Rating: 2/5
Publisher Name: BOOM! Studios
Publisher Website: http://www.boom-studios.com/

Writer: Michele Gazzarri
Pencils: Romano Scarpa
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 3.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: A – Appropriate for age 9 and up.

Publisher’s Blurb:
The classic 1966 Romano Scarpa tale “The Fifty Money Bins Caper” is printed for the first time ever in the U.S.! Scrooge McDuck shows some crafty initiative against the ever-looming threat of the Beagle Boys by constructing a fleet of fifty new money bins and hiding his money in a new one each week. This all sounds like a good idea until the construction costs come due! And when the Beagles decide to kidnap Donald Duck to track Scrooge’s coins…it’s not just interest that is compounding here!

Reviewer’s Comments:
Where do I begin with such an epic tale such as Uncle Scrooge #404? In the interest of full disclosure, I have never read or reviewed a book of this caliber. Until this point, my familiarity with Scrooge came from the DuckTales animated series that I remember vividly from my childhood (whose theme will never leave my brain). I was indeed quite shocked to discover that what I initially deemed to be a marketing gimmick for younger audiences actually has existed for over 400 issues. Wow. I was completely ready to take this comic seriously, because how could something that has run this long be bad (a logic I would never afford to anything written by Marvel or DC)? After a few pages I realized that this was not exactly the cartoon I was used to; Where are Launchpad and Gizmoduck, and why is Donald still in the picture? What I discovered was something a little darker than what I expected, and also a little more absurd, too.

When I read the solicit for this issue, I was not exactly sure who Romano Scarpa was, so I did a little research, to discover that he was an Italian artist for Disney, and regarded in quite high esteem within the company, developing many new characters for the company. This issue is, from what I understand, translated and reprinted from a story written by Michele Gazzarri and Scarpa in 1966. This sole fact makes a lot of the odd dialogue and plot holes understandable, but this Golden Age classic is still quite bizarre.

In short, this Scrooge is incredibly abusive (both verbally and physically) towards his nephew Donald Duck, who is more dimwitted than I ever remember. Donald steals an idea from Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Google the Donald Duck family tree if you get confused) that he pitches to Scrooge to build 50 different vaults for his riches, and his loot will be moved to a different one each month to keep the Beagle Boys on their toes. Logically, this makes no sense, when you consider the financial, real estate, and manpower implications of such a plan. Is Duckburg even zoned for construction like this? Of course the Beagles break into a few of the vaults and discover there is no money, all while Scrooge watches via camera, yet does not call the police. I am pretty sure that breaking and entering is still a crime, even if nothing is stolen. Eventually Donald gets kidnapped and tortured for the number of the vault. I won’t spoil the Beagle’s torture tactics, but it made me both audibly laugh and shudder with terror simultaneously. I am not sure if I would give this to a small child.

Golden Age or not, I could not get over the glaring plot holes ripped open in this story, and it would appear that there was no attempt to fix this in Gerstein’s translation. If there is one shining piece to this story, it is Scarpa’s artwork, which is quite clean and simple, yet masterful. It’s no wonder that he was such a success within Disney. Unfortunately, artwork is not really enough to support and sustain a story. It was an alright read, but I am not sure I would recommend it, unless you’re looking for some bizarre, Golden Age Disney fun.

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