Flip Decision
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"Flip Decision" is a Donald Duck
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
story written and illustrated by Carl Barks in June 1952. Like many other Barks stories, it was originally untitled. In the story, Donald becomes an adherent of a
philosophy of life (; meaning ' philosophy of life') was a dominant philosophical movement of German-speaking countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which had developed out of German Romanticism. emphasised the meaning, value and purpose of life a ...
called
flipism Flipism, sometimes spelled "flippism", is a pseudophilosophy under which decisions are made by flipping a coin. It originally appeared in the ''Donald Duck'' Disney comic "Flip Decision" by Carl Barks, published in 1953. Barks called a practitio ...
, in which all decisions in life are made by flipping a coin.


Publications

The story first appeared in ''
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chi ...
'' #149 in February 1953. It has later appeared in ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' #365 (February 1971), #507 (1984), and #561 (July 1991).. Retrieved on 2012-11-28. Outside of the United States, the story has been published in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and probably other countries.


Plot

Donald Duck happens to enter a lecture held by a
charlatan A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. Synonyms for ''charlatan'' include '' ...
calling himself Professor Batty, who claims that flipism — the philosophy of using
coin flipping Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air and checking which side is showing when it lands, in order to choose between two alternatives, heads or tails, sometimes used to resolve a dispute betwe ...
to make all decisions in life — is the solution to everyone's problems. The professor persuades a confused Donald to buy a membership of the "Great Society of Flippists", as well as book introducing the "methods and benefits of Flipism". Reading the book, Donald quickly becomes a devoted flippist. When his nephews want to go see a movie called ''Gore in the Gully'', Donald uses a coin flip to decide that they shall take a leisurely drive instead. The downsides of flipism begin to reveal themselves during the drive. Donald keeps flipping a coin to decide where to drive, eventually getting lost, and ultimately driving in the wrong direction of traffic before colliding head on with a large truck. Donald and his nephews are physically unharmed, but Donald is sentenced to pay a fine for "letting a dime do isthinking", rather than the usual (smaller) fines for violating traffic rules. Donald holds Professor Batty responsible for his fate, and attempts to find him. However, the professor has disappeared, and Donald, despite having lost his belief in the philosophy, resolves to use flipism to find him. Flipism leads him to a house with two apartments, and he flips a coin to select which apartment to go for. Donald is unable to see the result (apartment 2) in the dark, and knocks on apartment 1's door instead. His girlfriend, Daisy Duck, opens the door and it turns out that this apartment is the home of Daisy's unseen sister. Daisy is furious at Donald for forgetting that he had invited her to go to the movies that day. After Daisy has finished her tirade, Donald has forgotten about his search for Professor Batty, and ends up taking Daisy, her nieces, and his nephews to see ''Gore in the Gully''. The final panel reveals that flipism actually worked in Donald's search for Professor Batty, showing that a frightened Batty is located in apartment 2 waiting for someone to find him.


Themes and impact

"Flip Decision" introduced the term
flipism Flipism, sometimes spelled "flippism", is a pseudophilosophy under which decisions are made by flipping a coin. It originally appeared in the ''Donald Duck'' Disney comic "Flip Decision" by Carl Barks, published in 1953. Barks called a practitio ...
. Similar concepts appear in several other works, including
Luke Rhinehart George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel '' The Dice Man,'' the story of a psy ...
's 1971 novel ''
The Dice Man The Dice Man is a 1971 novel by American novelist George Cockcroft, writing under the pen name, "Luke Rhinehart". The book tells the story of a psychiatrist who makes daily decisions based on the casting of a diсe. Cockcroft describes the ...
'', in which dice is used instead of a coin. Media studies professor Helge Rønning has interpreted "Flip Decision" as a satire over
existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
. The story features several themes that are common in Carl Barks' stories, including questionable professors and self-inflicted bad luck. The story introduced Daisy's nieces,
April, May and June This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...
, who would become regular characters in Disney comics. As in later stories, they appear as counterparts of Huey, Dewey and Louie.


See also

* List of Disney comics by Carl Barks


References


External links


"Flip Decision" (dt.: "Wappen oder Zahl?") Walt Disney's Comics & Stories Nr. 149 (1953)
*{{Inducks comic, W+WDC+149-01 Disney comics stories Donald Duck comics by Carl Barks 1952 in comics Coin flipping