Quick - name the most prized and collectible comic book character of all time, whose comic book at its peak outsold all DC titles combined? Easy one - Uncle Scrooge! How many other ducks do you know with their own long wikipedia entry?
Scrooge was originally going to be a one-shot, loosely based on a minor character in a 1943 Donald Duck cartoon. Disney, ever the masters of cross-media exploitation, had repurposed many of their cartoon stars in daily newspaper comic strips, then later in comic books. The artist chosen for the Duck stories was Carl Barks, who proved to be a most suitable choice. He resurrected the Scrooge character in 1947, and continued writing of his adventures for the next 25 years. Barks was a freelancer, not a Disney employee, but his influence on the duck universe was a mighty one and was fed back to the Disney organization. Read more »
