Carl Barks made all of his comic book stories from the Disney universe in the reclusiveness of his home. This meant that he did not always get the same amount of technical and administrational input that the artists working in the employer Western Publishing's house received, and this was also true as for Western's changes in overall policies. The most striking example was the introduction of a new moral code induced by a general hysteria in certain American parties, that aimed to protect young comic book readers from controversial subjects and ideas. This movement grew during the first half of the 1950s, and in 1955 Western management felt compelled to limit themselves by issuing a set of rules that accommodated the ongoing campaign. At the same time they - reluctantly - started to publish a so-called Pledge to Parents* in all their comic book publications.

But the moral code, called Hints on Writing for Dell Comics, was kept within Western's own ranks. It contained a long list of subjects that from now on would be taboo in their comic book stories, but Barks nevertheless kept on making stories that sometimes conflicted with the new guidelines. He was not being headstrong or indifferent to the alterations; he was simply not informed! In a later interview Barks stated: Western didn't give me much direction. It was years later after I had made a few mistakes that I found out that they had a list of taboos. Alice Cobb (one of Western's editors - Editor's remark) got me the sheet one time and showed it to me. You couldn't use the word Kill or use a gun in a dangerous way, and you couldn't have poison or sickness or crippled people.
This led to a strange turn of events where Barks continued making his stories as he pleased, and it was only on very rare occasions that his editors would intervene and ask him to alter certain panels or passages. Below you will be presented to single panels, in which Barks unwittingly overstepped his boundaries. The tabooed subjects - many of which seem quite harmless today - are presented as both explicit and contiguous examples.

NO CROOKED LAWMEN	NO EXCESSIVE REVENGE	NO KIDNAPPING (NO ABDUCTION)
NO JEALOUSY	NO MENTIONING OF MORTALITY	NO BLACKMAIL
NO (MENTIONING OF) DEATH	NO REAL PEOPLE	NO DRUGS
NO INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUES	NO RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS	NO HORROR
NO AFFLICTIONS	NO ADULT THEMES (NO SEX)	NO SMOKING
NO (REALISTIC) POVERTY	NO TORTURE	NO DANGEROUS WEAPON HANDLING
NO PLAYING HOOKY	NO SUICIDE	NO DRINKING (NO ALCOHOL)
NO CROOKED (OR STUPID) LAWYERS	NO EXCESSIVE HARASSMENT	NO PURE EVIL
NO ANIMAL CRUELTY	NO SNAKES	NO VAGRANCY
NO UNNECCESSARY PAIN	NO ATOM BOMB	NO FEMALE VILLAINS

* PLEDGE TO PARENTS

For several years Western maintained the printing of a special pledge, in the form of a sticker, in every comic book issue they published. This action would satisfy the campaigners and it may well have had a somewhat calming effect on parents buying the material for their children as well. To the left is the sticker as it appeared in Dell's comic books. Dell was a subsidiary of Western where Barks worked at the time.