Disney-comics digest #461.

[Ronald A. Evry]

>From Don:
> 	I actually DID do a 10-page "gag" story last month... my first
> since 1990. And it wasn't so hot. At least it didn't seem very good when
> I was doing it -- I'd had an idea for a story in my notes for many
> years, and decided to use it. But getting it to actually WORK was like
> pulling teeth... which tells me that it was NOT working. I can't judge
> whether it ultimately worked or not, but since it was a difficult story
> to do, I didn't enjoy it and therefore felt that it SUCKED. We'll see.
> Good ideas for 10-page stories are always very easy to make stories out
> of -- I think I wrote "On a Silver Platter" in about an hour.
> 	I might try another 10-pager, but I really can't get inspired by
> the whole idea. I see these as ADVENTURE characters -- and only
> adventure stories seem worth dealing with. "Gag" stories are too
> forgetable.

It's a shame you feel that way Don.
While Barks's adventure stories were always terrific, I still
feel his genius was the way he handled the 10 page funny
stories in WDC&S.
The ones with neighbor Jones were always my favorites, but I
also enjoyed the stories where Donald would get some new
occupation and wind up in some ludicrous situation when he
tried to apply "ingenuity" to the task at hand.

Barks's technique usually (but not always) involved piling one
situation on top of another until everything exploded.

To top it all off, he always managed to put sparkling
characterization into those tales as well.
Ron