'The Golden Fleecing' by Carl Barks from Uncle Scrooge #12 - a take on the Greek Argonautica myth - I don't know if this is considered a classic, although I checked the very well-documented fan sites and it's apparently quite popular - but it isn't quite the usual visit to exotic, mysterious ancient civilisation scenario -
Half of the story is spent in Duckburg with lots of cloak and dagger stuff - just setting up the intrigue - Despite the unusual plotting, page by page, Barks is in fine form - each panel is a model in storytelling efficiency, suspense, dynamics.
So instead of Harpies, we have Larkies (heh) - they sort of steal the show actually, possibly to the detriment of the story as a whole - Huey, Duey, and Louie are totally on the ball as usual, with their freaky Junior Woodchuck Handbook, they're unstoppable - they figure everything out. No comment really necessary, the thing is, the storytelling is so seamless, all you have to do is look at each panel, that says it all - notice how every panel has no more or no less than is necessary to keep the plot moving, and notice how every panel contains an element of suspense that leads to the next one.... (apologies for the small image samples).
Barks can get pretty wacky, surreal, and edgy at times - and he really goes to town with these Larkies - with this ten-page psycho cook-off from hell sequence - they take a fiendish delight in preparing the most nauseating dishes! Apparently his editor, referring to this sequence, asked him to 'tone it down'... heh... Notice the fairly subtle camera movement in the above sequence... superb.
So they do finally face the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece- really not much reference to the original story, but quite fun and clever - I don't think that this story has the depth and sense of nostalgia that some other Scrooge classics have, although you could argue that he does tap into to some of the Freudian psychological structures inherent in Greek mythology and fairy tales...
Images copyright the Walt Disney Company - used for purposes of didactic study
stuff -
see interesting article on this story:
https://arche-arc.blogspot.com/2016/03/mythcomics-golden-fleecing-uncle.html
