THEPLAGIARISM

It is not unusual for comic book artists to occasionally borrow ideas from each other. Normally the borrowings are taken from main subjects and then reworked to suit the specific plotline the artist requires. Nothing odious - as long as the artist does not engage in pure plagiarism. It is another matter when graphic front covers or story panels get duplicated!
In this page you will be presented to a selection of front covers which Carl Barks made for the Uncle Scrooge issues. Barks' front covers for this particular character were all quite special for the simple fact that Scrooge is always portrayed as a wealthy miser, so the main subject would not be practical for others to replicate. Except for one comic book series - the stories with 'The Richest Kid in the World' better known as Richie Rich*. The main storyline deals with a boy who seems to have unlimited funds at his disposal, thus making him somewhat comparable to Scrooge.
This page presents you to a comparative listing between a few Barks front covers - placed in chronological order after issues - followed by a similar Richie Rich front cover published some time later. It is now up to you to decide if you think that Barks and his cover concepts have been victims to acts of plagiarism...

* The American website Forbes publishes an annual listing describing the 15 most wealthy, fictional characters. You would think that Scrooge is the undisputed number 1 from year to year (after all, he has a full money bin, money filling all the banks, assets in all countries, and a 24 carat gold moon orbiting in space), but this is not necessarily the case! For instance, in 2005 Scrooge was merely deemed number 6 with Richie Rich as number 3 - and number 1 that years was Santa Claus!!!

U$08 - December 1954

RR Millions 8 - March 1962

U$10 - June 1955

RR Billions 12 - September 1976

U$12 - December 1955

RR Millions 22 - March 1964

U$18 - June 1957

RR 44 - April 1966

U$19 - September 1957

RR Money World 2 - November 1972

U$20 - December 1957

RR Cash 20 - November 1977

U$28 - December 1959

RR Millions 35 - May 1966

U$33 - March 1961

RR Bank Books 24 - August 1976

U$34 - June 1961

RR Millions 55 - September 1972

EXTRA

Below you are presented to a very strange coincidence. Once again, a U$ issue and a RR issue have an identical theme and layout, but the difference is that neither of the artists could have plagiarized the other. As you can see, the issues were published practically at the same time...