Rosa Remarks: a Don Rosa Podcast

21/08/2024

Hello from the podcast! I had big plans this summer, looking to get back to a regular posting schedule. Unfortunately, I had an unexpected job transition, when the school district I was contracted with decided to stop using remote speech therapists. That came on top of a sorely needed beach vacation.

I ended up releasing just one episode (an excellent one!) for "Super Snooper Strikes Again." Next up on the schedule was SUPPOSED to be our big release of the episodes covering Rosa's Magnum Opus, "the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck." This is obviously a huge, daunting mini-series to undertake, and honestly, I'm leery of releasing the first few episodes and then life getting in the way and forcing big delays mid-release.

So...what I've decided to do is to delay the release of the Life & Times episodes, until I have them ALL recorded, edited, and ready for release. That is likely going to take a few more months, but again, I really want to do justice to this epic work! The good news is, we are well along the process! Episodes covering Chapters ONE THROUGH SIX are all fully recorded, and just need editing! I've got some great returning guests on board for these, and I'm very excited to have Dan Cunningham, from the first episode, returning and upgraded as co-host for the entire mini-series!

In the meantime, I will be focusing on continuing to release episodes for the other podcast, BARKS REMARKS, now covering stories well into the 1960s! Also, I'm aiming to go back and publish some Notable Panel features for the most recently released stories that I didn't originally get to cover fully.

Thanks so much for your patience and understanding! I'm really excited about releasing these.

16/07/2024

*SNORT!* The mightiest podcast to ever trod the sod strikes again! Our episode devoted to Don Rosa's follow-up to great "Super Snooper" story is out now!

This episode featured guests from two different perspectives: a long-time Carl Barks fan, Morten Guldberg, who also loves superhero comics, as well as Ryan Bailey, who is new to the duck comics and provides a fresh, "newbie" perspective.

My guests and I had a great time discussing the story through our different perspectives (I was not a fan of superhero comics for most of my early comics days). We also considered why this story rates so low on the INDUCKS rankings, compared to the vast majority of Rosa's other stories. While I was pretty critical of the story we covered in last week's episode ("War of the Wendigo"), I (and my guests) considered this one quite successful, if not an all-time great.

Listen wherever you get podcasts!
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/27-super-snooper-strikes-again/id1664868578?i=1000662324672

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7hfqKo4XXu5cs2jzCxXCNG?si=dyOgQb_AScaJvENFKuZUHw

24/06/2024

In just a few hours (I scheduled the release for 5:40 Eastern U.S. time), Rosa Remarks will see its glorious return from hiatus, with the release of our episode covering Don Rosa's "War of the Wendigo!"

I'm joined by returning guest Geoff Moses, also known as GeoX, blogger extraordinaire who has been talking about Disney comics for a million years now in internet time over at the Duck Comics R***e (https://duckcomicsrevue.blogspot.com/)!

Listeners, I'm really excited to be back, energized to move forward with the podcast; and thrilled that we are almost up to our coverage of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck saga. That said, this story is a bit of an awkward one to be our big return, because...it just isn't my favorite. 🙃 I definitely don't hate it and in fact see a lot to appreciate about it, but I do have some criticism to levy on this one (and it's probably not about what you're thinking).

Just know that my guest and I made an effort to be thoughtful about this one, and hopefully everyone is well-acquainted with the concept that no one is going to equally like every work in an artist's ouvre. 🤷

Listen to Rosa Remarks wherever you find podcasts!

19/06/2024

Coming Soon…

Yes! The podcast is (almost) back! School’s out and this speech therapist is back on podcast duty, with lots of great episodes planned for release this summer!

Thanks for your patience, and look forward to our glorious return this coming Monday, with the anticipated release of the episode covering “War of the Wendigo!”

15/04/2024

Hi folks! Another new episode of the podcast is up, covering Rosa's "the Island at the Edge of Time," a story with a real attention-grabbing title and cover. Just look at it, how can you not be intrigued by the ducks paddling TOWARD a volcanic eruption! It may not play out quite like that in the story, but this one manages the trick of telling a high concept story drawn some rather dry subject matter -- the international date line!

Join me and guest Alban Leloup, who works on the French Picsou Magazine, available wherever you get podcasts!

27/03/2024

Ted does great collages; I love the selections he curated here in this post celebrating Barks’ birthday.

Today would have been the 123rd birthday of the creative genius Carl Barks!

Barks created some of the most iconic characters in comic book history.

We as readers were invited to adventures in the Andes, on the seven seas, into space and beneath the ground.

Through his stories we came in contact with the abominable snowman, larkies, micro-ducks and pygmy indians.

The Ducks faced opponents such as the Beagle Boys, Magica de Spell and Flintheart Glomgold.

We learned to never give up. To be tougher than the thoughies, and smarter than the smarties. And to make it square.

We learned that no man is poor who can do what he likes to do once in a while.

We learned about history, economics and how society works.

We learned to always have an open mind and to see possibilities in things that happens.

We learned that there is always a way to help the less fortunate.

We learned that sometimes all you need is a tall, cool ice-cream soda.

Barks taught us about life itself, and in the most entertaining way possible!

08/03/2024

A great post from Ted, on participating in this episode, and his great piece of original art and other memories! Love that graphic!

08/03/2024

New episode! I'm pleased to have been joined by returning guests Anders Christian Sivebæk & Ted Johansson, to discuss the ten-pager "Incident at McDuck Tower," a classic gag story which clocks in as his second-highest ranked ten-pager on INDUCKS.

You'll note that there aren't a lot of options for a covers gallery for this one, but at least Greece and Finland have featured panel reproductions on select covers, even if they share space with Vicar. Edit: I’m editing to add Ted’s great graphic to juice the small covers gallery. 🙂

Listen on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xdOIQPD5vbiuzx11t7VMS?si=P4VtwrFbQfqO1DeIN8pEnw) or Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/24-incident-at-mcduck-tower/id1664868578?i=1000648436616) or wherever you get podcasts!

22/02/2024

New episode! I was joined by a new guest, Chand John, a professor, engineer and longtime Rosa fan with a great perspective on the engineering and science that underpins much of Rosa's storytelling (Chand is also the creator of a widely-viewed TED video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaNLJf8xzC4).

We talked about "the Duck Who Fell to Earth," a Rosa story that has never been one of my favorites...and yet, doing this kind of deep dive always reveals so much to appreciate, and this was no exception. I came out of this one with an appreciation for the story's great sight gags, its use of the different atmospheric layers as a storytelling device, and its masterful section of wordless storytelling.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/23-the-duck-who-fell-to-earth/id1664868578?i=1000646352453

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0lmUYKFPrIwbsrvl2uP2dx?si=dBr802bBT_umJ9YO7USqdg

16/02/2024

This is officially about the main Barks Remarks podcast, but also alludes to the Rosa Remarks podcast! What a treat to make an appearance in one of the Disney comics!

13/02/2024

Hi folks - you may have noticed the podcast is not updating as frequently these days. Never fear, Rosa Remarks (and its parent “Barks Remarks”) *will* continue through the entire run of comics. I’ve just had to slow my pace somewhat for sanity’s sake.

I’m aiming to put the next episode (covering “the Duck Who Fell to Earth” out in the next week or so). In the meantime, here is one of our long-delayed Favorite & Notable Panel features, for “the Master Landscapist,” one of the all-time great gag stories!

Catch this and other episodes wherever you get podcasts!

03/02/2024

Our newest episode is out this week, and it's a doozy! "Return to Xanadu" is one of Rosa's all-time classics, and pulls off a deft trick, weaving together a follow-up to TWO Barks classics!

I was joined by Harry Fluks, founder of the great resource INDUCKS, and who also counts this as one of his all-time favorites.

You can listen to Rosa Remarks wherever you get podcasts!

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/22-return-to-xanadu/id1664868578?i=1000643476643

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qwWO4nziQJX2Qk29midxf?si=wlhWA6drRGeLEp96U_GnXA