The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck

I was buying a magazine from Komik Terbaik Disney Karya Carl Barks (=Best of Disney Comics by Carl Barks) series last June when I saw that they had published another series called Kisah Hidup Paman Gober (=The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck). Unfortunately the latter series was published last year. I didn't even understand why that magazine was being sold, but I bought it, too. It was the last of the series (the 7th). Then I had no idea how could I get the rest of the series, having read the 7th and liked it very much; because the month before (May) I called the publisher (Kompas Gramedia) if I could get the 1st and 2nd of Komik Terbaik Disney Karya Carl Barks which were published inMarch but they didn't have them anymore.

I was glad to find the English version of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, although it was much more expensive. That time I only could find Volume 2 and Companion volume 1. Only this December Volume 1 is available again. Now I am waiting for the release of Companion volume 2.

This series by Don Rosa is very amusing. It begins with young Scrooge with his first job as a shoeshine-boy, where he gets the famous first dime - until becomes the richest duck in the world. The series ends when he meets Donald Duck and the 3 nephews. In between are stories about his struggles to get away from poverty. In volume 1, he more fails than succeeds, but he learns. Don Rosa built the stories from the clues left by the creator of Scrooge: Carl Barks; like facts where and when Uncle Scrooge bought his spectacles or his red jacket or his hat or his cane.

From all the stories in this series, I like very much "The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark". In this story, Scrooge visited Batavia in 1883. There he met Sultan Yogya Mangkunegara V and Sultan Solo Pakubuwono IX. He tried to sell 2 bulls to them because each of the sultans wanted to be the winner of Karapan Sapi race in Madura. Everyone whom I told about it thought it was very very amusing :-) ... and didn't make sense :-)

I like very much Carl Barks's works. Now and then I still like buying Donald Duck or Uncle Scrooge comics, but the stories are not as good as the ones I read when I was young. Comparing Carl Barks and Don Rosa, in Don Rosa's drawing Uncle Scrooge is meaner, not as kind as Carl Barks's. I think all characters is meaner in Don Rosa's drawing.