And why would Della leave HDL with Donald if she has a sister-in-law who already has experience with triplets? Okay, maybe she didn't really know her husband's family well... But even as their "adoptive father", why would Donald have seemingly much more responsibility regarding HDL than Daisy if they are related in the same way?
Would YOU want one of your relatives to saddle you with an extra set of baby triplets if you already had a set of your own, the same age??? 6 infants the same age. I don't think so!
Della is not famous for being considerate. Just ask Donald. ("Mm-Mumble-Grumble-Relatives-")
This story was the first time Barks used a Grandma character, and it seems pretty obvious that he dimly remembered the character existed, drew her from memory, and this is what we got...
This make the most sense. The totality of evidence cited above has now more-or-less convinced me that for most of his career, Barks considered Elvira Donald's mother. By the time he crafted his first unofficial family tree, he somehow thankfully realized it wouldn't work.
Or, it may be that "your grandmother" was used as a substitute to "our grandmother". At any rate, we can be sure that Barks viewed her as Donald's grandmother since at least the early 1950's, when he made his first family tree.
In particular, the fact that HDL call her Aunt Daisy is a sign that they live in mid-twentieth century USA, when (I can attest to this) polite children called adult friends of the family "Aunt" or "Uncle." as invented), but children in those days did not call adults by their first name.
Is it even relevant that they live in mid-twentieth century USA in order for them to call her "Aunt Daisy"? Even today, it's pretty common to call "aunt" the wife or girlfriend of your uncle.
One good thing about this theory is that it reduces the number of unrelated families named Duck, though the same outcome results from Della being a single mother as is the case in my headcanon (but understandably not in that of most).
Out of curiosity: how does the incident of HDL once sending their father to the hospital fit into your headcanon? Do you exclude it due to the fact that you view the Donald from comic strips and the Donald from comic books as two different characters?
Even if we did accept the extremely unlikely premise that Donald somehow didn't know, or perhaps in his ire had forgotten, where HD&L's aunt lived, why on earth wouldn't HD&L know? They know where Daisy lives! And this other aunt lives in Duckburg too, pretty clearly within walking distance -- and since Daisy is visiting her, she's clearly not trying to keep her distance from her family.
That's a good point, though it can be argued that characters in the duck univers can conveniently forget about where other people live if this fits the need of a gag, the most notable example being Donald not recognizing his own home in Barks' Atlantis story.
Oh, and here is Della's most recent appearance in a 1-pager:
That's a good point, though it can be argued that characters in the duck univers can conveniently forget about where other people live if this fits the need of a gag, the most notable example being Donald not recognizing his own home in Barks' Atlantis story.
Sure, but in that's story it's a recognisable joke: Donald goes to collect a debt from a "deadbeat" and somehow manages not to catch that said deadbeat lives in his own house. It's a joke on Donald, who gets so caught up in what he's doing that he misses the obvious -- it's essentially the same gag as in the original Winnie-the-Pooh books, where Pooh gets so distracted he fails to realise that the reason nobody's answering the door when he knocks it's that this is his own house. It's a "laugh at the silly protagonist" moment.
In the Flipism story, where's the joke in HD&L not recognising their aunt's house? The story isn't trying to portray them as stupid or somehow in the wrong, like it is with Donald.
I will admit that this is a nitpicky thing and that Duckverse's canon is so loose that the events of any one single story isn't proof of anything... except this is Don Rosa we're talking about; part of his entire deal is that he takes all Barks stories as canon except in a few self-contradicting instances. The Flipism story isn't contradicting any other Barks story that I'm aware, so it should be canon on the level of all the others. And it's a story that doesn't work if Daisy is HD&L's aunt.
That's a good point, though it can be argued that characters in the duck univers can conveniently forget about where other people live if this fits the need of a gag, the most notable example being Donald not recognizing his own home in Barks' Atlantis story.
Sure, but in that's story it's a recognisable joke: Donald goes to collect a debt from a "deadbeat" and somehow manages not to catch that said deadbeat lives in his own house. It's a joke on Donald, who gets so caught up in what he's doing that he misses the obvious -- it's essentially the same gag as in the original Winnie-the-Pooh books, where Pooh gets so distracted he fails to realise that the reason nobody's answering the door when he knocks it's that this is his own house. It's a "laugh at the silly protagonist" moment.
In the Flipism story, where's the joke in HD&L not recognising their aunt's house? The story isn't trying to portray them as stupid or somehow in the wrong, like it is with Donald.
Indeed, there would be no joke in that. And I wasn't even really suggesting that was the reason for why they don't recognize the home, just that your reasoning reminded me of that joke from "The Secret of Atlantis".
Out of curiosity: how does the incident of HDL once sending their father to the hospital fit into your headcanon? Do you exclude it due to the fact that you view the Donald from comic strips and the Donald from comic books as two different characters?
That's an interesting question that I've struggled with myself; the separation of Cartoon-Donald and Comics-Donald doesn't quite supply a satisfactory explanation here since Taliaferro's strip introducing HD&L includes the "firecracker" story (and a subsequent strip clearly had HD&L refer to "Papa" during a prayer). One could cite both of these as evidence against Della being a single mother. Then again, Taliaferro also had "Dumbella" identify herself as Donald's cousin, which clearly is not considered canon anymore. So I suppose the only way to reconcile everything is to say that those early strips would have to be discounted given how underdeveloped character relationships were at the time (and in any case, Taliaferro is a tier below Barks and Rosa in my headcanon; I'd be happy to cite his work as long as it does not contradict Barks and Rosa, although apart from the "cousin" aspect, one could argue that nothing discussed above actually does). Does anyone here give credence to the "firecracker under the chair" part of HD&L's history? Some have speculated that HD&L's hellion-like behavior when they first come to live with Donald is a result of bereavement after having lost their parents; the idea that they were indulging in terrible acts of mischief (like putting explosives under the furniture with the intention of causing their father bodily harm) while their parents were still alive detracts from this theory, which is another reason I would personally prefer to discard it.
EDIT: Interestingly, I just realized that the cartoon, "Donald's Nephews", which introduced HD&L, doesn't include the firecracker story, and calls Dumbella Donald's sister. Also, Huey and Louie are color-coded properly in their animated debut; it's just Dewey, who's wearing orange instead of blue, who got it wrong (by modern sensibilities, that is).
I prefer to consider the new Ducktales series semi-canon with Della' story. In my headcanon, only she did her adventures with Scrooge, while Donald was in his young days hanging out with Mickey and friends (Floyd's stories). Then she disappears (we'll soon know how in the TV show).
Then, her kids are sent to Donald, then Donald meets Scrooge for the first time in the last episode of Life and times of Scrooge Mcduck!
I prefer to consider the new Ducktales series semi-canon with Della' story. In my headcanon, only she did her adventures with Scrooge, while Donald was in his young days hanging out with Mickey and friends (Floyd's stories). Then she disappears (we'll soon know how in the TV show).
That doesn't really square with Life and Times, though. The whole point of the period between Matilda and Hortense leaving Scrooge, and Christmas 1947, is that Scrooge had lost his spirit of adventure and had become as cold and lifeless as his cash, with only Donald and HDL's return reigniting the flame. Tonally speaking, it would ruin the narrative of Life and Times to fit happy days of adventuring with Della into this slot.
Also, we don't know yet, but it's very possible that the way Della disappeared in the 17-verse was entirely dependant on Donald being there, and wouldn't work anymore if you removed him from the proceedings.
All in all, I'll stick to the established Family Ties answer, thank you very much.
I prefer to consider the new Ducktales series semi-canon with Della' story. In my headcanon, only she did her adventures with Scrooge, while Donald was in his young days hanging out with Mickey and friends (Floyd's stories). Then she disappears (we'll soon know how in the TV show).
That doesn't really square with Life and Times, though. The whole point of the period between Matilda and Hortense leaving Scrooge, and Christmas 1947, is that Scrooge had lost his spirit of adventure and had become as cold and lifeless as his cash, with only Donald and HDL's return reigniting the flame. Tonally speaking, it would ruin the narrative of Life and Times to fit happy days of adventuring with Della into this slot.
Also, we don't know yet, but it's very possible that the way Della disappeared in the 17-verse was entirely dependant on Donald being there, and wouldn't work anymore if you removed him from the proceedings.
All in all, I'll stick to the established Family Ties answer, thank you very much.
How about the firecracker issue, though? Are you ignoring the Taliaferro narrative of how HD&L came to live with Donald (which clashes with "Family Ties")? It is to be noted that after their initial stay with Donald when their father was in the hospital, Della did take the boys back (no word about whether their father survived or not). They then somehow ended up with Donald again, permanently. If Della went into space in between those two sets of dates, HD&L would have had to be much older than portrayed in "Family Ties", and they would have clear memories of her (additionally, she would recognize them when she speaks to them in the story), so the two narratives are irreconcilable. I believe that the firecracker story has fallen by the wayside as far as most writers are concerned, and don't like it myself, but it doesn't factually clash with Barks or Rosa (maybe it does tonally).
That doesn't really square with Life and Times, though. The whole point of the period between Matilda and Hortense leaving Scrooge, and Christmas 1947, is that Scrooge had lost his spirit of adventure and had become as cold and lifeless as his cash, with only Donald and HDL's return reigniting the flame. Tonally speaking, it would ruin the narrative of Life and Times to fit happy days of adventuring with Della into this slot.
Also, we don't know yet, but it's very possible that the way Della disappeared in the 17-verse was entirely dependant on Donald being there, and wouldn't work anymore if you removed him from the proceedings.
All in all, I'll stick to the established Family Ties answer, thank you very much.
How about the firecracker issue, though? Are you ignoring the Taliaferro narrative of how HD&L came to live with Donald (which clashes with "Family Ties")? It is to be noted that after their initial stay with Donald when their father was in the hospital, Della did take the boys back (no word about whether their father survived or not). They then somehow ended up with Donald again, permanently. If Della went into space in between those two sets of dates(…)
Well, yes, that is sort of what I assume. The boys (when they were something like four or five) visited Donald twice (the first being the firecracker story and ensuing strips, and the secnd the cartoon), and both times they went back to Della's afterwards. Then Della went into space and blah blah blah. I know it doesn't quite fit, but there could be any number of reasons Huey, Dewey and Louie don't remember much about her.
How about the firecracker issue, though? Are you ignoring the Taliaferro narrative of how HD&L came to live with Donald (which clashes with "Family Ties")? It is to be noted that after their initial stay with Donald when their father was in the hospital, Della did take the boys back (no word about whether their father survived or not). They then somehow ended up with Donald again, permanently. If Della went into space in between those two sets of dates(…)
Well, yes, that is sort of what I assume. The boys (when they were something like four or five) visited Donald twice (the first being the firecracker story and ensuing strips, and the secnd the cartoon), and both times they went back to Della's afterwards. Then Della went into space and blah blah blah. I know it doesn't quite fit, but there could be any number of reasons Huey, Dewey and Louie don't remember much about her.
In "Family Ties", HD&L are clearly infants who are unable to even walk when Della drops them off with her brother (the one-and-only time she ever does in that story), but in the original Taliaferro continuity, they look to be five or six. So the two narratives can't really coexist unless you create a hybrid (as you appear to be trying to do here). How about the boys' father ... any theories? I know you probably don't subscribe to the "single mother" idea.
What about the boys' father ... any theories? I know you probably don't subscribe to the "single mother" idea.
Not sure. I presume he was still in hospital from the firecracker incident when Della left for space; perhaps he was never close to the rest of the Duck family and wanted no more to do with them after he lost Della.
In the latest issue of the Aku Ankka weekly there is an article about Della's appearance in the third issue of the Finnish DuckTales magazine. The article promises Della related surprises also for the readers of Aku Ankka with sneak previews of said surprises in the digital version of the weekly. The sneak previews are two Dutch one-pagers with Della: H 2016-230 and H 2016-231. Both of the one-pagers are titled Aku ja Della: Muistoja... ("Donald and Della: Memories from...").
An excerpt from he article (rough translation by me): "The new DuckTales indeed tells a slightly different story of Duckburg than what the readers of Aku Ankka have become accustomed to read during the last 67 years, and of course time passes a little slower in Duckburg than it does in the real world. Therefore Huey, Dewey and Louie have not been living with Donald without their mother for 81 years, albeit one might so deduce from the boys' first apperance in Donald's Nephews (1937)."
According to Picsou Wiki, Daphnee and Goostave are probably dead, because in one 1950 story, Gladstone looks for his closest living relative and finds that it is Grandma Duck. And before you ask, no, the page does not say which story. On the other hand, in the (I think unfairly) generally disliked Dangerous Currency, she was shown, quite alive, in the streets of Duckburg, battling the Slime along with various other characters.
We also know that Fanny Goose, née Coot, is alive, since Donald receives a letter from her in Donald's Cousin Gus; a Dutch Disney website also claimed that Luke Goose was still alive as well and was a successful genealogist, who is the in-universe author of Don Rosa's Duck Family Tree.
As you said, Eider is known to still be alive, so there's no reason for Lulubelle Loon not to be as well.
Uncle Upsy Duck may or may not still be alive, as Huey, Dewey and Louie seem to have never heard of him when Donald first mentions him.
Speaking of parents, there's no reason why Gladstone's anonymous brother who fathered Shamrock could not be around.
April, May and June's parents are clearly still around, since it's pretty clear they don't live with Daisy and are just visiting. If, as some books state, their father is, in fact, Donald's cousin Fred Duck, then we've even already seen their father. That only leaves their supposedly-alive mother. There's still hope, after all, since Amelia Fieldmouse did appear.
If the editors would allow Shamrock's father to be Gladstone's brother, and appear in stories, they should have allowed Sadstone to be Gladstone's brother, too. If Gladstone's brother, who is very lucky, and has super luck like Gladstone, enough to pass that luck on to his son, why were Gladstone's parents not super lucky. How did Gladstone inherit his great luck? Or were both he and his brother involved in the same event during which, they both inherited the great luck? Also, Gladstone has younger, twin female cousins, (who, it is implied in the Shamrock story) also have super good luck - which leads the reader to the conclusion that ALL Gladstone's family suffers from the curse of super good luck.
According to Picsou Wiki, Daphnee and Goostave are probably dead, because in one 1950 story, Gladstone looks for his closest living relative and finds that it is Grandma Duck. And before you ask, no, the page does not say which story.
That's strange: in 1950, Gladstone only appears in 3 stories, all of which are by Barks: "Trail of the Unicorn", "Wild About Flowers" and "You Can't Guess". The latter is the only one with Grandma Duck, but I don't recall any discussion about who is Gladstone's closest living relative.
Maybe the story in question was a "Grandma Duck" story drawn by Riley Thompson or Frank McSavage, printed in Walt Disney's Comics and stories. Those 2 artists, as well as Dick Moores and Jack Bradbury used Gladstone in early 1950s stories.
What about the boys' father ... any theories? I know you probably don't subscribe to the "single mother" idea.
Not sure. I presume he was still in hospital from the firecracker incident when Della left for space; perhaps he was never close to the rest of the Duck family and wanted no more to do with them after he lost Della.
Della looks very disloyal and mean to leave her husband while he is recovering from a serious accident. But, she couldn't have become an astronaut overnight. She must have been working towards it for many years. So, her first flight into Space comes, conveniently, just when her husband is enduring a long injury recovery in hospital? I don't like the whole situation. I don't buy the astronaut/Space theory. Why not just have the "comical" explanation that Huey, Dewey, and Louie were so incorrigibly ill-behaved, that both their frazzled parents sent them to Donald to raise them, as they ran away into the hills, screaming? They are still (after taking a slow boat to China, and having continued to run on deck), continued to this very day, running further away (while still screaming). That is what Carl Barks imagined. He even told me that.