The Disney Ducks are popular all over the world, but one country in particular that has a large fanbase for them is Finland. The stories are published in weekly magazines such as Aku Ankka, and some of the stories published there are amazing. One I would like to talk about today is The Hansa Hazard (though done by Norwegian creators), which feels the most like a sequel to a Carl Barks story out of any stories not by Don Rosa.
The story sees Scrooge and his nephews go on a quest to recover a lost treasure of Clan McDuck, and heading to Scandinavia to do so. Along the way however, they are followed by Azure Blue and Sharky, from the classic story, The Golden Helmet. The two constantly try and stay one step ahead of the Ducks to steal the Clan McDuck treasure. What follows is a wonderful journey through the various histories of Scandinavia and the Hansa, and a twist that would make Carl Barks himself proud.
The story ends on an ironic note, but it feels like something out of the past, but made recently. Even the amazing artwork feels true to the Barks style, and I fell in love with it immediately. Seeing Scrooge journey from location to location is nothing new, but seeing all the continuity nods here was a great touch. References are made to not just The Golden Helmet and its Don Rosa sequel, but to other Scrooge stories as well.
Finland has a great love of the Disney Ducks as I said, and it shows in this story. IDW Publishing recently reprinted it in English, and you can find it in the collection called The Third Nile. This is one of the best successor stories to Barks and Rosa and a worthy entry to the Scrooge McDuck canon,