"Sheriff of Bullet Valley" is a 32-page
Disney comics
Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge.
The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...
Western adventure/mystery story written, drawn and lettered by
Carl Barks
Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) 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 ...
. It was first published by
Dell
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
in ''
Four Color
''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...
'' #199 (October 1948) with three one-page gag stories: "
Sorry to be Safe
Carl Barks (1901–2000) was an American Disney Studio illustrator and Disney comic book creator. The quality of his scripts and drawings earned him the nicknames ''The Duck Man'' and ''The Good Duck Artist''.
This list of Carl Barks' Disney sto ...
", "
Best Laid Plans", and "
The Genuine Article
''The Genuine Article'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer Remedy. It was released on April 17, 2001 via Fifth Angel Recordings. Recording sessions took place at 36 Chambers Studio and Quad Recording Studios in Manh ...
". "Sheriff of Bullet Valley" and the gag stories have been reprinted many times.
Plot
Donald applies for a job as the
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
of Bullet Valley and his nephews plan on helping him, despite how dangerous he tells them it is. They investigate the mysterious cattle theft from the Diamond Brand Ranch and find out that the thief is none other than Blacksnake McSquirt. It's a fight to the finish when Donald finally defeats Blacksnake.
Analysis
Thomas Andrae writes in ''Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book'' that ''Sheriff'' took its inspiration from the B western films of the period especially Barks's favorite ''
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He was ...
'' (1935). Barks used details from the film in his comic book parody. In ''1,000 Comic Books You Must Read'' Tony Isabella describes the tale as "
masterful mix of action and comedy."
The wanted poster on the last page of the story is Barks' self-caricature. In a 1971 interview with Michael Barrier, he said, "That caricature originated in the old Disney studio days in the gag sheets that us guys used to draw of each other and circulate around. Some of the guys took to drawing me with this tremendous big schnoz, so I just copied that old caricature."
See also
*
List of Disney comics by Carl Barks
Carl Barks (1901–2000) was an American Disney Studio illustrator and Disney comic book creator. The quality of his scripts and drawings earned him the nicknames ''The Duck Man'' and ''The Good Duck Artist''.
This list of Carl Barks' Disney sto ...
References
External links
*
''Sheriff of Bullet Valley''in Carl Barks guidebook
Disney comics stories
Donald Duck comics by Carl Barks
1948 in comics
{{Disney-comics-stub