Return to Plain Awful
| "Return to Plain Awful" | |
|---|---|
Huey, Dewey and Louie | |
| First publication | Donald Duck Adventures #12 (May 1989) |
"Return to Plain Awful" is a Donald Duck story that was originally printed during the Gladstone Publishing run of Donald Duck Adventures, issue #12 in May 1989. It was written by Don Rosa as a sequel to "Lost in the Andes!" by Carl Barks, to commemorate that story's 40th anniversary.[1][2]
Plot
Donald Duck and his nephews journey back to Plain Awful. This time,
In Plain Awful, the ducks discover that, since their last visit, the highly imitative residents have sculpted their entire culture around the appearance and personality of Donald Duck (just as they had previously built their entire culture around the personality of their previous visitor). One aspect of Plain Awful's culture that has remained constant, however, is the law forbidding round objects, which Scrooge inadvertently violates by showing the natives his
Donald and the nephews have to team up with Flintheart to deliver an Ice Cream Soda to the President of Plain Awful: Donald and his nephews need Flintheart to get the soda, while Flintheart needs guidance back to civilization since he arrived at Plain Awful just by a stroke of luck. Flintheart, of course, betrays them after getting the soda, forcing them to improvise making an ice cream soda on the spot, using dried milk, sugar, and chocolate from their ration packs, plus some snow and carbonated water from a fire extinguisher.
Scrooge and Glomgold race to the city with their sodas, but are surprised to see the natives now imitating them, instead of Donald. The President (now the "Chairman of the Board") declares he is no longer interested in ice cream sodas, but instead asks for some money to store in Plain Awful's newly made money bin. Since Flintheart spent all his cash on the helicopter that brought them to Plain Awful (except for a coin, which he wouldn't show after what happened to Scrooge), Scrooge gives one billion dollars (in bills) for his freedom. Plain Awful's "chairman" happily accepts the money, but to Scrooge and Flintheart's horror, the bills are chopped in two (leaving perfect square halves) and put on public display inside the bin.
Scrooge and Flintheart are so disgusted by this that they want nothing more to do with Plain Awful, abandoning their aspirations of gaining export rights to the square eggs. The story ends with Huey, Dewey, and Louie leaving a copy of the
See also
- "Return to Plain Awful" served as the title story to Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa LibraryVol. 2
References
- ISBN 978-1-60699-780-2.
- ^ Bryan, Peter Cullen (2021). Creation, Translation, and Adaptation in Donald Duck Comics: The Dream of Three Lifetimes. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 187.