AJD

Is there a nicer run of forty in comicdom? I think these covers are classics. There's a few here I'll upgrade at some stage, but the run is looking good. (Apologies for running the first pic again, but I thought they would look nice together.) I'll do the rest of the Barks originals next time (#41-71).

Nice books and congrats on the #1 spot! The Uncle Scrooge 15 is tough in high grade. The census shows three file copies in 9.4, a 9.0 and then it's your 7.5 and 3 at 7.0 - and that's it. There are twice as many 14s and 16s in corresponding grades. I had to wait quite a while to find a decent raw copy - and it's a 6.5/7.0 Andrew

Yes, that's the only place I can find these. I've tried some dealers and always look in antiques/collectable shops, but never see them.

It's been a good week at my mailbox. As well as some beautiful early Scrooges, I got four more 1964 Australian Mobil giveaways. There are 24 of these. I bought my first in early 2004, now I have 22 of them. Looking for #9 and 10... Here's the new ones. And I wanted to show this panel (which in this size comic is a full page). The Australian colouring went through several changes. In the first half of the 1960s it was at its best (IMHO) - and I think this panel is sensational. Enjoy. Andrew

I have been steadily upgrading my Scrooge collection. My focus is the original Barks books (1-71). I've just got some new early ones, and I really like the way the collection is coming along. I have been trying to work out how to take a mega group shot, but I think I'll do it in lots of 10. Here's the first:

there was a thread (maybe even in this thread) where we saw quite a few examples of this... imitation is the nicest form of flattery (unless copyrighted ) A cover swipe is one thing, but I think most artists use some form of reference for what they draw whether it be a photo or something else. I lived with an artist and his prof. would always convey how important it would be to find the right reference source. These are some fantastic examples. I wonder how many more there are out there? Rick, I remember seeing that thread as well. I distinctly remember the Action 8 and I think an Action 2 was found as well. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl Barks is well known for using National Geographic photos as reference, but at least once he was obviously 'inspired' by a Hal Foster panel (in The Golden Helmet). The Mummy's Ring (Four Color 29, 1943) has panels drawn almost straight from the October 1941 National Geographic and the inscriptions in the Pyramids comes from an earlier issue. The McDuck castle at Dismal Downs (FC 189, 1948) has elements of three different castles (including Macbeth's Cawdor) from NG issues the year before. Etc etc. I can scan some from the Barks Library if anyone is interested. 500th post

Big thanks to ft88 for a great Uncle Scrooge #17 at a great price. Way to go Ed! Best week in my mailbox for ages...

HUGE kodos to comiccitytn for shipping a pair of GA Gerbers to Australia despite it being a marginal proposition for him. Thanks Marc, much appreciated.

A tip of the proverbial hat to Transplant for a great Four Color 456. Barksian goodness...

I can't recall ever seeing one for sale. I checked the Heritage archives and, assuming that 'walt poster' and a few similar terms would have found it, they haven't sold one. Given the popularity of WDC&s though, there's bound to be some out there...?

Great score! Any chance of scanning a few internal pages of this one? I've never seen this book and would like to see Kelly's duck in action.

Much as I like getting the odd high-grade and/or big ticket book, sometimes it's the little buys that hit the spot. I got this one in today. Cost me less than $10 all up, and I really like it. This Barks cover is a gem.

So, how's the weather in your parts? Bit hot here.

Walt Kelly recycled this idea at least four times! Three times with ducks and this one, which is is my favourite of the four (and one of the books I own that I like most). The cigar sells it for me and the graduated colour is beautifully done.

That Frozen Gold fever is catching and I'm also in deep. Quite a story coming!! C'mon guys - we're running out of popcorn here. Stop teasing.

Just got in the last pogo I need to complete the run FC 105 & 148 + Pogo 1-16 Now to get the harder to find and more expensive Animal Comics...

A couple from the early 70s. This one is from the Australian WDC&S run. Most of them reprinted Dell/Gold Key covers, but a few were original to the Australian series and may have been produced here. I think this is one of them. The Inducks doesn't give any other reference for this cover - which I think is a nice gag well executed. This one is from the G series, which was like the Four Color series, but only had the Disney titles. (And unlike the US, Uncle Scrooge never broke out into his own series.) The 'Best of DD' issues collected three Barks ten pagers. The total number of pages (including covers) for most Australian Disneys was 32 (which was a problem for the 32 page stories, but I'll come back to that another time). The cover of this one may also have been redrawn locally. It is based on the cover of Dell WDC&S 195 but it is different in many details, especially Donald's pose. BTW, I was in Singapore and Brunei last year and went to a couple of second-hand book stores. I asked about these old comics. The owners remembered them, but hadn't seen any in years. I suspect the tropics weren't kind to them.

Is this the list advocating friendship, loyalty,honesty and respect as much more important than the almighty dollar or the bottom line ? Then count me in... (thumbs u I'd also never buy from anyone on the probation list. Never! No matter what the book was or how great a deal he gave. We all have to be strict about this - it kinda beats the purpose otherwise. Im in.. Try buying from me - just try.

YOU hope he doesn't expand his interest into foreign copies!!

Hey, I was three years old. I misremembered the stupid song as including April... As usual, Google is our friend (apologies in advance to non-Aussie readers who won't have a clue what all this is about): Decimal Change Over Song In come the dollars and in come the cents To replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence Be prepared for change when the coins begin to mix On the fourteenth of February 1966. Clink go the coins, clink, clink, clink Change over day is closer than you think Learn the value of the coins and the way that they appear And things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here.

I haven't bought any new Australian duck comics for quite some time, but I was glad to get these ones recently. This one is a reprint of Uncle Scrooge #30. I actually prefer this cover to the Dell edition. I think the yellow background does a much better job of selling the hot weather than the original light blue. And a WDC&S. This one reprints Dell #238 - the Australian numbers were offset by about 65 because they didn't start until 1946. The final edition was #380 in 1978. Minor points of interest are: The spelling 'color' which was used up until the mid 1960s. After that US spelling was avoided - to the point of word balloons being quite obviously edited to include an extra 'u' in words like colour and neighbour. I'll dig out some examples and post them when I get time. The currency - we used the British pounds, shillings, pence until April 1966, dollars and cents after that. I have a couple of issues from the couple of months before and during the transition that have both prices 1/- and 10c. Cheers, Andrew

The Mile High web site is quite a useful reference source for the Gold Key/Whitman overlap period. They list the books seperately - here's an example. Of course, while you're there you can buy them at Chuck's bargain basement prices...

FWIW, I'd be carefulnto not do something to a book I owned to make it look worse and I'd be even more careful to not do anything that would harm the book in any way. Removing CT that is well done and inconspicuous will certainly do the first and I'd have thought probably the second. (There must be some level at which the colour is bonded to the surface.) I'd leave it and enjoy it. If the PLOD bothers you, crack it and mylar it - it'd look wonderful! Andrew (another one - not you )