Review by Frank Plowright
Lost Beneath the Sea contains the Uncle Scrooge stories Carl Barks produced for publication in 1963 and early 1964. Conventional wisdom would have it that at this stage in his career Barks was losing interest, and evidence backed that up with the material reprinted in Cave of Ali Baba. This, however is a stronger collection with a particularly fine title story.
It begins with the contradiction of a career ethos for both Barks and Scrooge as Scrooge is shown believing in the fallacy of his Number One Dime bringing him luck. Ignore it, and what we have is a meticulously plotted adventure taking a strange turn. The first dime Scrooge ever earned is lost at the bottom of the ocean and Scrooge spares no expense to retrieve it. When presented in Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color 43 it was accompanied by the touching ‘Lemonade Fling’ in which Scrooge funds Huey, Dewey and Louie’s lemonade stand, then wants to check their honesty.
‘Lost Beneath the Sea’ is the highlight among the longer tales, but there’s plenty to recommend the others, three starring Magica De Spell. Scenes of her controlling comets no less are atmospherically drawn, and she even crashes one into Scrooge’s money bin attempting to acquire his Number One Dime (sample page). She returns with a spray potion causing the faces of victims to change into that of the next living thing they see. The visuals it prompts are surprisingly disturbing. The Beagle Boys act as her henchmen in the weird fairy tale-influenced ‘The Isle of the Golden Geese’, but are far more effective on their own in ‘The Case of the Sticky Money’. That’s thoughtfully created to enable children to realise what the downfall of the Beagle Boys will be even as they’re spending Scrooge’s fortune on all sorts of bling. Scrooge can’t figure out where the money is coming from, although is instinctively certain it’s been stolen from him.
Slightly weaker is Scrooge hypnotised into spending his money, although it allows for the visual chaos of his attempts to emulate the doggerel present list from ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. Both other longer stories concern Scrooge wanting to impress the town snobs. ‘The Status Seeker’ opens with the visual hilarity of the mega-rich flaunting their wealth, and Barks continues to make points throughout a fine story of Scrooge wanting locate a ruby he’s lost. ‘The Crown of the Mayas’ is prompted by the Archaeologists Club refusing Scrooge membership. He doesn’t care for them, but knows he’ll profit from selling them equipment so wants to join. The story becomes one of outwitting a pair of covetous crooks.
Vic Lockman writes a couple of Scrooge shorts that Barks illustrates, but they lack the tight plots Barks ensures. This time, though, Barks both writes and draws all four Gyro Gearloose shorts. Here it is evident that inspiration isn’t reaching previous levels, although they’re all professionally created, nicely drawn and include good moments, but after this selection he abandoned the feature to others. They’re also found in Gyro Gearloose, The Madcap Inventor 6.
While not quite Barks at his peak, this collection offers a fine selection of his skill and imagination. Alternatively, the stories are found in earlier slim paperbacks Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44, but they’re hard to come by and expensive, so this attractive hardcover is the more desirable format.
