Rosa Talks Recoloring Classic Disney "Duck" Tales, Carl Barks & More

[CBR News]

Don Rosa explains the importance of Fantagraphics' recolored and remastered Duck books, and how he followed in Barks' legendary footprints.


Full article here.

[Great O.G.U.F.O.O.L.]

I knew that Rosa's comics were being recolored but will this happen and to Barks's comics as well? I couldn't make that out from the article and the Barks volumes I have seem to have the original coloring, for example Scrooge's coat in "Back to the Klondike" is green and not red and grey like the usual modern version.

[Angilasman]

^Fanta's new Barks coloring uses the original coloring as a guide (hence the changing colors of Scrooge's coat and the Beagle Boy's shirts) for a kind of period authenticity, but does all sorts of little tweaking to correct mistakes, colors read differently on the quality paper of these books than it did when printed on that old newsprint, ect. ect. Kind of a balancing act.

[Great O.G.U.F.O.O.L.]

Thanks for answering!
Looking forward to more Barks/Rosa volumes!

[Jeffen]

"Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck are perhaps best known to American audiences via the 1980s "DuckTales" cartoon, but decades before their small-screen debut, the adventurous waterfowl were comic book stars."
I don't mean to be excessively critical, but who is this article written for? How many people in this community are not keenly aware the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge were comic book characters before the Duck Tales cartoon? It seemed like a bizarre way to start the article, as if the people who clicked on this link knew nothing about the works of Barks and Rosa. In the end, I found the piece informative but was still left confused by the tone at the beginning.

[liratopia]

I've always enjoyed Rosa's work and appreciate the jab at collectors who never read the comics they so treasure... however...

"Rosa showed off one of his favorite pages of Uncle Scrooge, with the world's richest duck ridiculing coin collectors as he joyously swims in his money bin. Scrooge's dialogue reads: "They don't enjoy their coins… they put their coins in plastic sleeves and are even afraid to touch them for fear they'll be worth less than somebody else!" Rosa, smiling broadly, characterized the page as a none-too-subtle jab at comic book collectors."

It's shown in The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck that Scrooge keeps all of his money in a giant bin for the purpose of reminiscing about the life experiences that earned him those riches. He's a miser not because he's so greedy, but because his sentimentality has made even his money a collector's item. He's as sick with collecting as any of us!

[Peter Brülls]

"Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck are perhaps best known to American audiences via the 1980s "DuckTales" cartoon, but decades before their small-screen debut, the adventurous waterfowl were comic book stars."
I don't mean to be excessively critical, but who is this article written for?

Considering that Duck Tales are nearly 30 years old, there’s a hell of a chance that even on this site a large percentage of American readers had their earliest exposure to the Ducks and the Mouse via said cartoons. It’s probably quite different for European and South American readers, yes.

It wasn’t until the Gladstone reprints of the 90s that there was an easy access to Barks again and even that was aimed and prices for adults, like the current books.

So, even if the majority here knows that Donald and Scrooge predate Duck Tales by decades, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Duck Tales were the first point of contact.

[Great O.G.U.F.O.O.L.]

I've always enjoyed Rosa's work and appreciate the jab at collectors who never read the comics they so treasure... however...

"Rosa showed off one of his favorite pages of Uncle Scrooge, with the world's richest duck ridiculing coin collectors as he joyously swims in his money bin. Scrooge's dialogue reads: "They don't enjoy their coins… they put their coins in plastic sleeves and are even afraid to touch them for fear they'll be worth less than somebody else!" Rosa, smiling broadly, characterized the page as a none-too-subtle jab at comic book collectors."

It's shown in The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck that Scrooge keeps all of his money in a giant bin for the purpose of reminiscing about the life experiences that earned him those riches. He's a miser not because he's so greedy, but because his sentimentality has made even his money a collector's item. He's as sick with collecting as any of us!

You're right, he is a collector, as is Don Rosa himself. His collection of several publications (including TV Guide) is legendary. But Scrooge (and I'm sure the same holds true for Rosa) collects only things that have (senimental) value for him and scoffs at people who just buy things that are rare collectibles, just because some guide told them so. And then they just possess them without actually enjoying them.