Gladstone's complicated backstory

[Deleted]

Hey guys, i was analizing the original Duck Family Tree from the 1950's (which i consider to be the official family tree, since it was made by Barks himself), and i became curious



I never realized how confusing Gladstone's backstory is in it: the son of Grandma's daughter who married Gus' uncle Luke (the) Goose, then his parents died because they overate at a free-lunch picnic (Luke surely is Gus' relative...) and Gladstone was adopted by Matilda McDuck and Goosetave Gander.



My question is: did any of these facts are mentioned in a story made by Barks or he made this only for the tree? Also, why was Gladstone raised by a couple unrelated to him (by blood) and not by Gus' parents, Quackmore and Hortense or even Grandma Duck?

[TheMidgetMoose]

As far as I know, this was all invented for the tree. Can't say for sure though.

I don't see this tree as very canonical, personally. If Gladstone was raised by Scrooge's sister, I think he would have boasted about that relationship in Race to the South Seas, not the more complicated "Scrooge McDuck is my mother's brother's brother-in-law" bit. In the theoretical universe where this is canonical, Matilda and Goosetave almost certainly would have known Daphne and Luke, as the two couples were sort-of kinda related. The Ganders and the Gooses may have been really close friends. Perhaps it was even left in Luke and Daphne's will that Matilda and Goosetave were to become the new guardians of their son.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Sept 15, 2019 20:09:01 GMT TheMidgetMoose said:

I don't see this tree as very canonical, personally. If Gladstone was raised by Scrooge's sister, I think he would have boasted about that relationship in Race to the South Seas, not the more complicated "Scrooge McDuck is my mother's brother's brother-in-law" bit.

Agreed; additionally, Scrooge wouldn't have referred to Gladstone as his "distant nephew" in "Some Heir over the Rainbow". It's clear from the body of Barks' published work (as opposed to his original unpublished tree) that the idea that Gladstone was adopted by Scrooge's sister is invalid, and since Barks himself changed it in his revised tree, I wouldn't give it much credence.