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The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library #9
Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Pixilated Parrot
Carl Barks delivers another superb collection of clever plot twists, laugh-out-loud comedy, and all-around cartooning brilliance. Donald gives Uncle Scrooge a parrot for his birthday but the feathered troublemaker escapes with the combination to Scrooge’s safe holding “ninety tons of money.” Hijinks ensue as Donald and his nephews set off on an unexpected adventure to recover the lovesick bird. Then, Donald and the boys are shanghaied by a mysterious stranger, who whisks them off to face perils in the desert in “Ancient Persia,” where they uncover a lost city―and its reconstituted inhabitants! And Barks cuts loose from his regular panel designs to deliver one of his finest stories, “Vacation Time” (it has its own Wikipedia page), as Donald displays unusual depths of courage and heroism when he has to rescue Huey, Dewey, and Louie on a wilderness outing gone wrong.
210 pages, Hardcover
First published May 15, 2015
11 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Carl Barks
2,416 books259 followersCarl Barks was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck. He worked anonymously until late in his career; fans dubbed him "The Duck Man" and "The Good Duck Artist". In 1987, Barks was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Barks worked for the Disney Studio and Western Publishing where he created Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), The Junior Woodchucks (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Cornelius Coot (1952), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), John D. Rockerduck (1961) and Magica De Spell (1961).
He has been named by animation historian Leonard Maltin as "the most popular and widely read artist-writer in the world". Will Eisner called him "the Hans Christian Andersen of comic books." Beginning especially in the 1980s, Barks' artistic contributions would be a primary source for animated adaptations such as DuckTales and its 2017 remake.
Barks worked for the Disney Studio and Western Publishing where he created Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), The Junior Woodchucks (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Cornelius Coot (1952), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), John D. Rockerduck (1961) and Magica De Spell (1961).
He has been named by animation historian Leonard Maltin as "the most popular and widely read artist-writer in the world". Will Eisner called him "the Hans Christian Andersen of comic books." Beginning especially in the 1980s, Barks' artistic contributions would be a primary source for animated adaptations such as DuckTales and its 2017 remake.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 10, 2025
Barks has gotten into full swing by this time. Here's a few of the best he ever made. Even the Magic Hourglass was great, though obviously non-canonical.
May 8, 2020
It’s the legend himself at the top of his game, presented in a near impeccable package.
Carl Barks stories, though sometimes simple, are told in masterful ways, and are a joy to read, plain and simple. Sure, a few things may not have aged gracefully, though compared to some of his contemporaries there tended to be less of that in his work, which is why they stand the test of time.
The art, as always, is gorgeous, with recolors that look better than the original versions. In fact, they added consistency to the triplets color scheme, which wasn’t always the case back in the day.
If you’re a fan of Ducktales, this is the genesis. It’s not quite the same, but I think you’ll dig it (and Don Rosa’s) work just as much.
Carl Barks stories, though sometimes simple, are told in masterful ways, and are a joy to read, plain and simple. Sure, a few things may not have aged gracefully, though compared to some of his contemporaries there tended to be less of that in his work, which is why they stand the test of time.
The art, as always, is gorgeous, with recolors that look better than the original versions. In fact, they added consistency to the triplets color scheme, which wasn’t always the case back in the day.
If you’re a fan of Ducktales, this is the genesis. It’s not quite the same, but I think you’ll dig it (and Don Rosa’s) work just as much.
November 13, 2023
Solid Barks work. It’s odd to see Scrooge be mean to Donald… not just cheap or taking advantage of his services, but mean. Stealing, trucking, an adversary.
But it’s also great seeing Barks find the characters true tone.
Great art as always.
But it’s also great seeing Barks find the characters true tone.
Great art as always.
July 27, 2015
"Vacation time", included in this volume, is probably my favorite Carl Banks story I ever read. The art is so beautiful, you can see drawing those forest panels was a labor of love. No other Bank's story has such details, lavish backgrounds and colors. A sight for the eyes. And it's so great to read a story where Donald is truly in charge and shine.
August 10, 2015
For great storytelling and amazing art you just can't beat "The Good Duck Artist" Carl Barks
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May 4, 2024“Vacation Time,” where Donald and the boys go camping in a forest, has some of the best Carl Barks art that I’ve seen. So much beautiful background detail of trees, hills, and animals. Just a wonder to look at.
This book also has the first story I’ve read that features Grandma Duck. She runs a farm, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie visit her for a few days (during which hijinks ensue, naturally). She also appears in the last story here, “You Can’t Guess,” where the boys try to guess what Donald wants for Christmas so that he’ll buy them a building set they want. A comedy of errors ensues with Daisy, Scrooge, Grandma, and Gladstone all lopped into the guessing madness.
This book favors longer stories, but there are only two adventures taking place in foreign locales (Morocco and ancient Persia, though the title story briefly brings the guys to Latin America). I’ve come to prefer Barks’ 10-pagers, but the longer ones in this book, especially “You Can’t Guess” and “Vacation Time,” are especially strong.
This book also has the first story I’ve read that features Grandma Duck. She runs a farm, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie visit her for a few days (during which hijinks ensue, naturally). She also appears in the last story here, “You Can’t Guess,” where the boys try to guess what Donald wants for Christmas so that he’ll buy them a building set they want. A comedy of errors ensues with Daisy, Scrooge, Grandma, and Gladstone all lopped into the guessing madness.
This book favors longer stories, but there are only two adventures taking place in foreign locales (Morocco and ancient Persia, though the title story briefly brings the guys to Latin America). I’ve come to prefer Barks’ 10-pagers, but the longer ones in this book, especially “You Can’t Guess” and “Vacation Time,” are especially strong.
October 2, 2021
Another masterpiece from Carl Barks and Fantagraphics. I can’t imagine a better-produced collection of comics. The comics themselves are beautifully reproduced, and the binding, commentary, and other extras are exceptional. The art and stories are all a joy to read.
Highly recommended for comic lovers.
Highly recommended for comic lovers.
December 4, 2016
Not that I believe there is ever anything like an objective book review, but in this case it impossible for me to be remotely objective. My impression of this book, and all the other Carl Barks collections, is and always will be colored by my nostalgia. Reading these books takes me back to trips in the car heading home from Austin, after a visit to my grandmother, who would always send us off with a travel pack including some comic books. I would devour the comics, reading them multiple times while negotiating with my sister so I could lay down in the floor boards of the car (I would always offer her the full back seat - I just wanted to be able to stretch out). For some reason I would always take the comics back to grandma's house, and store them under her bed. Every visit would start with me running into the bedroom and grabbing the stack, and reading most if not all of them. Carl Barks's stories were always favorites, though at the time I had no idea he was the author.
Much has been written about his mastery of the form. Panel layouts, pacing, exotic locations, comedic timing. It's all true.
My love for these stories runs deep. Thanks Fantagraphics.
Much has been written about his mastery of the form. Panel layouts, pacing, exotic locations, comedic timing. It's all true.
My love for these stories runs deep. Thanks Fantagraphics.
June 16, 2015
I felt like the adventure stories in this volume weren't up to the level I'd seen in previous volumes. However, I really liked the last story ("You Can't Guess") --- a great little tale about everyone trying to figure out to what everyone else for Christmas.
May 23, 2015
All my love. A particularly good volume.
February 17, 2020
I have fallen in love with this collection from Fantagraphics which is attempting to reprint the entire run by Carl Barks on Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. This is another solid entry in the collection with the highlights being a story about Donald losing Daisy's locket and joining a circus (a lot of silly visual gags - I could see this working as an animated short). a story where Donald and his nephews take a camping trip and almost get burned, and Donald getting what he wants for Christmas. Uncle Scrooge pops into a few of these stories but mostly as a side character but he is still being developed by Barks and we get flashes of a really mean and cruel Scrooge before it gives way to the cheap (but good-hearted) Scrooge he developed into.
One thing that is interesting (to me) is to see how Barks, as a story-teller, changes settings and the focus of the story in the longer 25-30 page stories. As an example - the camping story starts with the gag that the wilderness is just as full of dangers as the city, switches to a gag about Donald ruining the trip for his nephews with his obsession to get the perfect picture of a stag, then becomes a tale of survival as an ignorant and cruel camper starts a forest fire that almost kills our heroes. But in the end the story circles back to a gag about the stag and photos. For most children tales the whole direction of the story is laid out in the first page but with a Barks' tale you often don't know where it will end up going.
Overall, I love this collection of books.
One thing that is interesting (to me) is to see how Barks, as a story-teller, changes settings and the focus of the story in the longer 25-30 page stories. As an example - the camping story starts with the gag that the wilderness is just as full of dangers as the city, switches to a gag about Donald ruining the trip for his nephews with his obsession to get the perfect picture of a stag, then becomes a tale of survival as an ignorant and cruel camper starts a forest fire that almost kills our heroes. But in the end the story circles back to a gag about the stag and photos. For most children tales the whole direction of the story is laid out in the first page but with a Barks' tale you often don't know where it will end up going.
Overall, I love this collection of books.
December 10, 2020
These stories are mostly from 1950, at the height of Barks' skills. The only reason I don't give this five stars is that a couple of the stories were written by others (with one page of art by someone else) and although the art is excellent, the writing in those stories is a bit inferior to Barks' writing. Barks had a knack for integrating humor, pathos, and adventure into a single package. "Ancient Persia" is a rip-roaring adventure that stands up to anything Barks wrote. I found "Vacation Time" to be an interesting reversal in that Donald is the capable woodsman and the nephews are the ones who flounder in the outdoors, clearly predating the Junior Woodchucks. I also found its treatment of forest fires, especially ones started by careless campers, to be very relevant and very disturbing in light of the recent spate of fires in California and elsewhere. Barks art is a joy, and he clearly knew how to draw accurate and beautiful scenic vistas as well as well proportioned humans, before the higher-ups apparently forbade him to draw realistic humans. Gladstone Gander makes a couple of appearances, as annoying as ever. Uncle Scrooge also makes it into a couple of stories, not yet quite the adventurer he would become, but not quite the cold hearted miser he was originally conceived as. Grandma Duck makes her first comic book appearance in a rather forgettable tale.
August 17, 2020
8.5/10
This book collects the Donald Duck comics that Carl Barks published in 1950. For some strange reasons, that year - and only that year - Barks was spared the fatigue of writing those 10-page-long stories that abound in other volumes of this magnificent series by Fantagraphics. So, basically all stories here are around 30-page-long adventures. (There are a couple of short stories, but they are only drawn by Barks and written by others, hence forgettable.)
With my surprise, the most praised stories from this collection, namely Vacation Time, In Ancient Persia and the Xmas tale You Can't Guess, are the less inspired. They are good, of course...that's Carl Barks that we are talking about, folks!
The Magic Hourglass is the best of the lot, with a fantastic atmosphere and perfect pacing.
The Pixilated Parrot has a great rhythm and it is obviously hilarious.
Big-Top Bedlam is just slapstick at its best, and remind us why Disney himself considered Barks one of his top 'gagmen' back when Carl was still employed in the animation studios.
This book collects the Donald Duck comics that Carl Barks published in 1950. For some strange reasons, that year - and only that year - Barks was spared the fatigue of writing those 10-page-long stories that abound in other volumes of this magnificent series by Fantagraphics. So, basically all stories here are around 30-page-long adventures. (There are a couple of short stories, but they are only drawn by Barks and written by others, hence forgettable.)
With my surprise, the most praised stories from this collection, namely Vacation Time, In Ancient Persia and the Xmas tale You Can't Guess, are the less inspired. They are good, of course...that's Carl Barks that we are talking about, folks!
The Magic Hourglass is the best of the lot, with a fantastic atmosphere and perfect pacing.
The Pixilated Parrot has a great rhythm and it is obviously hilarious.
Big-Top Bedlam is just slapstick at its best, and remind us why Disney himself considered Barks one of his top 'gagmen' back when Carl was still employed in the animation studios.
November 7, 2017
There's a selection of stories in this book. Since these are from comic books, they are richly illustrated. The stories are engaging. The illustrations are wonderful.
Some of the gags seem a bit mean spirited. Some are a bit dated as are some of the attitudes.
There are several reasons for reading these comic anthology books. One is as a writer as the story line must be complete, conveyed through dialogue almost entirely, and distilled to its essence. The characters must be created and conveyed in a panel or two through their expressions, words and deeds.
Another reason is nostalgia. These are the fun comics I remember from my past.
Even more reason to read these books is the enjoyment these fun stories, even those with a bit of an underlying moral, give.
Some of the gags seem a bit mean spirited. Some are a bit dated as are some of the attitudes.
There are several reasons for reading these comic anthology books. One is as a writer as the story line must be complete, conveyed through dialogue almost entirely, and distilled to its essence. The characters must be created and conveyed in a panel or two through their expressions, words and deeds.
Another reason is nostalgia. These are the fun comics I remember from my past.
Even more reason to read these books is the enjoyment these fun stories, even those with a bit of an underlying moral, give.
September 19, 2023
Such fun. Some of the stories are a little drawn out, but they are for kids, and they love repetition. I originally bought these hardcover, but am reading them now on my PC's kindle app and prefer it: you can zoom in on each panel, and my tired old eyes appreciate that convenience!
Fun seeing more of the extended family, and knowing that these are their first early appearances, or early glimmerings of the Junior Woodchucks which are not yet fully formed.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
Fun seeing more of the extended family, and knowing that these are their first early appearances, or early glimmerings of the Junior Woodchucks which are not yet fully formed.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
February 22, 2024
An excellent release by Fantagraphics. These Barks stories all come from 1950 and while Barks still stumbles on the high adventure stories (two presented here, one dealing with ancient Persia and another a magical hourglass) all his other stories are excellent and chock full of humor, the camping stories, the gift getting stories and of course entanglements with Gladstone Gander are all done to good effect here, a solid outing with varied stories, but if your looking for High Adventure Duck stories it’s best to stick with Don Rosa.
July 12, 2019
It's actually banana's how good these stories are. You would think that Disney comics from the 40's and 50's would be corny, and there may be a little bit of corn in here, but they hold up insanely well. The art is gorgeous, but what makes these good to read is the stories. The adventure tales are up there with anything you will find for imagination and the more gag centred stories that are closer to the theatrical shorts manage to be just as fun. Barks was the real deal.
January 13, 2020
Reading in the next few months may be even more random than this past year. We'll see what I get my hands on and have the brain power to process during several months of super-commuting, moving, etc. It may be the time to work a few more volumes of Carl Barks' duck tales into the mix. Deft touch with story and art. Perfect little details in every panel. "Vacation Time" was a stand-out story with an amazing full-color splash page, humorous hijinks, and major peril.
June 14, 2020
There are two stories this time which are not written by Carl Barks (he did the art), and they are not good, but there is still a lot to enjoy. The adventures are exciting, the gag stories fun. Even the comments in the back seemed better this time!
July 20, 2020
Another rollicking set of adventures with Donald and co. I docked a star for the evil Scrooge that showed up in "The Magic Hourglass" (truly terrifying) and for the circus story (circuses aren't my favorite thing, plus, the one panel featured some disturbing racial stereotypes).
February 9, 2024
This is the first volume with one or two stories not up to the usual standard. I wasn’t surprised to find out they were only drawn, not written, by Barks. By no means are they bad, but they’re just good instead of great.
June 6, 2017
Traditionally good stuff :)
December 6, 2025
Det er såååå godt!
November 13, 2024
Another great volume from Barks's best period (ca. 1947-1952). The title adventure is nice, but much better are the exciting 'In Ancient Persia', one of Barks' most suspenseful stories, if still very funny, 'Vacation Time', which must be placed among Barks' all-time best, and 'The Magic Hourglass', which tells us about the real value of money in the most entertaining way. 'You Can't Guess' is also very fine, if only for the outrageous mind reader and hypnotist. Yet, it's not among Barks's best Christmas stories, focusing too much on the gifts, while forgetting the Christmas spirit.
Less compelling are 'Big-Top Bedlam', and 'Donald's Grandma Duck', which wasn't even penned by Barks. But at least he drew it, unlike the one-pager on p. 90. The difference in the quality of the drawings is staggering.
This volume contains only two ten-pagers, the delightfully silly 'Wild About Flowers', and the less successful 'Camp Counselor' with Donald as a boasting but utterly incapable scoutmaster.
Barks's artwork is excellent throughout, and the best stories in this volume belong to the pinnacle of comic art.
Less compelling are 'Big-Top Bedlam', and 'Donald's Grandma Duck', which wasn't even penned by Barks. But at least he drew it, unlike the one-pager on p. 90. The difference in the quality of the drawings is staggering.
This volume contains only two ten-pagers, the delightfully silly 'Wild About Flowers', and the less successful 'Camp Counselor' with Donald as a boasting but utterly incapable scoutmaster.
Barks's artwork is excellent throughout, and the best stories in this volume belong to the pinnacle of comic art.
October 23, 2016
More of the great Carl Barks in this impeccable new edition! The stories in this volume are from 1950-51, and really the only complaint I have about the format here is that the original publication dates and titles are not shown in the table of contents but have been relegated to the very very last page of the book. This is key information and should be the first place you look for it!
Speaking of "key," I wouldn't say that any of the stories in this volume are pivotal in the lives and times of Uncle Scrooge and Donald and the nephews. (There's no "Back to the Klondike.") But they're terrific little scampers with typical delicious Carl Barks whimsy and timing.
Speaking of "key," I wouldn't say that any of the stories in this volume are pivotal in the lives and times of Uncle Scrooge and Donald and the nephews. (There's no "Back to the Klondike.") But they're terrific little scampers with typical delicious Carl Barks whimsy and timing.
November 2, 2015
The latest release of Carl Barks work from the late 1940s and early 1950s of his "Duck Family" stories. Barks mostly invented the world that Donald Duck, his nephews, Scrooge McDuck and others inhabited, (although Walt Disney is generally given credit.) In this one, Donald and the boys have to track down an annoying parrot that Uncle Scrooge needs, go to Persia, survive a forest fire and end up in a circus. All amusing and very cleverly done.
July 31, 2015
Carl Barks is my king but the first four stories in this are ABSURDLY uneven. Near the end we get to the tightly plotted inventive character driven stuff he was known for but on the way... IT DONT LOOK GOOD.
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