01 (FC0386) 1952 Only A Poor Old Man Almost all of the Scrooge adventures evolve around money in general and Scrooge's wealth in particular. This story tells about his tireless efforts to hold on to his money despite many attacks by the Beagle Boys. (See also U$21, U$28, U$51 and U$63.)

02 (FC0456) 1952 Back to the Klondike Barks reveals a bit about Scrooge's past and his rise to wealth in this story. We are taken to the Alaskan outback where we learn how tough times were for prospectors. Barks used real geographical names and real locations in this adventure, which in some way adds a new dimension so we can feel that we are tagging along as well. (See also U$35.)

03 (FC0495) 1953 (Horseradish Treasure) Barks liked to draw the ocean with its windswept waves and he did so in many stories. In this one he takes the ducks on a very special treasure hunt as they try to find what under different circumstances would be a completely useless and uninteresting case of horseradish. The twist to the story is that failing to find the case under countless fathoms of water will strip Scrooge of all his wealth. First showing of Number One Dime.

04 1954 (Menehune Mystery) Barks had met the artist Margaret (Garé) Williams who was born and raised in Hawaii (which later became the 50th state of USA). Using her detailed knowledge of the islands' tales, folklore and scenery Barks designed this story. The National Geographic Magazines also supplied much of the scenery and flora.

05 1954 (Secret of Atlantis) At the time the myth and the whereabouts of the sunken Atlantis was - once again - being debated and Barks decided to offer his version of the elusive place. The 'excuse' for the adventure was an idea Barks had conceived: A coin is only valuable when it is scarce, so what could happen to the last coin of a series? First showing of the JW Guide Book.

06 1954 (Tralla La) The initial idea was a desire to show a billion of something (in this case it ended up being bottle caps). This was combined with the 1937 Frank Capra movie Lost Horizon which Barks had recently seen so he decided to place his ducks in the unwelcoming mountains of the Himalayas. (See also U$09.)

07 1954 (The Cibola Story) The idea for the story was triggered by a visit to a friend who lived in Indio which is in the Mojave Desert, not far from Barks' home in San Jacinto. They walked about the neighbourhood where they stumbled on the remnants of an ancient Indian trail leading out onto a mesa. This was all Barks needed for a story about arrowheads and long-forgotten Indian cities. One scene in which the Beagle Boys encounter a trap in the shape of an ancient god was used much later by two famous moviemakers who also borrowed several other plot points from Barks' adventures (see U$26).

08 1954 (Petrifying Ray) Barks used a small gag about one of the Beagle Boys' affection for prunes. It was later reused in U$58 and Horsing Around with History.

09 1955 The Lemming with the Locket Barks had read about the massive migrations of a tiny mammal in Norway called a lemming and once again he felt intrigued to draw colossal numbers of a single item (see U$06). He thought the perfect reason for Scrooge to have seek out just one of the millions of lemmings was that the animal had accidentally gotten entangled in the chain of a locket containing the vital combination to his safe.

10 1955 The Fabulous Philosophers' Stone Barks often looked to ancient stories and myths when he was seeking out new ideas for his adventures. In this case he spun a tale from the medieval myth of a philosophers' stone which originally was believed to be a chemical that could change base metals into silver or gold. A perfect setting for a Scrooge wealth adventure. Barks entwined two ancient myths into the story: the Greek myth of King Midas who wished that everything he touched would turn into gold and he also incorporated a fraction of another myth namely that of the Minotaur in the labyrinths of Crete.

11 1955 Riches, Riches Everywhere! Barks wrote numerous stories in which the ducks went out hunting for specific treasures but this one has a certain twist to it. They are still travelling for treasures but in this case they are guided by sheer chance and have no idea of where to look or what they are going to find.

12 1955 The Golden Fleecing Once again, Barks got his story idea from the Greek mythology - the story about Jason and the golden fleece guarded by a dragon. He blends ancient and modern times together as he lets the ducks search for the original wool in the present time.

13 1956 Land Beneath the Ground Which is the most steadfast and secure building in Duckburg? Which building cannot be rocked or affected by attacks by humans or nature? The Money Bin! But Barks found a way, anyhow. He invented a whole land under Duckburg and suddenly the mighty and impregnable Money Bin is in peril. Attacked from the most unlikely place - the underground. Barks got his scenery from pictures of the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. The little peoples' capacity of swelling and rolling was a reuse of the Gneezles' abilities in FC0062.

15 1956 The Second-richest Duck Barks invented yet another way of showing off Scrooge's wealth when he introduced his alter ego Flintheart Glomgold. Here was a duck of equal financial wealth and with the same characteristics except for one crucial thing - he is far more unscrupulous than Scrooge. Barks also invented a clever way of determining which of the two tycoons is the richest by having completely worthless balls of string be the decisive factor.

16 1956 Back to Long Ago! The USA at the time was fascinated by the story of a housewife who, through the help of hypnosis, was apparently remembering she had lived an earlier life as Bridey Murphy, living in Ireland in the first half of the 19th century. Barks sent the ducks on another treasure hunt with a twist. This time the coveted treasure turned out to be a chest of potatoes even more worthless than the chest of horseradish in U$03).

17 1957 A Cold Bargain Through the 1950s all the newspapers were filled with stories of scientific explorations of many kinds. The laboratories were crammed with what seemed to be sensational discoveries (in obvious attempts to attract the public spotlight) but most of them were better left in the scientists' notebooks. This hysteria inspired Barks to invent Bombastium, a substance of no use whatsoever.

18 1957 Land of the Pygmy Indians In the 1950s the public's attitude towards preservation of the environment started to change. There was talk about pollution of air and water. Barks had strong opinions about the way people mistreated their surroundings and he longed for a perfect world with clean air and clean water. The scene was set for another adventure. (See also FC0062).

19 1957 The Mines of King Solomon Of course, Barks had to let Scrooge have a go at the mythical mines of King Solomon. As usual he found his background material in the National Geographic Magazines. Barks included a running gag about the nephews' animal call whistles, an idea that proved so successful that it was reused later (see U$61).

20 1957 City of Golden Roofs Barks was not that interested in modern technology - with the possible exception of automobiles - but in this adventure he takes up one of the latest gadgets of the time - the tape recorder. In a later story he used another modern invention which was to be an essential part of the plot - radios (see U$62).

21 1958 The Money Well Barks reuses his good old formula in which the Beagle Boys try to get hold of Scrooge's money (see also U$01, U$28, U$51 and U$63). In this story they are hiding inside a hill. Barks also introduces Grandpa Beagle with the puzzling prison number of 186-802 on his chest, i.e. the old man's number is about 10,000 higher (=newer) than those of his grandsons...

22 1958 The Golden River The British philosopher and author John Ruskin (1819-1900) wrote The King of The Golden River, a fairy tale set in the land of Stiria which tells of the good-hearted Gluck and his mean older brothers, Schwartz and Hans, who seek gold and get their just rewards! Barks liked the concept and transformed it to his duck universe.

23 1958 The Strange Shipwrecks Barks received the initial plot from the professional storyman Nick George.

24 1958 The Twenty-four Carat Moon What an idea for a story! Scrooge becomes the owner of a solid gold moon with the diameter of 500 miles. This surely must be far more wealth than what he has already got - and still he is not content!

25 1959 The Flying Dutchman Throughout time many authors have written about the so-called Flying Dutchman, the ship that was cursed to sail the high seas forever because its Dutch captain had made a blasphemous remark. And Barks gladly joined the party. In his version, the merchant ship is carrying a load of gold bullion and this effectively triggers yet another treasure hunt at sea for Scrooge. (See also WDCS312.)

26 1959 The Prize of Pizarro The second story which takes place in the Andes (see FC0223). This time the ducks are off on yet another treasure hunt. Barks had a heyday incorporating lots of slapstick. Some of the ancient Inca booby traps made such an impression on moviemakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas that they used them in the first Indiana Jones epic (see U$07).

27 1959 The Money Champ Barks decided to use Flintheart Glomgold in another story (see U$15) in another contest to decide if he or Scrooge is the richer. In the story we once again get to compare Glomgold's character with Scrooge's. Glomgold recklessly steals, cheats and bluffs to reach his goal. Perhaps Barks overdid it. He did not use Glomgold as a main character in any more adventure stories after this...

28 1959 The 'Paul Bunyan' Machine Scrooge is trying to hide his money from the Beagle Boys (see U$01, U$21, U$51 and U$63) by putting the money into hollow trees. In the first two adventure storieswith the Beagle Boys, the Beagle Boys more or less stumbled over the money. This time the Beagle Boys are both actively and intelligently seeking the money. The name of Paul Bunian is a reference to a popular set of North American stories about a giant lumberjack whose 'legend' was created in the bunkhouses of logging camps, by ordinary working men, while they gathered around the glowing woodstoves on cold winter evenings. The lumberjacks heard and then retold the fables, often weaving in local or personal embellishments as they passed the tales on.

29 1960 Island in the Sky For the previous 8 years Barks had been taking his ducks on adventures in many distant parts of the world and now he took them even further. At the time the Soviet Union had had several manned and unmanned flights in orbit and the USA was anxious to follow, encouraged by the young President Kennedy. Perhaps Barks was swept along in the patriotic fervor that arose in his country in those years and decided to contribute himself the best way he could - through his ducks!

30 1960 Yoicks! The Fox! Remake of WDCS098.

32 1960 That's No Fable! Barks was inspired by the Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon who in 1493 joined Columbus' second voyage to the Americas. After de Leon had discovered Puerto Rico he went on to search for the fabled Fountain of Youth. He discovered Florida which he explored meticulously for 8 years without finding any trace of the elusive waters.

33 1961 Billions in the Hole 'Men and women alike are out for Scrooge's money so why not introduce animals into the same role', Barks might have thought when dreaming up this story. He chose the smallest and most unlikely animals he could think of - ants!

34 1961 Mythic Mystery In quite a number of stories we can see Barks' fondness of Greek myths but in this one he concentrates primarily on the Nordic gods.

35 1961 The Golden Nugget Boat This is the second treasure hunt which takes place in Alaska (see U$02), but this time Scrooge has a more formidable opponent than an old and frail lady. The competition is none other than the world's luckiest duck - Gladstone Gander!

36 1961 The Midas Touch Barks introduced a new character which he would eventually use as a star in seven adventure stories and two ten-pagers - Magica de Spell. In many of Disney's feature cartoons there is a witch in some role and most of them are both evil and ugly. Instead, Barks made his witch interesting and attractive. This proved to be a stroke of genius as she became a much more appealing opponent to Scrooge than, for instance, Glomgold. Her goal was also entirely different from the other villains. Most of them were after all of Scrooge's money. She was merely out to get the Number One Dime, which she intended to melt down and make into a lucky charm...

37 1962 Cave of Ali Baba The tale of Ali Baba from the 1,001 Arabian Nights was well known to Barks. He managed to involve elements from other tales in the Arabian Nights such as Jinns, whirling dervishes and Rocs.

38 1962 The Unsafe Safe In the ten-pager WDCS171 Barks told a story in which The Money Bin had become indestructible through the ingenuity of Gyro. Now he reuses the plot but with a much more formidable opponent than the Beagle Boys (who are represent in supportin, clowning roles). Magica de Spell has a go at it and she stops at nothing.

39 1962 A Spicy Tale This story is quite extraordinary in the sense that Scrooge's money is not at peril for a change. The plot is simple - he has run out of his special nutmeg tea and now he has to go out and get some more. That's it...

40 1963 Oddball Odyssey Once again, Barks dives into the Greek myths and comes up with the tale of Circe, the sorceress that enchanted sailors and led them to their demise. The role of Circe is of course played by Magica de Spell who lures Scrooge to her hiding place in order to steal the Number One Dime.

41 1963 The Status Seeker This is the first story in which Scrooge tries to be a part of the high society in Duckburg (see also U$44) but in this one Barks ridicules the hollowness of seeking status.

43 1963 For Old Dime's Sake This time Magica really means business. She uses the forces of nature and heavy magic in order to get to Scrooge's lucky dime.

44 1963 Crown of the Mayas Scrooge tries once again (see U$41) to join the jet set of Duckburg. This time he wants to be an honoured member of the Archaeologists' Club. As in U$39 his money is not at stake. The adventure is filled with precise scenery and artifacts from National Geographic Magazines to such an extend that it almost overshadows FC0029 The Mummy's Ring.

45 1963 Isle of Golden Geese Several fairy tales tell about golden eggs and Barks joins in. In the fairy tales the value of such unique items is always known to the owner but - as usual - Barks has a twist. The doll-faced Fanny Featherbrain hasn't got a clue...

46 1963 Lost Beneath the Sea The Number One Dime is normally kept under lock and key in The Money Bin, but in this adventure Barks decided to show what could happen if it was to leave its safe surroundings. Of course it gets lost and Scrooge has to trace it down.

47 1964 The Thrifty Spendthrift The only Christmas story in the Scrooge Adventures series. It is built upon a medieval English catechism song called The Twelve Days of Christmas and it was meant to help Catholic kids learn the tenets of their faith. The twelve gifts all have hidden meanings in the teachings. Barks faithfully followed the lyrics to the letter and even added a receiver of all the gifts - an ungrateful dog.

48 1964 The Many Faces of Magica de Spell On account of Magica Scrooge no longer feels secure in his massive Money Bin(!). He leaves to hide his lucky dime in a place where she will never be able to recover it. It seems likely that Barks modelled the gentle faceless people in his story after the self-sacrificing Shmoos from Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner.

49 1964 The Loony Lunar Gold Rush The great brawl scene was inspired by a poem, The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924) by Robert William Service.

51 1964 How Green was My Lettuce Once again the massive and indestructible Money Bin is in peril to such an extent that it is actually moved from the surface of Duckburg. This also happened in U$13 and U$33. This time the culprits are gophers that undermine the building. (See also U$01, U$21, U$28, U$61 and U$63).

52 1964 The Great Wig Mystery Were wigs really 'in' in those days? Or did Barks simply invent the fad?

53 1964 Interplanetary Postman We have all been unhappy with our mail service at some point in our lives so we can see that this is a relevant idea for a story. But Barks takes it to such an extreme that Scrooge finds himself as postman on the planets Mars and Venus! Just like that...

54 1964 The Billion Dollar Safari Take a few simple ingredients - a seemingly impossible task combined with uncanny luck - and you have got Gladstone chasing a speckled elephant with a square trunk!

56 1965 Mystery of the Ghost Town Railroad Once on a car trip, Barks and his wife passed a certain hotel in Nevada which was said to be haunted by a young woman and her newborn baby, who had both been killed. That was all Barks needed to dream up a story about a ghost infested hotel. The idea of the special bottle shack in which Scrooge finds his missing stock certificate was in fact taken from a 1949 book by photographer Ethel Anderson Becker who photographed a gold miner's similar shack in Alaska.

57 1965 The Swamp of No Return Every dictator's dream: a machine that tells people what to do. (See also WDCS278.)

59 1965 North of the Yukon The story is triggered by a simple idea of an I.O.U. which could cost Scrooge all of his money. A similar plot had been used before (U$03). It has been mentioned that the dog in the story, Barko, is named after Barks himself but he dismissed the speculation. It was just a fitting name for a dog, he claimed.

60 1965 The Phantom of Notre Duck Here we are faced with Scrooge's alter ego in a story which is well-written and exciting. Unfortunately, Barks did not have an ending to match, as the villain turns out to be just a simple guy who calls on our protective instincts to come forth.

61 1966 So Far and No Safari Gophers again! (see U$51). Animal call whistles again! (see U$19). Guest appearance by Glomgold.

62 1966 The Queen of the Wild Dog Pack Barks was not that interested in modern technology - with the possible exception of automobiles - but in this adventure the plot is built on the presence of a radio (see also U$20).

63 1966 House of Haunts Once again, Scrooge feels compelled to hide his money from the Beagle Boys outside The Money Bin (See U$01, U$21, U$28 and U$51).

64 1966 Treasure of Marco Polo Barks had strong political views all his life (he was a registered Republican) but it will probably not be fair to state that this story had the ongoing war in Vietnam as its background. However, it would be fair to be considered as part of Barks' dissociation from war as a whole.

65 1966 Micro-Ducks from Outer Space The title for this story could be 'Easy Come - Easy Go' for a couple of reasons: 1. Scrooge makes an effortless deal with some Space Ducks and makes a little money 2. He has the chance of a lifetime to earn big bucks on their UFO but misses.

66 1966 The Heedless Horseman Barks wrote a number of stories in which the titles rolled easily off the tongue due to the words' starting letters. This is one of them. The Seven Cities of Cibola (which Barks first named in the 1980s), Mythic Mystery, Oddball Odyssey and The Status Seeker are other examples. Barks created a lot of titles incorporating different types of play on words.

68 1967 Hall of the Mermaid Queen Perhaps inspired by his adventures in U$05 and U$46, in which Scrooge lost one single coin in the ocean, Barks decided that the duck should now lose his entire fortune under the waves.

70 1967 The Doom Diamond In U$31 All at Sea Scrooge embarks on a voyage to sell a precious stone. In this adventure he is bringing back a precious stone. In both stories he is fighting the Beagle Boys and some animals (rats and jaybirds).