The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuckconfirmed Don Rosa's status as the heir apparent to the great Carl Barks as Disney's premiere comic storyteller.  For this massive 12-part epic, originally printed inUncle Scrooge285-296 (April 1994 through February 1996), Rosa combed through Barks' stories for the many clues about what transformed Scrooge McDuck from a Scottish boy to the richest duck alive.  Thus, Scrooge's comment that he fought in the "cattle wars of the old frontier" was turned into a story about the young Scrooge's cattle job in Montana.  Rosa incorporates actual historical facts with known elements of the Scrooge mythology to spin an incredibly rich chronicle, full of tall tales, crazy gags, and high adventure.  The 1995 Eisner winner for Best Serialized Story is even better in trade paperback format, in which Rosa offers his own memories of writing the story, "insane details to look for," and rare art.  Want more of Rosa's Scrooge?The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companioncollects other stories about the life of Scrooge that weren't in the original series.--David Horiuchi