The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Collected Edition cover. Art by Don Rosa.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a serial of 12 comic book stories written and drawn by Don Rosa and first published in Uncle Scrooge #285 through #296 (1994-96). The stories chronicle the in-universe biography of Scrooge McDuck before his introduction in 1947. The stories were later collected and published together in a single volume. Rosa later published additional stories which expanded on Scrooge's biography. These were released as The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion.

The story follows the main events of Scrooge's life between 1877 and 1947, including almost all references found in Carl Barks stories about Scrooge's life until 1947 but leaving some room for Rosa and other creators to add more details later. The comic also provides information on the backgrounds and origins of many characters related to Scrooge.

Don Rosa earned the Will Eisner Award in 1997 for this work. The trade paperback collection was also a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for 1997.

After being out of print for several years with high demand, the book was reprinted under the BOOM! Studios label in two deluxe hardcover volumes.

The Finnish composer Tuomas Holopainen released a concept album based on the book, titled Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge. Don Rosa illustrated the cover artwork for the album.^[1]

Chapter list

Note: Chapters Zero, and all "in-between" chapters with halves in the numbers are not included in the softcover collection in North America. These chapters were later reprinted in a separate book published by Gemstone, titled The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion.

Scrooge McDuck (unofficial) Timeline according to Rosa

• 1867: Scrooge was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Fergus McDuck and Downy O'Drake. He would have two younger sisters, namely Matilda McDuck (born in 1871) and Hortense McDuck (born in 1876).
• 1877: Scrooge, age 10, goes into business with a shoeshine kit that Fergus built for him, but his first customer fools him and pays him with an American dime (which was actually a plan of his father's). He keeps the dime he cannot spend as his symbol of success.
• 1880: Scrooge, age 13, emigrates to the United States. He first meets his uncle, Mississippi riverboater Angus "Pothole" McDuck, and the Beagle Boys, a family of outlaws that remain his enemies for the rest of his life.
• 1882: His uncle retires and leaves his riverboat, named Dilly Dollar, to Scrooge, now 15 years old. The Beagle Boys destroy the riverboat in an act of revenge. Scrooge decides to try his luck in the American West and later in the year gets hired as a cowboy by cattle baron Murdo MacKenzie (an actual historical figure, one of the many that Scrooge met).
• 1883: Scrooge, age 16, becomes a miner searching for silver and copper.
• 1885: Scrooge's father calls his son back to Scotland on an important family matter. Just a week before he leaves he meets and befriends the millionaire Howard Rockerduck, who had become rich in the California gold rush of 1849. He also meets Howard's seven-year-old spoiled son John D. Rockerduck, who will grow up to become one of Scrooge's main rivals.
• 1886–1889: Scrooge, age 19-22, searches for gold in South Africa. During his first year there he saves the life of a duck about his age named Flintheart Glomgold, though Scrooge learns his name more than half a century later. A little later they become bitter enemies, and remain as such for the rest of their lives. Glomgold later became the second richest duck in the world.
• 1889–1893: Scrooge, age 22, returns to the United States to search for gold, most notably near Pizen Bluff, Arizona. He meets many famous historical figures but his search fails.
• 1893–1896: Scrooge, age 26, goes to Australia to search for gold but his search again fails.
• 1896–1899: Scrooge, age 29, searches for gold in the Klondike. During his years there he meets the saloon owner, singer and occasional thief "Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt. He carries a love/hate relationship with her for the rest of his life. His search for gold succeeds.
• 1897: Scrooge's mother Downy O'Drake dies, aged 57, in Dismal Downs.
• 1899–1902: Scrooge, at 32, becomes a millionaire and buys a bank in Whitehorse, Yukon. He starts building a small financial empire; by 1902, at 35, he has become a billionaire.
• 1902: Scrooge, age 35, returns to Scotland to get his sisters Matilda McDuck and Hortense McDuck to come to America with him. Also in 1902, Scrooge's father Fergus McDuck dies, aged 67, in Dismal Downs. Scrooge, Matilda and Hortense are the last of the McDuck clan. Scrooge settles in the small village of Duckburg, Calisota, United States, which he chose as his home base.
• 1909–1930: While his sisters remain in Duckburg and run his empire, Scrooge travels the world expanding his empire in every continent.
• 1930: Scrooge, at 63, becomes the richest duck in the world, but a fight with his family leaves him with no contact with them for the next seventeen years. Note that during this year he met his ten-year-old nephew Donald Duck and his nephew's twin sister Della Duck for the first time. (It was possibly the only time Scrooge met his niece Della, ignoring the girl completely.)
• 1942: Scrooge, age 75, feels depressed and tired and decides to retire.
• 1947: Scrooge, age 80, meets his nephew Donald Duck, now age 27, as well as his grandnephews, Della's children, Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck. He decides to become active again and soon a circle of activities whirl around him as he attracts the attention of relatives, old and new enemies and friends.
• 1955: Scrooge, age 88, is reunited and reconciled with his sister Matilda, thanks to Donald (In the story "A Letter From Home").
• 1967: According to Don Rosa's unofficial timeline, Scrooge McDuck died at the age of 100 years after a life of adventure.^[2][3]

Historical Figures

Several notable historical figures appear in the series:

• Murdo MacKenzie: cattle baron
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Jesse James
• Jack London
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police Colonel Sam Steele
• Phineas Taylor Barnum
• Geronimo
• Buffalo Bill
• Annie Oakley
• The Dalton Gang
• Marcus Daly
• John Jacob Astor IV

Collections

• The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Gemstone Publishing, ISBN 0-911903-96-8 (only includes parts #1-12).
• The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion, Gemstone Publishing, ISBN 1-888472-40-5 (has parts #0, 3B, 6B, 8B, 8C, 10B, "Dreams of a Lifetime" and part of "Last Sled to Dawson").
• The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, BOOM! Studios, ISBN 978-1-60886-538-3 (volume 1), ISBN 978-1-60886-542-0 (volume 2) and ISBN 978-1-60886-653-3 (companion)

References

External links

• The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck at the INDUCKS
• The Making of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck