Treasured Stories: New Year’s Revolutions (1954)

gasp65

« New Year’s Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time. » — James Agate

And another one gone… another one bites the dust, in the immortal words of John Deacon. Adios, 2025.

To send off the annum, and instil some hope into the ceremony, I turn to the superlative Carl Barks (1901-2000), « The Good Duck Artist », and this classic — but not overly familiar — ten-pager from Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories no. 173 (Feb. 1955, Dell)*, scripted, pencilled and inked by Mr. Barks and lettered by his wife Garé, a superb artist in her own right. Take it away, folks!

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The boys’ ironic recycling of the giant bird stilts is a brilliant touch.

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One of Barks’ most refreshing innovations is that he steered Donald’s nephews away from the typical, simplistic ‘little devils’ characterization they were saddled with at their conception. Barks made them crafty but essentially noble, in marked contrast to their Unca Donald.
The issue of WDC&S that our story premiered in didn’t feature a New Year’s-themed cover, so here’s an earlier one, from none other than Walt Kelly. This is Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories no. 88 (Jan. 1944, Dell).

At the end of this wretched, truly merciless year, I dedicate this post to our beloved cat, Barnabas, who left us — peacefully — just this afternoon. May he be 2025’s final innocent victim.

Goodbye, Barnabas (2009-2025). Rest easy, beautiful friend.

-RG

*However, I opted for the superior reproduction values — trust me — of the reprint featured in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories no. 623 (Apr. 1998, Gladstone). Kudos to Susan Daigle-Leach for the tasteful latter-day colouring.

6 thoughts on “Treasured Stories: New Year’s Revolutions (1954)”

  1. nealumphred's avatar nealumphred December 31, 2025 / 21:44

    Thanks for a look at Donald and the nephews through the eyes of Carl Barks. It’s been fifty years since I read that story!

    My condolences for your loss of Barnabas . . .

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    • gasp65's avatar gasp65 December 31, 2025 / 21:53

      Thanks, Neal. Oh, it hurts, but we feel secure in knowing we gave him a wonderful life, and that he enriched ours tremendously.

      It brings the right kind of tickle to jolt awake that sort of long-ago memory in a reader. Barks was really something else, wasn’t he?

      Happy new year and all the best for 2026!

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      • nealumphred's avatar nealumphred January 1, 2026 / 03:29

        Our cat, Gadji Booboo (but everyone knows her as Gato) is fifteen, fat, and content. We pray she remains that way for a loooooong time.

        Fifty-some years ago, Russ Cochran tried to convince me to buy pencil sketches/studies that Barks had made for his first oil painting of Scrooge. Unfortunately, I was not farsighted enough to realize what he was offering so I turned him down.

        https://www.gcc-globalclimatechange.com/wp-content/uploads/PsychedelicSunRise_.jpg

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      • gasp65's avatar gasp65 January 2, 2026 / 17:03

        Hi Neal! First of all, Happy New Year to you and yours.

        Great anecdote about Mr. Cochran! My closest equivalent was when I tried to snag, back in the mid-1980s, a copy of Barks’ « The Fine Art of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck », a collection of his duck oil paintings… at Toronto’s Silver Snail, if memory serves. They told me that not only were they sold out, but that even the publisher was looking to buy them back.

        Oh, and long Live Gadji ‘Gato’ Booboo!

        – RG

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  2. connorfreffcochran's avatar connorfreffcochran January 2, 2026 / 11:24

    Carl Barks never disappoints. Thank you for sharing this.

    So sorry to hear of Barnabas passing. I absolutely know what you are going through. He looks like he was a very sweet boy.

    Connor

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    • gasp65's avatar gasp65 January 2, 2026 / 17:11

      Hi Connor — Happy New Year to you and yours!

      Thanks so much for your kind words about our Barnabas. We found him (actually he found Daria, and irresistibly reached out to her) at the local animal shelter when he was but eight months old, so we had a long, happy time together. Lots of fond memories and zero regrets!

      -RG

      p.s. I don’t know what was behind WordPress’ glitch, but I edited your comment accordingly.

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