theinspirationwdcs

031 1943 (Victory Garden)
Barks received the story from his new employer Western but found that he could improve it. This was done to the publisher's satisfaction.

033 1943 (Lifeguard)
Barks borrowed one of the shark gags from the animated short Sea Scouts.

036 1943 The Mighty Trapper
Daisy Duck is presented for the first time.

038 1943 Good Neighbors
This marks the first appearance of Donald's neighbour J. Jones. In reality, he was shown in a short sequence in WDCS034 but had a different look from his appearance in this and future stories.

041 1944 The Duck in the Iron Pants
Barks borrowed a few ideas from the animated short Donald's Snow Fight.

043 1944 Three Dirty Little Ducks
Barks introduced the Saint Bernard dog - invented by Al Taliaferro - into his stories. He is called Bolivar but his name was later changed to Bornworthy (from WDCS125 onwards).
Barks reused the plot in WDCS184.

044 1944 The Mad Chemist
The distinctive red car (registration number 313) - invented by Al Taliaferro - is used for the first time.
Barks reused the plot in WDCS220.

053 1945 (Tramp Steamer)
This is the first tenpager in which some of the action takes place abroad. The scene is Mexico.

064 1946 (New Year's Resolutions)
Barks reused the plot in WDCS248 and Fineart 1981 Silent Night.

075 1946 (Turkey Shoot)
Barks drew a can in the cupboard and named it Barks Dog Soup.

086 1947 (Volunteer Fireman)
Barks borrowed a few ideas from the animated short Fire Chief.
Grandma Duck is presented for the first time in a ten-pager (see also FG1945).

088 1948 (The Wagers)
Gladstone Gander is presented for the first time.

098 1948 (Fox Hunt)
Uncle Scrooge is presented for the first time in a ten-pager.
Barks reused the plot in U$30 Yoicks! The Fox!.

099 1948 (Quiz Show)
Barks received a synopsis from Western which he completely reworked. The idea of asking Donald for Mickey Mouse's social security number probably derived from the synopsis as Barks very rarely mixed the duckworld with the mouseworld.

100 1949 (Truant Officer)
Barks borrowed a few ideas from the animated short Truant Officer Donald.

103 1949 (Beach Ruby)
Barks received the initial plot from the professional storyman Dana Coty.

107 1949 (Super Snooper)
Barks received the initial plot from the professional storyman Dana Coty. Barks reused the plot in WDCS249.

112 1950 (Rip Van Winkle)
Before he finally came up with this plot, Barks tried several times to make a story from the theme of Washington Irving's classic story of the Dutch immigrant Rip Van Winkle and his twenty-year nap in the Catskill Mountains before waking up to a much-changed world.

114 1950 (Serum Flight)
The secret agent in this story is a caricature of the notorious FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

125 1951 (Winter Rescue)
The Junior Woodchucks are presented for the first time.

126 1951 (The Cyclone)
First mention of Scrooge's three cubic acres of money.
First showing of Scrooge's money swim.

127 1951 (April Fool)
Uncharacteristically for a children's comic book this story contains a minor political statement as Barks drew the German dictator Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf on a rubbish pile in the city dump.

134 1951 (Cannon Trouble)
The Beagle Boys are presented for the first time - without prison numbers.

135 1951 (Bin Freezing)
The Beagle Boys are presented for the first time - with 5-digit prison numbers.
The Money Bin is presented for the first time.

138 1952 (Statue Contest)
Cornelius Coot is revealed as the founder of Duckburg. It seems a bit strange that a coot should name his town after a duck...

140 1952 (Gladstone's Secret)
Gyro Gearloose is presented for the first time. Barks had no intention of using him further but his immediate success made him develop the chicken into a brilliant inventor. Barks later grumbled that if he had known this from the start he would have drawn Gyro very differently with a simpler figure and clothing and a height to match the ducks.

146 1952 (Omelet)
At the time of this story, Barks was living in San Jacinto managing a chicken farm. The story idea was just a natural one under the circumstances.

155 1953 (Pots of Gold)
Barks spins a yarn with a theme of mortality and death which was normally a forbidden area in the Disney comics.

160 1954 (The Camel)
For the only time during his comic book period Barks' wife Garé contributed a gag:
The nephews have revealed that they bought the camel cheap for only 50 cents and continues: 'If we'd had two dollars, we could have bought an elephant!'

165 1954 (Star Dreams)
The singer Perry Cougar and the pianist Lizardaze shown on the first page are caricatures of the famous artists Perry Como and Liberace.

178 1955 (Noisy Neighbours)
At the time Barks and his wife lived in a San Jacinto apartment house where they were pestered by very loud neighbours.

181 1955 (Bridge Building)
The Chickadees are presented for the first time.

188 1956 (Olympic Trials)
This was the first ten-pager in which Barks actually caricatured himself - in the shape of the javelin thrower Fulldrip Pulpbugle. Barks had hayfever most of his life just as the cartoon athlete.

198 1957 (Knight Ball)
Barks' first daughter Peggy came up with the initial idea.

211 1958 (Wishing Stones)
Barks' first daughter Peggy came up with the initial idea.

213 1958 (Spring Cleaning)
JW hound General Snozzie is presented for the first time.

218 1958 (Porpoise Hunt)
Barks' first daughter Peggy came up with the initial idea.

231 1959 The Wax Museum
Barks' first daughter Peggy came up with the initial idea.
Partly a remake of WDCS089.

239 1960 The Village Blacksmith
Barks made a pastiche over Henry Longfellow's 8 verse poem of the same title.

240 1960 The Fraidy Falcon
Barks might have remembered working on an unreleased animated short called Donald's Stratosphere Flight (1939) when forming the balloon plot.

248 1961 The Terrible Tourist
Remake of WDCS064 and Fineart 1981 Silent Night.

255 1961 Boat Buster
Barks introduced a new character, John D. Rockerduck, but Barks never used him again despite his apparent potential.

263 1962 The Candy Kid
Barks was inspired by fan Joe Cowles who told him of his job at a popcorn stand in Disneyland.

264 1962 Master Wrecker
Barks was inspired by fan Joe Cowles.
The musical notes shown at the concertina factory derive from a symphony by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Remake of WDCS156.

267 1962 Log Jockey
In his young days Barks worked briefly as a lumberjack, so he knew what he was writing about.

269 1963 A Matter of Factory
Barks received a synopsis from Western which he completely reworked.

274 1963 Gall of the Wild
Barks received a synopsis from Western which he completely reworked.

278 1963 Have Gun, will Dance
Barks reused the plot in CG Atom Bomb. (See also U$57.)

280 1964 Double Masquerade
Surfing was the latest craze among youngsters at the Californian beaches and the pop group The Beach Boys were the hip thing on the radio waves. Barks joined in the fun.

288 1964 Hero of the Dike
Barks was inspired by a story by an author of children's literature Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge. The story is The Hole in the Dike and tells of a Dutch boy who saves a town by sticking his finger in the hole of a flooded dike.

297 1965 Monkey Business
Barks received the manuscript from Western. Published as an Uncle Scrooge comic.

312 1966 The Not-So-Ancient Mariner
Published as a Donald & Daisy comic.
Barks refers to a poem called The Rime of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge who in fact wrote about The Flying Dutchman which Barks wrote a story about earlier (see U$25).