The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a comic book story by Don Rosa about Scrooge McDuck.
Originally, the story had twelve chapters totalling 212 pages. Since then, there have been additional chapters, and the original stories have also been slightly expanded and tweaked in later releases.
The story follows the main events of Scrooge's life between 1877 and 1947, including almost all references found in Carl Barks stories about Scrooge's life till 1947 but leaving some room for Rosa and other creators to add more details later. The comic also provides information on the backgrounds and origins of many characters related to Scrooge.
Most of the chapters were released in the United States in issues of Uncle Scrooge, and in many Disney publications in Europe. In Scandinavia, the hardback collection was extremely popular and is next to impossible to find for sale. The story was also popular in Egypt.
Don Rosa earned the Will Eisner Award in 1995 for this work. (This award implausibly shows up in chapter twelve of the book; Rosa justifies this by saying that many of Scrooge's pictures are implausible, and he couldn't resist putting it in.) The trade paperback collection was also a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for 1997.
This story was published in Norway in the early 90's, and in 1997 a hardcover compilation was published, carrying a total of 212 comic pages as well. It has been a bestseller among the hardcover Disney books in Norway, and is extremely hard to find for sale.
Chapter list:
Note: Chapters Zero, and all "in-between" chapters with halves in the numbers are not included in the softcover collection in North America. Gemstone announced a new collection for these extra chapters, it may be seen [here]
- Part 0: Of Ducks Dimes and Destinies (1877) - Magica De Spell travels back in time to steal Scrooge's Number One Dime before he earns it. Uncle Scrooge #297
- Part 1: The Last of the Clan McDuck (1877 - 1880) - As a child Scrooge comes in conflict with The Whiskervilles, earns his Number One Dime and heads for the United States on a cattle boat. Uncle Scrooge #285
- Part 2: The Master of the Mississippi (1880 - 1882) - Scrooge works for his Uncle Angus "Pothole" McDuck and has his first encounter with The Beagle Boys. Uncle Scrooge #286
- Part 3: The Buckaroo of the Badlands (1882 - 1883) - Scrooge becomes a cowboy and winds up having to recover a prize bull for his boss Murdo MacKenzie and meets future President Theodore Roosevelt while doing so. Uncle Scrooge #287
- Part 3.5: The Cowboy Captain of Cutty Sark (1883) - Scrooge imports some cattle to Indonesia but encounters a thief and meets his old friend Ratchet Gearloose from his Riverboat days. Uncle Scrooge #318
- Part 4: The Raider of the Copper Hill (1883 - 1885) - Scrooge takes some prospecting lessons from Howard Rockerduck and almost takes over The Anaconda Copper Mine of Butte, Montana from Marcus Daly. Uncle Scrooge #288
- Part 5: The New Laird of Castle McDuck (1885) - Scrooge returns to Scotland to save Castle McDuck from being bought by The Whiskervilles. Uncle Scrooge #289
- Part 6: The Terror of the Transvaal (1886 - 1889) - Scrooge goes to the South African Republic where he first encounters Flintheart Glomgold. Uncle Scrooge #290
- Part 6.5: The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff (1890) - Scrooge returns to the United States and joins with Phineas Taylor Barnum, Angus McDuck, Geronimo, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley in a mission of recovering money stolen from the Dalton Gang. Uncle Scrooge #306
- Part 7: The Dreamtime Duck of the Never Never (1893 - 1896) - Scrooge goes to Australia and learns about the Dreamtime. Uncle Scrooge #291
- Part 8: The King of the Klondike (1896 - 1899) - Scrooge finally goes to The Yukon, participating in the Klondike Gold Rush, and strikes some gold but not before being kidnapped by Soapy Slick the crooked profiteer. Uncle Scrooge #292
- Part 8.4: The Prisoner of White Agony Creek (Around 1897) Scrooge takes Goldie O'Gilt to his property and makes her dig for gold. This was shown in the uncensored Barks-classic "Back to the Klondike".
- Part 8.5: Hearts of the Yukon (1898) - Scrooge is falsely accused of tracking mud in Dawson. He plans to clear his name by any means and thinks that Glittering Goldie O'Gilt is the one that framed him. Walt Disney Giant #1
- Part 9: The Billionaire of Dismal Downs (1899 - 1902) - After becoming a Billionaire Scrooge goes back to Scotland only to realize that he doesn't really belong there anymore. Uncle Scrooge #293
- Part 10: The Invader of Fort Duckburg (1902) - Scrooge and his sisters move to Duckburg, Calisota, USA and meet The Duck family and the founding three members of The Junior Woodchucks. Scrooge has his first run in with The Beagle Boys since his riverboat days and is reacquainted to President Theodore Roosevelt. Uncle Scrooge #294
- Part 10.5: The Sharpie of the Culebra Cut (1906) - Scrooge and his sisters Matilda McDuck and Hortense McDuck are prospecting for gold in Panama. Their search inadvertently interferes with the construction of the Panama Canal and President Roosevelt is on a mission to resolve this problem. Uncle Scrooge #332
- Part 11: The Empire Builder from Calisota (1909 - 1930) - Scrooge goes around the world making all kinds of business deals, notably including forcing the Voodoo tribe of sorcerer Foola Zoola off their land. In revenge the sorcerer curses him to be constantly haunted by Bombie the Zombie. He returns to Duckburg and first meets his ten-year-old nephew Donald Duck along with his twin sister Della Thelma Duck. On the same day he loses contact with his family and becomes the richest duck in the world. Uncle Scrooge #295
- Part 12: The Richest Duck in the World (December 25, 1947) - After 17 years of having lost contact with his family, Scrooge invites Donald and Huey, Dewey and Louie to Christmas Dinner. He introduces them to his old Money Bin and the new generation of Beagle Boys also introduce themselves. Uncle Scrooge #296
Scrooge McDuck Timeline according to Rosa
- 1867: Scrooge was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Fergus McDuck and Downy O'Drake. (He had an older half brother, Rumpus McFowl.) He would have two younger sisters, namely Matilda McDuck and Hortense McDuck (and a younger half brother named Gideon McDuck).
- 1877: Scrooge becomes a shoe polisher, but his first customer fools him and pays him with an American dime. He keeps the dime he cannot spend as his symbol of success.
- 1880: Scrooge emigrates to the United States. He first meets his uncle, Mississippi riverboater Angus "Pothole" McDuck, and the Beagle Boys, a family of outlaws that remain his enemies for the rest of his life.
- 1882: His uncle retires and leaves his riverboat, named Dilly Dollar, to Scrooge. The Beagle Boys destroy the riverboat in an act of revenge. Scrooge decides to try his luck in the American West and later in the year gets hired as a cowboy by cattle baron Murdo MacKenzie (an actual historical figure, one of the many that Scrooge met).
- 1883: Scrooge becomes a miner searching for silver and copper.
- 1885: Scrooge's father calls his son back to Scotland on an important family matter. Just a week before he leaves he meets and befriends the millionaire Howard Rockerduck, who had become rich in the California gold rush of 1849. He also meets Howard's seven-year-old spoiled son John Rockerduck, who will grow up to become the Third Richest Duck in the world and one of Scrooge's main rivals.
- 1886–1889: Scrooge searches for gold in South Africa. During his first year there he saves the life of a duck about his age named Flintheart Glomgold. A little later they become bitter enemies, and remain as such for the rest of their lives. Glomgold later became the Second Richest Duck in the World.
- 1889–1893: Scrooge returns to the United States to search for gold. He meets many famous historical figures but his search fails.
- 1893–1896: Scrooge goes to Australia to search for gold but his search again fails.
- 1896–1899: Scrooge searches for gold in the Klondike. During his years there he meets the saloon owner, singer and occasional thief "Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt. He continues to have a love/hate relationship with her for the rest of his life. His search for gold succeeds.
- 1897: Scrooge's mother Downy O'Drake dies, aged 57, in the Duckenburgh, Dismal Downs.
- 1899–1902: Scrooge becomes a millionaire and buys a bank. He starts building a small financial empire; by 1902 he has become a billionaire.
- 1902: Scrooge returns to Scotland to get his sisters Matilda McDuck and Hortense McDuck to come to America with him. Also in 1902, Scrooge's father Fergus McDuck dies, aged 67, in the Duckenburgh, Dismal Downs. Scrooge's mother and one of his two uncles, Angus "Pothole" McDuck (deceased in 1901, aged 72), had already died by this point. Scrooge, Matilda and Hortense are the last of the McDuck clan. Scrooge settles in the small village of Duckburg, Calisota, USA, which he chose as his home base.
- 1909–1930: While his sisters remain in Duckburg and run his empire, Scrooge travels the world expanding his empire in every continent.
- 1930: Scrooge becomes the richest duck in the world, but a fight with his family leaves him with no contact with them for the next seventeen years. Note that during this year he met his ten-year-old nephew Donald Fauntleroy Duck and his nephew's twin sister Della Thelma Duck for the first time. (He also first met Brigitta McBridge, a woman who fell in love with him; they continued to have a love/hate relationship for the rest of their lives.)
- 1942: Scrooge feels depressed and tired and decides to retire.
- 1947: Scrooge meets his nephew Donald Duck again and his grandnephews, Della's children, Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck. He decides to become active again and soon a circle of activities whirl around him as he attracts the attention of relatives, old and new enemies and friends.
- 1953: Scrooge's uncle Jake McDuck dies, aged 121, in Glasgow, Scotland. According to Carl Barks (1901–2000), Jake McDuck was the oldest-ever member of the Duck/McDuck family.
- 1961: Scrooge meets the Italian sorceress Magica De Spell for the first time, as she begins her various attempts to steal Scrooge's Number One Dime so she can melt it into an amulet.
- 1967: After a life of adventure, Scrooge McDuck purportedly dies at the age of 100, according to Don Rosa's unofficial timelines (though sometimes Rosa does not trust his timeline).
- 1994: According to Carl Barks, Scrooge McDuck is still alive in 1994, having found the Trojan Horse.
- 1997: Barks states that Scrooge is still alive in this year, according to the story "Somewhere in Nowhere".
Collections
- The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck, Gemstone Publishing, ISBN 0911903968 (only includes parts #1-12).
- The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion, Gemstone Publishing, ISBN 1888472405 (has parts #0, 3.5, 6.5, 8.4, 8.5, 10.5 and more).
External links
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