A Guidebook to the Carl Barks Universe

Backstage: In a letter to John Spicer of circa May 1960, Barks wrote about the construction of the story: "There are some bad spots in some of those stories [the Uncle Scrooge adventures] that I wish could have been done over. The climax fight in the recent Paul Bunyan theme could have been improved with a half-page spread of Scrooge's and the B. Boys' giant machines hacking each other to pieces, but I was afraid the editors would delete such a scene as being too violent."

Research: In 1996, there was a discussion on the origin of Paul Bunyan on the Disney comics Mailing List. Detailed information

Congruences:

W US 70-02 The Doom Diamond

Correspondence:

circa May 1960 letter from Carl Barks to John Spicer

Sources

W US 28-02 And The Inventors' Contest

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-277
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1959, January 16
Publication date: 1960, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 28
Pages: 4

Sources

W US 28-04 and the Witching Stick

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-281
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, January 16
Publication date: 1960, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 28
Pages: 5

Sources

W US 28-05 The Money Hat

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-276
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, May 20
Publication date: 1960, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 28
Pages: 0 3/8
Filled out with: Dell Pledge

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Sources

W US 29-00 teeter-totter and money bag

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-254
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, July 11
Publication date: 1960, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 29
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 29-01 Island in the Sky

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-287
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, June 15
Publication date: 1960, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 29
Pages: 18

Discussions: On the Disney comics Mailing List has been a discussion on astronomical (impossibilities of this story).

Sources

W US 29-02 Oodles of Oomph

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-305
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1959, April 20
Publication date: 1960, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 29
Pages: 4

Sources

W US 29-04 Hound of the Whiskervilles

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-309
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, July 11
Publication date: 1960, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 29
Pages: 7 3/4
Filled out with: circulation statement

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Trivia: In panel 1.5, Scrooge's grandfather is mentioned. ("My grandfather wore a miner's cap! But back before him, my ancestors - I've forgotten!")

Sources

W US 30-00 money bill fan

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-319
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [unknown]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1958, August 4
Publication date: 1960, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 30
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 30-01 Pipeline to Danger

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-321
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, November 13
Publication date: 1960, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 30
Pages: 17

Sources

W US 30-02 War Paint

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-339
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1959, December 9
Publication date: 1960, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 30
Pages: 4

Sources

W US 30-04 Yoicks! The Fox!

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-343
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, December 9
Publication date: 1960, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 30
Pages: 9

Congruences:

W WDC 98-02 fox hunting sportsman: Similar plot.

Sources

W US 31-00 keep off the grass

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-320
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [unknown]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, August 12
Publication date: 1960, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 31
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 31-01 All at Sea

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-353
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, February 12
Publication date: 1960, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 31
Pages: 17

Cross-references: Scrooge tries to move bars of gold bullion by ship, by having it molded to look like corn. (10.6) «The Status Seeker» contains a cross-reference to this attempt.

Sources

W US 31-02 Fishy Warden

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-371
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1960, February 16
Publication date: 1960, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 31
Pages: 4

Sources

W US 31-04 Two-way Luck

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-375
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, February 26
Publication date: 1960, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 31
Pages: 9

Sources

W US 31-05 The Secret Book

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-370
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1956, May 24
Publication date: 1960, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 31
Pages: 0 7/8
Filled out with: Dell Pledge

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Changes: Apparently art was cut to fit in the Dell Pledge which appeared in this page. Panel 6 looks like it is shortened on the right side, maybe Scrooge could be seen there instead of only a part of his shadow on the fence in the published version?

Status: If changed, the original version is lost.

Sources

W US 31-06 The Balmy Swami

Barrier: MBAC-144
CBL: 04B-384
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1957, October 31
Publication date: 1960, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 31
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 32-00 armored truck hitch-hike

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-385
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [unknown]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1959, July 31
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 32-01 That's No Fable!

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-387
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, May 12
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 18

Surviving material: page 5 - alternate 3rd tier An alternate third tier for page 5 exists, which is replaced by a new one in the story. published in an article in The Carl Barks Library - Set IV. In the alternate version, the two Spanish boys are only described; in the published version they are shown.

Backstage: In a letter to Malcolm Willits of 30 December 1960, Barks explained "why I padded the Poncey de Loon story by having Uncle Scrooge tell it to Grandma. ...I was trying to get a little variety in the opening. It seemed to me from the business involved that the reader needed to be aware that Scrooge would find the Fountain of Youth. That Fountain would have seemed awfully phony if it were dragged into the story along about page 8. Grandma was the gimmick that helped plant the fountain early."

Correspondence:

December 30, 1960 letter from Carl Barks to Malcolm Willits

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

W US 32-02 That Small Feeling

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-405
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1960, June 13
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 4

Surviving material: jivaro witch doctor

Congruences:

CM 11 jivaro witch doctor: witch doctor
W US 39-02 A Spicy Tale: witch doctor
W US 52-01 The Great Wig Mystery: witch doctor

Sources

W US 32-04 Clothes Make the Duck

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-409
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, May 17
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 7 1/2
Filled out with: «The Homey Touch» ?

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Questions: What else does this page of the original comic contain?

Sources

W US 32-05 The Homey Touch

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-416
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: Not listed
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 0 1/2
Filled out with: «Clothes Make the Duck» ?

Additional credits: Like "Turnabout" (US 32-07), the other unlisted Barks item in this issue, this maybe one of the three unidentified Uncle Scrooge one page gags, submitted on 1958, October 1.

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Changes: Possibly, a one pager cut down to a half pager. The reprint in The Carl Barks Library - Set IV seems to show traces of cuts.

Status: If changed, the original version is lost.

Questions: Is the original publication identical to the reprint in The Carl Barks Library - Set IV?
What else does this page of the original comic contain?

Sources

W US 32-06 A Thrift Gift

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-286
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, July 18
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 32-07 Turnabout

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-317
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: Not listed
Publication date: 1961, December-February
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Pages: 1

Additional credits: Like "The Homey Touch" (US 32-05), the other unlisted Barks item in this issue, this maybe one of the three unidentified Uncle Scrooge one page gags, submitted on 1958, October 1.

CBL-notes: In panel 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, faded lines are retouched.

Sources

CX US 32 That's No Fable! [surviving cut material]

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04C-654
Type: story segment
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: [none or unknown]
Publication date: 1985, November
Issue: The Carl Barks Library - Set IV
Pages: 0 1/2
Intended issue: Uncle Scrooge 32
Intended publication date: 1961, December-February

Additional credits: See That's No Fable!, for more information.

Sources

W US 33-00 national bank night deposits

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-427; 04B back cover
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [unknown]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, April 21
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 33-01 Tree Trick

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-318
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: Probably 1956, May 24
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 1

Changes: Originally drawn to leave room for the Dell Pledge. The editors for some reason decided not to run the Pledge and added lines to fill out the last panel to a tier. (1.7)

Status: Apparently, no art was damaged.

CBL-notes: (R) Panel 1.7 is shortened in width at the left and right sides to reconstruct Barks' original layout. Published version of the panel (twice as wide) is shown in the accompanying explanation, using the space that would have been filled out with the Dell Pledge.

Reconstructions: Last panel is restored to its original size in The Carl Barks Library - Set IV.

Sources

W US 33-02 Billions in the Hole

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-429
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, September 3
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 16

Additional credits: In his 1969 list of work for Western, Barks wrote: "Got this story idea from a friend of Bill Spicer's." His name is Ron Leonard.

Sources

W US 33-03 You Can't Win

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-445
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1960, August 15
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 4

Sources

W US 33-05 Bongo on the Congo

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-449
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, September 12
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 10

CBL-notes: In panel 7.7, the heads of the natives have been changed. Instead of curly black hair, they now have punk hairstyles, horned helmets and bald heads. Interesting to note is that Barks himself did the redrawing of this panel, at the request of the Carl Barks Library editors (the censoring itself was of course not their decision!).
On panels 8.1 and 8.3, the bone through Old Boogerbooboo's nose is removed. In panel 8.2, the two Qwak Qwak have bald heads instead of curly hair. The dialogue is changed at several places, references to rebels, Mau Maus and vooodoo are removed.
Donald's glasses in panel 10.7 are removed.

Trivia: Scrooge is "determined he's going to make Unca Donald the next tycoon of the vast McDuck Empire." (panel 1.1)

Details: In panel 10.7, Donald has glasses.

Sources

W US 33-06 The Big Bobber

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-338
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1957, June 6
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 0 3/4
Filled out with: circulation statement

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Questions: Could this 3/4 page gag have been cut from a full page?

Sources

W US 33-07 Thumps Up

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-352
Type: gag
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1957, December 5
Publication date: 1961, March-May
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 33
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 34-00 money barbells

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-428
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [unknown]
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, July 25
Publication date: 1961, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 34
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 34-01 Mythtic Mystery

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-465
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, December 10
Publication date: 1961, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 34
Pages: 14

Changes: A total of two pages was cut to make room for ads. Detailed information

Lost material: CZ US 34 Mythtic Mystery [lost cut material]

Status: Original version is lost.

Backstage: Barks had originally planned to do a story with a plot revolving around an Aswan-type dam, but decided it would come too soon after "Pipeline to Danger" (US 30), another story with a Middle Eastern desert setting.

Barks, in a December 30, 1960 letter to Malcom Willits: "In its place I wrote a 16-pager of Uncle Scrooge and the ducks getting blown into Valhalla (a wandering small planet that strays into the earth's shadow). This Valhalla is peopled by dog-faces named Thor, Odin, and other names common to the Norse Gods. Also Vulcan, Jupiter, Venus, and the Latin Gods names. You'll have to read Uncle Scrooge #34 to see how I explain away such mythical anomalies with scientifically provable hogwash. As Louie expresses it: "Another of childhood's cherished illusions reduced to so many nuts and bolts."

Research: In panel 5.1, Scrooge refers to the old Norse myths. The term "Norse" doesn't refer specifically to Norway. It's a term used for the ancient cultures of the Scandinavian countries (and Iceland).

Mythic Mystery was altered by a Danish publisher in the early 1960�s. (Anders And & Co. 1962-28?) Thor�s horses were changed into more accurate goats, which is what they should be.

Correspondence:

Sources

W US 34-02 Wily Rival

Barrier: MBAC-146
CBL: 04B-479
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Gyro Gearloose
Submission: 1960, December 10
Publication date: 1961, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 34
Pages: 4

Sources

W US 34-04 Chugwagon Derby

Barrier: MBAC-146
CBL: 04B-483
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, November 16
Publication date: 1961, June-August
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 34
Pages: 9 3/4
Filled out with: advertisement

Layout: Doesn't end with a full page.

Changes: One tier of panels was cut from page 10 to make room for an advertisement. Barks, in a March 24, 1961 letter to a Malcolm Willits: "Well, they left the old-time car race almost intact, thanks the gods."

Status: Original version is lost.

Trivia: Celebration of Duckburg's centennial (panels 1.1 and 1.3).

Correspondence:

March 24, 1961 letter from Carl Barks to Malcolm Willits

Sources

unfinished aswan dam tale

Inducks: ...
Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: 04B-338 (background information)
Type: story idea/plot
Art: [no one]
Script: Carl Barks (abandoned)
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: ---
Publication date: [none]
Issue: [none]
Pages: ...
Intended issue: Uncle Scrooge 34; Uncle Scrooge 35
Intended publication date: 1961, June-August; 1961, September-November

Description: Scrooge takes a contract to move the ancient Egyptian palaces and statues that are threatened with flooding by the Aswan Dam. He finds a hidden shaft leading down into the bowels of history, and therein finds uncountable tons of sparklers.

Surviving material: Three letters mentioning the story; and 1985 notes for The Carl Barks Library.

Status: No work for this story is known to have survived. In a May 12, 2000 e-mail, Kim Weston wrote: "The Aswan Dam story was never fully scripted. It was scrapped before any story art was done, although I suppose it is possible that Barks could have done some sketches for himself; other examples of such studies exist."

Reconstructions: If Barks' Uncle Scrooge adventures in and around "Uncle Scrooge" No. 34 are representable, then the Aswan Dam story would have had a length of about 16 pages. Using Barks' comments from two of his letters to Malcolm Willits gives an idea what scenes the story may have contained if it had been finished:

Scrooge takes a contract to move the ancient Egyptian palaces and statues that are threatened with flooding by the Aswan Dam.
His way of raising ancient statues and temples above the future level of the water is by a method "as fully as wacky" as the methods which turned out to be planned in reality.
He finds a hidden shaft leading down into the bowels of history, and therein finds uncountable tons of sparklers.
The rains come early to the Ethiopian high-lands, the Nile toward the newly completed dam. The shaft and all the toiling ducks in the awesome treasure pits will be submerged as the roiling torrent slams against the unyielding barrier of the towering new dam.
The question raises if Scrooge will get the rocks out of the cellar in time, he discovers that - Ha! - he's already in the 110% income tax bracket.

Backstage: Barks had originally planned to do a story for "Uncle Scrooge" No. 34 with a plot revolving around an Aswan-type dam. Detailed information

Correspondence:

November 17, 1960 letter from Carl Barks to Malcolm Willits
December 30, 1960 letter from Carl Barks to Malcolm Willits
March 24, 1961 letter from Carl Barks to Malcolm Willits
1985 notes for The Carl Barks Library

Sources

CZ US 34 Mythtic Mystery [lost cut material]

Barrier: MBAC-145
CBL: ---
Type: story segment
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, December 10 ?
Publication date: [none or unknown]
Issue: [none or unknown]
Pages: 2
Intended issue: Uncle Scrooge 34
Intended publication date: 1961, June-August

Additional credits: See Mythtic Mystery, for more information.

Sources

W US 35-00 money lei

Barrier: MBAC-146
CBL: 04C-493
Type: cover
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1960, August 1
Publication date: 1961, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 35
Pages: 1

Sources

W US 35-02 The Golden Nugget Boat

"What ho! I think I see my storm-battered cousins on yonder ridge -
if such bedraggled creatures can be relatives of mine!"
-- Gladstone Gander

Barrier: MBAC-146
CBL: 04C-495
Type: story
Art: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: Uncle Scrooge
Submission: 1961, February 16
Publication date: 1961, September-November
Issue: Uncle Scrooge 35
Pages: 19

Surviving material: The Golden Nugget Boat [penciled title lettering]

Backstage: Barks: "Scrooge #35 will have no unplanned cuts. I found out about the ad stunt in time to write the book's material to fit. The main Scrooge story will be about Alaska and the finding of nuggets. No world-beater of a story, but I needed a substitute fast for the Egyptian Aswan Dam tale which I've decided to junk." (March 24, 1961 letter to Malcolm Willits)

Correspondence: