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"The Lost Charts of Columbus" is a 1995 Donald Duck comic by Don Rosa, a sequel to Carl Barks' 1952 story The Golden Helmet .
The story was first published in the Danish Anders And & Co. #1995-42; the first American publication was in Donald Duck Adventures #43, in April 1997.
The Junior Woodchucks organized a raffle in order to raise funds to further research on the original Junior Woodchucks Guidebook, based on findings made by an expedition sponsored by Scrooge McDuck in Guardians of the Lost Library and offered a trip as first prize. Donald Duck doesn't understand why they bother to organize a raffle in Duckburg, since Gladstone Gander always wins. He's then told that the winner for this one must be there to get the prize, thus inspiring him on how to keep Gladstone from winning.
Acting quickly, Donald tricks Gladstone into a knot-making machine. While he was out, the Junior Woodchucks R.A.F.F.L.E.R. draws a ticket and picks Donald Duck as the winner. Since he wasn't there because he was busy trying to keep Gladstone away, Donald is disqualified and another raffle ticket had to be picked. Soon, Gladstone becomes the new winner. At this point, Donald arrives and doesn't know his name had been previously picked. Gladstone escapes from the machine on time to get the prize and asks where's he going for the trip. He's disappointed as it was a fishing trip to Canada. Donald commented about how unfair it is. One of his nephews tried to tell him about Donald being previously picked, but another one said "he's better not knowing".
Gladstone, wanting to know why he won such a prize, invites Donald to go with him. Donald's nephews asked him to accept, since this trip is to where they're going to study the chart, located in the original Junior Woodchucks Guidebook. There, a fisherman feels sorry for Gladstone not getting any fish, but he replies by saying he's learned there's another purpose for the trip: recovering valuable objects from the sea. One of them turns out to be the Golden Helmet. The fisherman said he had spent a lot of time and money trying to get it. He's surprised that Gladstone got it just by seer luck. The fisherman tells them the history behind this helmet. Donald asks how he knows about it and the fisherman reveals himself to be Azure Blue.
Donald then tells Gladstone a very summarized version of their original adventure, and asks him to throw the helmet back at sea. Blue suggests Gladstone throw something else in (i.e. Donald). Meanwhile, the nephews discover the lost charts of Christopher Columbus and maps of other claims to North America. Afterwards, Donald asks them to find one older than Olaf's. Back in Duckburg, our heroes see Gladstone leaving a press conference and ask him if he was claiming ownership of North America. Gladstone says he doesn't want the responsibility of being a landlord and that he isn't a descendant of Olaf the Blue. Azure is announcing his claim when Donald and his nephews tell the press about an older claim made by an abbot, Saint Brendan, which nullifies Olaf's plan.
Unfortunately, this causes a lot of people to search for evidence of this claim in order to own North America. The artifact which proves this claim was later found by Lawyer Sharky, who, since the abbot took a vow of chastity, instead of trying to prove to be related to him restored his congregation and claimed ownership of North America in its name. His victory, just like Azure's, was also short-lived as the nephews find an even older claim made by a Chinese explorer named Hui-Shen.
At this point, Azure Blue decides to give the Golden Helmet to our heroes, as it's no longer useful for his plans of world domination by controlling America. The quest for ownership of North America leads our heroes to the ruins of Teotihuacan, where they find a big old teak wheel proving this claim. Sharky finds it and our heroes (mainly Donald) have a lot out trouble keeping him from destroying the wheel. When Sharky finally gets the wheel, Azure shows up trying to get the clam and tell Sharky it's too late to destroy the wheel since many witnesses have already saw it. Sharky says he found a way to use the wheel to make them both emperors of North America, and brings out their contract Sharky recovered after learning Blue recovered the Golden Helmet.
After the villains leave, the nephews recall that Columbus believed there are other maps that were never copied. As such, they suspect that the Guardians of the Lost Library may have held a chart made in leather and return to Alexandria to find out. There, they learn about an even older claim supposedly made by an ancient civilization (which they theorize to be the Phoenicians). Meanwhile, in a Brutopian hotel, Blue and Sharky are waiting until they have letters from enough descendants of the Chinese explorer to be allowed to rule America in their names. Upon learning from the newspapers about our heroes' discovery, which led them back to the Library of Alexandria (see Guardians of the Lost Library for details), Blue and Sharky go to a desert land where, on the remains of an old Native American ship, our heroes have found a stone tablet containing a claim that predates, and thus nullifies, their other ones.
After retrieving the tablet from our heroes, the villains throw away the wheel (now useless) and decide to use the tablet to rule North America for themselves instead of for the descendants of the Chinese explorer. During the press conference at their hotel, a mysterious reporter asks our villains if they now consider the other claims null and void. Sharky says yes, as they were misled by false information. For their finale, Azure and Sharky summon a university professor to translate the Punic script on the tablet. The professor looks at the tablet and says the language is not Punic at all. The reporter opens his trench coat and reveals himself to be Donald and his nephews (standing on Donald's shoulders), translating the language as Native American, meaning the tablet is, likewise, native to the Americas and cannot be used to stake a claim. Since Blue and Sharkey have now disavowed their earlier claims, they have nothing left. Eventually, both are arrested for failing to pay the enormous bills they incurred for the Brutopian hotel's services, and the several ads taken out in China to contact the Chinese explorer's descendants.
In the epilogue, Donald and his nephews look at the tablet upside-down and learn it's actually a claim to Europe, made by Native American explorers who sailed east and discovered "a new world" - meaning that, by Europe's own Charlemagne Laws, the Native Americans own Europe. Donald and his nephews comment about how it will finally make the U.N. revoke the Code of Discovery law. In the corner of the last panel, a portrait of Columbus is shown wrinkling his face in disgust.
Gladstone Gander is a cartoon character created in 1948 by The Walt Disney Company. He is an anthropomorphic gander who possesses exceptional good luck that grants him anything he desires as well as protecting him from any harm. This is in contrast to his cousin Donald Duck, who is often characterized for having bad luck. Gladstone is also a rival of Donald for the affection of Daisy Duck. Gladstone dresses in a very debonair way, often in a suit; wearing a bow-tie, fedora, and spats. He has a wavy hairstyle which is depicted either as white or blonde. In the story "Luck of the North" he is described as having a brassy voice.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-nephews of Scrooge McDuck. Like their maternal uncles, the brothers are anthropomorphic white ducks with yellow-orange bills and feet. The boys are sometimes distinguished by the color of their shirts and baseball caps. They featured in many Donald Duck animated shorts and in the television show DuckTales and its reboot, but comics remain their primary medium.
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.
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 who is associated with them. He was also a heroic creator star of the animated DuckTales. He first appeared in the Carl Barks comic "Gladstone's Terrible Secret", and was the regular lead character in 4-page backup stories in Barks' issues of Uncle Scrooge, starting with issue #13 and continuing through #41.
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 Duck family is a fictional family of cartoon ducks related to Disney character Donald Duck. The family is also related to the Coot, Goose, and Gander families, as well as the Scottish Clan McDuck. Besides Donald, the best-known members of the Duck family are Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Donald's three triplet nephews.
The Junior Woodchucks of the World is a fictional scouting organization appearing in Disney comics and the DuckTales animated television franchise, most notably in adventures featuring Disney characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie as members.
"Guardians of the Lost Library" is a 1993 comic book story made by Don Rosa for The Walt Disney Company, mentioned by Comics Buyer's Guide as "possibly the greatest comic book story of all time". Although afraid at the time of its creation of cramming too many historical details into the story, Rosa himself mentions in Uncle Scrooge #383 that in fan mail he receives to this day, "Guardians of the Lost Library" to his own surprise is often referred to as "'the best Rosa story' or 'the best Duck story' or even 'the best comic book story' (?!!) that fans say they've ever read."
"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, and tells of Donald Duck's attempts to raise money for a Christmas party for the poor children of Shacktown.
"The Golden Helmet" is a 32-page Disney comics adventure story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. The story was first published in Four Color #408 with a cover by Barks. In the story, Donald Duck and his nephews hunt for a Viking helmet that gives the possessor legal claim to North America.
Donald Duck, a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company, is today the star of dozens of comic-book and comic-strip stories published each month around the world. In many European countries, Donald is considered the lead character in Disney comics, more important and beloved than Mickey Mouse.
"Oolated Luck" is a comic story about the rivalry between Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander, first published in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #528 in April 1988. It was written and drawn by Don Rosa, based on a small item appearing in an earlier story by Carl Barks. The story is reprinted in volume 1 of The Don Rosa Library, The Son of the Sun.
"W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N." is a 1997 Donald Duck story by Don Rosa. This story was originally made to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Huey, Dewey and Louie's first appearance in a newspaper comic strip drawn by Al Taliaferro.
"His Majesty, McDuck" is a Donald Duck story by Don Rosa, first published in Uncle Scrooge Adventures #14 in August 1989.
"The Duck Who Never Was" is a 1994 Disney comics story written and drawn by Don Rosa. It was written to celebrate Donald Duck's sixtieth anniversary. The story was first published in the Danish Anders And & Co. #1994-23; the first American publication was in Donald Duck #286, in September 1994.
"The Secret of Atlantis" is a 32-page Disney comics story written and drawn by Carl Barks, and lettered by his wife, Garé Barks.
"The Gilded Man" is a 32-page Disney comics story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. The story was first published by Dell in Four Color #422 with a cover by Barks, and three Donald Duck gag stories by Barks: "Stable Prices", "Armored Cat Rescue", and "Crafty Corner". "The Gilded Man", the cover, and the gag stories have been reprinted many times.
