History Creator / CarlBarks

* BehindTheBlack: In "Statuesque Spendthrifts", somehow nobody can ever notice a much bigger statue of Cornelius Coot right next to the one getting unveiled until the moment the veil falls off it as well. Taken UpToEleven during the third round, when both statues are at least ''ninety'' stories high and clearly towering over Duckburg's skyline.

* SitcomArchNemesis: Both Neighbor Jones and Gladatone Gander often work as such for Donald.

* CrankyNeighbor; Neighbor Jones.

* SitcomArchEnemy: Both Neighbor Jones and Gladatone Gander often work as such for Donald.

* RememberTheNewGuy?: Barks' favorite way to introduce new characters into his comics: While the characters are unknown to the readers the characters in-universe are usually already familiar with him. Of course course this isn't the case for every new character, there are exceptions like Flintheart Glomgold or Magica [=DeSpell=]. Characters that are introduced this way include: Gladstone Gander, Neighbor Jones, Scrooge [=McDuck=], Gyro Gearloose, John D. Rockerduck and the Beagle Boys.

** The realtion of characters in Barks' stories are generally rather inconsistent, since Barks was making it up as he went, whereas later writers would have his and Rosa's family trees to reference. In one example, Gladstone is referred to as the son of Scrooge's sister. Later stories clearly established him as being the son of Scrooge's sister-in-law, having no shared blood with Scrooge.
* TarAndFeathers: In "Wishing Stone Island", Donald arrives on the island and grabs the first round, black object he sees and makes a wish, only to discover it is the head of a native who has been tarred and feather. After he scares Donald off, the nephews help him and he explains that he was tribe's medicine man, but the tribe tarred and feathered him after none of his medicine could summon any traders to the island, leaving them stuck with a huge glut of coconuts.

** Not as big as Scrooge, but Gyro Gearloose is another character that turns out more popular than Barks would have thought: Gyro first appears as a background character in ''Gladstone's Terrible Secret'' before brought back in later stories. However, Gyro turned out to be popular enough that the publisher decided fir Gyro get his own comic book magazine as the titular character with original stories created by Barks. He even appeared as a regular character in ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'', a cartoon series losly based on Barks' stories.

* AscendedExtra: A lot of characters Barks created as one-shot characters for single stories were later brought back and established as major characters in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse. They were brought back either by Barks himself (Gyro Gearloose, Beagle Boys) or other writers (Goldie O'Gilt), taking on far larger roles. Biggest example would be Scrooge [=McDuck=] originally intended to be a one-shot antagonist in ''ComicBook/ChristmasOnBearMountain'' but turned out to be recognizable enough for Barks to use him more frequently as a supporting character in his Donald Duck-stories before "Uncle Scrooge" got his own comic book and is nowadays a comic book legend of his own, starring in multiple media.

* AscendedExtra: A lot of characters Barks created as one-shot characters for single stories were later brought back and established as major characters in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUnicerse. They were brought back either by Barks himself (Gyro Gearloose, Beagle Boys) or other writers (Goldie O'Gilt), taking on far larger roles. Biggest example would be Scrooge [=McDuck=] originally intended to be a one-shot antagonist in ''ComicBook/ChristmasOnBearMountain'' but turned out to be recognizable enough for Barks to use him more frequently as a supporting character in his Donald Duck-stories before "Uncle Scrooge" got his own comic book and is nowadays a comic book legend of his own, starring in multiple media.

Barks is renowned for creating characters such as Scrooge [=McDuck=], Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, the Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, and many others, as well as setting in stone the base geography of the city of Duckburg. His stories brought in the treasure hunt plot to Duck comics and inspired a generation of people (such as Creator/GeorgeLucas, Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/OsamuTezuka, Creator/DonRosa, Creator/RobertCrumb, Creator/ArtSpiegelman and the writers of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'') to replicate the thrill of adventure. Creator/WillEisner called him "the Creator/HansChristianAndersen of comic books." He is also responsible for expanding Donald Duck's personality beyond his usual one-note characterization in the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts; reaching levels that were never rivaled in the animated appearances of the character.

Barks is renowned for creating characters such as Scrooge [=McDuck=], Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, the Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, and many others, as well as setting in stone the base geography of the city of Duckburg. His stories brought in the treasure hunt plot to Duck comics and inspired a generation of people (such as Creator/GeorgeLucas, Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/OsamuTezuka, Creator/DonRosa, Creator/RobertCrumb, Creator/ArtSpiegelman and the writers of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'') to replicate the thrill of adventure. He is also responsible for expanding Donald Duck's personality beyond his usual one-note characterization in the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts; reaching levels that were never rivaled in the animated appearances of the character.

Not to be confused with a [[FunnyAnimal dog]] themed PunnyName version of Creator/KarlMarx.

* ShownTheirWork: Barks was very well known for doing his homework on whatever subject his stories involved. Several of the landmarks and foreign locations in his stories are based on the photographs in his favorite reference source: "National Geographic".

* ShinyNewAustralia: In "The Golden Helmet", the eponymous helmet was proof an ancient viking named Olaf the Blue was the true owner of North America (the first European to ever reach it), theoretically allowing any (alleged) descendant of his to use it to take over the continent. When DonaldDuck got the helmet, an attorney offered to help Donald and wanted Canada as his legal fees. In the story, the helmet passes through the hands of several characters, and nearly all of them are corrupted into becoming would-be tyrants for the entire North America.

* TarAndFeathers: In "Wishing Stone Island", Donald arrives on the island and grabs the first round, black object he sees and makes a wish, only to discover it is the head of a native who has been tarred and feather. After he scares Donald off, the nephews help him and he explains that he is was tribe's medicine man, but the tribe tarred and feathered after none of his medicine could summon any traders to the island, leaving them stuck with a huge glut of coconuts.

* GasolineIsForever: In "Chugwagon Derby", Scrooge reveals that as young man he bought a horseless carriage when they were first becoming available. However, after discovering that he could walk faster than the car could drive, he hid it away in a barn; afraid that people would laugh at him for his foolishness. However, after Donald shows him how you can make money in vintage car contests, he goes and hauls it out from under the pile of old harness where it is hidden. He comments that it runs on a mixture of kerosene and whale oil and, to his delight, he discovers there is still $1's worth in the tank. The fires the car up and it starts immediately. As the story was first published in 1961, the car and fuel would have had to have been sitting there for about 60 years.

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Barks started portraying the Nephews like this and invented the Jr. Woodchucks.

* BreakoutCharacter: Scrooge [=McDuck=]. Barks created him as a one-shot character for the story "Christmas on Bear Mountain" (1947) Then he decided to bring him back in the horror-themed story "The Old Castle's Secret" (1948), where Scrooge is effectively the co-protagonist and receives much of the spotlight. Barks then started using him as a permanent addition to Donald's supporting cast, and other Disney writers started following his example. By 1952, Scrooge was popular enough for the publisher Western Publishing to give him his own comic book series. Barks' stories "Only a Poor Old Man" (1952) and "Back to the Klondike" (1953) were new origin stories for Scrooge. Subsequent stories by both Barks and other writers introduced villains, rivals, romantic interests, and supporting characters for him. The Disney Ducks' stories more often revolve around him, rather than his hired assistants (sidekicks) Donald, Huey, Louie, and Dewey. He is by far one of the most popular Disney comics characters, and several writers and readers consider him the the real protagonist among the various members of the cast. Not bad for a character that was only supposed to appear once.
** Scrooge ended up being so popular that he eventually made his video debut in 1967 in the short Scrooge [=McDuck=] And Money.

** Scrooge ended up being so popular that he eventually made his video debut in 1967 in the short WesternAnimation/ScroogeMcDuckandMoney.