"The Last of the Clan McDuck" is a 1992
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 ...
comic
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
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 ...
. It is the first of the original 12 chapters in the series ''
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'' (''Lo'') is a serial of 12 comic book stories written and drawn by Don Rosa, lettered by Todd Klein (American editions), first published by the Danish publisher Egmont in the magazine ''Anders And & Co.'' ...
''. The story takes place from 1877 to 1880 when Scrooge is a child in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. He comes in conflict with The
Whiskervilles
This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) o ...
, earns his
Number One Dime
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 ...
and heads for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on a
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
boat.
It is the first appearance of Scrooge's mother
Downy O'Drake. Scrooge's Uncle Jake McDuck appears for the first time in this story even though he was mentioned in ''
A Christmas for Shacktown
"A Christmas for Shacktown" is a 32-page Disney comics story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. The story was first published in '' Four Color'' #367 (January 1952), and tells of Donald Duck's attempts to raise money for a Christmas pa ...
''.
The story was first published in the Danish ''
Anders And & Co.'' #1992-33; 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 ...
'' #285, in April 1994.
Plot
As a child, Scrooge grows up in a poor family that has a rivalry with the Whiskervilles clan. When he gets his first job as a
shoe shiner, his first customer presents him with extremely filthy work boots, but pays him with an American coin (a dime). Furious at being cheated, Scrooge makes a vow to always be "fair and square" in business and becomes much more cunning and gets more business. He later earns more money first by selling firewood and then by selling
peat moss
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
.
Family legend, meanwhile, states that the McDuck family was heir to
a castle and large fortune.
Quackly McDuck, one of their ancestors, determined to hide the treasure from thieves, sealed it away inside the castle (accidentally sealing himself away at the same time). The family was frightened away from the land by a "phantom hound" and, as a result, the treasure was lost while the castle fell to ruin.
While exploring the castle, Scrooge discovers that the
hound
A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.
Description
Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. T ...
only was a trick by the Whiskervilles, who wanted the McDuck family out of the way so that they could steal the hidden treasure. Encouraged by a strange keeper in the castle, Scrooge gets revenge for his family by filling a
suit of armor
Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...
with peat and setting it on fire, scaring the Whiskervilles into thinking it was a ghost. Inspired by the keeper, Scrooge decides to go to America to earn his fortune. After Scrooge leaves the castle, the keeper reveals himself as Quackly McDuck, the ghost of the ancestor who was sealed away in the wall. When asked by the ghosts of the other ancestors why he didn't simply just show Scrooge the location of the treasure, he explains that the boy must earn his fortune himself.
See also
* "The Last of the Clan McDuck" served as the title story to
Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was found ...
''
Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 4
External links
*
"The Last of the Clan McDuck" on Duckman
Disney comics stories
Donald Duck comics by Don Rosa
Fiction set in 1877
Fiction set in 1878
Fiction set in 1879
Fiction set in 1880
1994 in comics
Comics set in the 19th century
Comics set in Scotland
Works set in castles
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
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