When I reviewed the first volume of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck my biggest issue was that by trying to cram in so many details from Carl Barks stories Don Rosa in a sense handcuffed himself. The stories rigidly adhere to nuggets of facts culled from Barks writings, which for Rosa are considered historical canon, but so much attention is paid to incorporating these details that Rosa's own stories tend to weaken as a result. Volume two suffers from the same handicap. Banks wasn't necessarily trying to create a consistent continuity which is why many dates and facts conflict with each other, he was simply trying to create fun and enjoyable stories. One thing to note is that Rosa and Barks have different philosophies of life which is reflected in the character of Scrooge. Barks would probably be considered right leaning and didn't necessarily have an ethical problem with Scrooges behavior whereas I suspect Rosa is more liberal and steered Scrooge in a slightly different manner. For instance Barks seemed fine with Scrooge wallowing in wealth as he swam like a porpoise in his money bin whereas in Rosa's view the money is only representational of the adventures he had and the friends he made throughout the years. In this sense Barks character was more black and white but he was fun in his unapologetic greed.
The art is masterfully done but the stories lack a certain spark that Carl Barks infused making his tales memorable more than half a century later. As I wrote in my first review Rosa's technical proficiency and scrupulous research of Barks facts are undeniably awesome and earned him a well deserved Eisner award but in comparing Rosa to Banks I have to give the nod to Banks. In my opinion the second half of volume two is the best part of the entire series as Scrooge McDuck becomes a full fledged greedy bastard. Not a fun loving greedy bastard but a truly miserable miser. After years of people envying and often attempting to steal his money Scrooge descends into a pit of seething beak gritting anger. His greed eventually chases away his entire family leaving him in a Citizen Cain level of loneliness and even when he reaches his goal of being the richest duck on earth he can only celebrating alone. It is this level of character depth that catapulted Scrooge McDuck to become arguably the most phenomenally popular Disney character of all time (particularly overseas). McDuck is the most multifaceted of the old time Disney characters having actual emotional problems. Of course the book can't end on such a bleak note and in the final story the elderly Scrooge reunites with nephew Donald and meets his three grand nephews.
Boom! has given the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck the star treatment with two beautifully bound hardback books, lovely printing and a very nice paper stock. Just as in volume one each of the six chapters concludes with some awesome commentary by Don Rosa giving his thoughts on his creative process. These last about four to six pages per issue and really add quite a bit to the experience. When I wrote my review of volume one I said that the stories just weren't as memorable as the classic Banks stories and looking back now from about half a year in the future I maintain that opinion. What Don Rosa has created is a meticulously produced chronology of Scrooge McDuck that visually exceeds what Barks produced but lacks much of Barks whimsy, magic and modest desire to just entertain.
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