Only a Poor Old Man  "Only a Poor Old Man" is a 32-page Disney comics story written, drawn, and lettered by Carl Barks. It was published in "Four Color" #386 (March 1952) as the first issue of "Uncle Scrooge". Scrooge McDuck had already made his debut as a supporting character in the 1947 "Donald Duck" story "Christmas on Bear Mountain", and made several other appearances in Donald Duck stories in "Walt Disney's Comics and Stories", but "Poor Old Man" was the first comic book story with Scrooge as the main character. In this first story with Scrooge as the focus, Barks softened the character, making him appear emotionally and financially vulnerable, rather than the ruthless miser that he had been in previous guest appearances. The story has been reprinted many times. It was originally published with the one-page gag stories "Osogood Silver Polish", "Coffee for Two", and "Soupline Eight". Barks expert Michael Barrier has dubbed the story a masterpiece. The story begins with Scrooge McDuck swimming in his money bin, speaking his now-famous line, "I love to dive around in it like a porpoise, and burrow through it like a gopher, and toss it up and let it hit me on the head!" He is watched by his nephew Donald, and they discuss the relative merits of having so much money. While looking through the window, Scrooge is alarmed to see that the Beagle Boys have bought the lot next to the money bin. Scrooge understands that they plan to build a house on it so they can secretly drain Scrooge's money out of the bin. Scrooge immediately faints. Huey, Dewey and Louie ask Scrooge why he is so attached to his money, and he explains that to him it is not just money: his fortune is the result of a long life of hard work and canny action. Every coin is a memento of an adventure. "You'd love your money, too, if you got it the way I did – by thinking a little harder than the other guy, by jumping a little quicker –" Scrooge also repeats another of his now-famous mantras: he made his fortune by being "tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties! And I made it "square"!" After calming down, Scrooge forms a plan: with his nephews' help, he installs a chute that allows him to empty the bin slowly.