FC0386 Only a Poor Old Man

U$15 The Second Richest Duck

Scrooge McDuck is the world's richest duck, the number 1, and this has come about because he is also a miser. Therefore this scene is rather unique, as he is actually about to give money away! - - - Scrooge is also the owner of Dime Number 1, which he holds in high regard. He keeps it in different places; inside his vault, on a pedestal, around the neck in a chain, or loose in the pocket.

FC1095 The Madball Pitcher

FC0275 Ancient Persia

Barks' stories contain a great number of characters who are couples and/or doubles. Some he did not create (Donald and Daisy, Grandma and Gus, Morty and Ferdy), and some he did (Gyro and Little Helper, Scrooge and Glomgold, the Terries and the Fermies), and in U$54 The Billion Dollar Safari he even created the pseudo-Siamese twins! - - -  Barks also came up with doppelgangers on a few occasions. Examples of Donald doubles are found in FC0275 Ancient Persia, FC0308 Dangerous Disguise, and WDCS280 Double Masquerade.

WDCS154 'Clubhouse for Sale'

Goleta, California, in 1977

The 3 nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie are the best known 3-some in Barks' stories, but he also invented the 3 nieces April, May, and June. - - - Privately, Barks was married 3 times; to Pearl (1921-1930), Clara (1938-1951), and Garé (1954-1993).

WDCS0276 'Beach Boy'

FC0256 Luck of the North

One would think that it must have been fairly easy to administer the correct amount of Donald's nephews, but on 4 occasions Barks 'mismanaged' to put in an extra in the panels. This 4th nephew soon became known as Phooey. The incidents can be found in  FC1025 'Mastering the Matterhorn', WDCS261 'Medaling Around', and WDCS0276 'Beach Boy' (twice!). - - - Barks' stories were published in a variety of different magazines. The first one was the Four Color magazine (FC), to which he made the most memorable adventure stories featuring the Duck family.

WDCS125 'Operation Saint Bernard'

U$06 'Tralla-La'

The first time the nephews were presented as Junior Woodchucks they were attempting to become 5 star generals. Later on, they skyrocketed through the rank titles ending with being bestowed with buckets of medals. - - - A rule of thumb in the funny animal comic books is that the characters only have 4 fingers on each hand and 4 toes on each foot, but a few times Barks forgot this unwritten law on the number of extremities and drew 5 fingers or toes on some of the secondary characters. Examples: U$06 'Tralla-La', U$52 The Great Wig Mystery, WDCS130 'The Rare Coin', WDCS146 'Omelet', and WDCS159 'The Wispy Willy Story'.
Info: The term Digit as used in this page's title is also a word for fingers and toes.

Rare photo of Walt Disney drawing

U$57 The Swamp of No Return

Barks spent 6 years working in the Walt Disney Studios (including 6 months in the animation department). - - - Donald Duck was portrayed in 6 oil paintings as a sheriff shooting his 6-guns (and in the stories he occasionally fired 6-guns as did Scrooge once performing as a marksman).

Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs

U$07 'The 7 Cities of Cibola'

When Barks started in the Walt Disney Studios in 1935 planning of the first long cartoon, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, was already in full swing. In the hope of getting employment Barks drew his own version of the characters, and this sketch got him in! Employees were encouraged to come up with gag ideas for the film, and in the following months Barks delivered many gag sketches, none of which were used in the final product, though. - - - An old legend speaks of 7 golden cities collectively known as Cibola. The Spanish conquistadors named the proposed area New Spain (now a part of Mexico), but they never managed to find the fabled cities. Then the ducks came along...

2/71 Money Lake

48/73 Eight-Cornered Eggs

Barks painted the motif presenting the money lake 8 times with slight changes. Mostly it was the colours of the sky and the clouds that changed. The painting depicted above shows his first money lake painting. - - - The main theme from the square egg story featuring the Duck family's first encounter with the square eggs in Peru was painted a few times as well. The one chosen here relates directly to this section's number.

WDCS096 'Hole-in-One - or Two'

FC1095 The Madball Pitcher

Barks made a few stories involving at least 9-hole golf courses. This happened in HDL20 New Zoo Brews Ado, U$63 House of Haunts, WDCS096 'Hole-in-One - or Two', and in WDCS131 'A Day at the Golf Course'. - - - Barks was very conscious of the fact that it would be problematic to make stories containing typical American sports such as basketball, football, and ice hockey, because they would not be appreciated or understood abroad. Still, he made one story featuring a full 9-man baseball team.

WDCS063 'The Lost 10-Dollar Bill'

WDCS031 'Victory Garden'

Barks made a few stories on monetary subjects, in which this section's number played a role to some degree. Examples: U$05 '10 Skyrillion Quarter', WDCS063 'The Lost 10 Dollar Bill', WDCS258 10 Cent Valentine, not to mention the numerous stories featuring Scrooge's special dime (a Dime is another word for a 10-cent coin). - - - By far the most used number of stories that Barks drew were the ones that filled 10 pages. He made a staggering 250 of those during his career starting with WDCS031 'Victory Garden'.

FC0367 A Christmas for Shacktown

Traditional welcome greeting in Poland

In FC0367 A Christmas for Shacktown Donald asks a poor couple with 11 kids for a donation to a Christmas party for poor kids. Sure!, the tired man replies, how many kids Yuh want? - - - In 1994 Barks went abroad on his so-called European Tour that took him exactly 50 days to complete. By then he had visited 11 countries.

U$47 The Thrifty Spendthrift

This story is loosely built on the song The 12 Days of Christmas, which, in turn, derives from a medieval Catholic text that children used to rote. It consists of 12 subjects sung as a countdown:

12 drummers drumming
11 pipers piping
10 Lords a-leaping
9 ladies dancing
8 maids a-milking
7 swans a-swimming
6 geese a-laying
5 gold rings
4 calling birds
3 French hens
2 turtle doves
1 partridge in a pear tree