Flintheart Glomgold

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Glomgold first appeared in "The Second-Richest Duck", first published in September 1956. In this story, Scrooge learns that a businessman from the valley of the Limpopo, South Africa has also claimed the title of Richest Duck. Scrooge travels to South Africa with Donald and his three grandnephews, and the two rivals race through "The Heart of Africa" to determine who deserves the title, competing in everything from cash to gold mines to who has the largest ball of string. Flintheart, like Scrooge, keeps a percentage of his fortune in his own Money Bin, identical to Scrooge's except the external logo: a dollar sign on McDuck's and a pound sign on Glomgold's. While Scrooge's main sources of wealth are his industries, Flintheart's are his diamond mines. Scrooge's Money Bin is in Duckburg, Calisota, United States; Flintheart's is in the center of a valley near the Limpopo, surrounded by wildlife. Flintheart lives a life of solitude with no family, friends, or rivals except Scrooge. In "The Money Champ" (September 1959), Flintheart uses underhand plots against Scrooge, and his thoughts reveal that insecurities about his own worth drive his efforts and dishonest tactics, which he believes are betrayals of "his dear old mother's fondest hopes." In "So Far and no Safari" (January 1966), Flintheart's intentions are murderous: he shoots down Scrooge's plane with machine guns and bombards him in the Kalahari Desert, but his own plane crash-lands. The story ends with both rivals exhausted at an auction, the outcome unrevealed.

In Their Own Story

In "So Far and no Safari" (first published January 1966), Flintheart pilots his own plane equipped with machine guns and shoots down Scrooge's private plane over South Africa. When Scrooge reaches the Kalahari Desert, Flintheart's plane is revealed to be a bomber as well; he bombards Scrooge and his nephews but misses. The Ducks dress rocks with their clothing and take cover elsewhere. Flintheart mistakes the rocks for his targets and destroys them, noting that his rivals are now dinner for the jackals. Because he was flying low, the bomb explosions damaged his plane's fuel tank. He crash-lands and finds himself in no better condition than Scrooge. The rest of the story presents their rival efforts to cross the Kalahari and reach an auction for an old South African gold mine. At the end, both are tired from their difficult treks but still rivaling each other, while an exhausted Donald has fallen asleep. Who finally obtained the gold mine is not revealed.

Reader's Guide

Glomgold is characterized as an unrepentant miser, tycoon, plutocrat, and general villain who rarely sees any problem with breaking the law, cheating, or using other unfair tactics to become the world's richest duck. This makes him a "broken mirror" of Scrooge McDuck, whose own avarice is tempered with his belief in earning money strictly through honest means. After Barks' retirement, Glomgold appeared infrequently until 1979, when Egmont editors Lars Bergström and Stefan Printz-Påhlson revived the character. Since then, he has appeared in more than 100 Egmont stories, some depicting him as an influential member of Duckburg's Billionaires Club (which also includes Scrooge and John D. Rockerduck). In Werner Wejp-Olsen and Daniel Branca's 1981 story "The Top Treasure in Town", his grandfather Stoneheart Glomgold is introduced. In Lars Jensen and Vicar's 2002 story "Happy Birthday, Flintheart Glomgold", his nephew Slackjaw Snorehead is introduced—a genial slacker and genius with a talent for business who prefers to do nothing. In Lars Jensen and Marco Rota's 2005 story "The Glomgold Heritage", his father Brickheart Glomgold and mother appear briefly; it reveals that Stoneheart was a Scotsman who moved to London and later traveled to South Africa with his son after being wrongly accused of theft, teaching the Glomgolds that the world was unfair and they had to look out for themselves even outside the law.

Did You Know?

• Glomgold first appeared in September 1956 in the story 'The Second-Richest Duck'.
• His Money Bin has a pound sign logo, while Scrooge's has a dollar sign.
• In 'So Far and no Safari' (January 1966), Glomgold shoots down Scrooge's plane with machine guns and bombs him in the Kalahari Desert.
• Glomgold's grandfather Stoneheart was a Scotsman who moved to London and then to South Africa after being wrongly accused of theft.
• His nephew Slackjaw Snorehead, introduced in 2002, is a genius with a talent for business who prefers to do nothing all day.