Post by djnyr on Mar 10, 2023 0:05:50 GMT
I know we have several other Rosa threads on the forums, and perhaps this should (and will) be merged with one of them, but none of the others seemed quite to fit. Anyway, due to my frequently critical comments on Rosa here in the past, I feel it only fair to provide a little balance by listing and analyzing my picks for his best stories--although the analysis, of necessity, will still entail a bit of criticism.
1. "His Majesty McDuck."
While not a universal opinion, there seems to be a not inconsiderable consensus that this is Rosa's best story, an opinion I would agree with. His artwork wasn't quite at its peak at this point (I think his art was at its best around 1990-1991), but by the time of "Majesty" it was already much improved over his very earliest Gladstone efforts. More importantly, the writing of the story is absolutely top-notch. He incorporates his passion for history (both real and Duckburgian) into the story much more integrally than would often be the case later on; the bit with Sir Francis Drake is not a needless piece of historical name-dropping (unlike the horde of real-life Wild West figures in "Prisoner of White Agony Creek"), and the Cornelius Coot sequence is not just a fannish discursus on an aspect of Duck lore; both Drake and Coot are essential to the plot of the story, in establishing the legal reasons for the independence of "McDuckland."
The story's humor is also first-rate; I particularly love the "siege malpractice" line, the Beagles' grumbling about being called "undesirable aliens" ("Do I look like a Martian?"), the Nephew's pose as a "double-agent spy" by simply pulling his cap down lower, and, best of all, Donald's cheerfully sarcastic creation of "Sherwood Forest". The slapstick action is handled well, with the Beagles bearing the brunt of it and Scrooge himself being subjected to a physical mishap (the collision with the drawbridge), rather than Donald suffering all the cartoon violence as in some later Rosa efforts. The swordfight sequence is also one of Rosa's niftiest classic-movie homages, evoking Adventures of Robin Hood and Mark of Zorro, but capping the homages with a very Duck-specific bit of business (Scrooge carving the dollar sign on McCovet's trouser seat).
The character writing is some of Rosa's best; Donald is very close to his cantankerous, outspoken Barksian self, and his blunt denunciation of Scrooge's scheme ("This is all such a farce!") is one of his best moments in any Rosa story. Rosa also maintains a perfect balance of sentimentality and crankiness in his depiction of Scrooge, something he was not always able to accomplish in other stories; he shows us Scrooge's greedy motives in setting up his own country, and doesn't attempt to downplay his greed, while at the same time capturing something of the childish side of Scrooge seen in Barks' stories, through his depiction of the sheer gusto with which Scrooge assembles the quaint and quirky trappings of his little play-kingdom. He also allows Scrooge to make his climactic sacrifice for the good of Duckburg completely without any verbal or visual fanfare; there are none of Rosa's characteristically dramatically-lit close-up panels of characters summing up an Important Point, unlike in "The Money Pit" or "War of the Wendigo." Instead, Rosa handles the moral and emotional climax of the story with much of the same subtlety that Barks used in "Back to the Klondike", and to much the same genuinely moving effect; a wealth of heart and meaning is conveyed by means of only two total panels (the one with Scrooge glancing at the candle, and the very last panel of the story, with the intact plaque).
I originally meant this to be a single post, but, as usual, I rambled on so long that I've going to have serialize things. Please feel free to add your own thoughts on this story or your own picks for the top Rosa stories; it'll be quite a bit before I can finish off my own list, at this rate.
1. "His Majesty McDuck."
While not a universal opinion, there seems to be a not inconsiderable consensus that this is Rosa's best story, an opinion I would agree with. His artwork wasn't quite at its peak at this point (I think his art was at its best around 1990-1991), but by the time of "Majesty" it was already much improved over his very earliest Gladstone efforts. More importantly, the writing of the story is absolutely top-notch. He incorporates his passion for history (both real and Duckburgian) into the story much more integrally than would often be the case later on; the bit with Sir Francis Drake is not a needless piece of historical name-dropping (unlike the horde of real-life Wild West figures in "Prisoner of White Agony Creek"), and the Cornelius Coot sequence is not just a fannish discursus on an aspect of Duck lore; both Drake and Coot are essential to the plot of the story, in establishing the legal reasons for the independence of "McDuckland."
The story's humor is also first-rate; I particularly love the "siege malpractice" line, the Beagles' grumbling about being called "undesirable aliens" ("Do I look like a Martian?"), the Nephew's pose as a "double-agent spy" by simply pulling his cap down lower, and, best of all, Donald's cheerfully sarcastic creation of "Sherwood Forest". The slapstick action is handled well, with the Beagles bearing the brunt of it and Scrooge himself being subjected to a physical mishap (the collision with the drawbridge), rather than Donald suffering all the cartoon violence as in some later Rosa efforts. The swordfight sequence is also one of Rosa's niftiest classic-movie homages, evoking Adventures of Robin Hood and Mark of Zorro, but capping the homages with a very Duck-specific bit of business (Scrooge carving the dollar sign on McCovet's trouser seat).
The character writing is some of Rosa's best; Donald is very close to his cantankerous, outspoken Barksian self, and his blunt denunciation of Scrooge's scheme ("This is all such a farce!") is one of his best moments in any Rosa story. Rosa also maintains a perfect balance of sentimentality and crankiness in his depiction of Scrooge, something he was not always able to accomplish in other stories; he shows us Scrooge's greedy motives in setting up his own country, and doesn't attempt to downplay his greed, while at the same time capturing something of the childish side of Scrooge seen in Barks' stories, through his depiction of the sheer gusto with which Scrooge assembles the quaint and quirky trappings of his little play-kingdom. He also allows Scrooge to make his climactic sacrifice for the good of Duckburg completely without any verbal or visual fanfare; there are none of Rosa's characteristically dramatically-lit close-up panels of characters summing up an Important Point, unlike in "The Money Pit" or "War of the Wendigo." Instead, Rosa handles the moral and emotional climax of the story with much of the same subtlety that Barks used in "Back to the Klondike", and to much the same genuinely moving effect; a wealth of heart and meaning is conveyed by means of only two total panels (the one with Scrooge glancing at the candle, and the very last panel of the story, with the intact plaque).
I originally meant this to be a single post, but, as usual, I rambled on so long that I've going to have serialize things. Please feel free to add your own thoughts on this story or your own picks for the top Rosa stories; it'll be quite a bit before I can finish off my own list, at this rate.