Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama” is Volume 19 in Fantagraphics’s The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. The book collects comic-book stories starring Donald and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie that debuted from July 1957 to September 1958 and one story that went unpublished until November 1974 in the Netherlands. It concludes with “Story Notes,” annotations by a team of writers; “Carl Barks: Life Among the Ducks,” a biography by Donald Ault; and a Covers Gallery.
Buy Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama”: The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 19The title story finds Donald and the boys heading to a tropical island at the request of and with Uncle Scrooge, who wants to add the black pearls to his fortune. When their boat gets caught in a cavern on the island, Dewey reads up on steam and figures out that corking the volcano should force it loose. It’s nice to see science being used to solve their problem, even though the art depicting the effects on the island are likely not scientific.
Typically, the title story is the major story in the Carl Barks Disney Library collection, but here it’s “Forbidden Valley,” a 26-page epic adventure that sees the Ducks head to the Amazon jungle where they encounter dinosaurs. They head to South America to bring back the Razor Wasp as a remedy for an infestation of Cucumber Borers, which have been secretly unleashed by the evil swine, Mr. McBrine, who works to defeat them at every turn because he hopes the citizens of Duckburg will turn to his pickled rutabagas after he has destroyed the pickle market.
Donald continues to have trouble holding a job. His Uncle Scrooge McDuck promotes him from potato peeler to manager at the “Sagmore Springs Hotel.” Scrooge shows up disguised, over 50 years before Undercover Boss debuted, to check on him. He sends Donald into a panic when he requests a $10 million bank draft locked in the safe overnight, but Donald loses the combo.
In “The Tenderfoot Trap,” Donald enters a contest to win a uranium mine, but has to compete against Scrooge and his lucky cousin Gladstone Gander. There are tests such as prospecting, catching a wild burro, and also boiling a pint of water with the smallest fire. However, Gladstone is assisted by a piece of white hot meteor and is awarded the win, which was disappointing to his competition and to this reader as he clearly didn’t make a fire. Barks makes up for it with a funny resolution, especially the reason Gladstone gave up the contest.
Donald has to compete against Gladstone again when they get hired as pilots in the “Rocket Race Around the World.” If one of them can be the first to circle the globe in 80 minutes, they will earn their bosses $1 million. It’s fun seeing them collect items from different countries to prove where they traveled.
The cousins have one last battle in this book during “Battle of the Echoes.” They each buy a piece of property in order to sell it to Uncle Scrooge who is “searching…for land with the right kind of echoes.” They each try to trick him into thinking their property is the best, but Barks delivers a great plot twist.
The nephews pull an April Fool’s Day prank on their uncle in “Wishing Stone Island,” but it backfires when Donald sells the house so they can travel first class to the South Pacific island of Tuku Tiva. But once there, they discover the stones are magical or they experience a bit of Gladstone luck.
“Donald Duck and the Titanic Ants” is a science-fiction tale as the Billionaires Picnic is nearly ruined by Doctor Thinknoble’s machine which “can shrink or enlarge certain creatures by multiplying their protons.” There are funny situations as the Ducks battle the Ants and try to corral another garden animal.
Donald proves to be “The Persistent Postman” with an extremely tough route. When he gets a little helicopter, it makes the job easier…until a giant eagle confuses the mail sack for food. Donald gets another job but his inability to follow a recipe leads to laughs in “The Half-Baked Baker.”
Shelved until 1974 according to Barks notes “because Donald was too mean to the villain,” “Donald the Milkman” is severely harassed by Mr. McSwine, a lookalike of the previously seen Mr. McBrine. Donald gets revenge and I disagree with Mr. Barks as McSwine gets what he deserves.
“Old Froggie Catapult” sees the Ducks adopt a frog and name him Catapult. After learning of his impressive jumping ability, they enter him in contests. When a hurricane blows into the State Finals, Catapult gets disqualified and his supporters turn on him. Yet, he is their only hope when the barge gets stuck.
Girlfriend Daisy appears in a couple stories. Donald is “Dodging Miss Daisy” throughout the city when she wants him to help with her spring house cleaning. When Donald strives to win the “Water Ski Race,” which will earn him a chance “to dance with the queen of the Water Festival,” Daisy is rooting for him until she sees how beautiful the queen is and comes up with a plan of her own.
“The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama” is a great entry point into The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. Because of Barks’ skill as a writer, the book is filled with a variety of fun adventures and fun characters whose personalities and relationships are easily understood. They make the reader want to move onto the next panel to see what’s next. Because of Barks’ skill as an artist, the illustrations are captivating, filled with bold colors that bring to life the expressive characters and well-defined backgrounds. They make the reader want to linger before moving onto the next panel. Fantagraphics also deserves credit for the quality of the reproductions.
