Not that I would know, but I can imagine that having fans and media around him all the time can be exhausting. So it might be that his anonymity is something Rosa is perfectly happy with.
But that does not change the fact that he is the greatest. I don't care how many times I have to say it. I truly believe it to be true. He is the Michael Jordan, or Babe Ruth, of duck artists, and it will be hard for anyone to top what he has done. That is why I just now came up with the title of King of Duck. That is why I believe that if Carl Barks is known as “The Good Duck Artist”, Don Rosa should be known as “The Great Duck Artist”.
I would like to personally thank Don Rosa for the imagination and inspiration he provided me with. I'm sure I'm not alone in my gratitude. What he created is something anyone would be proud of . I imagine even Carl Barks would agree with me on that one.
Note: Images and information is taken from the official facebook page of Don Rosa. It can be found HERE
Comments