Synopsis:
Gyro sees that a giant robot from a film company runs amuck. Will he, on his own, be able to save the town from the apparently unstopable, marauding berserker?

Comments:
This is as close as Barks got to portray a robot as it is commonly seen in the science fiction stories (you know, movable humanoid, eventually malfunctioning). But as usual with Barks he added his own twist to the robot; he made it as tall as a 5-storey building!

Synopsis:
Duckburg has invested in giant robots that can do many chores. The Beagle Boys commandeer them to open the Money Bin...

Comments:
We shall never know if Barks ever thought about topping his story about a colossal robot (see above). The fact remains that he did! And he did it by letting Duckburg be the scene for no less than 4 colossal robots constructed to help mankind, but later stolen by the Beagle Boys, who use them for marauding purposes.

Synopsis:
Scrooge buys a volcanic island where he intends to hide his money. But The Beagle Boys learn about his plans!

Comments:
This is really not a story in which robots take a leading part. Still, it must be included, because Barks found a new concept for the participation of robots in his stories - and they were essential to the plotline! In the story Barks is ahead of his time, as he uses robots on a grand scale in a spinach cannery. Furthermore, the robots are, in fact, humans in disguise! And if this is not enough, the robots are all primary characters namely the Beagle Boys!

Synopsis:
He who wins the prestigeous Great Crystal Orb Derby will rule Duckburg for the next year. Scrooge enters a very special horse!

Comments:
This story is all about robots - of a very different kind! As it turns out all the horses competing in this year's race have been rigged. In fact, they are all robots built by different swindlers!!!

Synopsis:
Gyro has made his greatest invention. He has changed Duckburg into a place of total relaxation. But is everybody happy?

Comments:
This might be characterized as a reverse robot story. Although Gyro is not building any robots his cleverly rebuild, highly modernistic Duckburg leaves almost nothing for the inhabitants to do in the line of work. For instance, Donald has a 10 minutes-a-day job pushing a button in a factory! Subsequently, all the Duckburgians become robots in a 'perfect' world.

Synopsis:
Gyro is tired of the annoying crows in his garden and he invents a scarecrow to chase them away. But it does not restrain sly Old Blackie...

Comments:
Through time Gyro has built quite a number of robots but this one is a bit out of the ordinary. It is scary looking, it dances around, and it breathes fire. No wonder that it scares all the crows over in the next county...

Synopsis:
Gyro has built Roscoe the robot to help him in daily life. Unfortunately Roscoe turns out to be a real coward...

Comments:
Gyro constructs an artificial manservant which he can instruct to do whatever he desires by using thought waves! (Quite an improvement from the ones Barks constructed in the 1937 cartoon short Modern Inventions, a barber robot and a robotic nurse, that only responded to limited sets of instructions.) Gyro's robot turns out to be even better than he imagined; Roscoe has feelings...

Synopsis:
Gyro has invented a cyclone warning machine and he decides to try it out at Cyclone Hill. Then he sits down and waits for a cyclone to appear...

Comments:
Robots are constructed to be of help to mankind in specific ways. In this case the robot is stationary but equipped with a sensor to detect cyclones and a 'voice' to sound the alarm and the All Clear afterwards.
Another robot with similar features was introduced in U$22 'The Thought-reading Robot' from 1958. Here Gyro invents a machine that can read thoughts and share them through its built-in voice apparatus.

Synopsis:
Gyro tries to invent a machine that can predict the future. And it can! One just has to ask the right questions!

Comments:
It has probably always been one of man's greatest wishes to be able to predict the future. Gyro seems to have the knack for it, because he has invented a few robotic devices over time that can tell what lies ahead.
This one is highly sophisticated in its field, and another one - presented in FC1010 Weather Watchers from 1959 - was able to predict the weather.

Synopsis:
Gyro is waiting at the patent office to register an invention. It seems another inventor is waiting there and Gyro is unreasonably curious about what the gentleman's invention might be...

Comments:
As it turns out Mr. Ipsquiggle has invented a robot! But the panel to the left is highly deceptive if you think the robot is cloaked under a blanket. No, the robot is the figure with a bowler hat, and its inventor is hiding under the blanket! This becomes obvious in the story's last panels and after this wonderful punchline, the only thing poor Gyro has left to do is to slip home with his hydraulic peanut-butter spreader...

By far the most strange main character in Barks' universe is a metal stick man with a light bulb for head! We never learn how he came about, but it is plausible that Gyro invented him (which also implies that he is able to create at least some sort of life!).

The little character is mostly referred to as Little Helper, although he has no official name, and he is built from metal parts. This was plain to see in U$20 'Roscoe the Robot' in which he was able to, literally, straighten himself out with a hammer after a mishap. This action also implies that he has no physical feelings (as for mental feelings we have once witnessed him daydreaming about a metal stick girl in U$26 Krankenstein Gyro).

Little Helper has a very versatile head - made from a light bulb that he even changes from time to time when it gets broken! Still, it contains both his eyesight, his hearing abilities, and an impressive brain...

Little Helper may very well be perceived as the most astonishing and versatile robot in all the funny animal stories!