Carl Barks Library

The Carl Barks Library consists of ten sets, each containing three volumes in a slipcase. Its purpose is to reprint all Disney comics (and covers) by Carl Barks, nicely sorted by title and issue number. All except a few exceptions of the stories are in black and white. The exceptions are (Scared of Breaking Windows) [CBL01C,546], Sheriff of Bullet Valley [CBL01C,547], (Nephews Finicky at Food) [CBL01C,579], (Worm Holes in Antique) [CBL01C,580], Trick or Treat [CBL02C,465], (Christmas Violence) [CBL10C,689], and (Blinders gag) [CBL03C,706].

How to get hold of it

The latest Bud Plant Illustrated Books Catalog (September 1996)

#1 and #2 for $135 each; #4 $200; #6 $150; #7 $210; #8 $135; #9 $157; #10 $200. The address is

Bud Plant Comic Art
P.O. Box 1689,
Grass Valley, CA 95945-1689
USA
Phone (916) 273-2166 - Monday to Friday, 9-5 Pacific Time
Fax (916) 273-0915 - 24 hours.

Bear Mountain Enterprises

They might have them as well. 1995 they had sets 1, 2, and 3, used but in good condition, for $75 each or all for $215. Their address is

Bear Mountain Enterprises
Box 616 Victoria VA
23974 USA
Phone (804) 696-2925
Fax (804) 696 1675

Changes

Data by Daniel van Eijmeren, David Gerstein, Harry Fluks, Mike Pohjola and Byron Erickson. Also, some very useful data was taken from Johnny A. Grote's book Carl Barks - Werkverzeichnis der Comics. (Many thanks to Frank Fabian for supplying the information.)

Note: Some changes are done as an effort by the editors to correct some changes which have been made before the first print of a story (Trick or Treat for example), other changes don't omit/change the art itself (which is the case with The Golden River). Those changes are marked with [*].

Some people may wonder what is meant with restored. It means that faded (or almost faded) lines in the art were filled in by the CBL-editors. This might not have been a problem in itself, if it wasn't done with what looks like thick pens and a lack of a Barksian feel.

A note like [CBL01A,189] means that the story is printed in CBL set I, first volume (A), page 199.

Set I

OS 29: The Hard Loser [CBL01A,189]

Restored, although all the art looks very muddy.

After this set was printed, the original 1943 proof pages were discovered. For this reason, the version of the story in WDC 551 (1991) is far superior to the CBL-version (although the word queer in panel 1 of page 7 is changed into weird).

OS 29: Too Many Pets [CBL01A,199]

Restored, although all the art looks very muddy.

Set II

OS 238: Voodoo Hoodoo [CBL02A,016]

The faces of the natives are changed and the sharpened teeth are removed. The native dialect is deleted. Bombie the Zombie's nose is changed and the ring in his nose is removed. The dialogue referring to the ring moving as the correct answer to the quiz master's question is changed (panel 15.1). In panel 8 of page 22, the words "done for" of the original are replaced with "dead" (as Barks had originally intended).

OS 256: Luck of the North [CBL02A,053]

An Eskimo's dialogue is changed in three panels to become slightly more grammatical (words have been reordered in the sentence).

(Please note: This may only be the case in the Carl Barks Library in Color! Can someone check if it's really the case in the b/w CBL set 2?)

[*] DD 26: Trick or Treat [CBL02C,465]

A change due to the reconstruction of the story. On page 1, the caption of panel 2 is shortened. The original caption is not shown, but its text is mentioned in accompanying article.

[*] DD 26: (Frightful Face) [CBL02C,524]

Panel 7 is stretched in width a little, this to reconstruct Barks' original layout. This panel was shortened by Western to make room for a narrow text box calling attention to a cut-out Halloween mask on the comic's back cover.

[*] DD 45: (Dogcatcher Duck) [CBL02C,537]

On page 5, the 3rd and 4th tiers (panels 7-8 and 5-6) are switched to reconstruct Barks' original intention. Western mixed up these tiers while cutting out two pages of artwork from the story.

Set III

[*] US 13: Land Beneath the Ground [CBL03B,479]

Changes due to the reconstruction in the CBL. On panel 5 of page 4 (originally panel 1 of page 4) the text (and the size?) of the caption is altered. On panel 5 of page 6 (originally panel 5 of page 5), the dialogue is slightly changed. Both changes were made to make the inserting of some survived unpublished material possible. The original panels are not shown, but their texts are mentioned in accompanying article.

To make the inserting of a surviving half page possible (as the first half of page 4), a caption is added in its first panel. To make this caption fit in the artwork, the layout of the panel is changed. The original panel is shown in accompanying article.

US 17: A Cold Bargain [CBL03C,635]

In the CBL, the Brutopians' high cheekbones are removed. The phrase rich pig of a duck on panel 6 of page 3 is changed to rich dog of a duck.

Surprisingly, the story is now reprinted uncensored in Carl Barks Library in Color album #17.

US 20: City of Golden Roofs [CBL03C,741]

On panel 2 and 3 of page 7, the lines suggesting paving-stones of the sidewalk are removed. (Why?)

Set IV

[*] US 22: The Golden River [CBL04A,053]

Page cut by Barks himself (!) during the making of the story, is placed back into the story (as page 17). To make this possible, panel 1 of the original page 17 (now page 18) is removed. This art is published apart from the story. So, all art is printed, but not as Barks originally intended it.

[*] US 33: Tree Trick [CBL04B,318]

Panel 7 is shortened in at the left and right sides to reconstruct Barks' original layout. The original panel (twice as wide) is shown.

US 33: Bongo on the Congo [CBL04B,449]

Four panels are censored. On panel 7 of page 7, the heads of the natives have been changed. Instead of curly black hair, they now have punk hairstyles, horned helmets and bald heads. Interesting to note is that Barks himself did the redrawing of this panel, at the request of the CBL-editors (the censoring itself was of course not their decision!). On panels 1 and 3 of page 8, the bone through Old Boogerbooboo's nose is removed. In panel 2 of page 8, the two Qwak Qwak have bald heads instead of curly hair.

US 40: Oddball Odyssey [CBL04C,657]

For all panels, originally missing frames are added.

US 40: Posthasty Postman [CBL04C,677]

For all panels, thick black frames are added. This instead of the coloured ones in the original.

Set V

[*] US 51: How Green Was My Lettuce [CBL05A,207]

Changes due to reconstruction. Balloons are added, altered and deleted in the first two pages (as they were published by Western) to fill in surviving unpublished art. For the same reason, the silhouette of Scrooge is deleted from panel 8 of page 2 (as it was published by Western). A full explanation for all this altering is given in an article, where the original page 2 (as it was published by Western) is shown.

US 52: The Great Wig Mystery [CBL05A,227]

According to Johnny A. Grote, the splash-panel of the story is shortened in height at the lower border.

(Why? Couldn't the CBL-editors get a better version or was it already shortened in the first print? Or was the version the CBL used lenghtened and is it reconstructed as how Barks drew it?)

US 64: Treasure of Marco Polo [CBL05C,569]

Lots of dialogue is censored. Any reference to dictator, rebel, civil war or revolution is changed to General, soldier, or war. Panel 2 of page 16 and panel 7 of page 21 are changed. In both, the garrotte Soy Bheen is about to strangle a rebel with is removed in the CBL.

Go Slowly, Sands of Time [CBL05B,357]

The illustrations Barks both drew and coloured for this text-story are printed in greyscale.

Set VI

FSG '46: Santa's Stormy Visit [CBL06A,111]

Redrawn (or at least heavily restored) and relettered. The editors must have had a very bad version, since a lot of originally bold lettered words are gone in the new lettering.

The Carl Barks Library in Color uses a much much better version. The artwork is still often retouched, but this is perfectly done!

FGW '47: Three Good Little Ducks [CBL06A,119]

Restoration occurs throughout the story, most noticable in Donald's face in the bottom half of page 3 and in panel 4 of page 7.

In the Carl Barks Library in Color, the retouching of panel 8 of page 3 is a bit better (although in the original artwork Donald's beak couldn't be seen entirely because of the water falling on it). Too bad, the ugly eye of Donald in panel 4 of page 7 is still there.

CGW '47: Donald Duck's Atom Bomb [CBL06A,143]

Redrawn, relettered and censored. The redrawing is almost entirely done by Daan Jippes. His version is pasted into the original lay-out (one-tier pages instead of four-tier pages), which can most obviously being seen in panel 3 of page 29. Panel 1 of page 7, panel 3 of page 14 and panels 2 and 3 of page 25 are not redrawn by Jippes. Other redrawn (or at least restored) panels are used here, which are closer to the original. Lots of backgrounds are different from Jippes' version, but closer to the original.

Both panels on page 30 are censored. Originally, Donald had got a way picked out to make money - and lots of it! and went selling an atomic hair-grower at 100 dollar a bottle. In this censored version, Donald has more than money in mind and gives away free samples of a normal hair-grower. The word atomic is removed from the board, but most noticable are the cash register being replaced for a pyramid of bottles and the people in the queue having combs in their hands instead of bank-notes.

Detail: On page 16, the truncheon of a police-man is changed into handcuffs (which is already the case in Jippes' version).

MOC 20: Darkest Africa [CBL06A,053]

Redrawn, relettered and censored. The redrawing of page 1-5 and 10 is done by Daan Jippes, but the rest of it is done by Dick Vlottes. They followed the original and did not do the censoring, by the way (except for leaving out panel 3 of page 15). Unfortunately, Vlottes' redrawing doesn't look very much like Barks' style, which gives the story a very odd look.

The faces of the natives are changed, thick lips and pointed teeth are removed. Original panel 3 of page 15 pictured two cannibals showing their teeth, saying that they'll eat the ducks at moonrise if the professor doesn't tell them to let go. Here, this panel is removed and panel 4 is extended to fill the gab. The dialogue is changed at various places, references to cannibals are removed. Originally, the cannibals were bribed with two false teeth, now they get confederate dollars.

(A rumour circulates that Disney had ordered all the proofs destroyed years before the CBL publication. Is there anybody who can confirm/refute this? And if it's not true, does it mean they still exist or did they get lost in another way? Does this rumour also include Donald Duck's Atom Bomb and Race to the South Seas? Are the proofs of these stories also somehow lost/destroyed?)

MOC 41: Race to the South seas [CBL06A,075]

Redrawn by Daan Jippes, directly into the Dutch language. This can still be seen in panel 4 of page 2, where Dagobert appears on the lawyer's note instead of Scrooge and in panel 2 of page 8 the name Kwaak appears on the boat instead of Quack. Dialogue is either taken from (a muddy xerox of) the original art or relettered, most likely both.

Originally, the natives all had black hair (except the mayor on page 14) while Jippes left their hair blank. Besides this, the story has no (intended) differences with the original.

KGW '54: Donald Tells About Kites [CBL06A,151]

Redrawn, (or at least heavily restored). The dialogue is either taken from the original art or relettered, maybe both.

USGTD 1: (Fantastic River Race) [CBL06C,769]

The logo Uncle Scrooge is added in the splash-panel, which covers a part of the steamboat's smoke.

Set VII

WDC 34: (Good Deeds) [CBL07A,049]

According to Johnny A. Grote, drawings of about 1 cm length are pieced on at the right border of all pages. Is this true?

WDC 42: Kite Weather

The bottom half of page 6 is re-inked.

[*] WDC 63: (Ten-Dollar Dither) [CBL07B,339]

The halos shown above the heads of the ducks in the last panel are removed in the CBL. According to Barks in an April 1968 letter to Michael Barrier, they were added by an editor in the original. The halos didn't do any harm to Barks' art, and the Original panel is not shown.

WDC 70: (The Smugsnorkle Squatty) [CBL07B,409]

One half page redrawn: Panels 5 and 6 of page 9, and panels 1 and 2 of page 10.

WDC 80: (Donald's Posy Patch) [CBL07C,567]

Panel 3.8 is redrawn. Is the CBL-version taken from a reprint in which this panel was removed for whatever reasons? Is there someone who knows the story behind this?

WDC 87: (The Terrible Turkey) [CBL07C,639]

Pages 3, 5 and 6 are redrawn. This is odd, because in 1983 the original artwork was printed by Dutch publisher Oberon.

WH 845: Donald Duck and the Boys

Restored, most noticable on the ducks' eyes and beaks.

Set VIII and IX

No known changes.

Set X

WDC 240: The Fraidy Falcon [CBL10A,125]

Page 3 is restored, most noticable on the ducks' eyes and beaks.

WDC 242: Balloonatics [CBL10A,145]

Page 7 is restored, most noticable on the ducks' eyes and beaks.

WDC 255: Boat Buster [CBL10B,283]

Crayfish and jellyfish added in panel 9 of page 8. The work of a joker?

WDC 261: Medaling Around [CBL10B,343]

Splash panel is lengthened at the lower border. Changed from a Donald Duck story into a Junior Woodchuck story. The reason for this is that a reprint in Junior Woodchuck 23 (November 1973) was used. Since it wasn't the opening-story of the comic, the room which was left open for the indicia of WDC 261 wasn't nescessary anymore and therefore filled.

WDC 276: Beach Boy [CBL10B,499]

Fish skeleton and indefinable plant added in panel 6 of page 8. The work of a joker?

WDC 277: The Duckburg Pet Parade [CBL10B,509]

In panel 2 of page 3, Donald's speed-lines are retouched (with very thick lines).

Covers

Lots of covers in CBL 10 are reproduced in a very bad state, as if someone quickly took some polaroids and then submitted them for printing. These are the Barks-covers which are screwed up:

WDC 231, WDC 232, WDC 233, WDC 236, WDC 237, WDC 238, WDC 240, WDC 241, WDC 247, WDC 260, WDC 278, WDC 279, WDC 281, WDC 283, WDC 289, WDC 290, WDC 301, WDC 304, WDC 306, WDC 307, WDC 310, WDC 313, WDC 314, WDC 315, WDC 332, WDC 334, WDC 341, WDC 342, WDC 351, WDC 405

The 'un-Barkish' Barks-cover WDC 350 is printed in black-and-white (it was included in the last minute, since the editors at first thought it wasn't Barks).

On 2 December 1996, art-director Gary Leach told about these covers:

No argument that these were screwed up. This set had to be punched out before our CBL license expired. (Disney, in the process of taking over the comics license, was not in the mood to extend any other license we had at the time.) By the time we got the proofs on the photography of the covers, it was too late to redo anything, so it was print what we had or leave those covers unrepresented. We chose the former, for the sake of completing the job, and accept all brickbats for the lapse in quality.

Notes

1. There's one cover (which Barks only sketched) which isn't published in the CBL, even though it is mentioned in Mike Barrier's book Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book. This sketch was made in 1960. Much later, this cover was inked by Ulrich Schröder, and published in German fanzine Der Hamburger Donaldist #50 (January 1985, although the cover says December 1984). The cover was also printed on a Dutch weekly in 1992. As far as is known, the original sketch still hasn't surfaced in any publication. (Information from the Disney-Comics Mailing List, november 1996)

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