The issue opens with the first half of this lovely story by Rosa. The writing and art are both full of energy. Just the first page shows Rosa’s abilities as an artist and he maintains this precious quality of art through the whole story. Even with Donald Duck as the protagonist (the dumb jokes only last a page), the plot manages to be eventful, funny and occasionally touching. It’s my first Uncle Scrooge as an adult and my first Don Rosa ever; I’m definitely a fan.
The story gets split in half, presumably to force readers to go through the issue’s other stories, which aren’t Rosa and are more what I’d have expected.
The rest of the stories are European reprints, based on the artists’ names, and the stories are geared toward kids (not to say Rosa isn’t kid-friendly, just not dumbed down).
Rosa makes it worth the rest.
Gladstoen reprints are the best way to go for Disney reprints. For a while, Disney was hiring Americans to do stories for the Eurpean market, and Rosa is easily the best of these, and also the spiritual successor to Carl Barks. The European stories don’t move me as much, they just don’t seem to get the Disney cannon like the Americans do. Sounds kind of prejuduced, but there you go. If Rosa’s Scrooge stories get your gun, be sure to check out his magnum opus- The complete story of Uncle Scrooge (2 vols.?). It’s available in out of print Gladstone TPs, or from other sources I’m sure. Make sure to throw a bit of the master Barks in there too. He is one of the best teachers on what a six, eight, or more page comic story can do. Enjoy!