"Dig We Must"
by Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife
based loosely on the Goof Troup story, "Dog Days" in Disney Afternoon 36, April.
Suggestions for a better title, anybody? And the ending could use work, I think.
One afternoon, Huey, Dewey and Louie came home from a school trip to the museum.
"Boy! Did you see all that old stuff that somebody dug up that's worth a fortune now? Bet the museum pays a lot of money for some of that stuff." Huey said.
"It must. Unca Scrooge sells stuff to museums a lot- even donates them for the tax break." Dewey said.
"Wouldn't it impress Unca Scrooge if we dug up something old and valuable and sold it for a lotta dough?" Louie said.
"Yeah, but we can't just dig anywhere. You have to own the property. And there has to be something worth digging up." Huey said.
"Unca Scrooge owns LOTS of properties. Right here in Duckburg. Including that vacant lot that used to be the home of an eccentric millionaire- Mr. Mole- that guy who used to buy old stuff, antiques and bury them in his back yard!" Dewey said.
"Unca Scrooge said that was just a story jealous people mad up! He said Mr. Mole just bought and sold antiques!" Louie said.
"Stories like that have turned out to be true before! Besides, even if Mr. Mole didn't bury something on purpose, his house did burn to the ground shortly after he died...something COULD have gotten buried by accident when they tore down the ruins!" Huey said.
"But we can't go way across town without a grown-up! And what grown-up would take us and let us dig there, even if Unca Scrooge owns the place?" Dewey inquired.
"I know ONE grown-up who would not only do that, he'd help us dig!" said Louie, indicating Launchpad.
"Hi ya, Launchpad. What ya doing here?" Huey asked.
"Oh, hi Huey. I'm waiting for your Uncle Scrooge. He said he would have work for me later this afternoon." Launchpad said.
Just then, Duckworth entered the room.
"Mr. McQuack, Mr. McDuck just phoned. He said he would meet you at your hanger and you were to wait for him there instead of here." Duckworth said.
The three youngsters looked at each other, all three siblings thinking: "Launchpad's hanger is right near that vacant lot."
"Is it OK if we go with him, Duckworth?" Huey said.
"I have no objections if Mr. McQuack has none." Duckworth said.
"Fine by me! It'll give me something to DO until Mr. McD shows up! And that could take hours!" Launchpad said.
So, while Launchpad took them in the direction of the hanger, the triplets explained their plan to Launchpad. Since Mr. McDuck was going to start digging on that vacant lot soon, to build a new building, Launchpad saw no harm in them doing a little digging there first.
Launchpad left Mr. McDuck on note on his hanger and they went to the nearby vacant lot, taking four shovels. "Where should we dig?" Launchpad asked.
The trins didn't know and started to argue.
"Look, the house must have been right here in the middle!" Launchpad suggested.
"The surveyors have already left marks showing where the water and gas mains are, we can't dig near them! But that still leaves a large area where the house used to be... let's dig a safe distance away from them, but close enough so we're still digging where the house used to be. "
"But people say that Mr. Mole buried stuff in his back yard! If that's true we won't find stuff digging where the house used to be!" Huey objected.
"Nobody ever SAW him bury anything! That's just gossip! If something got buried by accident, it'll be where the house used to be!" Louie said. More arguing broke out.
"Look, we each have shovels. Four of digging in one hole will just get in each other's way, anyway. How's about two of dig here, and two of us dig out where the back yard used to be?" Launchpad offered. This made sense, so they split up.
"I don't like how me and my brothers have been arguing so much lately. We used to get along so well...but lately, we argue all the time!" Huey said to Launchpad as they dug.
"Maybe that's because you three are getting older- you're starting to get interested in different things." Launchpad said.
"You three used to be so much alike, but you're becoming three different people- and that's good, isn't it? You just have to let them have different opinions- and different interests- from you, that's all. You have to learn to compromise."
"You mean like us digging over here while they dig over there, so we're all digging where we want to?" Huey said.
"Right. Look, I'm not Dr. Fool, I'm not going to spend 20 or 30 years going over the same thing. You just have to accept that other people- even your brothers- have the right to like things you don't like or want things you don't want." Launchpad said.
Huey shrugged and they kept digging. After a while, both teams hit something at almost the same moment. Launchpad and Huey hit a large widemouth glass jar with an old comic book in it. Dewey and Louie hit an old dog statue.
Dewey and Louie were really excited. They thought they had found an ancient statue worth oodles and oodles of money.
Launchpad and Huey were less than thrilled.
"Some old comic books are worth a lot a money. Especially if they are in good shape. This one was in a glass jar and is in excellent shape. And it's a number one. First issue of comic books are often worth big money." Launchpad said, trying to cheer Huey up.
"Not like ancient statues are. And who ever heard of "Captain Thunder"? Who would pay money for a comic book of a hero nobody's every heard of?" Huey asked.
"That could make it rare." Launchpad suggested.
"Number ones are worth big money when they are of a famous hero." Huey muttered.
"But what do we DO with the statue?" Dewey asked.
"We wanted to dig something old up so we could impress Unca Scrooge. Let's show him it and he can sell it for us!" Huey suggested, for he too believed the statue was worth big bucks and wanted to get some credit for it.
So they took the statue back to Launchpad's hanger. Launchpad took the comic book, too. He had a hunch it might be worth more money than anybody else thought- if it was genuine. Launchpad just feared it was a copy or a hoax of some kind.
Luckily, they got there just as Mr. McDuck arrived.
"Unca Scrooge! Unca Scrooge! Look at what we dug up in that vacant lot where that eccentric millionaire used to live! It's an ancient statue worth lots and lots of money!" Louie and Dewey said.
"Eh? What this all about?" Mr. McDuck asked.
"It's an ancient statue- worth a fortune- we dug it up!" Louie and Dewey explained.
"Oh? And what about you, Huey?" inquired Mr. McDuck noticing how crestfallen and odd-man-out Huey seemed.
"I'm afraid all Launchpad and I found was an old comic book of a hero I never even heard of- somebody called Captain Thunder." Huey said.
"Hmm. Let me see this statue, first." Mr. McDuck said.
Mr. McDuck examined the statue. "I'm afraid what you found here is an old sign, boys. See? It's made of tin. And it looks Egyptian- but what would something Egyptian be doing in America?" Mr. McDuck said, as gently as possible, hating to disappoint them, but wanting to tell the Truth.
"We were hoping it was Aztec or Mayan- sometimes their stuff looks Egyptian." Louie said.
"Afraid not. Just an old sign, not worth anything. But that comic book- can I see it please?" Mr. McDuck asked.
Huey hesitated. He believed the comic was not worth anything. But Launchpad handed it over quickly.
"Is this what I THINK it is, or is it a fake?" Launchpad asked.
Mr. McDuck examined the comic book very, very carefully. Finally, he sat down and wiped his brow. "Boys- do you know what you have here?" he asked.
They shook their heads "no".
"This is a copy of Thrill Comics#1- Which was an "ashcan" issue- no known copies exist- (1)or did not until now. I'm not sure how it ended up in this jar. It must have belonged to some children in the Mole family, they lived there for a long time. " Mr. McDuck began.
"And the Mole family owned a large piece of Fawcett Publishing, who published the Marvel Family.. You've heard of the ORIGINAL Captain Marvel, have not you? Well, they changed "Captain Thunder's" name to "Captain Marvel" in Whiz #2.
"This is the long missing Thrill Comics #1. No other copies exist. You could name your own price for this, literally- especially since it's in such great shape." Mr. McDuck said.
The End.
(1) Also called Flash Comics #1.. No known copies exist here. Thank you, digitalcomicmusuem.
I'm still on the fence about the reboot of the Marvel Family in brave and bold. Give them their own comic , then we'll talk. And I'll say it: Launchpad reminds me of Captain Marvel. Talk about a Big Red Cheese! There. Now I feel better.