tb

You have excellent taste, Mr. Bones. It's funny how I still remember the first time I read books like "Sheriff of Bullet Valley" over 30 years ago. It'll be fun to see if you'll find some inspiration for your paintings.

Not to disagree but 12 is a typical gag cover (car in water) but 11 13 14 are more oddball scenic. I've never even understood the gag for issue 10.

 

Link to issue 10 cover

 

I agree, I can not figure #10 out

But why should it be a gag? #10 is one of my absolute favorites because it's such a simple, iconic image of my top Duck. #3 is not funny either but it's probably the best cover in the entire run. I agree #11 is cool because it is so different, but it's too busy and confusing to be classic.

A lot of great posts over the last few days. I too love Bronty's avatar - WDCS 69 has got to be in the top 3 among the Kelly covers.

YK: fantastic stuff - thanks a lot for sharing. I have seen similar art for a number of Mickey Mouse Magazine coves (see link below) but never for a WDCS. I wouldn't be surprised if #11 is unique in this respect since it is the only one I can think of that was inspired by a short(?)...

http://comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=172440&GSub=40439

NR: Thanks, I had never seen this picture and it's a bit of a puzzle to me. The art looks the same as the original except some of the longer straight lines outlining the room do not appear in the art I have. There is another reproduction of the B/W art in the new CBSW (vol. V) that does not have these lines. They also appear to be missing in the photo of Barks signing the art that I posted earlier.

Geppi still has the remainder of the higher graded Crescent City run and who knows how many other sets of file copies he may be waiting to unload. It would be really nice if he would clarify this publicly since, right now, a few of us who have been bidding high multiples for these books don't really know what to think. Investing in subprime securities is starting to look like an interesting alternative...

Do you really expect him to let loose with that information? The only reason he has to reveal it would be if he does NOT have multiple high grade copies. Otherwise, one can infer the alternative from any silence. It goes back to tth's point. It's a huge amount of HG Ducks coming to market at one time. I'll be watching to see how they do.

 

Hi, I've been catching up on this thread and reading comments from some of the more opinionated posters on this issue. I would like to acquire an issue or two (or three) of those amazing High Grade WDCS books that Heritage has coming up. Obviously it will take multiples of guide to win those higher grade examples but like anyone who will be bidding, the dilemma is fearing that other high grade books from Geppis collection (or this mystery collector with the warehouse) will release others into the market IF indeed there are others.

 

A couple of questions, has there been a list complied (I know that Moondog mentioned that he would post a list, was this ever posted) ? And regardless of the multiples of these books, what is the opinion of those out there whether the ones listed now at Heritage are the highest OR are the highest examples being held until the lower grade ones sell (which makes the most sense for the owner(s) of these high grade books as to max-out, dollar wise …. i.e. sell the 9.2’s first while they are the current highest and then wait a few auctions, grade the better batch next and then sell those 9.4’s which would then be the highest).

 

Appreciate any thoughts on this …Thanks, Hank

Hi GAFan,

Great to hear from other people who enjoy these books. The February auction is a great opportunity, my message is just to factor in some risk. There are uncertainties about the supply of high grade Dell books that don't seem to apply to most other areas of GA comics.

In his most recent market report, Bob Overstreet wrote about how the sudden influx of warehouse finds can affect the market significantly. In the same article, he mentioned how two copies of FC 386 sold for over $25,000 each. Unfortunately, he left out the paragraph about the known quantities of Poughkeepsie and other file copies by mistake. I am sure it will be corrected in the new guide.

The market for high grade Duck books is getting downright bizarre. Comiclink just listed a WDCS 43 9.4 that sold for roughly 13x guide in 2007. The owner must sure have loved that book when he bought it.

 

maybe he ended up with an upgrade or a duplicate? how does the current listing price compare to the 2007 price?

I hope so. There are many other books listed that sold for record prices in 2006 and 2007, though. Hopefully this is not a fan who got discouraged after seeing Geppi's wholesale.

The market for high grade Duck books is getting downright bizarre. Comiclink just listed a WDCS 43 9.4 that sold for roughly 13x guide in 2007. The owner must sure have loved that book when he bought it.

Anyone know Glen Bray? I heard he was one of the first to approach Carl Barks about doing original art paintings.

 

It was from Glenn Bray that I first heard of Barks doing commissions.

 

Unfortunately I didn't act quickly enough to get in on the first wave of purchases. If I remember correctly Barks initial asking price for paintings was about $150.

Unfortunately, the new CBCW set is not available in English yet.

Geoffrey Bloom's article does indeed mention that Glen Bray was to pay $150 for the first painting, which was the very first Duck oil painting Barks did. Their agreement was that Barks was to put a week of work into it and Bray would pay the fixed price no matter how it turned out. There are other CBCW articles with lots of pictures of the two together, of Barks holding the first painting, and of Barks meeting with other early fans. Very, very interesting stuff for Barks fans.

Here are the illustrations of the "Tall Ship" paintings: the 1st, 5th, 2nd, and 7th. The article has other very nice reproductions of cover inspired paintings. CBSW literally has thousands of pages of background articles about everything related to Barks, including his paintings.

The title of the article translates to "fine art at the top". It talks about how the person who commissioned the first version originally wanted an exact replica of the cover with logo and all, but Barks talked him out of that.

The caption next to "Bora Bora" mentions that it was the only horizontally oriented version which gave Barks room to explore the background in more detail.

As with all Barks art, I personally have a strong preference for everything that is free of "investment potential". I think it's funny how most American experts tend to mention money bin and money lake paintings as the most valuable, because these are the ones that appeal the least to me. Likewise, I don't like all the paintings where the composition was changed to include Scrooge (like the last one below). The early paintings with genuine, speculation-free scenes are my own favorites.

To mark the occasion of this thread reaching 1000 pages I'll post one of my favorite items in my collection.

 

Wow, mr. Zoom, that has got to be the highlight of this thread so far for me! Among the 7 versions Barks did of this scene, I think this is the most unusual and interesting because of the horizontal layout. There is a big picture of it in volume VI of the new Carl Barks' Collected Works as part of an article of some of the best oils inspired by comic book covers.

Congrats, shiver. Have you seen the original Kelly cover to #45 in the Heritage auction (92123)? I noticed some fun details on it that I'd never seen before - like the drumsticks for example.

Geppi still has the remainder of the higher graded Crescent City run and who knows how many other sets of file copies he may be waiting to unload. It would be really nice if he would clarify this publicly since, right now, a few of us who have been bidding high multiples for these books don't really know what to think. Investing in subprime securities is starting to look like an interesting alternative...

I guess it depends how one interprets the question. It could be is as simple as Action 1.

 

Fixed it for you. (thumbs u

Action 1 is too lopsided: the most influential cover and story of the Golden Age but those few pages don't justify making it the most representative book overall. My vote would be for Superman 1, and my sampling of 5 representative books would include Detective 1, Marvel 1, Archie 1, and Four Color 62. The Golden Age was so much more than superheroes.

If you asked the same question in Europe, I suspect Four Color 223 would be in the #1 or #2 spot.

Sorry you didn't get it. There ought to be a ban against putting midgrade copies of the Barks issues of March of Comics in CGC holders - if any GA comics were meant to be browsed through these are the ones. Seeing the classic stories and gorgeous drawings on the cheap, flimsy pages is one of those absurd oddities that make the Golden Age so fun to collect.

Btw., I wonder whether the Barks drawings on the back covers of the MOCs ever have been reprinted? As far as I can tell, they were overlooked in the new European "Collected Works". Did anyone notice them in the libraries from Another Rainbow and Gladstone? Would be a fun bit of trivia if they were the only Barks Duck drawings never to be published again...

Likewise. This story has a very clever and timeless poke at lawyers - you can just tell how Barks must have been venting frustration over his divorce right at this time. Besides, this was the first US comic I ever bought as a collector.

Who is the mystery collector with the warehouse full of pallets of early Dell and Harvey file copies? Must be nice!

I know for sure that at least some of the people at CGC know several "hoarders". They probably know what you are talking about if you mention "NJ" in this context.

I'd be extremely thankful if you could post the list. It would be great if this information was available to everyone.

tth2: I do indeed have no complaints that I lost most of those auctions. I was later able to pick up some of the books for a fraction of what I originally bid. It has been nice to see prices go up and the supply improve. However, I am starting to doubt whether even the books that I always heard were "impossible" in high grade really are rare enough to justify prices of 10-30 x guide for 9.4 up. I had never seen any issue of WDCS 1-22 for sale in strict NM until 6 months ago, but since then there have been 5.

Thanks, moondog. The prices for these books are getting so high that it is extremely valuable to have this kind of background info. I wish everyone in the hobby were as forthcoming and helpful towards new collectors as you have been. I know many wonderful people who collect these books for all the right reasons and I'd hate to see them get burned by a false perception of scarcity. I envy collectors of Timely, DC, and even EC books where the supply situation seems much easier to figure out. Over the last few years, I've lost several record-breaking auctions only to see more copies of the same issues emerge shortly after. Books like March of Comics 20, WDCS 2, and numerous later issues of WDCS and US in 9.4-9.6 are examples of this. I lost a WDCS 19 (9.4) at 12 x guide last August and now a second copy in the same grade is suddenly for sale. I don't like this at all and am seriously considering moving completely to original art and other comics as a result.

Norin Radd: thanks for the fun car page. There are other examples for your showroom in WDCS 275, US 45, and US 58 but unfortunately I don't have time to scan them in.

when you say "them" are you talking about the life & times stories in particular, or rosa in general? At his best I like rosa every bit as much as barks. Very different, but just as good. At his worst, they don't capture, like you said. But he did some very, very good material and let's not forget barks had a few forgettable stories himself. Obviously I don't think anyone would put rosa above barks just for the huge difference in output alone, not to mention barks stories' intangible charm. But being second banana to barks is still pretty damn good in its own right.

I was only referring to the Lo$ run. I read a lot of Rosa stories back in the early 90s but only the first half of Lo$ since then. Some of the early stories were really cool and had their own character, whereas Lo$ seemed to attempt to fill gaps that never were meant to be filled with stuff that wasn't that interesting. Perhaps I was put off by that and lost interest in the other stories. It's time to get hold of the reprints.

Recently, the thing that most made an impact on me was how the eBay auction of the Rosa artwork was received on European Disney forums. Literally dozens of young collectors, who grew up with the Rosa stories, wanted to pitch in hundreds of dollars from their student stipends to get a page from that sci-fi story.

> Pirate Gold

Good point that this story was near impossible to read, but it was a very special case. The quality of the Duck stories picked up very quickly after that. Perhaps because Barks realized the potential for working full time as a comic book artist which gave him more of an incentive(?). "Pirate Gold" was written as a side job while he still worked for Disney. I like telecommuting myself and could certainly relate to why the comic book career might have appealed to Barks and motivated him to do his best.

those life & times stories didn't do much for me. I think it gets brought up just because its a) a big project and b) were published in sequential issues of scrooge, unlike most of his work.

That's what I felt as well. I've tried to read them and thought some were kid of novel, but I just never got captured by the stories. On the other hand, I've been rereading the 6,000 Barks pages over the past 3 years and thought at least 2/3 were a pure joy to read. Perhaps it's just a generation gap thing(?). As I've pointed out before, however, one of the truely remarkable things about working for Pixar was observing how the super talented people the story department worked. They had an extreme case of the pressure cooker effect you get when you put some of the smartest, most creative, and hardest working artists together in a small space and let them challenge each other in friendly competition. My own theory is that what made Barks' stories stand out was a combination of raw talent and - just as importantly - what he learned from the story department at Disney in the 30s. At Pixar, _everything_ was about story and a lot of knowledge was not written down anywhere. It just was passed from artist to artist. Everything I've read about the Disney studios around the time of "Snow White" sounds remarkably like the environment that existed at Pixar. Based on this, it makes perfect sense to me why so few other comic book artists, including Rosa, have come close to Barks in terms of storytelling.

Moondog, do you know if the run of file copies that were offered at Sotheby's or Christie's around 1994 was from this set? I remember it included all 12 issues from V5 with an average grade around NM-.

Also, do I understand correctly that this collection had multiple file copies of most of the early issues of WDC&S? That would be very interesting indeed.

Congratulations, AJD, that was a very thoughtful present.

Barks' signature changed over the years. Perhaps it would be possible to date it with some research... Barks would sign anything towards the end of his life but I have never heard of a book signed in the 70s. Does anyone know if he did signings at the conventions back then? I have an original that a previous owner told me he got signed in the early 70s for $100.

Well, the last twelve issues of Uncle Scrooge have had Rosa back covers celebrating the 60th anniversary of FC 178. That would be issues 372-383. Given the great public service you've done with your list (thank you - I've been meaning to do that for ages), I'll volunteer to list the themes. I'll get to it later today.

AJD: It would be interesting to hear which Rosa stories are considered as classics? For Barks, most fans would probably agree that "Only a Poor Old Man", "Lost in the Andes", "Christmas on Bear Mountain" etc. are keys and that the original art would have been the most desirable if it had existed. Any thoughts on Rosa?

ciorac: Thanks for the increcible CC photo. As for the V5#4, few people probably realize just how difficult it is to find some of these larger sized issues in nice condition. For several of them, I have never seen a copy better than FN which makes them far more challenging than any issue from V3 and V4. Luckily for my own run, I picked up two nice copies of #4 around 2001 (one of them from moondog, who told me it was the nicest he had seen). Nothing high grade since then.

shiver: Congrats on the Christmas for Shacktown. I am quietly hoping that Geppi will list the original cover art for sale some day. Just in case he happens to be reading this, I was the buyer of the WDCS 96 cover and would be very interested in a private deal for the FC 367 art.

Shiverbones: a fun little thing about V5#11 is how the red/white Taliaferro reprints on the inside back cover are hard to read because of the awkward way the panels are broken up. Aside from the great covers, it's all the experiments and workarounds during the transition towards the comic book format that makes this my favorite Disney title. Often while reading these books, you can tell how the editors had to put their square pegs into the round holes of the new medium.

Really glad to see you got this, tth2. It surely was one of the biggest bargains of 2008. I know first hand that this book would have gone higher if it had not been because other collectors were waiting for the other keys in the same auction. This one fell through the alphabetical cracks big time.

Is it really? I am not Rosa's biggest fan but this story looks pretty weak to me compared to most of his work. I counted around 1,000 pages on the list of his production that someone posted a couple of pages ago. Almost 100% of these probably still exist, which seems like a huge supply compared to GA and SA artists. I looked through the art on eBay and quite a few pages have more unappetizing monsters than they have Ducks. I would think that pages from "Life of Scrooge McDuck" (most of which I've yet to read) would be much more in demand. Based on all this, I found the price to be unusually high - not least given the financial crisis.