Big-Top Bedlam is a comic story written and drawn by Carl Barks. It features Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck, Daisy Duck, and, in his debut, Zippo. The 1959 German localization also mentions Daisy's aunt Griseldis.
Plot
Edit
Donald Duck loses a precious brooch belonging to Daisy Duck through his own carelessness, and, when she asks him about it, the panicking duck claims it was stolen from him by a mustachioed strongman and he is blameless. Assuming the man came to Duckburg as part of the circus, Daisy orders Donald to go and get it back. Much to his surprise, Donald, who gets himself hired as a clown to aid his "investigation", does find the brooch there, in the possession of quick-change artist Zippo! But the slippery man won't let Donald catch him that easily…
ReferencesEdit
- Daisy Duck's Heirloom Brooch is “unique in the whole world”, though not, it would seem, all that valuable in terms of make and materials.
- Some time prior to the events of the story, there was a “burglar scare” in Duckburg, for which reason Donald Duck set up a secret cash box in his house in the form of an old sardine can and Daisy put her brooch in Donald's care.
ContinuityEdit
- The 1993 cover to Uncle Scrooge #275, meant to illustrate Carl Barks's Christmas Cheers (1963), curiously shows Daisy's Heirloom Brooch among the treasures in Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin.
- The 1959 German localization specified that the Brooch had originally belonged to Daisy's great-aunt Griseldis, who consequently appears in Der Stammbaum der Ducks (1999).
Behind the scenesEdit
This story was first printed in 1950 in Four Color Comics #300. It was then reprinted in Donald Duck #261, and, of course, in all versions of the Carl Barks Library. A version shortened by five pages can also be found in the Australian One Shot #27 and Donald Duck #28, #136 and #249.
