The Carl Barks Library of Donald Duck Adventures in Color #7

Carl Barks Library of Donald Duck Adventures in Color #7

by Carl Barks

Walt Disneys Donald Duck Adventures.
The Carl Barks Library of Donald Duck Adventures in Color # 7.

Comic

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Carl Barks was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck. He worked anonymously until late in his career; fans dubbed him "The Duck Man" and "The Good Duck Artist". In 1987, Barks was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Barks worked for the Disney Studio and Western Publishing where he created Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), The Junior Woodchucks (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Cornelius Coot (1952), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), John D. Rockerduck (1961) and Magica De Spell (1961).
He has been named by animation historian Leonard Maltin as "the most popular and widely read artist-writer in the world". Will Eisner called him "the Hans Christian Andersen of comic books." Beginning especially in the 1980s, Barks' artistic contributions would be a primary source for animated adaptations such as DuckTales and its 2017 remake.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains two full Donald Duck stories both written by legendary Disney artist Carl Barks and first published in 1947. The first, “The Ghost of the Grotto”, follows Donald and his nephews as they run a kelp-harvesting business and uncover a half-sunken galleon harboring a mysterious secret. The second, “Adventure Down Under”, has Donald hypnotized by a street magician into thinking he is a kangaroo, so he and his nephews end up going to Australia and spend most of their time in the outback. There is also a detailed three-page essay about how these comics fit into the development of Barks’s career.

I like reading old Donald Duck comic books as it reminds me of my early childhood, when I’d first learned to read by myself. In that more innocent time, I was only interested in entertaining stories with funny pictures and dialogue. But as an adult reader, I’m also fascinated to see how society has changed, from the technology available to the dominant political climate to the social rules and ethics. And in stories about Australia written by non-Australians, I’m always amused by what the storyteller gets wrong. Neither the writer nor the publisher seems to think it’s important to check anything, and unfortunately this gives a wildly inaccurate picture of Australia to the wider world.

But since the audience is children, that isn’t a priority. You don’t look to Disney for accuracy in literature or history or anything else for that matter. Ultimately, their content is (or should be) about how it appeals to their core audience. I can say that it was fun to revisit as an adult, and the essay provided some insights into the enduring creative output of Mr Barks.