(IDW 2015)
Writer/Artist - Romano Scarpa
I’m an Uncle Scrooge/ Donald Duck fan. I have been for as long as I remember. So these comics feel like home to me. I only have a sampler here, 7 pages, so I can’t do a full review, but I’ll touch on what it looks like to a duck comic connoisseur like myself. Ok, so I am just a casual duck fan, but I’m a duck fan through and through. The story I have a sample of is from Italian writer/artist Romano Scarpa. A lot of American Scrooge comics are translated from European comics, as is the case here.
I am a huge fan of both Carl Barks and Don Rosa, so those two pretty much define Scrooge for me. Having said that, what we have here from Scarpa is a solid premise, which looks to be an entertaining story. There is a second story in this issue, but I don’t have a preview for that part of it.
Scarpa sets up a typical Scrooge type situation where his thriftiness is put to the test. Basically, the premise is that some of his money was given to Donald, a Beagle Boy and a Tycoon to either spend or save. If they save it, they get to keep it and Scrooge loses. If they spend it, they owe it back to the bank and Scrooge wins. So he must run around and get them all enticed to spend the $100 each. It’s a solid concept that looks to be a pretty fun read.
The coloring and lettering are nothing special, they are done well, but in this case, they are kind of secondary to the story and art. Scarpa is a good artist, and has a nice, fluid, animated look to it. In my eyes, it’s secondary to Barks and Rosa, but I am totally biased in that sense. Scarpa seems to handle a Scrooge story pretty well. I’m not sure how many Scrooge stories this guy has done (it could be hundreds for all I know) but he is hitting all the right notes.
Scrooge is characteristically very upset and worried over the possibility of losing money, and then gets very determined to do what it takes to keep it. Not sure how it plays out, but I am sure it’s typical Scrooge and Donald craziness. What I am getting most out of this preview is that it’s good technician work all around. I feel like in some ways, a Scrooge story has (of not a template) a “house style” or a kind of general feeling or tone. Rosa is the one who breaks that rule most in my book and can include some very interesting story elements that you won’t see anywhere else. This looks and feels like a lot of other Scrooge comics I have read. That is just me saying that this is familiar territory. It’s kind of like an Archie comic (at least until all the recent changes to that line of books) if you’ve read a few, you kind of get what they “feel” like. It can be very comforting. I am too lazy to look up how or why Scrooge ended up under IDW, because last I know, it was under Boom! but whoever is publishing Scrooge, this is one reader who will always be interested in checking out what’s going on over in Duckburg. This looks like a solid Scrooge story, worth checking out.
BJ DuVall is a novice comic creator, and nerd. He likes to spout opinions, whether people like to listen or not. Usually not.