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Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Paolo Mottura, Francesco D’Ippolito, Vitale Mangiatordi, Alessandro Pastrovicchio, Giada Perissinotto
Colorist: Arianna Consonni
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Uncle Scrooge has returned to the world of comics in a brand new special by Jason Aaron and a slew of artists who helped make Scrooge into such a legendary character. Some may not realize Uncle Scrooge’s place in the comic world due to creators like Carl Banks and Don Rosa. Many in my generation best know him from the Disney Afternoon classic Ducktales and not much else–myself included. Now with this special hopefully fans of the classic comics will get more of what they love and newcomers will see why so many comic creators admire Uncle Scrooge to such a large degree.
I am coming into this as a newbie but it did not take long to see the affection that helped make this book a reality. It opens with a letter from Jason Aaron providing a backdrop to his personal experience and why doing this book was so important. That is not unusual for a project like this but rarely is this type of letter placed at the beginning of the issue. My assumption is it was a purposeful choice to ease the minds of die-hard fans who are apprehensive of Marvel trying to continue this legacy. Planting a flag in the ground stating that this is not just a corporate attempt to ring as much money out of a known property. So did they follow through?
One thing is for sure this book looked beautiful. A book with four different artists is usually not a good sign. It can quickly take you out of a story when styles shift drastically in the middle of a tale. Here if I did not know there were multiple artists ahead of time I never would have noticed. Perhaps more seasoned fans would be able to spot the differences but I never noticed much of a change from chapter to chapter. Everything looked great and of one world from start to finish.
It did not take long to see why these artists were chosen. The artistry was strong with life and imagination on every page. Storytelling was the focus to the point where you did not even need words to understand what was happening. Classic cartooning that was done right from beginning to end. Arianna Consonni’s colors helped maintain that consistency throughout the issue.
They did not have an easy story to draw as well. Jason Aaron brought Marvel-style storytelling into the world of Uncle Scrooge as we get a multiverse tale about how life changes for Uncle Scrooge when he does not have a connection with Donal Duck and his three kids. With no family, the Scrooge-Above-All seeks ultimate power and travels dimensions to be the richest Duck in the entire Multiverse. Who can stop him? Well himself of course and maybe some help from some friends.
I could see some lifelong fans of this property feeling like their worst fears were met as Marvel mythos is forced into the world of Scrooge for the bad case of Corporate synergy. Perhaps this is my naivety to the property but I thought it worked well and makes sense. The majority of people who are reading this are fans of Marvel first with limited to no experience with this universe. So appealing to what they know is a way to ease them into this story.
Ultimately it is about execution and what was constructed was a fun-filled story that centered on a valuable and important lesson. This was a good example of telling a story that is All-Ages and not just a kid’s story. Kids would certainly enjoy it but so can adults because it respected the audience. Aaron constructed a script that forced you to put pieces of the story together in a way that made it a more enjoyable experience, especially when the unexpected cavalry arrived to try to save the day.
This special also contains a classic issue of Scrooge that is referenced in the first chapter. You do not need to read it to understand the main story, however, it does help contextualize what you just read. A smart move to show how all these pieces connect.
Overall Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime #1 is a love letter done right. Longtime fans may find the direction of the story not to their liking but even they would need to admit this was done with a lot of respect for what came before. For new fans, this may inspire you to check out one of the most important but underappreciated pieces of comic book history.
Overall: 8 out of 10
