Bombie the Zombie is a character from the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics.
Backstory[]
As revealed by Professor Cornelius McCobb, Bombie is not actually dead. Like all "real" zombies, he was a poor man who was bewitched, in Bombie's case by the vengeful African voodoo doctor Foola Zoola, to become his mindless slave. The enchantment also gave Bombie a greatly-expanded lifetime and superhuman strength and resistance to cold, drowning and starving. Still according to Professor McCobb, Bombie is still conscious the whole time, but is unable to reflect that through actions, and can only act following Foola Zoola's orders.
Foola Zoola sending Bombie the Zombie after a young Scrooge McDuck.
The vengeful Foola Zoola sent Bombie after a young Scrooge McDuck to give him a bewitched voodoo doll, which contained a poison that would reduce Scrooge to the size of a mouse (which is Foola Zoola's favourite spell). However, since this incident took place many years ago, when Scrooge was a young man, Bombie, because of his voodoo-induced mindlessness, never realized that Scrooge would have aged within the years that he chased him around the world. As such, after seventy years of searching for Scrooge, Bombie ends up in Duckburg, and delivers the doll to Scrooge's nephew, Donald, who looks just like his uncle Scrooge did when he first encountered Bombie.
Printed Media[]
Voodoo Hoodoo[]
Bombie made his first appearance in this 1949 story. It opens as Bombie, who has recently been revived as the counter-curse wore off, arrives in Duckburg, still looking for Scrooge McDuck. Bombie runs into Donald Duck, and thinks he recognizes in him the young Scrooge he has been looking for for seventy years, and gives him the doll, which stings Donald. Learning Bombie's backstory from Scrooge, Donald leaves for Africa along with Huey, Dewey, and Louie. As he no longer has a mission to fulfill, Bombie is confused, and tears begin to pour from the old ghoul's pupilless eyes. Whereas Donald is unsympathetic to Bombie, the kids take him into pity and decide to bring him back to Africa with them. Donald eventually uses him as a weapon to get rid of Foola Zoola's voodoo tribe by tying rubber to his feet and sending him bounce around in the village, as the massive zombie knocks down soldier after soldier in his endless bouncings. He is last seen still bouncing by the ducks as they leave Africa, and they comment that even if he bounces for months he'll still be alright, and saying that hopefully, Foola's curse will end one day, and Bombie will be free.
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck[]
Bombie the Zombie is prominently seen in Volume Eleven, "The Empire-Builder from Calisota", eleven, which reveals more details about Scrooge and Bombie's backstory. Bombie's pursuit of Scrooge takes him to the North Pole to interrupt a deal between Scrooge and explorer Robert Peary, though he is trapped in an ice fissure. Years later in 1912, Bombie re-emerges on the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, with Scrooge making a narrow escape from the zombie aboard a lifeboat. Scrooge finally is able have Bombie trapped on the island of Rippan Taro in exchange for giving the chief his prized Candy Striped Ruby.
The Dream of a Lifetime[]
In this story, Donald and the Beagles Boys enter the dreams of Scrooge McDuck. In one of the dreams, they find themselves on the Titanic, which hits the iceberg and sinks. Donald and Scrooge find Bombie on the iceberg that has sunk the Titanic.
Hero 3000[]
Bombie the Zombie makes a cameo among a large number of other characters in the banquet scene at the end of this adventure, in Duckburg.
Television[]
DuckTales (2017)[]
Bombie makes his animated debut in the episode "The Richest Duck in the World!" as an invincible monster in the form of a curse who chases down the richest person in the world. The curse is described as following: "He cannot be bought, he cannot be fought. Though riches you've got, your life will be fraught, until you have earned the one thing you shall not!" Scrooge tried to keep Bombie detained on an island with powerful enchantments, falling under his "magical defenses" budget, but Louie ends up unleashing him after gaining Scrooge's fortune and seeing the private island as a potential retreat. Bombie is only sent away when Louie and Scrooge show humility that their wealth doesn't solve everything and shine his boots before he retreats to parts unknown.
