Donald Duck & Co #39/1961
Donald Duck & Co #39/1961 is a representative early-weekly issue of what became Norway's most-read comic magazine, arriving just two years after the series shifted from a monthly to a weekly publication schedule in 1959. As a 1961 installment, it carried Carl Barks-era reprints at the height of Barks's creative output — a period that produced characters like Magica De Spell and John D. Rockerduck — bringing the full richness of the Duckburg universe to Norwegian readers under their beloved local names. The issue's character roster (Petter Smart/Gyro Gearloose, Lille Hjelper/Little Helper, Onkel Skrue/Uncle Scrooge, Langbein/Goofy, Ole, Dole, and Doffen) reflects how thoroughly the Scandinavian editions had naturalised the Barks cast with durable Norwegian identities that generations of readers would grow up with.
In "Donalds Dykkerservice," Donald Duck takes on a tricky job for Uncle Scrooge: laying an underwater electric line. With the Beagle Boys secretly aiding him—though their clumsy efforts only complicate matters—Donald must navigate the deep while keeping his crew of miscreants hidden.
In "Cibolas syv byer," Scrooge and the Ducks set out on a desert hunt for Indian arrowheads, only to stumble upon glittering jewels linked to the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. As they follow the trail into the sun-scorched wastes, the Beagle Boys, eavesdropping on their plans, give chase—determined to claim the fortune for themselves.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Egmont (then operating under the Gutenberghus/Hjemmet banner) had held the Scandinavian Disney comics license since 1948, launching Donald Duck & Co in Norway that December with content drawn primarily from American Disney titles, especially Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. By 1961 the magazine was a fully weekly periodical, assembling anthology packages of Barks stories and other American Dell/Western material for the Norwegian market. Creator credits were not routinely printed in the magazine at this time — consistent with the broader practice of anonymous Disney comics production through the early 1980s — so individual story attributions for this specific issue rely on cross-referencing through databases such as INDUCKS.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Hjemmet / Egmont in Norway as issue #39 of the 1961 volume, part of the weekly run that began in 1959.
- Donald Duck & Co launched in Norway in December 1948 and grew into the country's highest-circulation comic book for decades.
- The issue features the core Barks Duckburg cast under their established Norwegian names: Donald Duck, Onkel Skrue (Uncle Scrooge), Ole/Dole/Doffen (Huey/Dewey/Louie), Petter Smart (Gyro Gearloose), Lille Hjelper (Little Helper/Helper), and Langbein (Goofy).
- Petter Smart is the durable Norwegian name for Gyro Gearloose, Carl Barks's eccentric inventor character who debuted in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #140 (May 1952).
- Lille Hjelper — Gyro's small robot companion with a lightbulb head — was introduced by Barks in 1956 and appears as a catalogued character in this issue.
- 1961 was a prolific year for Barks-authored Duckburg material in the American source titles (Uncle Scrooge, WDC&S), making reprints from this period particularly story-rich.
- As with virtually all Disney comics of this era, individual story creator credits were not printed in the magazine; attribution depends on the INDUCKS scholarly database.
- The issue's INDUCKS catalogue identifier is no/DD/1961/39, and the series (Hjemmet/Egmont, 1948–present) is among the most completely indexed Disney comic runs in the INDUCKS database.
Cast · 18 characters
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #7 (1954), Le Journal de Mickey #326 (1958), Walt Disney's Donald Duck #74 (1960), Walt Disney's Scamp #16 (1960), Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #32 (1960), Anders And & Co. #39/1961
Reprinted in Donald Duck & Co #10/1980 (1980), Carl Barks samlede verk #21 (2005), Donald Duck & Co De komplette årgangene #[48] (2007), Donald Duck & Co #9/2007 (2007)
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