Best publisher/format to collect Carl Barks full library?

[luckygladstone]

Hello everyone.

What is the best publisher to go to for the full Carl Barks library in English?

I have a few books from the Fantagraphics hard cover series:
www.fantagraphics.com/collections/the-complete-carl-barks-library

And I have single issues of the Gladstone giant soft cover, like the Uncle Scrooge Adventures, published in the 1990s:
www.brucehamilton.com/GLAD/AAA%20Steve%20Files/Series2Albums/USA56pages/USAMAINPAGE.htm

Personally, I prefer the lightweight soft cover Gladstone giant format over the heavy/bulky Fantagraphics. But the Gladstone are expensive or hard to find these days. I might also settle for nice easy-to-read/hold editions that only have 1/3 of his best stories.

Thank you.

[alquackskey]

I'd say you're aware, but in case you're not, it's worth noting that in the Fantagraphics series, Volume 23 (Under the Polar Ice) was censored, with certain dialogue being altered.

I don't know the exact extent to which it was censored, but it ranges from somewhat reasonable in certain cases to outright bizarre in others.
If that's something that would bother you, you might want to consider other options (for those stories, at least).

[luckygladstone]

Mar 31, 2021 19:57:53 GMT alquackskey said:

I'd say you're aware, but in case you're not, it's worth noting that in the Fantagraphics series, Volume 23 (Under the Polar Ice) was censored, with certain dialogue being altered.

I don't know the exact extent to which it was censored, but it ranges from somewhat reasonable in certain cases to outright bizarre in others.
If that's something that would bother you, you might want to consider other options (for those stories, at least).

Thanks for replying. I'm not too fussy about modern censorship, so that's okay. I'm really trying to find the best publisher/format that's comfortable to read/enjoy and of good quality.

[deb]

The Fantagraphics books, bulky though they are, are the best way to collect Gottfredson’s work in the US. They’re uncensored and more complete than other Gottfredson reprints.

[caballero]

The Fantagraphics books are bulky?? Have you ever seen a Marvel Omnibus in person?

[Mesterius]

I think the Floyd Gottfredson Library books are fine for comfortable reading. They're nowhere near as bulky or heavy as IDW's collections of, say, Terry and the Pirates. I read them in bed myself.

But since you actually find Fantagraphics' Barks books bulky, you might feel otherwise about their Gottfredson books, too.

When it comes to Carl Barks, I'd say the best option for you by far is to collect Gladstone's series The Carl Barks Library in Color. Here you get almost all of Carl Barks' Disney comics in softbound albums, in A4 size and beautifully colored (MUCH better-looking than the primitive Western Publishing colors)... and they make for lightweight, comfortable reading. You might need to get a few Fanta volumes to fill some holes, but aside from that, the CBLiC sounds like what you're looking for.

[luckygladstone]

Apr 1, 2021 8:58:40 GMT Mesterius said:

I think the Floyd Gottfredson Library books are fine for comfortable reading. They're nowhere near as bulky or heavy as IDW's collections of, say, Terry and the Pirates. I read them in bed myself.

But since you actually find Fantagraphics' Barks books bulky, you might feel otherwise about their Gottfredson books, too.

When it comes to Carl Barks, I'd say the best option for you by far is to collect Gladstone's series The Carl Barks Library in Color. Here you get almost all of Carl Barks' Disney comics in softbound albums, in A4 size and beautifully colored (MUCH better-looking than the primitive Western Publishing colors)... and they make for lightweight, comfortable reading. You might need to get a few Fanta volumes to fill some holes, but aside from that, the CBLiC sounds like what you're looking for.

Thanks. Those Gladstone issues though are pretty expensive as far as collecting them all (much more $ than fantagraphics), plus out of print with a some issues hard to find anywhere.

I also find the colors in Fantagraphics slightly off (like the yellows). 

[hex]

If you want a full library of Carl Barks' Disney comics in English, you don't have a lot of options to choose from. But here are some ways:

Original 1st print comics – this is my dream collection, but it's time consuming and expensive to complete.

Any reprint of all stories – Most are not hard to find, and it could be done on a budget. But time consuming to keep track of everything if you don't go for any of the library collections. And if you only get "floppies" (not album and hardcover) and pay more than $2 for each comic it will probably be more expensive than just getting the Fantagraphics hardcovers.

Der Comic-Buch-Club's Carl Barks Gesammelte Werke – This doesn't sound like an English collection, but it actually is. It was published in Germany as a portfolio edition (loose sheets in b/w) in the 1970's. Not sure how complete this edition is, but I think it's close. Each volume is limited to 300 or 500 copies, and very hard to find.

Another Rainbow's Carl Barks Library – 10 box sets with a total for 30 books. All stories in black and white. Prices for these vary a lot, but being a bit patient, it's not going to be too much of a difference from getting the Fantagraphics books, and probably cheaper than all Gladstone albums. I paid about $950 for a complete AR collection a few years ago, while it will be about 30x29.90 ≈ $900 for the Fantagraphics set. One complete set is listed with starting bid at €999 on eBay right now.

Gladstone's Carl Barks Library – Album format with nice coloring. Pricey if you go for a complete collection. Generally I'm a big fan of this format for comics, but for Carl Barks I personally prefer a hardcover collection over these.

Fantagraphics' Carl Barks Library – Not completely published yet. But probably the easiest way to get a complete collection, and what I'd recommend for most people.

---

Size comparison:

From the left: regular comic book, Fantagraphics, Gladstone, Another Rainbow, Der Comic-Buch-Club

[luckygladstone]

Apr 1, 2021 19:16:30 GMT hex said:

If you want a full library of Carl Barks' Disney comics in English, you don't have a lot of options to choose from. But here are some ways:

Original 1st print comics – this is my dream collection, but it's time consuming and expensive to complete.

Any reprint of all stories – Most are not hard to find, and it could be done on a budget. But time consuming to keep track of everything if you don't go for any of the library collections. And if you only get "floppies" (not album and hardcover) and pay more than $2 for each comic it will probably be more expensive than just getting the Fantagraphics hardcovers.

Der Comic-Buch-Club's Carl Barks Gesammelte Werke – This doesn't sound like an English collection, but it actually is. It was published in Germany as a portfolio edition (loose sheets in b/w) in the 1970's. Not sure how complete this edition is, but I think it's close. Each volume is limited to 300 or 500 copies, and very hard to find.

Another Rainbow's Carl Barks Library – 10 box sets with a total for 30 books. All stories in black and white. Prices for these vary a lot, but being a bit patient, it's not going to be too much of a difference from getting the Fantagraphics books, and probably cheaper than all Gladstone albums. I paid about $950 for a complete AR collection a few years ago, while it will be about 30x29.90 ≈ $900 for the Fantagraphics set. One complete set is listed with starting bid at €999 on eBay right now.

Gladstone's Carl Barks Library – Album format with nice coloring. Pricey if you go for a complete collection. Generally I'm a big fan of this format for comics, but for Carl Barks I personally prefer a hardcover collection over these.

Fantagraphics' Carl Barks Library – Not completely published yet. But probably the easiest way to get a complete collection, and what I'd recommend for most people.

---

Size comparison:

From the left: regular comic book, Fantagraphics, Gladstone, Another Rainbow, Der Comic-Buch-Club

Thanks for your reply and the great photo. Of all the options, the one that sounds the most practical is the Fantagraphics (like you say), but I wish Gladstone was not out of print, as I think their format/colors are the best of all. The Fantagraphics full set might be $25x30 issues = $680, which is already quite a bit. The Gladstone full set is 2-3x as far as I can tell. It'd be great to see a reprint of the Gladstones, but I assume this will never happen because of licensing rights.

[cien2]

My first choice would be

Another Rainbow 10-slipcase series

but these are hard to find, some volumes are rare on second hand market and they can really cost a lot.



Gladstone's CBLiC is a close second

but believe it or not, these are also even harder to collect. I think this is because they were split into several themes, like WDC&S, U$A, DDA, GyroGearloose, U$ 1-pagers, etc. But I like the cards that came with it. I hope one day, a publisher will publish CBLiC in HC formats.



Fantagraphics was problematic right from the start. But probably the only available choice of full Barks collection on the market right now.

But it is the most recent and available to public. But I didnt like the choices they made when they announced it. They deliberately made the Barks Library smaller size than the other Library series. That can be tolerated to a certain extent, but the deal breaker for me was the coloring choice. The decision to cater to nostalgic 4-color scheme instead of using CBLiC color scheme had me going crazy. I had no attachment to the duck comics in american original forms and I was expecting Fanta to market a product to appeal to international market and kids market, but they instead cater to nostalgic adult market that is most exclusively on US.

I kept tab with Fanta Barks Library and one thing that kept popping up was, the articles/opinion/analysis piece in there pale in comparison with the AR and Gladstone's CBLiC articles. That coupled with the censorship made me glad I skipped it. I really expected the Fanta Barks Library to be AR 2.0 but as of right now, even CBLiC is vastly superior.


In the end though, the best format is easy. AR is the undisputed version. Availability wise though, Fanta version is probably easier to buy and complete than out of print books in secondary market.

[luckygladstone]

I compared a one-page gag in Fantagraphics (left) vs. Gladstone album (right). Check out the different coloration. I prefer the more vibrant, modern Gladstone. 

imgur.com/a/7DEa7Xl

[eljay]

Mar 31, 2021 19:57:53 GMT alquackskey said:

I'd say you're aware, but in case you're not, it's worth noting that in the Fantagraphics series, Volume 23 (Under the Polar Ice) was censored, with certain dialogue being altered.

Wow, I wasn't aware of this.(EDIT: I just checked and found the changed dialogue)

I always wanted to have the Another Rainbow library but the slipcases were too expensive when I first wanted to buy Barks comics and later I had already bought a lot of Gladstones because a comic shop was selling them at a cheap price. I have about 50 Gladstones. 

Later I collected all the Fantagraphics ones to finally have a complete Barks library but actually I still prefer the Gladstone coloring which many people don't seem to like.

What I noticed is that many try to sell the Another Rainbow library slipcases at high rates but even the mint condition ones aren't really selling. I've seen the same volumes on Ebay for ages. There was the whole library for 1000$ and even that didn't sell immediately. I think many people might already have the Fantagraphics books and prefer colored and new versions which might make someone think twice before he coughs up 1000 bucks for over 30 year old used books.

If the Another Rainbow version would come out now and I didn't have the Fantagraphics and Gladstones, that would be my first choice though. Gladstones are tough to get. At least with Fantagraphics you can get every volume at a decent price. 

[Mesterius]

Apr 2, 2021 14:27:32 GMT luckygladstone said:

I compared a one-page gag in Fantagraphics (left) vs. Gladstone album (right). Check out the different coloration. I prefer the more vibrant, modern Gladstone. 

imgur.com/a/7DEa7Xl

Uhhh... which specific Gladstone album is that? Those colors on the right don't look like The Carl Barks Library in Color to me.