The parrot sketch and something completely different

Klaus Harms harms313 at web.de
Sat Nov 25 12:29:50 CET 2000


Hi,

> Daniel van Eijmeren: Could "talking parrot" (OS356) be a Barks-gag?
> "http://www.seriesam.com/barks/dc_os0356-05u.jpg" 

> [SNIP] are there noticeable differences with the other
> two gags in the issue, which were also drawn by Frank McSavage?

It would be fine to see these two, also. Anyone has scans of these?

> Below are some points of which I think that they may have some
> resemblances with Barks' style. 
> * Though the dialogue ("Say: "Polly wants a cracker!"") in the first
>   six panels keeps the same, there's an interesting detailed usage
>   of bold lettering which illustrates Donald getting more and more
>   desperate in his attempts to make the parrot talk.

I think that monotonous repetition of a single phrase is uncommon in
Barks' work, though the increase of intensity looks very typical to me.
(BTW: That is what made me attribute the gag page to Barks as its
likeliest author in an article I wrote for "Der Donaldist" 89  some time
ago).

> * Donald's comment "Oh, go fall in a lake, you blankety-blank,
>   stupid BONEHEAD!"

The "Bonehead" attribute is used in a later-on Barks comic, by a nephew
in WDC 132. Strong hint on Barks as author. 

> * The backlight in panel 4. (Donald and the parrot being shown as
>   silhouettes, because of the light coming through the window.)

Frank McSavage is very familiar with silhouette and shading techniques;
please look at "The Crocodile Collector", "Seeing Things" (both DDOS
348), and "Rags to Riches" (DDOS 356), respectively, for reference.

It is very difficult to attribute authorship of a comic book story to a
certain author, and it is almost impossible to do the same with a one
page story consisting of few more than a gag. If there is some certainty
that one of the cover gags IS written by Barks (and Barrier's
bibliography usually is very accurate, and the printing scedules of
Western Publishing usually matches with Barks' records at that time),
then the parrot sketch would be the likeliest candidate (though I
haven't seen the other ones).

A.n.f.s.c.d.: About a year ago there was a discussion about "The
Complete Daily Strip Adventures of Mickey Mouse 1930-1955)"; it was
claimed then that one specific page was generally missing from ALL known
copies (page 15 from the 1937 volume). After finishing an extensive
examination of my copy I found that the mentioned page is present there.
I will provide a scan of the page (200 dpi, 1200 kb) or a xerox on
request.

Klaus



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