Carl Barks was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck. He worked anonymously until late in his career; fans dubbed him “The Duck Man” and “The Good Duck Artist”
Donald Duck’s Atom Bomb
Dates
September the 9th, 1946 (writing date)
1947 (release date)
Cheerios 1947, 32-page, full color, newsprint promotional comic, 6-7/8 x 3-1/8, Issue #Y1. 32 pages.
Donald Duck’s Atom Bomb is a comic story written and drawn by Carl Barks. It features Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck, and, in their debut, Professor Mollicule and Professor Sleezy.
First printed in 1947 in Cheerios Premium #Y-1, this story was reprinted in English in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #571, and in the various versions of the Carl Barks Library.
Due to the atomic bomb theme, Disney never reprinted the Atom Bomb story as presented in the original. In the non-censored version. Donald Duck had “got a way picked out to make money – and lots of it!” by selling an “atomic hair-grower” at $1.00 per bottle. A cash register and money in a customer’s hand is depicted. In the censored version, Donald has “more than money in mind” and gives away free samples of a normal hair-grower. The word “atomic” is removed from the board, but most noticeable are the cash register being replaced for a pyramid of bottles and the people in the queue having combs in their hands instead of dollar bills.