If I was more on the ball, I'd have mentioned this when it was still available.

Although, they might still be floating around in the real world, which is honestly still tempting?

(From Walt Disney's Scrooge McDuck: The Dragon of Glasgow, written by Joris Chamblain, art by Fabrizio Petrossi.)

You've probably noticed I've been on an Uncle Scrooge kick lately, so yeah, I had to get the latest Disney Masters bundle, even though it was a bit more Mickey Mouse heavy than I'd prefer. But that said, Zombie Coffee was pretty good!  
 

(From Disney Masters #26--Walt Disney Donald Duck: Tales of Andold Wild Duck, by Marco Rota.)

The way I (probably mis-)understand it: while Disney comics haven't been produced regularly stateside in probably decades; other, frankly better countries, still make them. Inspired by Carl Barks, Don Rosa, and a host of others; foreign artists and writers have been cranking out new adventures for Donald, Scrooge, and the rest for years: they've not only gotten really good at it, but they've also built up quite the backstock, the cream of which is now released in America by Fantagraphics, for the cultured sophisticates amongst you. Or randos like me!

(From Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge: World of the Dragonlords, written by Byron Erickson, pencils by Giorgio Cavazzano, inks by Sandro Zemolin.)

Again, Humble Bundle and digital is a great way to get to read a ton of those...except, I've seen some of those books for sale--Dragon of Glasgow is still tempting, even though I just read it! They're just quality work, presented really well; and I say that as someone who usually buys a ton of cheap stuff rather than one high-end piece. They'd look great on the shelf and would be worth re-reading again. I'm probably not going to run out and buy the collections...but I'll keep my eyes open. 

I haven't made it all the way through that bundle, either! But, that's why I have the library, there. 

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That cover seems familiar somehow...

If you don't recognize it, the GCD has the answer for you! From 1990, Uncle Scrooge Adventures #19, "A Stitch in Time" Plot by Patsy Trench, script by Tom Anderson, US script by Geoffrey Blum, art by Daniel Branca. Cover by Don Rosa!

I really wish more people involved in finance or investing read Uncle Scrooge--actually, I just wish more people in general had read it, or maybe learned some of the lessons therein! Sometimes, Scrooge can make a bundle by being thrifty, inventive, and stubborn; and sometimes Scrooge can burn a ton of cash by being thrifty, inventive, and stubborn. You may guess where this one's headed, as Scrooge can't figure out how to unload a ton of silk: the market had changed to rayon and synthetics. Still, a conversation sparks an idea: Scrooge decides to use Gyro Gearloose's time machine, the TADPOLE (Temporal Axis Displacement Projectile and Ozone Layer Enhancer; of course that's a Doctor Who riff!) to go back to the middle ages and unload the silk there. Previously, the TADPOLE had run on smog, which I'm sure had been a problem when travelling to the past, so now Gyro had it converted to electricity; but it would take days to charge and because it would be carrying a load, Scrooge and the boys would only be able to stay in the past for three hours.

The sale hits a snag, since even a princely sum back then was lowballing Scrooge on the deal, so he opts out, which hurts the local king's pride, and the Ducks are chased out by guards. After returning to the present, Scrooge fumes that he should've bought the silk in medieval times and sold it now...so, maybe in 800 years, it would be worth something! Turning it around, he has Gyro recharge the TADPOLE, for a trip into the world of tomorrow, 2389! Where the silk is also not a big hit, but Scrooge's antique watch is, as he sells it for twenty million credits! They also miss the return window, so the TADPOLE returns without them, but so what? Gyro would recharge it and send it back...Except, Scrooge did not appear to take inflation into account, and was probably robbed on the watch deal: a glass of milk was twenty thousand credits, and a cheap hotel room two million for the night! Four million with shower!

Gyro charges the TADPOLE to a minimum for the trip, and finds the Ducks, wrapped in silk; which was all they had left to wear since they'd had to sell their clothes...Huh, does anybody wear proper silk anymore now? I'm not exactly stylish, although I'm remembering a pair of silk boxers I had once. Mmm, comfy! I wonder if I got tired of my butt slipping off chairs, though...

Also this issue: Scrooge tries converting to paper money and a round bin, in "Tricky Experiment," and a Carl Barks one-pager, where Scrooge helps Donald avoid making impulse purchases, with one last one. Shoot, I maybe oughta try that! Read more!

I will never quit this stupid blog, because I enjoy it too much when we find a comic, referencing back to a post from over ten years ago! From 1990, Uncle $crooge Adventures #20, reprinting 1960's Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #28, "The 'Paul Bunyan' Machine" Story and art by Carl Barks.

While Uncle Scrooge was getting on in years, he was usually pretty spry; but today he's struck by a bout of the rheumatism. Not from the weather, as Donald suggests, but from burglars: Scrooge's doctor had described it as "radar nerves," but over years of crooks trying to get his Fruity Pebbles steal his money bin, he almost had Spider-sense for protecting his cash, and it was going off something fierce. And it should, as the Beagle Boys were at it again, building a 'Paul Bunyan' machine; a massive, ax-swinging beast of heavy machinery. Scrooge fears there weren't enough cops in Duckburg, or maybe the state, to stop that thing.

Now, the money bin contained about "ten umptillion, uncountabijillion dollars" but a lot of that appeared to be in coin. (There's still a penny shortage, Scrooge!) So, he was having a hard time even moving it; and the local banks were already stuffed to the gills with his cash and couldn't fit any more in. (Is that why Scrooge has the money bin? He has so much cash in holdings, he can't get a bank to take the risk of holding it all.) Worse, from down the street, the Beagle Boys were x-raying the money bin every couple hours to make sure the level didn't go down. Scrooge cleverly counters both problems: mailing box after box of cash to...ugh...Idaho, while filling the money bin with washers to fool the x-ray. (Aside: I'm often hard on my home state Montana as being less than progressive, but Idaho bluntly sucks. It's like it's racing to become the next Missouri, and it feels like anybody good with the means of getting outta there is.) With Donald and the nephews there to receive the packages, Scrooge arrives later, and they begin hiding the cash, in trees. OK, that last one isn't maybe the best idea I've ever heard, but Scrooge was enjoying the outdoor time.

Back in Duckburg, the Beagle Boys had realized Scrooge was gone, but see a newspaper article about the government building a dam (no points for guessing where!) and would pay well for logging the trees out of their way. Seems like a job for a machine, maybe even one named after a mythical logger? It's (relatively) honest work, but the Beagles might give it a shot. Scrooge had been gone for some time, and had been out of touch: either his staff in Duckburg had sold the land without being able to tell him, or the government eminent-domained him, so he no longer owned the land, and now had to scramble to get his cash back out of the trees before the Paul Bunyan machine got there...The whole affair seems like it should be a loss for Scrooge: a lot of mailing, buying timberland, a lot of cement, there's a line item here for 12,000 monkey wrenches; but he probably comes out ahead.

All in all, super-fun, and a pretty iconic one: The Paul Bunyan machine is referenced, in Badger #48, where the bad guy brings one in to A. deforest the Amazon, and B. turn endangered animals and trees into high-end consumer goods, and C. beat Badger's ass. As you'd expect, Badger is more than a little indignant: "...you couldn't beat me yourself so you invented a 45-ton machine to do it?" "Oh, I didn't invent it, I leased it." I always thought it was a Gyro Gearloose number, though! The Beagle Boys had some skills. 

Also, we've mentioned Uncle Scrooge is having a bit of a comeback at the comic shop, but his new comics are probably between $4.99 to $7.99: this issue was $1.95, but I paid a buck: usually Scrooge would approve, but I guess the original was a thin dime, so maybe not. Still, this reprint also comes with "On a Silver Platter," a fun bit of hijinks with Magica de Spell; "The Custom of the Country," in which a business deal comes with strings attached, namely a finicky goat; and "Family Fortune," where Scrooge tries to cash in on a promotional land giveaway from a cereal box. Now what would you pay!

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Hey, Scrooge is worthy to wield Jarnbjorn!

Uncle Scrooge is having a bit of a resurgence on the comic shelves, with new issues from Marvel and modern reprints from Fantagraphics. But like Scrooge, I enjoy getting issues on the cheap, like this one! From 1992, Uncle Scrooge #272, "Canute the Brute's Battle Axe" Plot by Jørgen Fogedby and Lars Bergström, original script by Tom Anderson, US script by Gary Gabner, art by Vicar.

Centuries ago, Scrooge's ancestor Fayodor led the battle to drive the titular Canute and his Vikings from Scotland, taking Canute's axe in the fight. In the present, Scrooge enjoys chairmanship of Duckburg's Old Tartan Club; but is routinely challenged by Chisel McSue. This year, McSue claims his family had the axe, and had for centuries: Scrooge tries to prove him wrong, but finds he didn't have the axe himself. Instead, his nephews find an old diary: in 1314, to prevent the English from looting their treasures, Scrooge's multiple-great-granduncle had buried them: they were all later recovered, except the axe. Figuring it would still be in the bog, Scrooge, Donald, and the boys race to Scotland to try and find it; with McSue sabotaging them repeatedly. (The explanation being, that McSue wanted to gain the chair of the club and loot the treasury.)

Here's one you won't believe: despite having read Uncle Scrooge here and there from when I first learned how to read; I'm not sure I've ever watched any version of Duck Tales! I'm sure I'd love them, I just haven't taken the time; and it was probably aired opposite Batman or something back in the day and I missed it. And we mentioned the mystic axe Gnip Gnop--er, Jarnbjorn like ten years back. Read more!

I think most billionaires couldn't get three steps into an Uncle Scrooge plan.

Which is almost a shame: there's killer ants later in this one, and I'd love to see billionaires try to get out of that one! ('Try' being the key word there.) From 1990, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #249, "The Puffer" Plot by Paul Halas, script by Dave Angus, US script by Gary Gabner, art by Daniel Branca.

Uncle Scrooge is playing chess, while everyone else is playing checkers; in a scheme to donate his old steamship, the Puffer, to the Duckburg Museum: for a change, this wasn't for cash or a tax dodge or anything, but for glory. Only one problem: where did he put that thing...? This sets up a race against crooked rival McSwine, who sabotages Donald's luggage so they miss their flight, and he gets a one day head start to Burma.

Scrooge and the boys are disappointed to learn, the Puffer had been lost six years prior, when the crew had to abandon ship because of a volcano. They offer to buy the steamship currently in use, but it was on its way to pick up a load of garlic, and McSwine was already on his way to it. They nearly catch up to him when McSwine wrecks his motorboat, but that just gives him the opportunity to steal Scrooge's! As usual, Scrooge refuses to let a setback set him back, and opts to try and head overland to beat McSwine, but they don't need to when they find the beached Puffer! But can they get it back to the river...?

The locals, who had a hard tea harvest coming up, aren't real interested in helping out; until ant swarms attack their tea leaves, and them! It comes down to a race between McSwine's newly purchased Sister Percy and the Puffer: Scrooge had the skill, but his boat was loaded full of villagers and livestock. McSwine probably could've outlasted him, but panics and overstokes his boiler, blowing up his ship. The Puffer is settled into retirement as a museum piece; while McSwine seems to have forgotten why he wanted a steamship, as he tries to wrangle up villagers to salvage the Sister Percy... Read more!

Thanks to my childhood in Montana, any car drive longer than five minutes, if I'm not driving, I'll fall asleep. An exaggeration, but not much of one! But, I also recall occasionally driving through a stench, usually attributed to "skunk cabbage." Which, if we're honest, I thought was a local expression, or family-safe euphemism, for roadkill! But there are real plants known by that unfortunate sobriquet, although I tend to doubt any are considered a delicacy. Unless you're Uncle Scrooge, I guess. From 2019, Disney Comics and Stories #7/750, reprinting "The Money Tree" from 2015's Topolino #3132, written by Laura and Mark Shaw, translated by Erin Brady, art by Giorgio Cavazzano.

Donald Duck's horrible job for Uncle Scrooge this week: protecting Scrooge's skunk cabbage patch, in the shadow of the money bin. The skunk cabbage has a distinctive odor, and vaguely resembles big cauliflower balls: Scrooge loves it, and surprisingly he's not the only one, as a very determined crow is locked in a running battle with Donald to get it. Is it weird that Donald's fighting a bird? Well, I think there are a bunch of Thanksgiving covers where Donald's having turkey, so who knows. The situation is escalated by the passing Gyro Gearloose, who after brainstorming with Donald, settles for some super plant food to accelerate the skunk cabbage yield. Which also multiplies the stench!

Unfortunately, Donald then throws the plant food at the crow, which causes another plant to grow: a mighty tree, which Scrooge discovers, sprouts bags of money! So much better than skunk cabbage. Except that money's coming from somewhere, isn't it? And that crow hasn't given up yet either...Multiple fun bits in this, like Scrooge recognizing a seemingly random dime ("I remember earning it!") or swimming through his money bin like he was the Sub-Mariner. ("It's your element!")

Also this issue, "The Distracted Delay," from 2017's Topolino #3230, written by Daniele Vessella, art by Maurizio Amendola. Donald's date with Daisy is in ten hours, and if he's late for this one it could be months before he gets to see her again. After avoiding a visit from time-thief Fethry, though; Donald gets into jam after jam, including getting hassled by the cops again! If I randomly hit a third in a row with overzealous policing, per Ian Fleming that'll count as enemy action! Read more!

Getting ready for a move, I've made multiple trips to EntertainMart for long boxes, which was usually slightly hindered by picking up a ton of books along with said boxes. I may have cleared out the dollar books for the time being, though, since last trip I only got two! An old Daredevil I might have to read next, and today's book! From 1979, Uncle Scrooge #170, which appears to be mostly a reprint of 1968's Uncle Scrooge #78, featuring "I.O.U. ...But Who?" and "The Fickle Fortune-Finder" Written by Vic Lockman (maybe), pencils by Tony Strobl, inks by Steve Steere.

I had grabbed some classic Uncle Scrooge reprints from another quarter bin recently; and offhand I think Scrooge was much, much less of a greedy bastard than he is in today's stories. That was a pretty integral part of his character, true; but I don't think you should double down on him being a dick in the same issue. Granted, whenever Scrooge is really terrible it always comes back to bite him in the ass, in a way I desperately wish would happen in real life but doesn't. In "I.O.U. ...But Who?" Scrooge is in his money bin, admiring the first dollar he ever made, when he notices a faded I.O.U. attached to it. Unable to read who owed him the money, he checks his records and guesses it was probably his first partner, Sourdough Sam, and treks to the Arctic Circle to collect. Only, the I.O.U. wasn't Sam's, and Sam has his own I.O.U. from Scrooge, for the loan of a sled dog! This goes on, as Scrooge throws a lot of money at collecting that debt and the whole thing just made me anxious.

In "The Fickle Fortune-Finder" Scrooge uses a new gadget to discover unclaimed riches in Africa, and races to cash in ahead of any competitors. I'm not sure that's a great look...Also, any story with Scrooge cornering the "gorilla market" should be more fun. Well, can't win 'em all. Still, this issue had a Hostess ad I'd never seen before!

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At least Scrooge didn't charge payday-lender interest on that...

I learned how to read when I was very little, and I'm told I went through a period that whenever the family went to a restaurant, I would try and order haggis, because I had seen the word in an Uncle Scrooge comic. Ironically, I was a super-picky eater back then, so I don't know what I would've done if I got it; or maybe I became so picky because I never did get it! Anyway, I don't think I've blogged any of these, but here's one from a quarter-bin: from 1997, Uncle Scrooge Adventures #50, reprinting 1954's Uncle Scrooge #5, "Secret of Atlantis" Story and art by Carl Barks, from a story idea by Chase Craig.

I'm not sure there's a name for this, but the Simpsons does it pretty often as well; where the story starts with one mundane little goal--in this case, Scrooge trying to collect on a very minor debt--and spirals to the point that he and Donald are trapped in the undersea kingdom of Atlantis. Scrooge hires Donald as a bill collector, and promises him half of what he collects; which turns out to be a nickel, since the debt was a dime Donald had owed him for four years! Donald pushes back to get his change, but Scrooge tries to shortchange him with a bum nickel from a defunct country...that turns out to be worth five bucks to a collector! Donald taunts Scrooge at being taken on the deal, but Scrooge promises to make that money back, and then some, with the rarest coin in the world--the 1916 quarter Donald had paid with before! (I suppose a 1916 quarter may well be rare now, but it wasn't at the time this was originally published!)

Scrooge sets into motion a plan that's almost a textbook in artificial scarcity, beginning with an ad blitz to buy up 1916 quarters, until he had all of them. Keeping one in his vault, he dumps the rest in the Atlantic, making his last 1916 quarter worth "ten skyrillion dollars!" And he's hoping that price might go up, but loses it, setting up a pie fight and skyscraper ledge walk that wouldn't have been out of place in a Buster Keaton movie. (On the "Vampire State Building"!) And we haven't even got to Atlantis yet, but I don't think it's a spoiler to say Scrooge has to learn a bitter lesson at the end here.

Old Uncle Scrooge comics are like EC classics or even Groo, in the sense that while I feel like I've read a lot of them, I haven't read all of them. Which is a comforting thought, like I still have a reserve of good comics out there, waiting to be found. And a good one like this has a shelf life of about forever.
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