"Cave of the Winds"

Haven't been posting here much because goshdarnit, I'm trying to teach two sections of comp while simultaneously really getting down to business with my dissertation. Earlier, it wouldn't have bothered me to not update indefinitely, but, somewhat ludicrously, perhaps, now that I have some sort of readership, I feel I have some kinda vague obligation to update on a semi-regular basis. Plus, you know, I like doing it.
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"The Mines of King Solomon"

People talk about Barks' quasi-historical/mythical "treasure hunts" as if they were a substantial part of his career, but when you come right down to it, you realize that he really only penned eight stories that can be unproblematically placed in this category ("The Seven Cities of Cibola," "The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone," "The Golden Fleecing," "The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan," "The Mines of King Solomon," "The Flying Dutchman," "The Prize of Pizarro," and "Crown of the Mayas"). Out of his seventy-some Uncle Scrooge adventures, this represents a pretty small minority. Don Rosa actually wrote MORE stories following this pattern (out of a much smaller total oeuvre) than Barks did hisself. So why are they so disproportionately remembered?
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