The Donald Duck ( And Uncle Scrooge) stories by Carl Barks are the greatest all ages comics ever made and will likely remain so. Fantagraphics has been putting out some great collections of his work, and the stories in this volume are beautifully drawn and written and are a joy to read ( with one major problem that I will get to shortly). Barks’ stories draw you in and really make you feel for the characters. There is a reason almost all the stories ( again with an exception) hold up all these years later.
We have great stories in here as well such as “The Sheriff of Bullet Valley” which as the name suggests is a western, but this one has sci fi elements and a hearty dose of comedy. Donald tries to stop the bad guys but nearly makes things worse. Unlike Mickey Mouse, who in a similar situation would solve the problem and be the hero, Donald need the help of his nephews and others to realize what to do and how to do it and even then there is a challenge. This is part of Donald’s charm however, his desire to help and do the right thing is genuine but he doesn’t fully understand the situation.
Another story within entitled “Spoil the Rod” was a satirical story interestingly enough, about Dr. Benjamin Spock. Spock was a child psychologist noted for his theories on child rearing. This story mercilessly pokes fun at his theories through a stand in who tries to help Donald with the nephews. His reactions alone make this story hilarious. It is interesting that with many disputes on how to raise children today, even thought this story satirized a 1940’s psychologist, it still holds up well today.
And then we come to the problem I mentioned earlier. The story “In Darkest Africa” does not hold up well at all and is deeply troubling. The depiction of Africans is unquestionably racist and considering this was a children’s story and was made as a part of a giveaway, its easy to see why its never been released again. This is a very controversial story for obvious reasons, and was included in the collection because the goal was to show the entirety of the works of Carl Barks. The story parts not dealing with Africans are interesting on their own but the depictions of African people are a major problem. Barks did evolve in his story telling and later depictions of African people are different, although somewhat typical of their time but Barks did try. We would have stories where tribal peoples would have everything taken from them by Scrooge (Voodoo Hoodoo) and want revenge, an event which Don Rosa built on to be a major point in Scrooge’s life and the time he finally went too far, with Rosa showing Scrooge was always intended to be in the wrong in that story. It should be noted that that particular story was written before Scrooge was fully developed and was still more of an antagonist than adventurer, which ended up making the story a bit out of character with the later developments.
Still besides that story, we have some amazing stories like the ones mentioned before and others like “Rocket Race to the Moon” a fun short sci fi story and other stories including several about Gladstone Gander (including his first appearance) and we see how the character grows. Barks was writing in the 40’s and was expected by the readers and his editors to show certain groups that way. This doesn’t make it okay but its important to note that people and their views do evolve over time, and people willing to change their stances should be acknowledged for such. All the rest of the stories hold up well and are a blast to read even today.
Then we have the title Story “The Old Castle’s Secret”. This is a taste of things to come with Donald Duck but more for the character of Uncle Scrooge. This is Uncle Scrooge’s second major appearance and we get to see Barks experiment with the character and his storytelling in general. This is the beginnings of what will be in later volumes, especially Only a Poor Old Man, and we see things such as the adventurer Scrooge who will be developed fully later. The story is plotted and drawn perfectly, with fantastical elements and a mystery as Scrooge tries to recover a fortune in his ancestral castle. Scrooge and Donald play off each other well as the nephews try to solve the problem. We earn of Clan McDuck and their family history, as well as many small details of the ducks’ lives. Scrooge is not yet the character Barks will depict him as later, and some stories after this would have him playing the villain again. Still, it was an important start for the character and a sign of what would be.
This is an essential read for any fan of Carl Barks or Disney comics, but be aware of the issues in some stories.