Barks Remarks - a Carl Barks Podcast

Curious about the contents of this episode? Be careful, sometimes curiosity kills the cat! "In Ancient Persia" is an all-time classic Barks story, in which Donald and the kids are shanghaied into accompanying a mad scientist...or is he? oh yeah, he definitely is...on strange and creepy expedition to uncover an ancient secret. This is certainly one of Barks' creepiest stories, and is a fascinating...

Barks Remarks returns, with Barks' first (of several) Himalayas-set adventures! Trail of the Unicorn features TWO duck relations, as both Uncle Scrooge and Gladstone Gander feature in this brisk adventure story about the ducks' efforts to secure a shockingly ferocious unicorn for Scrooge's zoo...with Gladstone seeking to chisel them out of their reward at every turn! Listen to us as we talk about...

Greeting listeners! We are heading up to the Pacific Northwest, for Barks' classic kitchen sink story, Land of the Totem Poles! The title should clue you in that this 1949 story is going to have some problematic elements, but we also cover the fact that there are some aspects of the Native village that Barks at least attempted to get right! We'll also talk about totem poles themselves, steam calli...

Guest Host: Pierre Sund Happy Thanksgiving! For those in the United States, including Carl Barks, this is the week devoted to that family meal that features a turkey! We're celebrating with another ten-page podcast devoted to one of Barks' holiday-themed stories, the aptly-named "Turkey Trouble." This is actually the first of TWO stories that retroactively go by that title, and is the earlier one,...

Guest Host: Ryan Bailey Feeling dyspeptic? Chug some isotopes and enjoy our episode all about the one time Carl Barks delved into the world of super-heroes! Barks was well-known to be annoyed by the success of that side of the comics industry and yet, my guest host and I agree, he managed to deliver a 10-page send-up of the genre that captured the essence of those stories surprisingly well!

Feeling lucky, listeners? You should -- you've lucked into another great episode, this one being one of Barks' classic northern/arctic adventure stories featuring that infuriatingly lucky relation, Gladstone Gander! "Luck of the North" is a surprisingly deep story, that has just as much to say about guilt and redemption as it does about high adventure. My guest host (this time another longtime Bar...

Ho ho ho! It's November 1st, the time when we flick the switch from the spooky season and go straight into Christmas! Luckily our chronological exploration of Barks' stories is just happening to land on the Duck Man's second full-length Christmas story, fan favorite "Letter to Santa." This memorable holiday tale features a money fight, the real Santa Claus, and the best steam shovel fight of all t...

Guest Host: Sara Santiago Welcome to the Ten-Page Podcast! Occasional special episodes of Barks Remarks highlighting some of the Duck Man's 10-page short stories! This story felt just creepy enough to feature in the Halloween slot, and my guest host and I have a great time talking about Donald's extremely creepy series of nightmares, as well as the daffy gender politics in this one, and even some...

Alright folks, we did it. We've now covered Voodoo Hoodoo, which is almost certainly Carl Barks' most controversial story. My guest host and I had a thoughtful conversation about the story, both the good and bad, and what the story says about the legacy of colonialism, its genesis from a horror movie scene, the two religions that make up the title, and much, much more! Be aware that there is signi...

Here it is, our episode about Carl Barks' famous "square egg" story! This is frequently cited as the Good Artist's personal favorite, and is absolutely required reading for any Barks fan! I unabashedly love this story, but do my multiple co-hosts consider it egg-cellent? And will the episode have better puns than that groaner? Yes! So join us, in Plain Awful as we get Lost in the Andes!

Listeners, it is your lucky day! This is our first episode about a story featuring Donald's lucky foil, Gladstone Gander! Donald's infuriatingly lucky cousin appeared just about a year prior, in the 10-pager Wintertime Wager. Here, his supernatural luck is in full force, as Donald and Gladstone race to be the first to rescue another newish addition to the Duck Family Universe, Scrooge McDuck, who...

Happy Holidays (hey, we're just 3 months away!) and welcome back to another Barks Christmas story! Join us at the top of ol' Mount Demontooth, as Donald has to rescue the nephews from...the wicked witch from Snow White? This oddball story bears the hallmarks of editorial interference, as the very plot was foist on Barks by his editors who also mucked around with his ending. My newbie guest and I a...

W'all howdy there, listeners! Just passing through? Why not stop your Sunday drive and either track down some fearsome rustlers or curl up with a nice podcast episode about the Sheriff of Bullet Valley, your choice! This love letter to Hollywood horse operas is one of Barks' masterpieces, loved by both fans and non-fans of Westerns. So mosey on up and listen and we discuss why this is such a maste...

Grab your X-Ray machine and peer in the walls of Barks Remarks' World Headquarters as we talk about Barks' all-time classic (and arguably the true origin story for Scrooge McDuck), the Old Castle's Secret! This unusually spooooky story is everything we love about Carl Barks: spine-tingling adventure, a lavishly-illustrated, remote setting, and just enough comedy to keep things from getting too cre...

Ah, butterfly collecting! That most cutthroat of all hobbies! Who can't relate to casual attempted murder over a butterfly? No? Well, the ducks will find out how serious butterfly collecting can be, as they race their fiendish rival to (a caricatured/colonialist version of) the African wilds to be the first to nab the Almostus Extinctus. Join us, as we learn about some of the significant changes t...

Twelve episodes in and we're finally at our first story featuring none other than Scrooge McDuck! Do you have the gizzard of a lion or the heart of a chicken? Steel yourself, and join us in our cabin on Podcast Mountain, as we explore the supporting character/Uncle Plot Device who would turn into Carl Barks' biggest legacy! Still technically a Donald Duck story, Christmas on Bear Mountain is a sli...

Look into our eyes...you are in our power...you are a homesick kangaroo who wants to leave a 5 star review of this podcast! Yes, welcome back to Barks Remarks! Join us, as the ducks take one of the most improbable vacations ever, an Adventure Down Under, spurred by a hypnotist who really should know better! There's a lot to unpack in this episode, as we learn about Australia and its national icon,...

Tonight is ye night! Lock up your children and listen to our podcast episode about Barks' masterpiece, "Ghost of the Grotto." This story, a personal favorite, sees the ducks embarking on a new adventure as kelp gatherers. The ducks are based at an island consumed with the terrible knowledge that tonight is the night every 50 years when a small boy will be kidnapped, never to be seen again. But sur...

Welcome back! This week sees the ducks inadvertently visiting the fictional Latin American-esque country of Volcanovia, a small nation of breath-taking beauty, dangerous geological features, and...some pretty unfortunate ethnic stereotypes. My newest guest host and I talk about the story's dual high concepts: the volcano-filled country and the siesta-dependent populace, and which one works better....

Join us on this time on the podcast, as the nephews do the classic “trading up” trope and turn Donald’s old pencil stub into…passage to India! Follow the quarreling ducks as they blunder into a truly strange royal conspiracy involving a mogul elephant, prime tiger-hunting land, and the world’s strangest real estate transaction.

We are breaking our format rules this time, as we present TWO oddball stories in ONE super episode! These two stories are technically not 10-pagers; Firebug clocks in at whopping 13, and Atom Bomb was presented in a miniature format of 30 pages (3 panels per page). Since both stories are somewhat dark and include endings that wound up being censored, it seemed logical to pair them in this episode...

Come join us, as Donald and the nephews enjoy a soothing trip down the Ohio River, in their new-ish houseboat! Wait, how are we on the Mississippi? And what's that serpentine shape looming overhead? That's right, it's the Terror of the River!! Join me and my guest hosts as we discuss Carl Barks exploration of American river life, submarine paranoia, and an extremely unique fear-loving villain!

Join us for an gnew episode you’ll gnever forget, as we journey to the Everglades and visit Gneezle Gnob! Episode 5 takes a deep dive into one of Carl Barks’ most oddball adventures, the bonkers story Mystery of the Swamp. Listen as we learn about the Everglades and debate whether this one is just too weird.

Episode 4 is the first of Barks' Arctic-set comics, the exciting tale, Frozen Gold! This is an exciting story, and we get the chance to discuss, among other things: the development of penicillin and parallels to the story of Balto the famous sled dog, the return of Black Pete, the ducks' plane hijinks, and Donald's Mr. Magoo moment.

Welcome to our third full podcast, a discussion of Carl Barks' "Too Many Pets"! Listen as we discuss what type of Donald we get in this story, talk about the shadows of WWII lurking in the background, learn about the history of organ grinders, and...isn't Jingo the Monkey the cutest? This may be one of Carl Barks' more minor works (fight us), but we still enjoyed it and had a great time talking Du...