Uncle Scrooge

Last updated
Uncle Scrooge
UncleScroogeNo21.jpg
Uncle Scrooge #21 cover. Art by Carl Barks.
Publication information
Publisher Dell Comics, Gold Key Comics / Whitman, Gladstone Publishing, Disney Comics, Gemstone Publishing, Boom! Kids, IDW Publishing
Genre Humor
Publication date1952–1984
1986–1998
2003–2008
2009–2011
2015–2020
No. of issues460, including 3 issues of Four Color (as of September 2020)
Creative team
Created by Carl Barks, Tony Strobl, Vic Lockman, Phil DeLara, Jack Manning, Pete Alvarado, Daan Jippes, Don Rosa, William Van Horn, Gutenberghus/Egmont Group (Vicar, Daniel Branca, Joel Katz, Dave Angus, Tom Anderson, Gail Renard, et al.), John Lustig, Pat McGreal, Dave Rawson, Michael T. Gilbert, Romano Scarpa, and others

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 Duckburg and around the world. It was first published in Four Color Comics #386 (March 1952), as a spin-off of the popular Donald Duck series and is still presently ongoing. It has been produced under the aegis of several different publishers, including Western Publishing (initially in association with Dell Comics and later under its own subsidiary, Gold Key Comics and their Whitman imprint), Gladstone Publishing, Disney Comics, Gemstone Publishing, Boom! Studios, and IDW Publishing, and has undergone several hiatuses of varying length. Despite this, it has maintained the same numbering scheme throughout its six decade history, with only IDW adding a secondary numbering that started at #1. [1]

Contents

Besides Scrooge and his family, recurring characters include Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, Emily Quackfaster, and Brigitta MacBridge. Among the adversaries who make repeat appearances are the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, John D. Rockerduck and Flintheart Glomgold. Uncle Scrooge is one of the core titles of the "Duck universe".

Its early issues by famed writer/artist (and creator of Scrooge McDuck) Carl Barks formed the inspiration for the syndicated television cartoon DuckTales in the late 1980s. Several stories written by Barks and published in Uncle Scrooge were adapted as episodes of DuckTales.

Writers and artists

The first 70 issues mostly consisted of stories written and drawn by Carl Barks. The 71st issue had a story written by Barks and drawn by Tony Strobl. Subsequent Gold Key Comics issues combined reprints of earlier Barks tales with new material by creators such as Strobl, Vic Lockman, Phil DeLara, Jack Manning, and Pete Alvarado.

When Gladstone Publishing relaunched the title in 1986, a new generation of American creators began contributing to the title, including Don Rosa, William Van Horn, John Lustig, Pat McGreal, Dave Rawson, and Michael T. Gilbert. As before, their work was intermingled with Carl Barks reprints, as well as with translations of European Disney comics by such creators as Daan Jippes, Fred Milton and Romano Scarpa originally published by Oberon, Egmont (originally Gutenberghus) and Disney Italy/Mondadori.

U.S. publication history

Scrooge made his first appearance in the Donald Duck story "Christmas on Bear Mountain" as a curmudgeonly man who decides to test Donald and his nephews to see if they are worthy of inheriting his wealth. Barks found the character and his wealth a useful springboard for stories and re-used him in a number of subsequent Donald Duck one-shot adventures and ten pagers appearing in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories . By 1952 the popularity of the character convinced Dell to give Scrooge a try-out as a lead character in the seminal "Only a Poor Old Man" in Dell's Four Color anthology series, a story Barks expert Michael Barrier has termed a masterpiece. After two further Four Color appearances Scrooge was granted his own title starting with issue number 4 (counting the try-out issues as one through three).

The series continued uninterrupted (though not always on a monthly schedule) until 1984, when Western Publishing (the parent company of Gold Key/Whitman, who were publishing the title at the time) withdrew from the comic book business. Western had held the Disney comic book license since the late 1930s, and their withdrawal left the license, and Uncle Scrooge, in limbo for two years, when Another Rainbow, who had been publishing hardbound compilations of Carl Barks's work for several years, acquired it and launched Gladstone Publishing, resuming the title where Whitman had left off.

Gladstone continued publishing Uncle Scrooge until their license expired in 1990. At that point, the series shifted over to Disney Comics with little change in editorial direction. It was one of only three monthly titles to survive the "Disney implosion" of 1991 (the others being Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Donald Duck Adventures), and continued to be published by Disney Comics until 1993, when Disney Comics folded and the license was reacquired by Gladstone Publishing. Gladstone went through their own implosion in 1998, and Uncle Scrooge was briefly converted into a double-sized (64 page), "prestige" format series, before Gladstone ended publication entirely later that year.

No further issues were published until 2003, when Gemstone Publishing (whose editorial staff included several former employees of Gladstone) acquired the license and resumed publication of Uncle Scrooge. Gemstone maintained the prestige format previously adopted by Gladstone, and continued to publish the series until November 2008. Financial difficulties at Gemstone ended its run then, and the license was acquired by Boom! Studios, who reverted to the standard 32 page format when they began publication in late 2009. Boom's run ended in 2011, when the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment lead to the consolidation of all Disney comics licenses under Marvel Comics.

In January 2015, IDW Publishing announced that they would be publishing the title, starting in April 2015. [1] Apart from the single issues of the comic book, IDW Publishing also publishes the run in trade paperback collections compiling three issues each, but did also at one point collect the issues in hardcover collections under the title Uncle Scrooge: Timeless Tales . [2] However the hardcover compilations ceased to come out after the third volume. The Trade paperbacks soon followed, and the last regular issue printed was 460 (IDW 56), leaving the series ending on a cliffhanger as the story was to be continued in the next issue.

Other titles and spinoffs

Over the years, Scrooge McDuck has proven popular enough to appear as the main character in a number of other comic book series. Many of these series include republications of stories originally written for the "main" Uncle Scrooge title in the United States or various European countries.

Scrooge often appeared in The Beagle Boys alongside his frequent adversaries, published irregularly by Gold Key from 1963 to 1979. [3] When that title ended, it was relaunched as The Beagle Boys Versus Uncle Scrooge in March 1979 and lasted for twelve issues, until February 1980. [4]

In 1987, Gladstone Publishing began publication of Uncle Scrooge Adventures , which they would continue to publish until 1998, excluding the period from 1990 through 1993, when Disney Comics held the license to publish Disney comics.

Scrooge was also a major character in three different comic book titles tied in with the DuckTales television series. The first of these consisted of 13 issues and was published by Gladstone Publishing from 1987 to 1990. [5] The second consisted of 18 issues published by Disney Comics from 1990 through 1991. [6] The final (to date) was published over six issues by Boom Kids! in 2011. [7] Several DuckTales comics starring Scrooge would also appear in the pages of Disney Adventures in the early 1990s. [8]

Finally, The Adventurous Uncle Scrooge McDuck, published by Gladstone, ran for two issues in 1998. A third issue was planned but cancelled along with the rest of Gladstone's output other than Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories following a collapse in comics sales. [9]

Reprints

Carl Bark's Greatest DuckTales Stories (printed in the order of adaptation into Ducktales episodes).
Volume 1Four Color #456
Uncle Scrooge #13, 65, 9, 14 & 29
Volume 2Uncle Scrooge #58, 12, 3, 41, 38 & 6
The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library.
Volume 1 (Volume 12 overall) "Only a Poor Old Man"Four Color #386, 456, 495
Uncle Scrooge #4–6
Volume 2 (Volume 14 overall) “The Seven Cities of Gold”TBA
Volume 3 (Volume 16 overall) “The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan”TBA
Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge (Fantagraphics)
The Diamond Jubilee Collection [10] TBA

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Duck universe</span> Fictional universe involving Donald Duck and related Disney characters

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duck family (Disney)</span> Disney comics characters

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.

Uncle Scrooge Adventures is a 1987–1997 Disney comic book series published by Gladstone Publishing under license from the Walt Disney Company. It features the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. It was usually distinguished from the main Uncle Scrooge title in its focus on longer, full-length stories, often in the pulp adventure style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladstone Publishing</span> Former US publishing company

Gladstone Publishing was an American company that published Disney comics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of Another Rainbow Publishing, a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran to publish the Carl Barks Library and produce limited edition lithographs of Carl Barks oil paintings of the Disney ducks. The name references Gladstone Gander.

Disney Comics is currently a label of Disney Publishing Worldwide and was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company from 1990 to 1993. It was connected with W. D. Publications, Inc., which was a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that published Disney comics during that time span. W. D. Publications, Inc. created Disney Comics in 1990 so that The Walt Disney Company would not have to rely on outside publishers such as Gladstone Publishing. In the US, Disney only licensed Disney comic books to other publishers prior to 1990.

Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge.

<i>Walt Disneys Comics and Stories</i> Anthology comic book series featuring Disney characters

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, sometimes abbreviated WDC&S, is an American anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chip 'n Dale, Li'l Bad Wolf, Scamp, Bucky Bug, Grandma Duck, Brer Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, and others. With more than 700 issues, Walt Disney's Comics & Stories is the longest-running Disney comic book in the United States, making it the flagship title, and is one of the best-selling comic books of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemstone Publishing</span> American publishing company in the comics field

Gemstone Publishing is an American company that publishes comic book price guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Geppi in 1994 when he bought Overstreet.

<i>Donald Duck</i> (American comic book) 1942–2017 American Disney comics magazine

Donald Duck, also known as Donald Duck and Friends, is an American Disney comic book series starring the character Donald Duck and published by various publishers from October 1942 to June 2017. As with many early Disney comics titles, Donald Duck began as individual issues of Dell Comics' Four Color one-shots series. It was published as its own regular series in November 1952, starting with issue #26.

<i>Donald Duck Adventures</i>

Donald Duck Adventures is a 1987–1998 Disney comic book series featuring the adventures of Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.

<i>Mickey Mouse Adventures</i> 1990-1991 Disney comic book

Mickey Mouse Adventures was a Disney comic book first published by Disney Comics from 1990 to 1991. It featured Mickey Mouse as the main character along with other characters from the Mickey Mouse universe. Somewhat similar in style to the animated series DuckTales, it was based on the continuity of earlier print material starring Mickey, mainly Floyd Gottfredson's stories in the Mickey Mouse comic strip.

Disney's Comics in 3-D was a two-part comic book series published by Disney Comics in 1992.

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.

Walt Disney Giant was a forty-eight page, bimonthly Disney comic book published by Gladstone Publishing from September 1995 to September 1996. It featured the adventures of Scrooge McDuck, his nephews, Mickey Mouse, and other Disney characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Only a Poor Old Man</span> 1952 Uncle Scrooge comic book story by Carl Barks

"Only a Poor Old Man" is a 32-page Disney comics story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. It was published in Four Color #386 as the first issue of Uncle Scrooge. Scrooge McDuck had already made his debut as a supporting character in the 1947 Donald Duck story "Christmas on Bear Mountain", and made several other appearances in Donald Duck stories in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, but "Poor Old Man" was the first comic book story with Scrooge as the main character.

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.

<i>Mickey Mouse</i> (comic book) 1941–2017 American Disney comics magazine

Mickey Mouse is a Disney comic book series that has a long-running history, first appearing in 1943 as part of the Four Color one-shot series. It received its own numbering system with issue #28, and after many iterations with various publishers, ended with #330 from IDW Publishing.

The Barks/Rosa Collection was a series of prestige format comic books published by Gemstone Publishing containing adventure stories by Carl Barks and Don Rosa featuring Disney comics characters Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck. Rosa produced many stories that were direct sequels of Barks' tales, and this series paired the original Barks stories with the Rosa sequels.

<i>DuckTales</i> (2017 TV series) American animated series

DuckTales is an American animated television series, developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, and produced by Disney Television Animation. The series is a reboot of the original 1987 series of the same name, itself an adaptation of Uncle Scrooge and other Duck universe comic books created by Carl Barks, which focused on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engaged in a variety of adventures around the world, as well as in the fictional city of Duckburg. The reboot itself focuses on newer elements and deeper character stories, including a greater involvement of Donald Duck.

The Carl Barks Library in Color is a series of 141 Disney comics albums reprinting most of the Duck comics written and/or drawn by Carl Barks. The set was published by Gladstone Comics from 1992 to 1998.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stephen Gerding (21 January 2015). "IDW KICKS OFF NEW MONTHLY DISNEY LINE IN APRIL WITH "UNCLE SCROOGE" #1". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Traded up: 'Uncle Scrooge: Timeless Tales #3' (Review)". www.forcesofgeek.com. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  3. ↑ "The Beagle Boys". DCW: Disney Comics Worldwide. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "USA: The Beagle Boys Versus Uncle Scrooge". I.N.D.U.C.K.S. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "USA: Ducktales". I.N.D.U.C.K.S. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  6. ↑ "USA: Ducktales (Disney Comics)". I.N.D.U.C.K.S. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "USA: DuckTales (Boom)". I.N.D.U.C.K.S. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "USA: Disney Adventures". I.N.D.U.C.K.S. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "The Adventurous Uncle Scrooge McDuck". DCW: Disney Comics Worldwide. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "CARL BARKS: Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: The Diamond Jubilee Collection". Fantagraphics.com. Fantagraphics . Retrieved 7 September 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.