Uncle Scrooge - Breakfast - P. A. Nolte

1/ In the doorway of an ancient tomb, Gizmoduck holds open a heavy stone door threatening to slam down and trap our intrepid adventurers.  Scrooge and his nephews are barreling under to avoid being crushed, trying to get back out into the desert sun and away from the crocodiles that are chasing them.

Gizmoduck: Not to worry, Mr. McDuck!  I have everything under control!

2/ Scrooge points with his cane out to the helicopter kicking up dust and sand several hundred feet away.

Scrooge: Hurry, lads!  This is no place for ducks!

3/ As they pile into the copter, Launchpad is sitting at the controls.

Launchpad: Hey, Mr. McD, uh... Weren't you supposed to have some big egg?

Scrooge: Aye! But it's better left--

SFX: WHAM!

4/ Huey, Dewey, and Louie all press themselves up against the window.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie: Gizmoduck!

5/ They slump down in their seats.  Scrooge and Launchpad exchange a nervous glance.

Huey: He's--  He's gone...

Gizmoduck (OP): Not to worry, Gizmo-Buddy!

6/ Clinging to the bottom of the copter with one hand and batting at the crocodile still attached to his wheel with the other, is Gizmoduck.  The tomb they're flying away from, revealed at last, is actually an enormous nest.

Gizmoduck: We'll just have to make due with regular-sized omelettes...

SCROOGE-"Bubble"--David Press

1.1: The opening focus will be on a CHANGE COUNTER. One of those cheap ones you can buy at TOPPS or somewhere with some quarters, silver dollars, and pennies in the slots. We can see a FEATHERED HAND drop a quarter into the slot.

SCROOGE [CAP]:                “This is all that’s left.

1.2 CUT TO: A graph where REAL ESTATE PRICES go up and then suddenly decline. The header could be the “Housing Bubble” or something like that.

SCROOGE [CAP]:                “Never thought this could happen to me, but that’s something I taught Donald.

1.3: Now we’re on an empty street and we can see DONALD DUCK and his nephews walking down the lonely road. There are abandoned houses with “Foreclosure” signs throughout. Let’s take the perspective from behind their backs.

SCROOGE [CAP]:                He knew exactly how to play it.

1.4: Back to the Change Counter, but this time we’ve panned out, and can see SCROOGE looking exhausted, like he hasn’t had a good meal in weeks. He’s super skinny, and it’s clear that he’s lost his money in the housing bubble crisis. The apartment behind him looks run down with nothing but a mattress and dirty windows, dust everywhere. He might be staying in a flop house.

SCROOGE:                            When the bubble burst they played it right, and I…

SCROOGE:                            Well, I played it wrong for the first time in my life.

--END—

Uncle Scrooge – Ducks in Space – MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: A SCROOGE-style spaceship flies next to a large ASTEROID.

LAUNCHPAD: (From inside ship) Wha-oh.

SCROOGE: (From inside ship) Wha-oh? What ‘wha-oh’?

Panel 2: Inside the spaceship, where LAUNCHPAD is flying. SCROOGE is nearby, as are DONALD, GYRO, and HUEY, DEWIE, and LOUIE.

LAUNCHPAD (1): Well, uh, it seems we misjudged the flight of the giant rock.

LAUNCHPAD (2): Looks like it’s going to miss the moon and, uh, fly into the planet.

SCROOGE: What?!

Panel 3: GYRO looks at a computer display.

GYRO (1): Well, at least it’s not big enough to cause any major damage when it lands.

GYRO (2): Enough of it should burn up in the atmosphere to make it relatively harmless.

SCROOGE: What?!

Panel 4: SCROOGE is upset.

SCROOGE: That’s me money you’re talking about!

Panel 5: SCROOGE giving orders, still upset.

SCROOGE (1): Get that asteroid back on track!

SCROOGE (2): I didn’ finance this trip just to watch me burn up in the atmosphere!

(END PAGE)

Uncle Scrooge - Commotion - Grant McLaughlin

1 - Uncle Scrooge is at his desk, working away at some documents, great determination on his face.

NO COPY

2 - A loud sound coming from elsewhere in the Money Bin takes Uncle Scrooge by surprise, causing him to scratch up the document he's working at.

SFX: PLONK!

UNCLE SCROOGE: What in the--?!

3 - Uncle Scrooge gets up quickly from his desk, racing to investigate whatever is the matter.

UNCLE SCROOGE: That sounds like it came from the pool!

4 - In the room with the pool filled with gold coins.  Donald lies on top of the pile of gold coins near the diving board.  He's all beat up, with a black eye, bruised bill, and so on, implying that he just tried - and failed - to dive into the money ala Scrooge.  Uncle Scrooge slides onto the scene in haste, looking about for ne'er do wells.  He seems frustrated at Donald's laying about.

SCROOGE: Donald, there's no time for lying down!  Didn't you hear that tarnation?  I think the Beagle Boys might be about!

DONALD: Ughhh...

Uncle Scrooge - Billcoins or Bust - Perry Kent

Panel 1

Interior, day. We're inside Uncle Scrooge's study with a laptop setup on a side table. Huey sits at the laptop, showing Uncle Scrooge something on the screen.

1. HUEY: The Billcoins are completely digital. But there are only so many that can be created. So the more people want them, the higher their price.

2. UNCLE SCROOGE: Like my antique golf clubs!

Panel 2

A chart on the computer monitors climbs up very high. A ginormous dollar amount fills the space above the graph.

3. HUEY: Jumpin' jellybeans! My Billcoins are worth a fortune!

Panel 3

Uncle Scrooge mops at his brow as Huey turns to look at him.

4. HUEY: At this rate, you might want to turn all your gold coins into Billcoins.

Panel 4

Uncle Scrooge images himself diving into a heap of computers that fills his classic money vault (instead of the usual gold coins).

5. UNCLE SCROOGE: I do not like the sounds of that.

Panel 5

Huey folds his arms in frustration as he looks back at the computer monitor. Uncle Scrooge looks a bit smug as he looks at the same thing.

6. HUEY: Oh no. Now my Billcoins aren't even worth pennies.

7. HUEY: I guess nobody wants them anymore.

8. UNCLE SCROOGE: Like my antique golf pants.

Why Uncle Scrooge?

Alright, you caught me. I'm not a big Uncle Scrooge comic fan. But growing up I did happen to enjoy the Duck-universe via the popular DuckTales television show. The stories of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews were always enthralling to me. They were full of adventure, mystery, and the occasional dash of the preposterous. It is a universe where a giant pile of gold coins switches between acting as a solid or a liquid and strange inventions have equal odds of ruining the day as saving it. Despite that, or maybe because of it, the stories also represent an opportunity to explore themes that were down to earth while remaining accessible for the young.

Yes. That's Uncle Scrooge skiing down a large pile of money.

 Plus, it provides an opportunity to tell whacky stories. 

So this week, look at what kind of stories you can tell surrounding the clan of ducks that happens to include the richest duck on the planet.