Post by Mesterius on Nov 14, 2020 19:32:58 GMT
If the Fanta Barks books had been produced and marketed more explicitly towards collectors - with an overall better editorial direction and quality control - I suspect that could have (possibly) been a defense against making these kinds of kid- or family-friendly changes. But as it is, the Barks books fall into a strange middle ground: they are for all intents and purposes meant to be a complete, archival edition, but the format and editorial style of the books (story notes of varying quality only in the back, not even forewords in many of the volumes) veer more towards a general-market type of book intended for all audiences. This differs markedly from the editorial approach to the Floyd Gottfredson and Don Rosa Libraries.
"I’ve always lamented what lousy job publishers have done with Carl Barks. I like the Another Rainbow editions, but they are purely collector editions made for guys like you and me. What I want to do is publish books that will find a general readership, because he deserves one. He deserves as wide a readership as possible. He’s accessible enough. He’s not one of those arcane, obscure cartoonists that the general public wouldn’t understand. His stuff can be read by children or adults, it can be understood on different levels. One of my goals is to publish it in a format that will reach that wider readership. I’m hoping parents buy it, read it themselves and also give it to their kids to read."
Gladstone's color albums from the 90s seem like a more well-thought-out and intelligently done 'popular edition', despite far less articles than the old CBL and censorings in a few stories that appeared untouched in Fanta's edition.