BarksBase: Gallery (»The Lucky Dime«)

Gallery

»The Lucky Dime«

In the early 1990's Barks had some correspondence with uprising Duck artist Don Rosa on the origin of Scrooge's wealth. They both agreed that Scrooge's fortune was not the result of sheer luck, but of hard work.

Consequently, Barks thought that Scrooge's first dime should not be treated as a good-luck charm, but as a keepsake - though he had violated this rule himself in US 46/1 (»Lost beneath the Sea«). In a letter dated 22 April 1991 he came up with a story idea based on this theme.

Rosa, however, chose not to use Barks' outline, and so it was not until a decade later that Geoffrey Blum developed it into a comic story which was drawn by Carlos Mota (D/D2001-004, »Dime and Dime Again«, published in US 321-322). The following text reproduces Barks' original outline, putting it against some panels of Mota's comic.

The dime gets stolen by the Beagle Boys, who figure that it is a good luck charm that will attract all sorts of undeserved wealth to their wallets. Needless to say, no matter how well they plan their bank heists, all the dime will attract is swarms of cops. Meanwhile Uncle Scrooge is having a terrible time. His stack of money shrinks a few inches every day. In desperation he even buys lottery tickets that never seem to win. It looks very much as if the old dime was the gizmo that made him the richest duck in the world. His luck is gone kaput.

Then he changes suddenly. He says, »Luck! I didn't make my fortune by being lucky. I made it in the old-fashioned way! By hard work.« So he goes back to the hills with a pick and shovel and lots of sweat on his brow and before long he has a flock of new gold mines and oil wells and is richer than ever.

Walking along the street one day he is wondering how the Beagle Boys are making out with his old dime. He soon learns. The B-Boys, passing in a paddy wagon on the way to jail, bean him with the dime.

Now Scrooge places the dime in the position it is fitted for - a memento of the way he got his start. He relaxes in his money contented. His overloaded money bin needs no more money. He personally needs no more money. He has got it made.

The doorbell rings. It is Don and the kids bringing news that one of the ten-cent lottery tickets that Uncle Scrooge thought worthless months ago has been declared a belated winner. Scrooge will have to make room for ten million dollars - all in dimes.

Art by Carlos Mota, based on a script by Geoffrey Blum.