Fulton Gearloose

[Spectrus]

So maybe I'm a bit confused right now and I don't really have all my Rosa facts in order... the fact that the German names of Fulton and Ratchet Gearloose kept getting switched around also isn't helping.

But has there ever been an explanation given for how Fulton appears in Fort Duckburg? Of course this universe is full of coincidences. Still, in Lo$, Ratchet isn't seen again after Chapter 2, and only reappears in the bonus chapter 3B - long before Scrooge goes to the West Coast.

Did Barks state that Gyro's father was a Junior Woodchuck? And does Scrooge realize at some point that he's dealing with the son of his old friend? I guess I should just drag out my old Lo$ edition again.

Anyone have any thoughts on this matter?

[That Duckfan]

Are you talking about the Rosa stories specifically, or all the stories in general? I haven't read the Korhonen Young Scrooge stories, so I don't know about those.

The thing about these Rosa stories is that they were all written separately. You can get a quite a detailed picture when you put all the stories together, but these are largely just easter eggs that add up over time. The kids are just side characters in The Invader of Fort Duckburg, I don't even think they get a last name in these stories. It's only when Rosa writes Gyro's First Invention almost a decade later that we meet Fulton for the first time. (Funny enough, we also learn the full names of Generals Billy and Tommy, as they return about 46 years later in W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N. --- it's Taliaferro and Osborne.) But there's now explanation as to how the Gearloose family settled in Duckburg.

It's kind of funny that Ratchet isn't around for The Invader of Fort Duckburg, given that Duckburg consisted of three acres and a cow at this point, but I'm only half sure if Rosa already had the kid in mind for Gyro's father.

[sim]

Apr 8, 2022 20:58:29 GMT Spectrus said:

Did Barks state that Gyro's father was a Junior Woodchuck? And does Scrooge realize at some point that he's dealing with the son of his old friend?

Anyone have any thoughts on this matter?

1. No.
2. As That Duckfan says, the JW guy is unnamed, and it looks like that Scrooge does not know him.

Fulton has not appeared in the Korhonen saga so far (Ratchet and his twin brother have), neither in the Fantomius saga (Ratchet, his father and his uncle have instead), but he had a brief action-less cameo in I due vendicatori (in a portrait at Gyro's) and in Archimede e la sfida inventiva (also in a portrait, as Gyro's teacher in school is telling the stories of Gearloose family).

I don't know if he is supposed to still be around (he looked rather old in Gyro's First Invention), but I suspect that (at least) Panini authors aren't allowed to show him in stories, unless they are set way back in the past (and maybe not even then, since he is a standard character's parent -- this would explain why he has being seen in non-living portraits only). Curiously, Gyro's mother appeared in the "present" in a few old stories, so she might still be around.

[Daniel Maline]

At least according to "Guardians of the Lost Library" (1st page, panel 4), Fulton Gearloose was a member of Junior Woodchucks in 1903, when he invented the first merit badge for this scout troops. Fulton's merit badge is the size of a dinner plate and can be seen on the wall when Donald and the boys explore the new Woodchuck museum in Duckburg.

inducks.org/story.php?c=D+92380

However, this reference is part of Don Rosa’s own canon and I don’t know if it has continuity with Rosa’s other stories or if it’s just a loose joke. Barks itself told nothing about the Gyro's family other than that the home of the Gearloose family is located northside of the Duckburg river ( inducks.org/story.php?c=W+OS+1095-04 ).

[That Duckfan]

Apr 9, 2022 13:26:14 GMT sim said:

I don't know if he is supposed to still be around (he looked rather old in Gyro's First Invention), but I suspect that (at least) Panini authors aren't allowed to show him in stories, unless they are set way back in the past (and maybe not even then, since he is a standard character's parent -- this would explain why he has being seen in non-living portraits only).

Going by the Rosa timeline, Fulton would be about 60 years old in Gyro's First Invention, given that The Invader of Fort Duckburg shows him as a child some 50 years earlier. The other two Generals, Billy Osborne and Tommy Taliaferro, look even older when we meet them in W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N., which takes place a few years earlier. Sometimes you gotta handwave these things a bit if you want to make them fit together.

Gasoline Alley invented a retirement home for former comic strip characters, as their lead character Walt Wallet (b. 1899) has been getting on a bit in age recently. I would like to imagine a similar facility exists for Disney parents.

[Spectrus]

Apr 8, 2022 20:58:29 GMT Spectrus said:

So maybe I'm a bit confused right now and I don't really have all my Rosa facts in order... the fact that the German names of Fulton and Ratchet Gearloose kept getting switched around also isn't helping.

I've since found out that, indeed, Inducks was "wrong" and had the characters' names swapped compared to how I got to know them. This is due to a translation error where Ratchet had gotten Fulton's name in the first translation of Chapter 2 (but went back to his old one in 3B) - and this wasn't even fixed in the first collected edition of Lo$!

(It's corrected now.)

[djnyr]

The thing I've always thought odd about Rosa's introduction of Fulton in "Invader of Fort Duckburg" is that it implies that Gyro is younger than Donald--since Gyro's father-to-be, Fulton, is an apparent pre-teen or early teenager when we meet him, many years away from becoming a father, while Donald's father-to-be, Quackmore, introduced in the same story, is an adult and already appears to be well on his way to matrimony and fatherhood by the end of the story. I've always felt that Gyro and Donald are contemporaries--some of Barks' stories, like "The Madball Pitcher" imply they went to school together, and in other Barks stories (like the closing page of "Cap'n Blight's Mystery Ship") Gyro comes off as the closest thing Donald has to a local friend and crony--although I know I've seen other fans maintain that Gyro is a generation older than Donald. Anyway, I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Gyro is actually half-a-generation younger than Donald, but that would appear to be the logical implication of the respective ages of their future dads in "Invader." I guess you could rationalize this by positing that Fulton got married in his late teens, while Quackmore and Hortense's engagement was broken off multiple times due to their explosive tempers, delaying their marriage until much later.

[sim]

Apr 10, 2022 12:29:07 GMT djnyr said:

The thing I've always thought odd about Rosa's introduction of Fulton in "Invader of Fort Duckburg" is that it implies that Gyro is younger than Donald--since Gyro's father-to-be, Fulton, is an apparent pre-teen or early teenager when we meet him, many years away from becoming a father, while Donald's father-to-be, Quackmore, introduced in the same story, is an adult and already appears to be well on his way to matrimony and fatherhood by the end of the story. I've always felt that Gyro and Donald are contemporaries--some of Barks' stories, like "The Madball Pitcher" imply they went to school together, and in other Barks stories (like the closing page of "Cap'n Blight's Mystery Ship") Gyro comes off as the closest thing Donald has to a local friend and crony--although I know I've seen other fans maintain that Gyro is a generation older than Donald. Anyway, I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Gyro is actually half-a-generation younger than Donald, but that would appear to be the logical implication of the respective ages of their future dads in "Invader." I guess you could rationalize this by positing that Fulton got married in his late teens, while Quackmore and Hortense's engagement was broken off multiple times due to their explosive tempers, delaying their marriage until much later.

I have always thought Gyro could be either older than Donald or same age as him, never have I considered that he could be younger than DD.

I already referenced a Martina story in some other thread here in which Gyro was said to be a newborn 50 years ago, while Donald hadn't even been conceived. I don't know how much of a canonical piece of information could that be, but surely has strengthened my belief. 

[That Duckfan]

Apr 10, 2022 12:29:07 GMT djnyr said:

The thing I've always thought odd about Rosa's introduction of Fulton in "Invader of Fort Duckburg" is that it implies that Gyro is younger than Donald--since Gyro's father-to-be, Fulton, is an apparent pre-teen or early teenager when we meet him, many years away from becoming a father, while Donald's father-to-be, Quackmore, introduced in the same story, is an adult and already appears to be well on his way to matrimony and fatherhood by the end of the story. I've always felt that Gyro and Donald are contemporaries--some of Barks' stories, like "The Madball Pitcher" imply they went to school together, and in other Barks stories (like the closing page of "Cap'n Blight's Mystery Ship") Gyro comes off as the closest thing Donald has to a local friend and crony--although I know I've seen other fans maintain that Gyro is a generation older than Donald. Anyway, I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Gyro is actually half-a-generation younger than Donald, but that would appear to be the logical implication of the respective ages of their future dads in "Invader." I guess you could rationalize this by positing that Fulton got married in his late teens, while Quackmore and Hortense's engagement was broken off multiple times due to their explosive tempers, delaying their marriage until much later.

Again, if we go by Rosa, Hortense and Quackmore had kids at a pretty late age. Hortense is about 26/27 in Invader, but according to Rosa's notes (the ones where Scrooge died in 1967, etc. etc.) Donald and Della wouldn't be born for another twenty years!

Gyro's First Invention does suggest that Donald and Gyro were kids together, but in the way Donald talks to Fulton, it does almost feel like Donald is the senior of the two. I think that's just late Rosa talk, he had some problems making his characters sound believably young by then. If both Donald and Gyro were born around 1920, that still gives young Fulton twenty years. That's a reasonable timespan. But you did uncover one of the main problems of the Rosa timeline: Scrooge's generation is really old. Barks kind of made him that way to begin with, but Barks was always inconsistent.

I think a lot of Gyro's perceived age comes down to his tall stature and glasses. He has more of an adult build than the ducks. It's a design quirk, IMO.

[LP]

Apr 10, 2022 16:05:47 GMT That Duckfan said:

Gyro's First Invention does suggest that Donald and Gyro were kids together, but in the way Donald talks to Fulton, it does almost feel like Donald is the senior of the two. I think that's just late Rosa talk, he had some problems making his characters sound believably young by then. 

I'm curious about what makes you say that Donald feels like the older one of the two in Gyro's First Invention.

Also, as has been pointed out, Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck were supposedly born in 1876 and 1875, respectively, while Fulton might have been around 15 in 1902 (The Invader of Fort Duckburg) (my estimate), placing his birth circa 1887. My point being that Gyro could have been born either 1920 like Donald, or something like 10 years earlier, without it being weird.

[juicymcduck]

And of course, Kari Korhonen's own additions to the lore have further comoplicated things, since the Duckburg Journals show Gyro already alive (and seemingly older than 10) as early as 1903!

[Daniel Maline]

Apr 11, 2022 7:28:42 GMT juicymcduck said:

And of course, Kari Korhonen's own additions to the lore have further comoplicated things, since the Duckburg Journals show Gyro already alive (and seemingly older than 10) as early as 1903!

I consider Kari Korhonen's diary series a separate universe because "Home, Sweet Home" is inconsistent with "The Argonaut Of White Agony Creek" by Don Rosa. And due to these discrepancies, the way how Scrooge arrived in Alaska and went to Klondike is presented very differently even though the ship "The Southern Cross - Perck" is the same. The differences in the series are also reflected in how Korhonen soloed in later stories with Gyro Gearloose and how Scrooge visits Egypt instead of South Africa on his way to Australia.

[sim]

Apr 11, 2022 7:28:42 GMT juicymcduck said:

And of course, Kari Korhonen's own additions to the lore have further comoplicated things, since the Duckburg Journals show Gyro already alive (and seemingly older than 10) as early as 1903!

This is a great catch! I didn't remember him appearing here... from the drawings, I'd say he could be more or less John Rockerduck's age (who is around 20, I believe), probably a little younger. Is it just me or does it look weird that Fulton isn't in it? I mean, he could have fitted Gyro's role easily, not causing time issues. Is he mentioned somehow? I could not remember.

Having shown Scrooge's sisters, Howard Rockerduck and police members' fathers, I wouldn't say that it was some kind of editorial veto, so Korhonen himself might consider Gyro that old!

OT.
While Rosa's opinion of Donald and Della being twin-siblings is well established and widespread as of now, Dutch author Evert Geradts (who has written the 1-page gags with the two as ducklings) has 1934 for Donald's birth year (source) and 1936 for Della's (source).

[juicymcduck]

Apr 11, 2022 10:22:55 GMT Daniel Maline said:

Apr 11, 2022 7:28:42 GMT juicymcduck said:

And of course, Kari Korhonen's own additions to the lore have further comoplicated things, since the Duckburg Journals show Gyro already alive (and seemingly older than 10) as early as 1903!

I consider Kari Korhonen's diary series a separate universe because "Home, Sweet Home" is inconsistent with "The Argonaut Of White Agony Creek" by Don Rosa. And due to these discrepancies, the way how Scrooge arrived in Alaska and went to Klondike is presented very differently even though the ship "The Southern Cross - Perck" is the same. The differences in the series are also reflected in how Korhonen soloed in later stories with Gyro Gearloose and how Scrooge visits Egypt instead of South Africa on his way to Australia.

Haven't read those later stories, because they haven't been translated in language I can read yet. The problem* with Korhonen's journals is that at times they deviate from Rosa's stories, but at other times, they directly reference them. That's what you call having your cake and eat it. (*Of course, it's only a "problem" for a continuity freak like me, but Disney comics never had an actual canon, so it does not matter.)

[That Duckfan]

Apr 10, 2022 19:13:39 GMT LP said:

Apr 10, 2022 16:05:47 GMT That Duckfan said:

Gyro's First Invention does suggest that Donald and Gyro were kids together, but in the way Donald talks to Fulton, it does almost feel like Donald is the senior of the two. I think that's just late Rosa talk, he had some problems making his characters sound believably young by then. 

I'm curious about what makes you say that Donald feels like the older one of the two in Gyro's First Invention.

Oh, just the general way he talks with Fulton about Gyro. It's probably nothing, but it struck me as a child how casually Donald spoke to one of his elders. It's a pretty adult-to-adult conversation. I would not expect Donald to speak to Scrooge about, say, Fethry, or Gladstone, in the same manner.