Walt Disney's Donald Duck Adventures: The Golden Helmet

Gladstone Comic Album Series #13

by Carl Barks

Donald is assistant guard in the museum at Duckburg and finds a map in an old ship on display in the museum. Donald wasn't the only person interested in the map.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

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". In 1987, Barks was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Barks worked for the Disney Studio and Western Publishing where he created Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), The Junior Woodchucks (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Cornelius Coot (1952), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), John D. Rockerduck (1961) and Magica De Spell (1961).
He has been named by animation historian Leonard Maltin as "the most popular and widely read artist-writer in the world". Will Eisner called him "the Hans Christian Andersen of comic books." Beginning especially in the 1980s, Barks' artistic contributions would be a primary source for animated adaptations such as DuckTales and its 2017 remake.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame]

Ah, “The Golden Helmet” … another of Carl Barks’ finest stories. Working as a museum guard, Donald discovers an ancient map hidden in the weathered remains of an ancient Viking longboat. It proves to be a map to the exact location along the Labrador coast where Olaf, the Blue, buried a golden helmet, laying claim to the entire continent of North America. The scheming Azure Blue, eldest living descendant of Olaf, and his Lawyer, Sharkey, burst into the office and seize the map. By right of the ancient Code of Discovery, Blue means to claim the helmet and become ruler of North America (By claiming the land mass, that would imply ownership of Central and South America as well, I guess. The story doesn't really go into it, and it's legally implausible that the governments of the various countries would just roll over for all of this anyway, not even legendary bastion of politeness, Canada. Sharkey’s advice in this matter is extremely dubious, but, then, Blue is--presumably--paying him. It's only a story, after all.) And the race is on to be the first to reach the helmet. The ducks plan to throw it into the sea, but can anyone resist the temptation of all the power that goes with ruling a continent?

The story is a textbook example of Barks’ blend of action and humor. It builds nicely, and the temptation of rulership is dealt with without getting too preachy about it. The scenes of the Labrador coast were, as Geoffrey Blum points out in his introduction, inspired by Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant. There is a definite Fosterian feel to the vistas of craggy rocks and crashing waves …

All in all, this is one of the more outstanding volumes of this series. Highly recommended!

[Donna]

Donald and nephews go to Labrador to find the Golden Helmet before sneaky Azure Blue uses it to claim ownership of North America.

Carl Barks was an amazing cartoonist. His work is funny, clever, and whizzes along at a great speed. There are lawyers who use mumbo jumbo legalese ("Flickus, Flackus, Fumdeedledum! Which is legal language for "How can you prove that he isn't?") and Donald being tempted himself by the power the helmet would provide.

This volume also contains "Donald Duck and the Lost Peg Leg Mine" (Scrooge, Donald, and the nephews take on pack rats that will swap peanuts for gold nuggets) and "Donald Duck The Dogcatcher" (Donald is a bit too good at his job).

[Ronda Canary]

My Dad loved Donald Duck. I miss him.

[Sarah]

Donald is a guard at a museum, and discovers a Viking secret that leads him to the northlands (Newfoundland, maybe? I can't quite remember). Great villain, great adventure.

[E.J. Matze]

Ouwe Olaf is at it again.
Donald Duck

[André Milewski]

Awesome Adventure Comic

[Colton]

One of my favorite comics as a kid. The art is spectacular and the story is interesting. Recommended for all ages!