I just read this blog post: disneycomicsrandomness.blogspot.nl/2016/03/donald-duck-378-and-cornelius-coot.html , which sums up many interesting pieces of "Coot History". Does anyone know about any other interesting stories in which Cornelius plays a role? It's remarkable how, even though he has appeared in many stories (as a statue, that is), he rarely plays an actual role in the story. (fun fact: According to the Coot statue on the first page of this comic: coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+1764-B , Cornelius lived between 1673-1782, which probably makes him the oldest known member of the Donald Duck character cast!)
Last Edit: Apr 26, 2016 21:05:46 GMT by Scroogerello
Post by Scrooge MacDuck on Apr 27, 2016 12:21:32 GMT
The 1673-1782 dates are those of one of the authors, but they are incompatible with Don Rosa's setting his conquest of Fort Drakeborough by Coot in 1818…
As for stories involving him in person, I know and love The Battle of Fort Drakeborough, which very cleverly ties in the events of the flashback of His Majesty McDuck to a time travel plot, as Scrooge, Donald and the kids go back in time to meet Cornelius… In the end, it turns out that Cornelius Coot knew how to make popcorn because Donald told him, and that since it allowed him to save the fort from the Spanish soldiers, he named Duckburg "Duckburg" in honor of Donald Duck. There is also Huey, Dewey and Louie and the Roots of Duckburg, where Huey, Dewey and Louie make researches about Coot, and the story includes many flashback scenes of Coot's travel from the East Coast to the future location of Duck burg.
I haven't read The Treasure of Cornelius Coot, but I have a feeling that he plays a big role, at least in flashback form… And the INDUCKS scan of the first page of The Quarrel over the Founder is enough to tell that it includes at least one big flashback with Coot. INDUCKS also says that Uncle Scrooge and the Giants of Duckburg features flashbacks of both Cornelius and Casey Coot. Now I'm intrigued.
"The Battle of Fort Drakeborough" is a clever story indeed (and probably the only story to date in which the Duck family actually interacts with Cornelius), even though it was so obviously based in Rosa's story. The main difference between the two stories is in the explanations as to why the Donald's hometown is named 'Duckburg', which also happens to be his last name. In Rosa's version, Fort Drakeborough was founded by Sir Francis Drake, and Cornelius Coot"americanized" the name into "Duckburg" (a 'drake' being a male duck). This joke simply doesn't make sense in Dutch, as both 'duck' and 'drake' are meaningless words in the Dutch language. This still left readers wondering how Duckburg got its name, which is why they created a story where Duckburg was actually named after Donald.
I haven't read the other 4 stories you mentioned (yet), but the sure do seem interesting! I wonder what role Casey Coot is supposed to have in that last story you mentioned. Also, I read that this story: coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=B+810066 apparently contains the very first appearance of Cornelius "in person", presumably acting as the mayor (?) of Duckburg (the INDUCKS description says: Pirates invade Cornelius Coot's Duckburg), even though the story seems to be centered around José Carioca.
Last Edit: Apr 28, 2016 14:28:51 GMT by Scroogerello
He's the leader of the town, indeed. The focus is on Zé Carioca's ancestor. I wrote up about it on the comments on the Disney Comics Randomness article, IIRC?
He's the leader of the town, indeed. The focus is on Zé Carioca's ancestor. I wrote up about it on the comments on the Disney Comics Randomness article, IIRC?
I think I found the comment you mean (at the Disney Comics Randomness article , indeed)--
Brasilian story "A Invasão dos Piratas" establishes Duckburg already existing in 1789 and Cornelius is an old man at that point.
I wonder why José Carioca's ancestor is the main character in this story--does Zé himself live in Duckburg in this particular comic? Also, it's quite interesting that they included Cornelius in the story as an old man, rather than the (younger) age which Cornelius appears to be in most statues. And does the story explain the corn cobs in Cornelius's statue's hands at all?
Last Edit: Apr 29, 2016 20:23:08 GMT by Scroogerello
Zé's shown as being in Duckburg for the celebrations of Duckburg's anniversary. Zé often interacted with Duckburg inhabitants, and Duckburg's location itself is played with fast and loose in Brazilian comics- it can as easily be in the US as, in stories like Dugan Duck's first stories, be clearly set in Brazil, near the Amazon.
The bigger context, of course, is simply that this story is part of a general issue with new stories telling the story of Duckburg throughout the ages, and Zé Carioca being one of the main characters of Disney Brazil, of course he'd be there for the celebrations :V I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it was a book made for celebrating some anniversary of Disney comics in Brazil, or something.
From memory, you start with a chapter with caveman Donald and cavewoman Daisy (with all the beautiful 80's Brazil Disney Comics Gender Politics nonsense you see elsewhere); viking Fethry and viking Donald being the first journalists in history, working for viking Scrooge McDuck (as a twist on the usual Scrooge owns a newspaper, Donald and Fethry are his journalists stories); pirate Phantom Blot and pirate Zé Carioca attacking Duckburg (by this point actually established as Duckburg), led by old man Cornelius Coot (kind of a regular Zé story, even having an incarnation of his girlfriend as a Duckburg inhabitant; and no, no explanation of the corn cobs, he's just the leader of the colony); cowboy Mickey and Goofy fighting outlaw Pete and also the typical "injuns" stereotype (typical Mickey adventure story); young man Scrooge and Gyro's grandfather vs Emil Eagle's grandfather (IIRC) (typical Gyro story) in the 19th century; and finally, duckling Donald versus the mafia Beagles (typical Beagles story, also the mafia Beagles are probably the only historical incarnation here that actually appeared elsewhere, I remember at least two other stories) set in the 1930s.
You could try buying some old copy of it from Brazilian websites; don't know if it's ever been reprinted. If you speak Portuguese, you can also try your luck locating scans.
I don't have other stories to suggest besides what has been listed already. Just wanted to say that "The Battle of Fort Drakeborough" sounds like a story I'd much enjoy, especially because of the tie-in to Rosa's history. I checked online, and can't find anyone selling the issue of Super Piscou Géant that has that story, rats. So I just have to hope that it turns up in IDW Disney comics one of these years....