Before writing & drawing duck stories, Don Rosa did several strips for his college's paper and later for comics fanzines. One of  these strips was "The Pertwillaby Papers", starring mild-mannered, very intelligent but very naïve Lance Pertwillaby. Don Rosa explained these strips were written as adventures in the spirit of  the Duck's adventures; and when he got to do Duck stories, he adapted several of  his Perwilaby stories. such was the case with "Knighttime", which became "The Once and Future Duck".

    Pictured below are Feather Fluffnuthin (Lance's girlfriend), Professor Horos Kronos (historian and amateur physicist, who only appeared in this story), and Professor Dimitrius Von Smyte ("Master of  myriad scientific realms & connoiseur of  unmitigated nastiness", and "Lance's perennial antagonist", along with fellow student Schuyler (pronounce "Skyler") Roatch III, pictured in the panel featured on "Time Travel" p 1). This strip unfortunately was never completed; "The Once and Future Duck" hints at what might have been, but that's only part of it: you can read more about the intended end on "Time Travel" p 1.

    Unlike Donald, who helps Gyro test his machine in order to get exclusive rights to sell it, it is Van Smyte who supposedly was to test the machine; this however was but a plot to get rid of  Lance: Van Smyte is sure the machine is dangerous and rightly assumed Lance who offer to take his place to save him.
 
 

"The Once and Future Duck" (D 95 079 / WDC&S 607, p 3)	The Pertwillaby Papers, Chronicle 5: "Knighttime" (p 167 / 168)