But what about Donald Duck? Somehow, while Mickey and Scrooge tend to battle earth shaking foes, temperamental Donald more often meets his match in simple antagonists: annoying or disruptive characters like Gladstone Gander, Neighbor Jones, or Fethry Duck. We’re not as used to seeing Donald take down wild megalomaniacs.

But he’s got one! And in The Barks/Rosa Collection Vol 3, a 72 page, $8.99 trade paperback from Gemstone Publishing coming out next week, you’ll get to see Donald square off with one of Disneydom’s most fiendish foes...Azure Blue!

Donald’s and Azure’s first conflict came in 1952, with Carl Barks’ renowned “The Golden Helmet!” When museum guard Donald finds an ancient Viking map in the crevices of an old ship, he learns that it leads to a spot where an incredible gold helmet lies buried, the helmet of Olaf the Blue! It seems Blue claimed North America himself before any other European came to the continent. Should one of his descendents unearth the helmet as proof, the old time “Law of Discovery” will allow that person to take over North America for him or her self! Alas, the menacing Azure Blue plans to do exactly that, and he’s got ruthless shyster Lawyer Sharky along with him to help make his case! Journey with Donald and the boys into the frozen North, where Donald can only beat the villain to the helmet by being rugged as the Vikings of old! Of course, should Donald find it first, he might feel tempted to become King of North America himself!

Decades later Don Rosa came up with his beloved follow-up story, “The Lost Charts of Columbus,” and it’s here too, relettered and recolored with higher production values than its previous English language printing. When lucky Gladstone wins a fishing voyage north, he ends up ineptly aiding Azure Blue in recovering Olaf’s long lost helmet! To save the continent this time, Donald and his nephews must discover an artifact proving that some earlier explorer got to North America before the Vikings! The trail leads Donald and the boys to an ancient Chinese teak wheel, an Irish abbot’s sacred cross, and a massive Phoenician stone slab. Alas, Azure Blue and Sharky are in the mix once again, and in no time an incredible battle for the relics has begun! With the help of Junior Woodchuck's know how and Native American professor Ortez, Donald and the boys might save their world for the future...but can they save their necks?

“Golden Helmet” and “Columbus” themselves are the main attractions in Barks/Rosa 3, but we’d be remiss not to mention our lineup of supplementary features! A new article by Rosa outlines the development of “Columbus,” but that’s not all. We’ve got Rosa’s original “Columbus” cover, then numerous covers by other creators for both “Columbus” and “The Golden Helmet.” We’ve got a ten page, never before seen script sequence deleted from the “Columbus” story, showing how an original Don Rosa villain almost made it into the battle along with Blue and Sharky. We’ve got unused Rosa half pages from a serialized version of “Columbus” that was never published. And finally, we’re giving you a look at “Gensyn med den gyldne helm” (“Return of the Golden Helmet”), a rare alternate duck sequel that was published in Denmark only!

We’ll make it no secret: we’d rather own Barks/Rosa Collection Vol 3 than North America any day. Once you see it, you might agree!

Gemstone is your source for new and vintage Disney greats! Find our comics at your local comic shop, and if you can’t find a comic shop, try the toll-free Comic Shop Locator Service at (888) COMIC BOOK or http://csls.diamondcomics.com. Gemstone titles are also available online at www.gemstonecomics.com, www.amazon.com, and www.walmart.com.