Beagle Boys

The Beagle Boys
The Beagle Boys in "The Mysterious Stone Ray" (1954) by Carl Barks
First appearance	Walt Disney's Comics and Stories issue 134, November 1951
Created by	Carl Barks
Voiced by	Will Ryan, Frank Welker, Chuck McCann, Peter Cullen, Terry McGovern, Brian Cummings, Don Messick
Aliases	The Terrible Beagle Boys

The Beagle Boys are a group of fictional characters from the Donald Duck universe. Created by Carl Barks, they are a family clan of organized criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck. Their introduction and first appearance was in Terror of the Beagle Boys (Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #134, November 1951), although in this story they only appear in the last frame and have no lines. They appear again in the next issue in a similar fashion, in The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill (Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #135, December 1951).

The Beagle Boys were originally created by Carl Barks, and made their first appearance in the 10-page story The Terror of the Beagle Boys (WDC #134) that was first published in November 1951. Although the Beagle Boys are only shown very briefly on the last page of this story, it is implied that Scrooge has known about them for a long time. The Beagle Boys are usually depicted as a gang of about six to ten members or more depending on the story, who are identical in appearance and personality. They wear black bandit masks to hide their identities and on their turtleneck sweaters, most often being orange or red, they have their prison number signs. The Beagle Boys are often characterized to be very crude, boastful, aggravating, greedy and self-centered — among themselves however, they are very loyal and have a strong connection of sibling camaraderie. Although, on some occasions they have shown irritation toward each other, often relating to someone making a mistake or saying something that doesn't fit in with the consensus, like one Beagle Boy's (176-167) overly fondness of prunes, a weakness that proves to be the Beagle Boys' downfall in some stories. Interestingly, 176-167's love for prunes makes him the only Beagle Boy with a unique characteristic.

The first story to feature the Beagle Boys in a major role is Only a Poor Old Man (Uncle Scrooge #1, March 1952), which serves as a template for virtually all future Beagle Boys appearances, and establishes them as a serious threat to Scrooge's fortune. In the same story they are called "the most awful gang of crooks in the country" by Donald Duck. This most often manifests with them cleverly coming up with various and elaborate schemes to try to break into and steal from Scrooge McDuck's well secured Money Bin. On occasion they are even shown to have highly intellectual capacities, as they are able to earn academic degrees in various fields. Among individual Beagle Boys, some of these degrees include: cranial encephalography, psychology, chemistry, metallurgy and electropyrotechnology. These were often seen by the government as attempts at rehabilitation, but in reality it was a charade by the Beagle Boys to use their newly acquired skills for robberies. They are also experts at trickery, including disguises, and animal training; like using cormorants as aerial bombers, as well as having a large arsenal of various weapons, explosives and machines. When needed, they have been shown to be able to use force or threats to get what they want. With all things considered however, the Beagle Boys are often attributed not to be as clever they think they are, often gullible to tricks and offensives themselves, and most of their appearances ends with them getting arrested. They are usually imprisoned in Duckburg prisons or Sing Sing, but they have also been jailed in other prisons as well. The Beagle Boys are however proud of their criminal background; never willing to live their lives in accordance to the law.