The Pauper's Glass is a Disney Ducks Comic Universe story written in 1975, first printed in Walt Disney's Scrooge McDuck #298, written by William van Horn.
Scrooge McDuck has gone missing! And Donald Duck is left in charge of his business empire, losing money by the truckload. Adding to the problem is a mysterious, unscrupulous and familiar-looking financier, Mr. X, who is taking advantage of Scrooge's absence and scooping up his various businesses.
With the money bin's cash level dropping lower and lower, Huey, Dewey and Louie go over what Donald knows about the disappearance; while reporting in for work one day, Donald found Scrooge missing, but his discarded clothes on the floor of his office. Donald then recalls finding a mysterious mirror, but did not think anything of it at the time. Examining the mirror, the triplets find strange markings on the frame, and decide to consult a scholar on its significance. The professor they speak with recognizes the artifact as the Pauper's Glass, an enchanted mirror that will supposedly grant a poor man great wealth, but will also make a wealthy man forget his identity. The nephews realize that the latter must have happened to Scrooge, but that still leaves the question, where is Scrooge McDuck?
Meanwhile, Mr. X continues to take Scrooge's businesses. The nephews soon conclude that Mr. X is Scrooge! The Triplets hope that showing Scrooge the Pauper's Glass again should restore his memory. With nothing else to go on, the Duck family heads out to Scrooge's remaining factories. But each time they just miss him, getting barraged with that companies products. Donald decides to try their luck at a place that makes something harmless, like a balloon factory. And it just so happens that Mr. X has decided to go after a balloon factory too...
The Ducks meet up at the Balloon Factory, and a mad clash ensues as the nephews try to pin down their amnesiac uncle. Balloons are released and run wild, but eventually Mr. X is shown the Pauper's Glass, restoring himself to Scrooge McDuck. After learning what's happened, Scrooge agrees to dispose of the Glass, tossing it into a nearby trash can. Not long afterwards, a vagrant wanders by and spots the mirror. The bum decides to take the mirror, reasoning that it might be worth a buck or two...
The Pauper's Glass has examples of
- Actually Pretty Funny: After getting his memory back and learning what happened, Scrooge seems rather amused by the events.
- Easy Amnesia: Because A Wizard Did It, the Pauper's Glass strips the memory of rich folk. Luckily, being shown the mirror again reverses the effect.
- Grail in the Garbage: At the end, the Pauper's Glass, a powerful magical artifact, is dumped into a garbage can. The story ends with a hobo taking it for himself...
- His Own Worst Enemy: Literally, in this case. The first thing Scrooge did with his memory gone was launch a hostile takeover over his own businesses.
- Imagine Spot: The triplets have a slew of these as they try to figure out where Scrooge has gone, like being kidnapped by the Beagle Boys, abducted by a swarm of moths, or turned into an eggbeater by Magica DeSpell!
- The Peter Principle: Donald was hired as a money cleaner, but with Scrooge's disappearance, he becomes de-facto head of McDuck Industries, and proves to be terrible at it. Donald is fully aware that he's out of his depth, in this case.
- Produce Pelting: Every time the Duck nephews visit a factory that "Mr. X" took over, they end up getting attacked with that business' products.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: Invoked by Donald, who refuses to let Scrooge have another look at the Pauper's Glass.
