Scrooge's Last Adventure part two: "The Depths..."

Gotta pick up the pace a tiny bit if we're going to fit everything in here, so...

Right: PART TWO. Starting more or less where we left off.

Predictable "defeated Scrooge" stuff. I must say, I do like how deranged he looks here. Situation's really done a number on him.

And I like THIS part because it confirms my long-held theory, which is mine, that I've definitely mentioned elsewhere, which is that Scrooge HAS to frequently be nicer off-stage than he is on: like, you'd be unlikely to read a story where he tells Donald, oh don't worry about paying the rent! It's fine! But he really has to be doing stuff like that. Otherwise his nephews would never put up with him. And here, we see it: Scrooge was letting him live, it not rent-free, then at least rent-flexible. Good!

Man, I have to call bullshit: they may be foreclosing on the house, but they have no claim on his other assets. They can't dictate how much stuff he's able to take!

You do have to wonder what "more" Glomgold was hoping for. I mean, they're sad. What else were they going to be? You got what you paid for, man! Appreciate it!

I want to know: did Rockerduck say that thing about eating hats in the original? He clearly said SOMETHING about, like, since he's having a sympathetic memory of having suffered in some way, but was it that? Because to me, it feels kind of awkward to have this shoehorned-in reference to a story that didn't involve Rockerduck at all. I'm just saying!

We honestly have to face the possibility, here, that, with this attitude, Rockerduck/Glomgold would be more beneficial to Duckburg than Scrooge ever was. I mean, we're clearly supposed to see an implicit "...and then the OTHER shoe will drop!" but...what's the other shoe? I know this isn't at all the perspective we're meant to bring to the story, but from the point of view of the common people, who cares which gazillionaires are in charge?  If they're doing things to help your city, what matters their motivations? I mean, okay, on some level you'd care, but really when people get that rich, they just become weird aliens, because they don't have to observe social conventions: they can just buy their way out of any consequences for any bad behavior. So...I'd have to see their policy platform before I make a judgment. Do I have a point here? Probably not! But when has that ever stopped me?

FACT: ducks always look extremely freaky when they're drawn with teeth like that. You can look it up!

And I do have to object to this: the soda is unquestionably too sweet. Not that I consumed much of it in any case, but ever since they started printing the recommended daily percentage of sugar it gives you, I've pretty much cut it out entirely. It is alarming! But if you're drinking it, you like it. You don't think of it as "oversweet," and would not describe it as such. It would be like saying "man, I really like this music that I hate!" It's a contradiction in terms.

(I mean okay, you can sort of picture someone saying something like "yeah, man, I know that soda is oversweet, but I just can't stop drinking it! It's my guilty pleasure! I really don't think that's what's going on here, however.)

Dig those fireflies. They are sure some fireflies. I also like how it's implicitly established that Grandma is outside of this capitalist order: the rest of Duckburg and the surrounding environs may be owned by the latest plutocrat, but they can't get her. Woo hoo!

Seriously, say what you will, but Glomgold's character IS extremely well-done here: the way he can go immediately from "ha ha that's hilarious joke!" to "...and I will make you hurt" is chilling, and characteristic of despots down the ages. Maybe you can think of examples!

...why would you throw away his trophies? You do realize that they have actual, monetary value, right? Maybe there's a reason you're only the second-richest, with that attitude.

I have ambivalent feelings about The Help quitting like this. So on the one hand, this could be seen as another indicator that Scrooge isn't always as big of a jerk off-panel as he is on. Which is good. On the other hand...I feel like in this case, I don't necessarily believe that. Which might be a "me" problem, I'll grant you. On the third hand, do I really think ANY low-level employee of a big ol' zillionaire is unexploited? But then again, on the fourth hand, are they really "low-level?" But on the fifth hand, all of this is clearly me dragging my real-world biases where they don't belong. And that is enough hands for today!

Here comes everybody! Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker! If you don't like it...you don't like it. But I do like it! I mean, it's a classic story, right? The king being dethroned and sent into exile--I think it's one of those things that just really resonates with people. You could argue that it's too much...but we'll get to that. Soon.

Here's my question: what would you say that Scrooge's "ideals" are? Because this statement of his seems very odd to me. I'd say his main ideal is get rich through hard work--mostly sorta-kinda honest work. Smarter than tougher than square etc. But how does that even apply here, when he's just given up? I think he has, at this point, abandoned his ideals. In fact, that seems to me to be...kinda the whole point? What a weird line! I have nothing else to say about it!

What do you think of Gladstone here? On the one hand (always with the damn hands!), it's nice to see him acting...nice now and then. On the other hand, smarmy condescension is really a pretty fundamental part of him, innit? Is he even him without it? Even in "Shacktown" he doesn't abandon that as thoroughly as he does here. This isn't something I really object to, but it nonetheless strikes me as kind of...facile, maybe.  A bit too easy.  It's definitely something to think about.

Would this be a better story if it were all about Scrooge learning to acquiesce to the vicissitudes of fortune? Adjusting to a new, radically different way of life? Well, it would certainly be a more unexpected story. And potentially actually pretty darned interesting, although some might see the preclusion of all future stories as a downside. Well, I mean, we can have alternate-world, what-if stories! That's an established comic-book thing! So, why not?

Okay, so here's this Duck Avenger interlude. And it would certainly not be unreasonable to think, really guys, isn't this a bit much? Isn't the story sufficiently overstuffed as it is? But I kind of disagree. I think there's an extent to which you have to see this story as an All-Star Superman sort of thing (yes! I've read a superhero comic!), in that it's as much a meta-celebration of the character as it is a straightforward story. And DA is a big thing in Italy, so here he is!  Read like that, seeing DA here kind of delights me, gratuitous as it may be.

I also like that we're maintaining the incredibly flimsy conceit that Scrooge has no idea who the Duck Avenger is. Gotta keep up the traditions!

...really? Is that what Killmotor Hill shows? Or is it something you just made up, like what a clever but lazy college freshman might write in their essay while trying to look profound? The world may never know.

Is that an accurate assessment of Rockerduck and Glomgold? Well, maybe, but given that we really only see them when they're taking on Scrooge, it's probably an incomplete pictures. And really now, isn't "sneak[ing] around [obstacles] instead of tackling 'em head-on" just being smarter than the smarties? I think you might just be prejudiced here.

Well, more Magica, and I continue to find this "white magic" stuff extremely hilarious. What more can I say?

This is just me being crazy, I know, but I somehow don't like the idea that Scrooge would be able to just best these incomprehensible beings that transcend space and time by sheer gumption. Am I saying I want Scrooge to be a weaker character? Well, I don't know. But his justified confidence does sometimes rub me the wrong way. I think it's better for him to be a bit beleaguered. We're supposed to like him, mostly, but if he's not only super-rich but he's also an overdog--that becomes much harder. Anyway.

I guess I don't have much to say about this last part. There are some nice visuals, for sure, but I don't even know how to finish this sentence.

Yup.

Sure. Is this The Worm Ouroboros? That would be fun.

Are you ready for some WITCHBALL? That made no sense. But now, this blog entry is finished.