Don Rosa re: Scrooge rivals

David Gerstein ramapith at mail.dk
Mon Sep 29 00:57:08 CEST 2003


    Hey Don,

> When it became necessary to start creating new Duck stories when
> Western's production dropped off, the Italians picked Rockerduck while the
> Scandinavians picked Glomgold to develop into a main character as $crooge's
> #1 rival. There's no reason to have them both, is there?

    Gawrsh! For me there's a reason.

    Flintheart Glomgold, from my point of view (of course, yours may
differ!) is dangerous to Scrooge by virtue of being Scrooge's mirror image,
at least up to a point. Flinty is out to take Scrooge's place as the world's
richest duck, and while Flinty may be a scoundrel, he does act toward his
goal in part by mirroring Scrooge's own thrift and other miserly habits (c.
f.: string-saving). When Scrooge brags about how much money he saved last
Monday, I imagine Glomgold would like to say he'd saved more‹ and if he has,
he's then successfully threatened Scrooge.
    John D Rockerduck, from my point of view, is dangerous to Scrooge by
virtue of being Scrooge's opposite. Rockerduck cares nothing about being the
world's richest duck; instead, he wants to beat Scrooge at business, and he
aims to do it by spending and splurging where Scrooge will not.
    While reclusive Scrooge (and for that matter, Glomgold) care little
about public image, I see born-rich Rockerduck traveling the city in a limo
like a playboy, showering gifts on influential people, buying his way to a
cachet of high-class celebrity in exchange for the cushy business deals it
will win him in return.
    When Scrooge tells Rockerduck how much money he saved last Monday, I
imagine John D replying that he SPENT the same amount... and in doing so,
gained such-and-such edge over some McDuck corporation. If he has, he's then
successfully threatened Scrooge.

    The above description is an effort to establish how I see Flinty and
John D differing when they're realized correctly. There are a lot of duck
stories out there, though, that confuse the two, with creators showing
Rockerduck as a tightwad or Glomgold as a spendthrift when the plot requires
same. For many, the theory that Scrooge only needs one rival seems to be
followed by a corrolary: "...and that rival is whatever we say he is at any
given time". That doesn't work for me...
    Now, you did suggest in your last letter, Don, that Scrooge only needs
one rival, but I also know you respect character consistency and integrity
110%. So perhaps now you understand why some of us like the idea of Scrooge
having two very different enemy tycoons, at least when characterized
properly.

    Note, BTW, that I speak only for myself here. Official Egmont policy is
that with only a rare exception, Glomgold appears in weekly-format stories,
Rockerduck in pocket stories. The rule is itself a symptom of creators
blurring the two characters together over the years (and no, rules such as
this aren't easy to change).

    David




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