Plot
French gentleman Arpin Lusène, notorious for his secret identity as Le Chevalier Noir ("The Black Knight"), the world's greatest cat burglar, comes to Duckburg to test his skills against Scrooge's Money Bin. 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 armour, a bag of diamond 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 (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.
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 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 Clan McDuck is a fictional Scottish clan of cartoon ducks from which Disney character Scrooge McDuck is descended. Within the Donald Duck universe, the clan is related to the American Duck family through the marriage of Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck, Donald and Della Duck's parents, giving both of them partial Scottish ancestry.
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.
"Land Beneath the Ground!" is a Scrooge McDuck comic book story that appeared in 1956 in the comic book Uncle Scrooge, written by Carl Barks.
"The Universal Solvent" is a 1995 Donald Duck story by Don Rosa. The story was inspired by the novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth and was based on a Pertwillaby Papers adventure titled Vortex. It was also likely a partial sequel of the classic Carl Barks story, "Land Beneath the Ground!". Don Rosa wrote two sequels to this story, called "The Black Knight" and "The Black Knight Glorps Again".
"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 Old Castle's Other Secret", alternately titled "A Letter from Home", is Don Rosa's 2004 sequel to "The Crown of the Crusader Kings". The title is a reference to "The Old Castle's Secret", which was the second story to feature Scrooge McDuck and was the first in which he was a starring character in an adventure with his nephews.
"The Last of the Clan McDuck" is a 1992 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It is the first of the original 12 chapters in the series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The story takes place from 1877 to 1880 when Scrooge is a child in Glasgow, Scotland. He comes in conflict with The Whiskervilles, earns his Number One Dime and heads for the United States on a cattle boat.
"The Prisoner of White Agony Creek" is a 2006 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. The story takes place between "King of the Klondike" and "Hearts of the Yukon" in the series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck making it part 8B. The story shows how Goldie O'Gilt was taken to Scrooge's claim by the White Agony Creek. As Don Rosa announced his retirement in June 2008, this is his last story to date.
"His Majesty, McDuck" is a Donald Duck story by Don Rosa, first published in Uncle Scrooge Adventures #14 in August 1989.
"Cash Flow" is an Uncle Scrooge adventure comic written and drawn by Don Rosa, first published in Uncle Scrooge #224 in December 1987. It was the first of Rosa's stories to feature the Beagle Boys. Like some other comic stories by Don Rosa this story is founded in toying with the physical laws. Rosa says that he got the ideas for these comics from the mechanical engineering courses he took before he became a professional cartoonist.
"The Empire-Builder from Calisota" or "The Richest Duck in the World" is a 1994 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It is the eleventh of the original 12 chapters in the series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The story takes place from 1909 to 1930 and details Scrooge finishing his quest to become the richest man in the world, during which he becomes hardened and overall hostile towards others.
"The Dreamtime Duck of the Never Never" is a 1993 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It is the seventh of the original 12 chapters in the series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The story takes place from 1893 to 1896.
"The Beagle Boys vs. the Money Bin" is a 2001 Donald Duck comic by Don Rosa. Rosa's inspiration for it was mostly to get a chance to thoroughly demonstrate the Money Bin, invented by Carl Barks.
"A Matter of Some Gravity" is a 1996 Uncle Scrooge adventure comic written and drawn by Don Rosa, featuring sorceress Magica De Spell. Like some other comic stories by Rosa, the story is founded with toying with the laws of nature, specifically gravity. Rosa claims that he got the ideas for those comics during a mechanical engineering course in an institute of higher education, which he took before he became a professional cartoonist.
