Today’s story is one in a Richie genre that is repeated often through the years. A wealthy relative pops up out of nowhere and pits Richie and Reggie against each other to claim the relative’s excess fortune. Not that either kid needs more money and Richie never seems particularly interested in the fortune, but anytime he can compete, i.e. win against Reggie is a good time.
I love when Richie and Freckles throw things at the ghosts! But, the mace nearly murdering Freckles was too close for comfort for me.
I guess even though Freckles and Peewee turned down their share of the fortune, at least they have job security in that they can always live in and be the CEOs of their museum. And perhaps part of the museum can be turned into a fancy hotel because I don’t know who would want to travel to the island just to see a bunch of chubby angel statues.
In case you missed it, here’s another time F & P turned down easy money:
Stories so sugary sweet you will become a member of the van Lard family!
What did you think of Uncle Hyder’s treasure hunt?
RichieRichcomicsfanclub 
I remember that story! Good one, just enough adventure and wealth. Pretty tight and sound logically on the surface too, but rereading it just now, I did find one thing that doesn’t make sense to me. Second to last panel of second page, it looks like Reggie is going to the island by boat. He is saying he will find a way to stop Richie. But the two thugs he hired must be on the boat with him, so he has already found a way to stop Richie, or thinks he has. Then he lets the thugs leave, and take the boat! Forget the $500, any boat Reggie would own must be worth more than that! Unless Reggie hired thugs with a boat? Good thing Richie let Reggie come back in the helicopter…
This is a great story, I remember reading it too. Richie is really quite a smart alec in this one, but his commonsense is what drives it (“There’s no such monster”). It’s also another great example where we see that Reggie isn’t afraid of manual labour, but only when there’s a fortune to be had!
What happened to Uncle Hyder? In the beginning he’s drawn like he has a cold (or is an old drunk that just blew in from outdoors), but at the end of the story he’s all cleaned up and refined.
I hadn’t noticed the remarkable transformation of Uncle Hyder. He spent the time waiting in the Rich mansion, maybe Cadbury insisted on cleaning him up?
I didn’t notice the Uncle Hyder transformation either, good eye Larry! Maybe just being out of his dusty house cleared up his allergies and some new clothes made him a new man! Thanks for the comments guys, I love hearing your thoughts!
As far as Freckles and Pee-Wee’s job security, I always imagined they both would become trusted executives in Rich Enterprises once Richie took over!
This is true, they would be excellent as Richie’s advisors since they wouldn’t be yes men! I’m surprised there isn’t a story of adult Richie turning the wheels of industry. Just adult Richie married to Gloria.
Uncle Hyderabad was clearly a connoisseur of art.
That’s an ingenious plot, with good character moments. I was always amazed how many stories (and there were VERY MANY) they could craft a theoretically one-note character like Richie Rich.
Yes indeed, something for everyone, adventure, ghosts, exploring, young romance, stories for all!