Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold” is Volume 1 in Fantagraphics’s The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. The book collects comic-book strips and stories starring Donald and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie that debuted from May 1938 to September 1943 and one Pluto story that debuted in 1942. It concludes with “Story Notes” and “Bonus Story Notes,” which are annotations by a team of writers; “Comics Readers Find Gold,” an essay by Maggie Thompson; “Carl Barks: Life Among the Ducks,” a biography by Donald Ault; and three pages from “The Mummy’s Ring” that Barks re-inked in 1965 when Gold Key reprinted the story.
Buy Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold”: The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 1As the first volume of the series, there’s quite a bit of history collected that will delight fans of Barks and Disney. In his story notes, Alberto Becattimi states the title story was initially intended to be a feature-length cartoon starring Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. While the story was worked on and 800 sketches were drawn, the project was shelved. It was eventually turned into a comic book starring Donald and his nephews. It is notable for being “the first Donald Duck comic book to feature an original story.” The ducks encounter a parrot named Yellow Beak who knows of a buried treasure, but they have to compete with Black Pete and his men for it. It’s an epic adventure that runs over 60 pages. Barks contributed approximately half the art for title story with Jack Hannah doing the other half. Would take a keener eye than mine to detect the difference.
“Donald’s Victory Garden” is the first instance of Barks drawing the art for a 10-page story for Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. It sees Donald helping the war effort but having to battle hungry crows. Barks handled the script and art in “The Rabbit’s Foot,” which sees Donald try to dissuade his nephews from believing in good luck charms, a story that’s a precursor to Barks stories where Donald has to deal with the luck of his cousin Gladstone Gander.
“Lifeguard Daze” finds Donald working at the beach. He proves his bravery fighting a shark to save his nephews, but when a lady duck snubs him the boys try to help him impress her. This story has good unexpected twist that sees Donald win out.
“The Limber W Guest Ranch” sees Donald playing in his familiar role of know-it-all. This time it occurs while riding horseback in what resembles the Arizona desert. When Donald gets them lost and refuses to admit, his nephews repeatedly save the day. Donald makes claims of being “The Mighty Trapper,” but the boys want to prove they are better than their uncle. Barks delivers a very funny conclusion that speaks to the sin of pride.
“Donald Duck and the Mummy’s Ring” is Barks’s first solo long-form Donald Duck adventure, running over 30 pages. On their way to see mummies at the local museum, a mysterious man gives them a ring he claims brings bad luck, which first manifests in Pete harassing them to find out what the man gave them. Huey gets the ring stuck on his finger and eventually disappears after searching for his lost hat in the museum. Donald and the two other nephews think he’s been gets kidnapped the mummies’ caretakers, who are returning to their African homeland of El Dagga. Donald and the boys get jobs as deck hands on the ship carrying the mummies so they can stay close as they continue searching for Huey. “The Mummy’s Ring” is a fun mystery filled with action, thrills, and a few laughs.
Barks is one of three co-writers on “Pluto Saves the Ship,” which features art by Bruce Bushman. Set around a shipyard “somewhere in the U.S.A.,” the title gives away the outcome in this story about saboteurs plotting to blow up a destroyer with the help up a bigger, stronger, meaner dog named Baron. They hide a bomb in a bone that Baron plants on the ship. Pluto, hungry for the bone, takes it away from the ship, unintentionally at first, and has to fight off Baron, who keeps returning it. A lot of the action has no dialogue and is reminiscent of a silent movie. It must not have been well know at the time, but it’s rather strange to see someone feed Pluto a chicken bone as a treat.
The main part of the book concludes with Donald Duck Daily Strips. Barks only contributed the plots for the 14 strips, which were scripted by Bob Karp and drawn by Al Taliaferro. The strips typically find Donald on the receiving end of the gag, but he does come out on top a few times.
Fans have been waiting for Volume 1 of The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library and it does not disappoint. Right from the start, Barks demonstrated himself to be a talented artist and the reproduction work by Fantagraphics helps highlight his use of colors. Also as a writer, Barks had a good sense of the characters and knew how to spin a yarn that kept the reader turning pages. The inclusion of the Pluto comic story is a wonderful treat regardless of how much involvement Barks had. Regardless of the historical significance of some stories, I recommend “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold” is comic-book gold for fans of the series and for those looking for a starting point.
