The volume I am reviewing is the penultimate title in the collection, which refers to the oldest cartoons by Carl Barks with ducks. Well, every comic is masterful, but here the main advantage is the joy of reading short, funny stories.
Donald Duck and family
When the reader reads the next volume for the second time, he will come to the conclusion that we have here a whole cross-section of history for each season. What particularly caught my attention, however, was the whole gamut of not-so-polite jokes that would be censored these days and possibly not even revived, like Zombie Bombie from The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck . Another example is the dangerous woman from Borneo from the story Debtors’ Terror. The very fact that Donald throws a rod at his nephews every now and then, not avoiding corporal punishment, can cause controversy. These comics from the 1940s are definitely intended for an older reader who knows the historical realities of almost 80 years back and understands the situation gag of the time. Donald, as a surrogate father, even when his nephews do well of their own free will, he does not praise them, but rather himself. The award for worst father of the year would go to him. Don’t get me wrong – the duck story also has a lot of universal content for the whole family, but it seems that the first stories were more focused on situation gag and comedy than a dose of didactics.
In the entire volume, perhaps the most boring story is the eponymous Parrot from Singapore , which, even for the 1940s, is barren and ends in such a way that the reader is left in consternation. The funniest comic is the one in which, after hitting the head, we learn how insane Donald can be. The volume also includes one longer title Terror of the river and a picture of the author of this story, which refers to the title comic. Also, one frame of Daisy deserves attention, because her eyes, specifically the pupils, take the form of hearts, while not being distinguished in the whole eye. Great graphic treatment.
Some interesting additions
I have to admit that this time the additions were really interesting. At the very beginning, we received a journalistic text by Tadeusz Tadla, which presents a short history of translating comic books with Donald Duck and all the vocabulary related to the so-called Duckverse. The text not only introduces us to individual comic book translators, but also refers to how much the original Duck Tales series left its mark , turning the Equal Boys into the Be Brothers or Kwakburg into Kaczogród. In addition, the importance of good knowledge of the Polish language by translators, who thanks to their ideas could translate “untranslatable” jokes and gags, was emphasized, as well as the importance of comic books published in Norway, which over time began to flow to Poland as well.
One of the guiding comics in this volume is Wise Dog , therefore, at the very end, the publisher added an insert with a description of all the dogs that appear in Barks’ comics in the Duck World. It is also interesting to add to the story Playing with fire a frame drawn after a few years, no longer by Barks, showing that Donald is punished for his faults.
Let’s go back in time with the ducks
Beautiful edition, just a pity that again the same as the rest. Since the beginning of this series, i.e. almost 5 years, the publisher has been consistent and gives us the same composition, which is good, although maybe after the price increase some people were waiting for something additional. Nevertheless, the next volume defends itself with its content and allows you to get to know the customs and life of a typical American family from the suburbs, because this is what duck stories are based on.
