The Son of the Sun
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| The Son of the Sun | |
|---|---|
 Gladstone Publishing's U.S. cover for Son of the Sun |
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| Story code | AR 102 |
| Hero | Scrooge McDuck |
| Appearances | Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Flintheart Glomgold |
| Pages | 26 |
| Layout | 4 rows per page |
| Story | Don Rosa |
| Ink | Don Rosa |
| First publication | Uncle Scrooge #219 July, 1987 |
| I.N.D.U.C.K.S. profile | |
The Son of the Sun is the first Scrooge McDuck comic strip story written by Don Rosa 1986. It is a well-known comic book story that features Disney's Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, most notable for establishing Don Rosa as a major talent in the Disney comic book industry, as well as fulfilling Rosa's childhood dream of becoming a writer and illustrator of stories featuring Scrooge McDuck.
[edit] Background
Don Rosa had idolized Carl Barks, arguably the best-loved writer and illustrator of Scrooge McDuck comic books up until that point in time, since Rosa's childhood, and had drawn several comics with strong stylistic influences from Barks' work during his early career. One such story, appearing in a series called the Pertwillaby Papers, was called "Lost In (an alternative section of) the Andes", and was in no small part an homage to a Barks story called (perhaps not surprisingly) Lost in the Andes.
When Rosa began working with Gladstone Publishing, a publisher of Disney comics, later in his life, he asked for and was granted permission to draw a Scrooge McDuck story. Rosa updated the plot for Lost In (an alternative section of) the Andes to feature Scrooge McDuck and his nephews instead of the original protagonist, and this story became Son of the Sun. He has since stated that the original conception of the story in his mind had always featured the Disney ducks, and that Son of the Sun is simply a return to the original conception.
The story met with widespread acclaim and was nominated for a Harvey Award, and immediately established Rosa as a major talent when it came to writing and illustrating Scrooge McDuck.
[edit] Storyline
The opening panels of the story are set in the Duckburg museum, where Scrooge McDuck is opening a museum exhibit featuring the greatest wonders he has collected during his travels around the world. It is worth mentioning that many of the treasures depicted in the first page of panels are directly taken from earlier Carl Barks stories which featured Scrooge and his nephews on their original quests to obtain the treasures in question. This is a type of continuity not often seen in Disney's comics as well as a further homage to Barks' original stories, and delighted many longtime readers of the comics who had read many or all of the originals.
As Scrooge is bragging of his travels to his nephews, Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie (who know all of the details by heart, having been there for the original expeditions), Flintheart Glomgold, who is about to open an exhibit of his own, overhears Scrooge, and shortly the conversation between the two duck tycoons turns into a bragging match as to who is the greatest adventurer. Glomgold insists that Scrooge is second-rate and mentions that while Scrooge found the original gold mines of the Incas on a previous expedition (a reference to a Barks story called The Prize of Pizarro), he never found any of the Inca gold that had been extracted from the mines, and soon Scrooge and his nephews are off on a race with Glomgold to see who can find, and claim, the "original treasure of the Incas".
Eventually, both parties make their way to the top of a mountain near Cuzco, on the summit of which is an ancient Incan temple dedicated to Manco Capac, built around a large fumarole. Scrooge successfully claims a large store of Incan gold, but Flintheart discovers a large, jewelled sunburst of probably equal value and, since it's not made of gold and Scrooge only claimed gold, is able to claim it for himself. As Scrooge and Glomgold begin to argue about whose treasure is of greater value, the sunburst is dislodged from its mounting and falls into the fumarole, revealing the gold from the sunburst's back originating an argument between Scrooge and Flintheart, while forming a perfect convex seal over the volcanic gases, which build up and eventually blow the entire temple clear off the mountain. The ducks are able to use a tapestry as a makeshift parachute before the temple lands squarely in a nearly bottomless volcanic lake, making all of the treasure completely irretrievable.
As the dispirited ducks begin their journey back to civilization, Scrooge is seen emerging from a small, drought-stricken village (which was greatly aided by the massive splash of water produced by the temple) located right next to the lake. Scrooge mentions that he has agreed to build a pumping station for the village so that they will never be troubled by drought again, and Glomgold responds by scorning Scrooge's generosity. Scrooge mentions, however, that in return for his generosity, the villagers have agreed to sell him the lake for one peso - which makes Scrooge the rightful owner of both the temple and all of the treasure inside it. Even though he cannot retrieve it, Scrooge is now the clear legal owner of all of the treasure - and thus the winner of the contest.
[edit] Relevance
The story is notable for its clear homage to many Barks stories, featuring a search for lost treasure, a set of improbable clues that must be deciphered in order to retrieve it, and a story that features unpredictable twists and turns en route to the retrieval of said treasure, all classic elements of Barks' Scrooge McDuck stories. In addition, the resolution of the contest in Scrooge's favor and his victory over Glomgold comes as a direct result of Scrooge's generosity, which, though rare, has usually been seen as one of the primary qualities that elevates Scrooge to a hero instead of just a rich eccentric. The combination of homage to Barks, clever and intelligent writing, appealing art, and dependence of the resolution of the plot on of one of Scrooge's most redeeming character traits were instrumental in the reception of this storyline as a modern classic.
