"Return to Plain Awful" | |
---|---|
Story code | AR 130 |
Story | Don Rosa |
Ink | Don Rosa |
Hero | Donald Duck |
Pages | 28 |
Layout | 4 rows per page |
Appearances | Donald Duck Scrooge McDuck Flintheart Glomgold Huey, Dewey and Louie |
First publication | Donald Duck Adventures #12 (May 1989) |
"Return to Plain Awful" is a Donald Duck story that was originally printed during the Gladstone Publishing run of Donald Duck Adventures , issue #12 in May 1989. It was written by Don Rosa as a sequel to "Lost in the Andes!" by Carl Barks, to commemorate that story's 40th anniversary. [1] [2]
Donald Duck and his nephews journey back to Plain Awful. This time, Scrooge McDuck goes with them. Scrooge plans to buy some square eggs from the natives, while Donald and the nephews plan to return the roosters they brought back from their first visit. Unfortunately, Flintheart Glomgold also wants the square eggs and again serves as Scrooge's unscrupulous rival.
In Plain Awful, the ducks discover that, since their last visit, the highly imitative residents have sculpted their entire culture around the appearance and personality of Donald Duck (just as they had previously built their entire culture around the personality of their previous visitor). One aspect of Plain Awful's culture that has remained constant, however, is the law forbidding round objects, which Scrooge inadvertently violates by showing the natives his Number One Dime. As a result, he is held prisoner in the stone quarries, finishing the square eggs deal for good. However, Plain Awful's "President" (The leader decided to imitate America's system after Donald and his nephews' first visit) offers Scrooge a full pardon and reconsideration of the square eggs deal, if they bring him a rare item called "Ice Cream Soda".
Donald and the nephews have to team up with Flintheart to deliver an Ice Cream Soda to the President of Plain Awful: Donald and his nephews need Flintheart to get the soda, while Flintheart needs guidance back to civilization since he arrived at Plain Awful just by a stroke of luck. Flintheart, of course, betrays them after getting the soda, forcing them to improvise making an ice cream soda on the spot, using dried milk, sugar, and chocolate from their ration packs, plus some snow and carbonated water from a fire extinguisher.
Scrooge and Glomgold race to the city with their sodas, but are surprised to see the natives now imitating them, instead of Donald. The President (now the "Chairman of the Board") declares he is no longer interested in ice cream sodas, but instead asks for some money to store in Plain Awful's newly made money bin. Since Flintheart spent all his cash on the helicopter that brought them to Plain Awful (except for a coin, which he wouldn't show after what happened to Scrooge), Scrooge gives one billion dollars (in bills) for his freedom. Plain Awful's "chairman" happily accepts the money, but to Scrooge and Flintheart's horror, the bills are chopped in two (leaving perfect square halves) and put on public display inside the bin.
Scrooge and Flintheart are so disgusted by this that they want nothing more to do with Plain Awful, abandoning their aspirations of gaining export rights to the square eggs. The story ends with Huey, Dewey, and Louie leaving a copy of the Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook as a farewell gift to the natives, and Donald making fun of Scrooge and his famous motto, since the natives made their first billion "by being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties! And they made it SQUARE!"
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew, Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats varying in color. He is portrayed in animation as speaking with a Scottish accent. Originally intended to be used only once, Scrooge became one of the most popular characters in Disney comics and Barks' signature work. Scrooge is an extremely rich duck who lives in the city of Duckburg in the fictional US state of Calisota, whose claimed location is in California in the real-world United States.
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, first published by the Danish publisher Egmont in the magazine Anders And & Co. from 1992–94 and later in English in Uncle Scrooge #285 through #296 (1994–96). The stories chronicle the in-universe biography of Scrooge McDuck before his introduction in 1947. The stories were later collected and published together in a single volume. Rosa later published additional stories which expanded on Scrooge's biography. These were released as The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion.
Magica De Spell is a cartoon character created in 1961 by Carl Barks for the Duck universe. An Italian sorceress, she constantly attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime, which she believes will play a vital role in magically obtaining the same fabulous wealth of its owner.
Flintheart Glomgold is a cartoon character created in 1956 by Carl Barks. He is a South African American Pekin Duck and the business rival of Scrooge McDuck, usually portrayed as an ambitious, ruthless, and manipulative businessman who shares many of the same qualities as Scrooge—the drive for massive wealth, and the cunning and creativity to obtain the same—but he lacks any of Scrooge's tendencies towards generosity and compassion. In Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, he is said to be a Boer.
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 Donald Duck universe centers on the city of Duckburg and is a part of the larger Mickey Mouse universe. In addition to the original comic book stories by Carl Barks, the Duckburg cast was featured in Little Golden Books, television series such as DuckTales (1987–1991), Darkwing Duck (1991–1992), and the DuckTales reboot (2017–2021), and video games such as DuckTales (1989), QuackShot (1991), Goin' Quackers (2000), and DuckTales: Remastered (2013).
The Beagle Boys are a group of cartoon characters created in 1951 by Carl Barks for the Donald Duck universe. They are a family clan of organized criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck. Their introduction and first appearance was in "Terror of the Beagle Boys", although in this story they only appear in the last frame and have no lines. They appear again in the next issue in a similar fashion, in The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill.
John D. Rockerduck is a cartoon character created in 1961 by The Walt Disney Company for the Duck universe. He is one of Scrooge McDuck's main rivals in Disney comics. His name is a play on that of John D. Rockefeller, the American capitalist and philanthropist. Though a relatively obscure character in the United States, Rockerduck is an example of a character who has become notable in the foreign market, particularly in stories produced for the Italian market. He made his first animated appearance in 2019, in the second season of the DuckTales reboot.
"Lost in the Andes!" is a Donald Duck story written by Carl Barks and published in Dell Comics' Four Color Comics #223 in April 1949. Donald and his nephews go to South America to find the mythical chickens that lay square eggs.
"Christmas on Bear Mountain" (1947) is a Donald Duck story by Carl Barks, first published in Dell Comics Four Color Comics #178. It was the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck, a character who became a comic-book icon throughout the world.
"The Son of the Sun" is the first Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa, first published in Uncle Scrooge #219 in July 1987. It is a well-known comic book story that features Disney's Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and his three nephews. This story is most notable for establishing Don Rosa as a major talent in the Disney comic book industry, as well as fulfilling Rosa's childhood dream of becoming a writer/illustrator of stories featuring Scrooge McDuck.
"The Terror of the Transvaal" is a Scrooge McDuck comic story by Don Rosa. It is the sixth of the original 12 chapters in the series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The story takes place from 1887 to 1889.
"The Second-Richest Duck" is an Uncle Scrooge comic book story written and illustrated by Carl Barks in February 1956. It features the first appearance of Flintheart Glomgold.
"A Little Something Special" is a 1997 Disney comics story created by Don Rosa to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Scrooge McDuck's first appearance in Carl Barks's "Christmas on Bear Mountain" in 1947.
"The Money Champ" was originally published in Uncle Scrooge #27 in September, 1959 and is the second of three stories written and drawn by Carl Barks in which Scrooge's rival Flintheart Glomgold appears. Glomgold first appeared in "The Second-Richest Duck" in Uncle Scrooge #15.
David Gerstein is an American comics author and editor as well as an animation historian. Gerstein has five books and countless comic book credits to his name. He has written many Disney comics stories, usually featuring Mickey Mouse and/or Donald Duck and provided American English script doctoring for Mickey and Donald stories that were originally written in a different language. Past employments include Egmont Creative A/S, a Danish comics studio, and Gemstone Publishing. His current work is with various affiliates of Egmont, and Fantagraphics Books.
"Nobody's Business" is a Donald Duck comic written and drawn by Don Rosa, featuring Donald and Gladstone Gander. The story was first published in Uncle Scrooge #220 in August 1987. "Nobody's Business" was Don Rosa's second comic story, after The Son of the Sun.
Scrooge's Quest is a seven-part DuckTales comics story written by Marv Wolfman and published in 1990. The story was originally printed in the first seven issues of the comics series by Gladstone Publishing, and later reprinted in a graphic novel by Gemstone Publishing.
"The Richest Duck in the World" or "The Recluse of McDuck Manor" is a 1994 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It is the twelfth of the original 12 chapters in the series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The story takes place on Christmas Day, 1947.
"The Last Lord of Eldorado" is a 1998 Donald Duck comic story by Don Rosa.
DuckTales: Remastered is a Metroidvania-style platform video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Capcom. The game is a high-definition remake of DuckTales, a game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. It was released for multiple gaming platforms, including the PlayStation 3, Wii U, Windows, and Xbox 360, over a three-month period between August and November 2013, and later expanded to Android, iOS, and Windows Phone in April 2015. The game was temporarily delisted from digital storefronts in August 2019, but was relisted in March 2020.