THEEGYPTIANSTORY

Carl Barks frequently had his Disney comic book ducks travel to exotic locations that often had roots in real places and history. This was especially true regarding the research of locales, folklore, clothing, and so on, all of which Barks usually made in order to wind up with background stories that seemed quite plausible and even genuine. The first of these so-called adventure stories was made back in 1943 and it is filled with accurate and detailed references to the area the ducks are visiting. It also contains mystery, sleuthing, thrills, plus a kidnapping as the triggering main theme. The story was published in FC0029 Donald Duck and the Mummy's Ring. This is the story.

SYNOPSIS

FC0029 Donald Duck and the Mummy's Ring - 1943

Synopsis:
Donald and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie are presented with a ring which interests a shady character. When Huey is seemingly kidnapped inside the Duckburg Museum where two sarcophaguses containing mummies are being prepared for shipment to Egypt, the remaining family travel to the ancient land where they hope to find and rescue him.
They happen to meet the powerful Bey of El Dagga who helps the family get Huey safely back while the criminal is caught.

Comments:
The story was the first long adventure story Barks made on his own. It fills 28 pages, and is mostly played out in Egypt. It is easy to see that Barks had done extensive research in order to have all the basic facts correct, and the story is seasoned with several mystical and thrilling events when we join the primary characters trying to solve the kidnapping of Huey.
When reading the story it is apparent that Barks was still influenced by his former employment at the Disney cartoon studios by the way he stages the events and builds up the suspense. Still, he was already attempting to find his own platform by adding great atmosphere and plausibility to the panels.

RESEARCH

		Barks' chief source for the story's numerous locations and history was The National Geographic Magazine, which he subscribed to all of his adult life. In the magazines he would often find solid background material and ideas for his stories. This was light years before the Internet and other forms of easy access to needed subjects, and Barks used whatever he could find to aid him in his research. In this case he used the Geographic, and especially the October, 1941, issue that is shown here (it is Barks' own copy!). He concentrated on a nearly 100 page long illustrated article titled Daily Life in Ancient Egypt written by William C. Hayes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In it Barks found much information that he used in the story. Combined with research in encyclopedias he was able to make confident and convincing renderings of diverse subjects such as a contemporary Egyptian port city and felucca boats, as well as religious subjects such as Harmachis (the Sphinx) the God of the Rising Sun, and Anubis the God of Death.
Below you are presented to some of the still existing sights accompanied by corresponding panels from the story:


The pyramid at Maldum


Djoser's Pyramid


Temple of Hat-Shepsut


Colossal of Memnon

SKETCHES

During his golden years Barks made numerous Disney duck oil paintings with motifs from his comic book stories. But despite his obvious affection for the story at hand he never got around to making an oil painting from exotic locations in the story. Still, he was contemplating embarking on such a venture, a fact that can be seen from a fair number of rough sketches left in his files. It is hard to judge which precise motif Barks had in mind, but just by glancing at the sketches, of which some are published here, it is plausible or at least possible that he even may have had more paintings in mind.