Uncle Scrooge #346
Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Funny Carrots and Other Stories
A special carrot crop spurs another contest between Scrooge and Flintheart Glomgold!
Writers: Romano Scarpa, Byron Erikson, Pat & Carol McGreal, Janet Gilbert, Pat & Shelly Block & Stefan Petrucha
Art: Romano Scarpa, L. Michieli, Jose Massaroli, Wanda Gattino, Marcall Abella Bresco, Vicar & Maria Jose Sanchez Nunez
Colors: Egmont, Michael Kraiger, B. Grossman, T. Letterman, Pamela Rambo & Kneon Transitt
Letters: Willie Schubert, Marshall Dillon, Jon Babcock & Susie Lee
Editor: Arnold T. Blumberg
Cover Art: Daniel Branca
Publisher: Gemstone Comics
Another month, another collection of Uncle Scrooge tales courtesy of the good people at Gemstone Comics. I’ve heard that Gemstone is planning to include more long-form adventure stories in the future, which I’m very happy about – those always tend to give me my favorite issues of this title. That said, this issue gives us a really good story that turns around one of Scrooge’s formulas, and that helps it stand out.
Heading up this issue is “The Funny Carrots” by Romano Scarpa and Byron Erikson. Brigitta MacBridge, the woman who wants to be Mrs. Scrooge McDuck, brings him the news of a new breed of carrot that makes anyone who eats it burst out laughing. Seeing the marketing potential, Scrooge sets out to cut a deal with the small tribe that cultivates the vegetable, unaware that a spying Flintheart Glomgold has the same idea. The result is a funny, almost sitcom-eque situation that shows off Scrooge’s humanity in the end.
Next up is “One Thin Dime” by Pat and Carol McGreal with art by Jose Massaroli, the gem of this issue. When Scrooge discovers the first dime he ever earned has gone missing, he assumes the thief is the witch who wants to use it to give herself the Midas Touch, Magica DeSpell. Magica, however, is just as dismayed as Scrooge to find the dime has been stolen. The two adversaries decide to work together to get the dime back. It’s intriguing to see these two bitter enemies forced to work together for a change, and it’s also nice to see a new enemy popped into Scrooge’s world. You can only get so much mileage out of Magica, Flintheart and the Beagle Boys, after all. This two-parter is easily the best story in the issue.
“In the Clouds” by Janet Gilbert and Wanda Gattino is this issue’s Gyro Gearloose tale. The screwy inventor creates a machine that turns clouds into homes, but when Donald takes it out for a test-drive, he winds up whipping up a tornado. This is followed up by “Bin With a View” by Pat and Shelly Block and Marcal Abella Bresco, a short in which Scrooge decides his Money Bin could do with a little lightening up, so he adds a window, but it turns out he may have to sacrifice his peace of mind. These two quickies work well, basically as extended gag strips.
“The Way the Cookie Crumbles” by the McGreals and Vicar show how Scrooge can sometimes let an idea run away with him. When a few fortune cookies turn out to offer sage business advice, Scrooge goes on a Chinese food binge to keep up the stream of information. It’s kind of unusual to see the level-headed Scrooge go nuts for something so esoteric, but it’s perfectly in-character to see him go overboard when he thinks something works. I’ve also got to single out Vicar’s artwork. While most of the artists in this issue have good, clean lines that could easily have fallen from an animation cell, Vicar has a unique quality reminiscent of the master himself, Carl Barks, and I’d bee happy to see his wok any time.
Finally there’s “The Information Rage” by Stefan Petrucha and Maria Jose Sanchez Nunez. When the burglarizing Beagle Boys stumble upon a computer that can detect an adversary’s weak spot, they begin using it to plan crimes. The computer turns out to be smarter than they thought, however, and the gang may just wind up with a new leader. Just as it’s nice to see Scrooge face off with a foe other than the Beagles, it’s also nice to see the Beagles on a caper that doesn’t involve breaking in to the Money Bin.
Overall, this is a better-than-average issue of Uncle Scrooge, with several satisfying stories and one very impressive one. A decent package overall.
Rating: 7/10
Uncle Scrooge #343
Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Pudding it Straight and other stories
Duckberg is awash in pudding! Can the ducks save the day?
Writers: William Van Horn, Pat & Carol McGreal, Terry Laban, Tony Isabella, Gail Renard, Olaf Solstrand, Pat & Shelly Block
Art: William Van Horn, Jose Massaroli, Romano Scarpa, Jose Maria Manrique, Maria Jose Sanchez Nunez, Marcal Abella Bresco
Colors: Susan Daigle-Leach, Egmont, Marie Javins, Pamela Rambo, Michael Kraiger & Sue Kolberg
Letters: Jon Babcock, Susie Lee, Travis Seitler & Willie Schubert
Editor: Arnold T. Blumberg
Cover Art: Daniel Branca
Publisher: Gemstone Comics
Before we go into the review, I’d like to take a moment to pay tribute to not one, but three individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Disney comics, all of whom recently passed away. Bruce Hamilton, the longtime publisher of Gladstone comics, artist Romano Scarpa, who contributed a story this issue, and artist Daniel Branca, who has done some of the finest covers since Carl Barks. All will be missed.
Moving on to the actual comic book, we start with William Van Horn’s “Pudding it Straight.” Scrooge’s little-seen brother Rumpus is in town, and under attack by (wait for it) a sentient wave of tapioca pudding. In a panic, he goes to Scrooge and his nephews for help. The ending is a classic Van Horn twist. It’s an okay story, but I don’t really care for any tale with Rumpus in it – the character doesn’t fit into any family tree whipped up by Scrooge’s creator, Carl Barks, and he doesn’t seem right in the stories either.
The McGreals and Massaroli contribute this story’s the best story, the two-part “A Knight to Remember.” When a young woman comes to Scrooge to bargain for an ancient window in his collection, he finds a clue to find the treasure of the “Knights Simplar.” It’s a cute a enough story, but placing it in this issue, just one issue after Don Rosa’s similarly-themed “The Castle’s Other Secret” is a really bad move. The other story is a real masterpiece of the form, and an unfavorable comparison is inevitable.
In “Security,” by Laban and Scarpa, a con man tries to get his hands on a giant ruby in Scrooge’s possession by turning the billionaire against some of his loyalist employees. It’s a nice little tale that shows Scrooge’s more human side. This story is followed up by “Gyro 2.0” by Renard and Manrique (with dialogue by Tony Isabella – Gyro Gearloose decides to up his efficiency by creating robot duplicates of himself – with predictably disastrous results.
“Being Donald Duck” by Solstrand and Nunez is a surprisingly strong story in this issue. The Beagle Boys swipe a mind-switching device from Gyro and use it to replace Donald with one of their own. The fake duck waltzes into the money bin to try to find a way to steal his fortune. This is a nice, funny tale that fits the characters involved better than the others in this issue.
Finally, we have “Golden Slumbers” by the Blocks and Bresco, a short, wordless tale of Scrooge prospecting in the Klondike. A story like this is dependent on the art to carry it, and it does it well.
Overall, though, this is a rather disappointing issue of Uncle Scrooge, with no anchor tale, and a strong point that suffers because it’s just not as good as another story that happens to use the same elements that we just read last issue.
Rating: 6/10