Post by Matilda on Dec 31, 2018 0:17:21 GMT
My current faves:
Rosa: Scrooge's cheap gifts
I like this one so much I bought a copy of Weihnachtsalbum 1 just to get that illustration on a hardcover! My copy of Weihnachtsalbum looks better than the cover scan in Inducks, because there's no sticker on it. I have the copy of "Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck 2", also--that's where I first saw the illustration--but the Weihnachtsalbum cover shows it off better.
Barks: HDL caroling, dog howling
The original version, from WDC 148. I like it better than the remake based on Barks' painting, as seen on Gladstone's Christmas Parade 1. Mostly because I don't particularly like the look of the Ducks in Barks' paintings. But also, I'd rather have an anonymous hound in Donald's bedroom than Pluto. (It is an anonymous hound in the original, not Pluto, isn't it? That's what Inducks says.) It does have to be a hound, though. There was a Branca remake replacing the dog with Bolivar, and that doesn't work because he's not the sort of dog who would howl when there was singing. He doesn't even look like he's howling; is he just supposed to be barking? I won't believe the English-language description, because that says the boys are reading Donald a bedtime story!
Barks & Bucky O'Neill: Bear Mountain Scrooge
So, this is only Christmassy when you know the story. Though the red & green coloring makes it festive, and the starred blue "COMICS" logo was an inspired addition, making the whole cover stand out. According to Inducks, the only other contribution Bucky O'Neill made to Disney comics was lettering a bunch of stories.
Hank Porter: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Dopey & Pluto caroling to critters in the woods
I know this illustration from the cover of Gladstone's last issue of WDC, #633.
I love Rota, but here as with Bear Mountain Scrooge above, it's the coloring on the American cover that makes this a real winner. (Scroll down the page to see it--for some reason, I can't make a link to the Inducks page for the American U$ issue work.) The red background makes the whole thing more Christmassy, and the gold-edged white of the musical staff makes it glow. The whole musical staff was redone for the American cover, giving it a 3D effect and putting notes on it in proper proportion. (Anyone know what the tune is?) Removing the bell-ringing sound effects was a good idea, as was adding the snowflakes above the musical staff. From Inducks I see that this was originally the cover of the issue of Topolino which featured Martina's version of "A Christmas Carol."
Tello-Team: Donald and C&D sawing the same tree
This is a nice clean design and a funny idea. I think it works better than the covers like this one which show C&D having cut off the top of Donald's decorated tree indoors.
What are your favorite Christmas covers?