Walt Disney's Donald Duck: A Christmas for Shacktown

Carl Barks is a comics legend, a member of the William Randolph Hearst Cartoon Hall of Fame, an inaugural inductee to the Eisner Awards Comic Book Hall of Fame, and during his heyday when most comics artists were not recognized by name he was know as "The Good Duck Artist." For a couple years now Fantagraphics has systematically been reprinting his many works for Disney in beautiful hardback editions, and during this busy holiday time I chose to share A Christmas for Shacktown.

Reviews of this book have been glowing. Mark Squirek wrote, "This is classic art and storytelling from a master of the form." Duy Tano called this book "nothing less than a visual and narrative treat." And I wholeheartedly agree with J. Caleb Mozzocco who called it "pretty much perfect."

I do not think I have much to add to the heap of praise on this book, and so I will share with you this preview from the title story:

As you can see, Barks packs all kinds of personality, spirit, and verve into his works. The rest of the 22 stories in this book are not holiday themed, and they run the gamut from one-page gags to longer tales of humor and adventure. I would recommend them to readers of all ages, and I know that personally these are some of the comics that made me love the medium.

A Christmas for Shacktown was published by Fantagraphics Books, and they the rest of a preview and much more here.

Merry Christmas!

Carl Barks would have been 110 today

Company owned comic books did not always credit individual creators, but Carl Barks became one of the first to become well known. He began working for Disney in 1935 as an inbetweener, drawing the scenes showing movement between the key poses drawn by animators. In the 1940s he moonlighted as a comics artist, specializing in Donald Duck stories. Over time people began to recognize his style whether in comedies or imaginative adventure stories, and he came to be known as "The Good Duck Artist." It was not until 1960 that his name appeared in the comics and he became generally known.

Although he "retired" in the 1960s, Carl Barks worked on duck comics for 30 more years. He created a vast array of characters, notably Scrooge McDuck, the Beagle Boys, the Junior Woodchucks, Gyro Gearloose, and Gladstone Gander. An encyclopedic list of all the Disney comics Barks worked on is here.

An international superstar whose work has been enjoyed by millions upon millions, Barks was among the inaugural class inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. Showing just how far-reaching his influence has been, an asteroid was named after him by a scientist he inspired with his stories.