Not all ducks are created equal

Walt Disney comic books were immensely popular with Australian readers for several decades, dating back to the first titles issued by John Sands Ltd. (Sydney), such as the Mickey Mouse Book, during the mid-1930s. However, most Australians grew up reading the Walt Disney comics published by W.G. Publications Pty Ltd during 1946-1978. While some of the early issues were printed in black & white, later Australian editions were printed (offshore) in full-colour, and were distributed throughout Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Of particular interest to Australian comic collectors are those issues featuring reprints of Donald Duck stories written and drawn by the late Carl Barks (1901 – 2000), who, in the eyes of many fans and critics, kept the Disney comics franchise alive for years, due to his adventurous storylines, dynamic yet graceful artwork, and inventive characterisations. Barks also added new members of the ‘Duck’ family, including his uncle, Scrooge McDuck, Gyro Gearloose and the Beagle Boys, to name but a few.

However, a recent discussion amongst some fellow comics’ aficionados revealed that, in at least one instance, Australian readers were not enjoying original Carl Barks artwork – but a poorly redrawn local version!

The Carl Barks story, ‘Adventure Down Under’, shows Donald Duck being hypnotised into believing he’s a kangaroo, and mistakenly boarding an aeroplane bound for his ‘home’ in Australia, only to be eventually rescued by his intrepid nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie.

‘Adventure Down Under’ was originally published in Dell’s Four Color No.159, dated August 1947. The cover of this issue is ‘Walt Disney’s Donald Duck in Ghost of the Grotto’. The story was first published in Australia by W.G. Publications Pty Ltd as Walt Disney’s Donald Duck in Adventure Down Under (Issue number ‘OS7’) [see image above], sometime in late 1948 – early 1949.

However, not only were two pages from the original Barks story cut from the Australian reprint, but it appears that the story itself was redrawn by an unidentified Australian artist [see panel at left].

Australian comic artist, and self-confessed Carl Barks devotee, Dillon Naylor, compared his copy of the 1940s Australian reprint, with a later, full-colour American reprint of ‘original’ American version [see panel below], and found some telling differences.

“I've fished out my [American reprint] copy and included an enlargement of two panels which show the differences - but you really need to see the originals up close to see it all properly. It's been light-boxed exactly, but Bark's line work is very precise and has a beautiful thick and thin quality to it. Check the shading on the kangaroo's tail where the lines all bleed together. The sloppiness is especially noticeable with the faces.”

“The lettering has all been redone as well. My theory is that they couldn't get hold of black & white film for this particular issue. Back then it was nearly impossible to make a clear, black & white film from a printed colour comic, so an answer might have been to hire some ‘stand-in’ to light-box [trace] it off the printed pages.”

While such practices weren’t uncommon amongst Australian comics publishers during the 1940s and 50s, most ‘retouching’ was restricted to partially redrawing covers, expanding panel sizes to accommodate the larger Australian printed format, or to excise references to American slang, and replace them with Australian expressions.

But this example raises the question about whether any further Carl Barks stories were comprehensively redrawn for the Australian editions – and, perhaps, throws into question some of the prices paid by Australian collectors who (quite rightly) thought they were purchasing unaltered, Australian reprints of Carl Barks-drawn Donald Duck stories. (However, some enterprising comic dealers might be tempted to promote these as ‘unique Australian variant issues’ to Carl Barks enthusiasts!)

The other intriguing aspect about this Australian reprint is the cover. The cover to Four Color No.159 depicts the lead story, ‘Ghost in the Grotto’. Decades later, the Gladstone edition of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck Adventures (No.11, February 1989) makes ‘Adventure Down Under’ the cover story [see image at left] – but the illustration is a modern-day version by Daan Jippes, and not Carl Barks.

To my knowledge (and I make no claim to being a Disney Comics expert!), the cover for the 1948-49 Australian reprint of 'Adventure Down Under' had not previously appeared in any American edition of the same story. So, was this an original Australian cover illustration?

Again, Dillon Naylor seems to think so: “The cover to the [Australian edition] was drawn by the interior artist, but not based on any inside panel I can see. I did also notice that the kangaroo is drawn more realistically, as though the artist had used a photo for reference. The Barks’ kangaroos [in the comic strip] are drawn with a round, black, Mickey Mouse-styled nose, while the kangaroo on the cover has more realistically drawn nose. So, I’m pretty certain this is a unique creation for this Australian edition.”

“I know of one other Carl Barks ‘Duck’ story that is redrawn in the same fashion, by what appears to be the same artist,” he adds. “Christmas Parade 6, published locally in 1958, features the Barks story, 'The Golden Christmas Tree', – so there may have been more of these ‘forged’ stories, but these are the only ones have in my collection.”

Perhaps more knowledgeable Disney Comics' collectors out there might care to enlighten us?

(Thanks to Dillon Naylor and David Studham for sharing their insights and information on this topic. )