The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion

By Rebecca Buchanan
May 1, 2007

Title: The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion
Publisher: Gemstone
Creator: Don Rosa
ISBN: 1-888472-40-5
Price: $16.99 US

Once upon a time, there was a young Scottish lad who was the last son of a proud clan. Sent out into the world to earn his fortune, he had grand adventures in exotic locales, found lost treasures and lost found treasures, met Presidents and Prime Ministers and inventors and other adventurers like himself — and more than a villain or three. That Scottish lad did more than just earn his fortune: he earned the fortune, becoming the richest duck in the world! He set the capital of his business empire on a hill overlooking Duckburg, inside a gigantic vault filled with three cubic acres of cash, his number one dime — and his greatest treasure of all ....

It's no secret that Scrooge McDuck is one of my favorite comic book characters. He has so many qualities that I admire: he's hardworking, tough, clever (but honest!) and always deals square. And my favorite Scrooge stories of all are those which chronicle his rise to fame and fortune; bits and pieces of that history were scattered among McDuck tales by Carl Barks, but were finally pulled into a coherent form, and fleshed out, by the great Don Rosa.

The twelve part The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck tells the main elements of that story: how Scrooge got his number one dime, his first meeting with Glittering Goldie, his first encounter with the Beagle Boys, his estrangement from his family, and finally his reconcilition with Donald and the boys. But in addition to those "A" chapters, Rosa also created a number of "B" and "C" chapters, which take place between the main issues. For instance, "The Prisoner of White Agont Creek" explores what happened the month that Goldie worked Scrooge's claim with him (unwillingly), while "The Sharpie of Culebra Cut" finds Scrooge and his sisters in Panama having a grand adventure with Teddy Roosevelt!

I love the stories; adventure and excitement and derring-do. I love the art; the odd little background details and in-jokes. I love the dialogue; the funny puns and wry commentary. I love the historical details; Rosa does so much research (Roosevelt really was in Panama at that time)!

Probably the best part of the Companion is the commentary that follows each chapter. Rosa details how the story came to be, the research that went into creating it, and the real historical personalities who populate the stories. Also included are the splash page summaries used when the chapter were chopped up into multiple parts, as well as several foreign addition covers.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion is a treat for young and old, new and life-long, fans of the World's Richest Duck. Highly recommended. And have fun looking for the D.U.C.K.s!

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