What can we say about Barks?

creator of Duckburg and Scrooge McDuck

Postby Rockerduck » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:01 pm

In 'A cold bargain', the villain from Brutopia is most likely a caricature of Nikita Krushchev, at that time the leader of the Soviet Union. Brutopia is also mentioned in 'The swamp of no return'. That Barks made references to it in those stories, doesn't mean he put them in each story. To me, it's just plain silly to see a Cold War theme in every story featuring Neighbour Jones. It's just a neigbour-fight, which happened often in Barks' early stories.
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Postby Egg » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:04 pm

Rockerduck wrote:In 'A cold bargain', the villain from Brutopia is most likely a caricature of Nikita Krushchev, at that time the leader of the Soviet Union. Brutopia is also mentioned in 'The swamp of no return'. That Barks made references to it in those stories, doesn't mean he put them in each story. To me, it's just plain silly to see a Cold War theme in every story featuring Neighbour Jones. It's just a neigbour-fight, which happened often in Barks' early stories.

Doctor Witchie Britchie knows American history better than you, I guess.
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Postby Egg » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:08 pm

Quote taken from topic 'Disney Comics-game'.
Rockerduck wrote:Flintheart is so totally different from those other rivals of Scrooge. Flintheart could be seen a bit as Scrooge's evil twin-brother. The two of them look alike so much, it's almost scary! Flintheart is about the same age as Scrooge, is almost as rich as Scrooge, their fortunes differ maybe only a few pennies, they both have a money-bin, look alike (glasses, spats) and earned every penny themselves. Only Flintheart didn't make it square. That's why his character is interesting to me.

Did Scrooge McDuck and Flintheart Glomgold earn every penny themselves?
I want proof.
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Postby Doctor Witchie Britchie » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:39 pm

The reason I see "Unfriendly Enemies" as a possible spoof on the Cold War-era "summit meetings" is because it falls in Barks' later period, when he had by and large stopped doing the Donald/Jones neighbor battle stories. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, in their attempts to create "pipelines to peace" and the like sounds to me very like the Americans who were arguing that the US and Russia could peacefully co-exist at the time the story was written. I think that here Barks was using an old theme (Donald vs. Jones in slapstick battle) to make some comments on a new issue. I certainly don't see the Cold War theme in earlier Donald/Jones stories.
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Postby Rockerduck » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:44 pm

Egg wrote:
Rockerduck wrote:In 'A cold bargain', the villain from Brutopia is most likely a caricature of Nikita Krushchev, at that time the leader of the Soviet Union. Brutopia is also mentioned in 'The swamp of no return'. That Barks made references to it in those stories, doesn't mean he put them in each story. To me, it's just plain silly to see a Cold War theme in every story featuring Neighbour Jones. It's just a neigbour-fight, which happened often in Barks' early stories.

Doctor Witchie Britchie knows American history better than you, I guess.

What makes you think that? What do you know about my knowledge about American history? And even *if* the Doc knows more about it than me, what does that got to do with reading deeper meanings in stories that aren't there?

If I make a story about a man who's trying to become friends with his former enemies, does that mean it's a spoof on George Bush's politics to get a better relationships with the Europeans who -rightfully- let him down when the Iraq war started?

Of course not! Just like the Smurfs aren't communists, because they have a single bearded leader with red clothes, who know no money and are all equal.
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Postby Egg » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:48 pm

Rockerduck and Doctor Witchie Britch in a knowlegde match. I'm too soft-hearted to watch...

Egg will be back later to see who survived.
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Postby Stephan » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:18 pm

Doctor Witchie Britchie wrote:Oh ho, I know where the baboon shaper line comes from now--the Donald and Neighbor Jones story where the nephews are trying to get Donald and Jones to settle their differences by non-violent means (Barks' spoof of the attempts to dialogue with the Communists during the Cold War? Who knows?) I can't recall the title, though. Drat!

Egg wrote:Could it be the story 'Unfriendly Enemies', with the fighting parrots?

Right!
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Postby Egg » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:24 pm

Rockerduck wrote:
Egg wrote:Doctor Witchie Britchie knows American history better than you, I guess.

What makes you think that? What do you know about my knowledge about American history? And even *if* the Doc knows more about it than me, what does that got to do with reading deeper meanings in stories that aren't there?

They are no deeper meanings. They are obvious. Barks was quite political, with his obvious references to the Cold War, with the spies and such. It peaked in 'Treasure of Marco Polo', I think. There's also a tenpage about rockets being blown up, with a rat villain. Do you know that one? Frizzle Sizzle, or something?

Rockerduck wrote:If I make a story about a man who's trying to become friends with his former enemies, does that mean it's a spoof on George Bush's politics to get a better relationships with the Europeans who -rightfully- let him down when the Iraq war started?

It could be a metaphore, yes.

Rockerduck wrote:Of course not! Just like the Smurfs aren't communists, because they have a single bearded leader with red clothes, who know no money and are all equal.

It depends on whether the theory really works, I guess, when searching for metaphores within stories.
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Postby Egg » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:20 am

Paralyzed Buffalo wrote:
Egg wrote:P.B. not answering Barks-questions?

Me say that's bull, bull, and bull once more.

Egg not so sure.

Paralyzed Buffalo wrote:
Egg wrote:- "Bringum paleface to ceremonial rock! Indian must haveum vengeance!"
- "Me gottum medicine ready!"
- "Me call upon totems of our long-gone ancestors to witness what goin' to happen!"
(Which story? All quotes are from the same one.)

Question is insult for Paralyzed Buffalo. Egg thinks me stupid?

Paralyzed Buffalo thinks me stupid? Doctor Witchie Britchie gave answer. Eggs thinks ParaBuffa cheating a little bit very much.

Paralyzed Buffalo wrote:This typical Indian talk-talk is from story with giant steam-organ Donald is trying to sell in the north. Is one of best Barks stories I know. With heremite in grotto who buys steam-organ from nephews. Donald messing things up with "make-up-box" which he exchanged with nephews for sample of organ.

Does Paralyzed Buffalo know Barks-story with similar salesman idea?

New quote:
"Help! Help! The indians have us surrounded! They're starting to climb the stockade!"
(which story? P.B. know?)
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Postby Cura de Coco » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:31 am

Doctor Witchie Britchie wrote:Incidentally, it's easy to connect the Scotch Highlander McDucks to the Persian King Scrooge-Shah, despite what Rosa says in the remarks quoted by Egg above. There is evidence that the Gaelic Highlanders originally hailed from Miletus, on the Turkish penninsula (the Irish Gaels, ancestors of the Scotch Gaels, have always been known as Milesians). The Persian rulers of Bagdad (or Sagbad) live in the middle east, not far from Turkey. The Persians, like the ancient Milesians, were Indo-European peoples. What is more likely than that King Scrooge-Shah and his kin fled Sagbad after the sack by the Mongolduks and sought refuge with fellow Indo-Europeans in Miletus. After several generations, the royal Sagbadian line became blended with the Milesian nobility, and descendants of Scrooge-Shah sailed to Ireland with Eber and Eremon, the leaders of the great Milesian invasion. Later, the McDucks, a clan partly descended from Scrooge-Shah, crossed over to Scotland with many other Milesian families, and thus became a powerful Highland clan. Simple, eh?

You tellin' me?..
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Postby Egg » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:39 am

Doctor Witchie Britchie wrote:The reason I see "Unfriendly Enemies" as a possible spoof on the Cold War-era "summit meetings" is because it falls in Barks' later period, when he had by and large stopped doing the Donald/Jones neighbor battle stories.

I fail to see the connection. A fan reminded Barks of neighbour Jones in the early 1960s. There's a letter about that.

Doctor Witchie Britchie wrote:Huey, Dewey, and Louie, in their attempts to create "pipelines to peace" and the like sounds to me very like the Americans who were arguing that the US and Russia could peacefully co-exist at the time the story was written. I think that here Barks was using an old theme (Donald vs. Jones in slapstick battle) to make some comments on a new issue. I certainly don't see the Cold War theme in earlier Donald/Jones stories.

Wow! You're reasoning is great. Egg likes that very much.
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Postby Egg » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:49 am

Doctor Witchie Britchie wrote:Incidentally, it's easy to connect the Scotch Highlander McDucks to the Persian King Scrooge-Shah, despite what Rosa says in the remarks quoted by Egg above.

This is a comment by Witchie in topic 'Other than Barks, which Disney comic artist do you like best?', related to adventure 'King Scrooge the First', which gives lots of duck family history facts. Even with an ancestor which was very much like Scrooge. I'm curious what duck family tree fans think of it.
Not to tease the Barks-bashers, but I love 'King Scrooge the First'. The tale has a great ending, with a very filosophical question about eternal life.
The flashbacks flow nicely with the present time, and are very nicely done. And the story has an interesting theory on genes going through history.
What more can a Barks-fan ask?

*EDIT* boardlinking updated to McDrake
Last edited by Egg on Sat Feb 10, 2007 2:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Robb_K » Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:32 am

Cura de Coco wrote:
Doctor Witchie Britchie wrote:Incidentally, it's easy to connect the Scotch Highlander McDucks to the Persian King Scrooge-Shah, despite what Rosa says in the remarks quoted by Egg above. There is evidence that the Gaelic Highlanders originally hailed from Miletus, on the Turkish penninsula (the Irish Gaels, ancestors of the Scotch Gaels, have always been known as Milesians). The Persian rulers of Bagdad (or Sagbad) live in the middle east, not far from Turkey. The Persians, like the ancient Milesians, were Indo-European peoples. What is more likely than that King Scrooge-Shah and his kin fled Sagbad after the sack by the Mongolduks and sought refuge with fellow Indo-Europeans in Miletus. After several generations, the royal Sagbadian line became blended with the Milesian nobility, and descendants of Scrooge-Shah sailed to Ireland with Eber and Eremon, the leaders of the great Milesian invasion. Later, the McDucks, a clan partly descended from Scrooge-Shah, crossed over to Scotland with many other Milesian families, and thus became a powerful Highland clan. Simple, eh?

You tellin' me?..

An interesting theory, but what "evidence" that is accepted by a reasonable percentage of the World's current historians, exists that the Scottish (not Scotch-that's a drink) Gaels emigrated from western Turkey (Asia Minor)? The Milesians were Irish folklore-possibly used to explain the brown-skinned and dark haired people who inhabited Ireland (and, indeed the Atlantic coastline of Western Europe before the Kelts and Gaels reached The British Isles. They had no way of knowing that those people had marched north from North Africa, after the last ice age. The Gaels who reached Scotland had been gone from their Aryan homeland BEFORE the Medes and Persians (and Indo-Iranians) had broken away from the main Aryan group. So, The Persians and Gaels have an ancient common ancestry, but not a DIRECT lineage.

In any case, Sagbad isn't Bagdad, The Mongol-Ducks weren't The Mongols. The comic-book world is NOT the real World, so why do we need to justify the possibility that Scrooge could be directly related to the ancient kings of a fictitious country or city? If the auther says so, -it MUST be true (a priori)!.. True, an author may be innacurate due to inconsistencies within his own work. but that's not at issue here.
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Postby Egg » Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:47 am

Robb_K wrote:In any case, Sagbad isn't Bagdad, The Mongol-Ducks weren't The Mongols. The comic-book world is NOT the real World, so why do we need to justify the possibility that Scrooge could be directly related to the ancient kings of a fictitious country or city?

If you mean that Sagbad could have been Paris as much as Bagdad, you have a point. But wouldn't that take the bottom out of the discussion? Then Duckburg can travel from the USA to Siberia, for example.
I think that Barks made those wordplays on existant places to be funny and also less direct, but I do think he means the place he means, only in fantasy.
I think using real names is fake, as the Ducks never have been to Bagdad. But they have been to the look-a-like Sagbad.
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Postby Stephan » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:43 am

Egg wrote:"Help! Help! The indians have us surrounded! They're starting to climb the stockade!"
(which story? P.B. know?)

Maybe 'Voodoo Hoodoo'?
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