WALT DISNEY'S CARL BARKS LIBRARY DONALD DUCK Volume 1 1942-1950 XXL Deluxe Edition

600 pages with extended essay by Disney historian Jim Fanning. Suave yet short-tempered, Donald Duck was Walt Disney’s cartoon bad boy, a more complex foil to the ever-optimistic Mickey Mouse and a box-office draw from his earliest silver screen appearances. It was in comics that Donald continued to soar creatively, thanks to Carl Barks, the self-taught cartoonist whose masterful and imaginative work turned the quarrelsome quacker into a cultural icon. Spanning 1942 to 1950, this deluxe volume collects all of Barks’s earliest and most iconic tales from the Four Color anthology series, including Lost in the Andes, Luck of the North, Donald Duck and the Mummy’s Ring, and Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold plus much, much more. Throughout these top-selling adventures -- Donald Duck cartoons, comic strips and comic books helped keep the Disney studio afloat during the lean years of World War II -- Barks masterfully blended humor, action, and sharp characterization, crafting stories that remain as wise as they are hilarious. Barks’s synthesis of exaggerated cartoon characters with lush, realistic backgrounds, some researched from the pages of National Geographic magazine, created an entirely new art form, immersing readers in Donald’s triumphs and troubles. Introducing beloved supporting characters like identical nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and lucky cousin Gladstone Gander, these escapades enthralled younger audiences but were far from childish. They were sophisticated, complex, and often dark tales of behavioral insight and graphic brilliance. With hundreds of beautifully restored reproductions and an extended essay by Disney historian Jim Fanning, this collection is a fitting tribute to the sailor-suited hero and the revered "Duck Man" -- an official Disney Legend and comic book king. Hardcover with a two-tone slipcase, foil embossed, Aluminum print cover tipped into a leatherette-bound spine, numbered from 1000. Note: the carrying box these come in is meant as a shipping container. So they get bumped and scraped en route to us. We pass them on as-is. They are meant to be tossed after doing their duty and keeping each book pristine. We rebox each inside a larger box with padding, to keep this protective illustrated shipping box in the best condition for those hardcore collectors among you who may want to keep that intact also!! Each book inside is shrink-wrapped. Rush Service and International shipping could require an additional charge.