"Dangerous Disguise" created amazement, amusement and consternation in 1951 at the Wester Publishing editorial offices: Carl Barks had just turned in one of his much-anticipated, long Disney-licensed Donald Duck adventure yarns that was always read with delight by editors and other office staffers. But this one was different -- mixed in with the ducks were real people: in fact, everyone else was a real person! Incredible! It was like the ducks were the intruders... a family of anthromorphic animated cartoon characters stepping off the screen of fantasy into a real world of international intrigue, spies and danger. Another duck did appear, but not until page 20 -­and he was a Donald Duck-Iookalike, a Chiliburgerian matador named Donaldo ElQuacko, in reality a spy from Ironheella, who commits suicide by leaping through a glass window! This is Disney fare? What is -- was -- remarkable is where were the censors? Not only was the story not changed or abandoned then, in 1951, even to this day it has never been viewed as objectionable. Years later, Barks explained his thinking: "I couldn't visualize all those master spies from different nations as dogfaces or pigfaces. I saw them the way they appear in the movies: suave-looking characters and beautiful girls, so I went ahead and drew them like that." Well, it worked, it got by and it caused no trouble. But he never did it so extensively again.

DDA#17 also contains "No Such Varmint" (FC 318), a simpler comedy in which Donald's talent as a snake charmer leads to the discovery of a sea serpent. (extremely limited)
$45.00