"The Black Knight" is a 1998
Scrooge McDuck
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bil ...
story by
Don Rosa
Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created fo ...
. This story was a sequel to Rosa's 1995 story "
The Universal Solvent", and was likewise followed by "The Black Knight Glorps Again".
The story was first published in the Danish ''
Anders And & Co.'' #1998-23; the first American publication was in ''
Uncle Scrooge
''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in Du ...
'' #314, in October 1998.
Plot
French gentleman
Arpin Lusène, notorious for his secret identity as ''Le Chevalier Noir'' ("The Black Knight"), the world's greatest
cat burglar
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
, comes to
Duckburg
The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the Donal ...
to test his skills against Scrooge's
Money Bin
The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the D ...
. Even with Scrooge and his nephews on high alert, the thief has little trouble entering into the bin and its innermost vault. As a souvenir of his triumph, he takes a few choice items from Scrooge's office.
At first, Arpin is disappointed as he examines his bounty: a suit of
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
armour, a bag of
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
dust (swept from the floor of a local jeweler), and a solid diamond jar filled with black goop. Upon closer examination, he identifies the goop as "Omnisolve", the universal solvent invented by
Gyro Gearloose
Gyro Gearloose is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and anyone w ...
(and previously featured in "
The Universal Solvent"). With some calculation, the Black Knight plans an even bolder assault on the money bin: by gluing the diamond dust to his suit of armor, he's able to coat the armor and sword (except for the palms of his gauntlets, the soles of his shoes, and the hilt of the sword) in the Omnisolve, allowing him to march into the bin in broad daylight.
None of Scrooge's security measures are able to stop the Black Knight, as the solvent instantly dissolves everything in its path, including bullets. When the Black Knight reaches the door of the vault, Scrooge challenges that he won't be able to steal all of McDuck's money at once. The Black Knight says that he will be satisfied simply dissolving all of Scrooge's money out of existence, thus creating the illusion that he did in fact manage to steal Scrooge's entire fortune. Desperate, Scrooge realizes how to defeat him: by pulling a rug out from under his feet and tipping him onto his back, where he falls down through the many floors of the bin.
Luckily for the Black Knight, his fall is broken by the contents of Scrooge's diamond vault, and the impact knocks him senseless. Scrooge and Co. gingerly remove him from the armor. The Black Knight graciously admits defeat, and agrees to leave the room handcuffed, presumably to be taken into police custody. However, he quickly escapes his cuffs and disappears, leaving a note promising to return one day.
External links
*
Disney comics stories
Donald Duck comics by Don Rosa
1998 in comics
{{Disney-comics-stub