Customer Reviews

Disney Presents Carl Barks' Greatest Ducktales Stories Volume 1

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I first read these stories as a child when they came out in Disney comic books and I've never forgotten them. My friends and I would check out the latest Disney comics to see if the Donald and Scrooge stories were drawn by the "good duck artist" and only buy the comic books if they were. Of course Carl Barks was uncredited, so we never knew the "good duck artist's" name, but his drawings and his humor were unmistakable. Barks was one of the most talented cartoonists of his time, and his stories -- they're really quests, often based on ancient myths -- are always delightful and have stood the test of time. A wonderful gift for any child (or grown-up) who likes good graphic story-telling.

It's nice to have these two low price collections of those of Carl Barks duck comics from the 1950s that were adapted into the "Ducktales" cartoon series in the 90s. Carl Barks is one of the greatest comic book creators of all time, he's up there with Will Eisner, Osamu Tezuka, Jack kirby and Hergé. For some strange reason his stuff isn't as well known in the english speaking part of the world as in Scandinavia and Germany - over there he's considered one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th century, and his stories have been as popular with generations of kids as the Harry Potter books are now. Barks wrote and drew 6.000 pages of duck stories, so this is only a small taste of his storytelling talents. The longer adventure strips collected in these books were one of the main influences on the Indiana Jones movies. His shorter 10 page stories set in Duckburg (not included here) are an obvious influence on the humour and storytelling in The Simpsons.

UPDATE 2011: Note that Fantagraphics will soon start publishing the complete works of Barks (starting fall 2011), so for most people there may not be to pay inflated prices for this out-of-print volume.

This is great stuff... It's hard to beat these old, classic Carl Barks "Donald Duck" stories for their sheer entertainment value and craftsmanship, and for their family-friendly content. My kid recently expressed an interest in comic books, and I was dismayed to find out how little there is out there for really little kids to read... The old Harvey stuff is no longer on the market (and was way too dumb, anyway) and the superhero books I grew up on are just too violent, even reprints of the older stuff. The comicbook industry has grown up along with its readers, but it unfortunately forgot to leave some room for younger readers to enjoy the medium as well. Thank goodness, then, for these Disney reprints from Gladstone publishers -- if you're looking for kid-friendly comics that won't insult your intelligence, this is one of your best bets. (ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

Awesome awesome comics for children. Adventurous, fun, funny, timeless, visually appealing and overall harmless. Created in a different age when creativity was important not violence and bad behavior.

Great Comics! Inspired my youngest to love Scrooge and his nephews as I much as I do!