The Lost Charts of Columbus is a story written and drawn by Don Rosa, first published in Donald Duck Adventures #43. It is a sequel to Carl Barks' The Golden Helmet.
Gladstone Gander wins a fishing trip up in Canada and invites Donald Duck along to help out. Naturally, instead of fish, Gladstone’s luck causes him to hook treasures from sunken ships. And one such treasure is a golden helmet with wings. Their fishing guide recognizes it as the helmet of Olaf the Blue, the viking who discovered America, with which one can claim control of the country. Donald realizes that their guide is none other than Azure Blue! After giving Gladstone a brief summary of “The Golden Helmet”, Donald urges his cousin to throw the Helmet back into the water, but sadly Blue and Gladstone have other plans…
At a nearby Junior Woodchuck outpost, Huey Dewey and Louie continue to pour over the original Woodchuck Guidebook found in “Guardians of the Lost Library”. They soon find a series of ancient sea charts sealed onto the cover- the Lost Charts of Columbus! As they see if they can find Olaf the Blue’s chart, Donald, with a boat life saver and a lot of seaweed, shows up and asks if they can find a chart older than Olaf’s!
Later on, the Ducks come to a press conference held by Azure Blue (Gladstone sold him the Helmet, not interested in becoming emperor of America) to make his claim of ownership of the continent by the Code of Discovery. Donald quickly counters Azure by bringing up an older chart, one left by the abbot Saint Brendan. The members of the press realize that whoever finds proof of Brendan’s landing on America, they could become owners of America and a crowd of treasure-hunters start the search. Although Donald finds a relic left behind by Brendan first, he is waylaid by another familiar face- Azure’s old lawyer Sharkey! Instead of claiming to be Brendan’s descendant (As the abbot took a vow of poverty) Sharkey restarted the Saint’s order to claim America in its name. Luckily, the nephews find yet another, older chart, this time left by the Chinese explorer Hui-Shen.
The search for proof of Hui-Shen’s arrival takes them to the ruins of Teotihuacan, an ancient city in Mexico. There, they find an ancient wheel left by Hui-Shen, only for Sharkey to show up to steal it to be destroyed. Azure appears to steal it himself, and a brief scramble ensues (At Donald’s expense, of course). Because too many people have seen the wheel, Azure and Sharkey decide to join forces and claim America together.
The Ducks return to the Library of Alexandria in hopes of finding another sea chart, and manage to find one left behind by the Phoenicians. Meanwhile, Blue and Sharkey are waiting in a luxury hotel suite for enough descendants of Hui-Shen to agree to let Blue rule America in their name, when the villains get wind of the Ducks’ actions. At the digging sight where an ancient vessel has been unearthed, the Ducks have found an ancient stone tablet. Unsurprisingly, Blue and Sharkey arrive and decide to steal it, as with this claim they would not need their Chinese partners.
At Blue’s press conference, a strange reporter has Blue confirm that he is abandoning his previous claims of Olaf, Hui-Shen, and so forth in favor of the Phoenicians. Blue then orders a scholar to decipher the tablet and prove his words, but the scholar cannot, as according to him the carvings are not Phoenician. The reporter steps up to explain that it was actually carved by native Americans, who found dead Phoenician sailors adrift in their own galley. The reporter reveals himself to be Donald Duck and his nephews, who declare that the Phoenicians never landed on American soil alive! With their claim spoiled, all Blue and Sharkey get for their troubles are very lengthy bills, one for the hotel and the other for contacting Hui-shen’s family in Chinese newspapers.
Later on, the Ducks examine the museum wing showing all of the relics found in the adventure. Donald worries that some other charlatan might try the Code of Discovery scam themselves, as the UN never repealed the law. The nephews then take a closer look at the Native American tablet, and realize that it depicts the Native Americans using the ship to land on Europe. By Europe’s own “Code of Discovery”, Europe was property of the Native Americans centuries before any explorer landed on America. Now the Ducks are sure the UN will repeal the Code of Discovery!
Tropes:
- Canis Latinicus: As in The Golden Helmet, Sharkey is constantly dropping psuedo-Latin phrases. At the end, after the villains have been thwarted for good, Donald has one of his own; "Aqua conkus dipporum!"Blue: M-meaning?
Donald: "Go soak your head!" - Foreshadowing: Donald's nephews do not seem bothered by the villains stealing the "Phoenicians" tablet.
- Fishing for Sole: Both Donald and Gladstone has this happen on the fishing trip, though Gladstone comes out ahead as usual; aside from the Golden Helmet, he also manages to snag an entire crate of Champagne from the Titanic, which are worth thousands per bottle. Donald ends up with a crate of canned tuna from the same ship. Keep in mind that they're fishing just off the coast of Canada, nowhere near where the wreck of the Titanic is located.
- Opt Out: Gladstone has no interest in ruling America, (Seeing the position as being like a glorified landlord), not to mention he's definetly not descended from Olaf The Blue like Azure Blue claims to be, so he just sells the Golden Helmet to Blue for a tidy sum.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Blue and Sharkey do not properly examine the tablet found at the ancient Phoenician landing. This would prove to be their undoing.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: At the end, Blue and Sharkey are presented with the bill for their hotel and the ads in Chinese newspapers.
- Tangled Family Tree: Hui-Shen had a huge family in his own time, resulting in a sizeable portion of modern China being his descendants, which Blue and Sharky facture into their scheme.
- Totem Pole Trench: The Ducks do this along with Wig, Dress, Accent to infiltrate the villains' final press conference.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The main plot is set in motion by Gladstone's luck catching the Golden Helmet.
- We Sell Everything: The hotel Blue and Sharky are staying at stocks both helicopters and bombs as part of their roomservice, apparently in case a guest need to go blow something up. Unfortunately for the bad guys, all the bombs end up being duds, and one of the payloads is just a plate of breakfast in bed.
