Staggering winded and achy across the finish line of this sixteen-post marathon, it's time to keep a semi-promise I made earlier in this (gasp!) sixteen-count-series... TOP THREE COVERS, finally - naming a THIRD cover to join THIS ONE...
And, of course, THIS magnificent Batman cover by Neal Adams!
And, while all of these had great stories backing those covers, they were primarily selected on the sheer brilliance of the covers themselves!
But for that final slot, I find myself looking beyond strictly images, getting into the story it illustrates and the significance of said story - simultaneously noting that the cover is great in and of itself!
So, without further ado (and "further a-don't", even) my list of TOP THREE COVERS - in no particular order - is rounded out by (...pause for effect, while we cue the drumroll)...
DONALD DUCK in LOST IN THE ANDES by the great Carl Barks (originally published in 1949 by Dell Comics, as part of their unparalleled-in-comics-history FOUR COLOR SERIES!)
...But, NOT the original printing as seen above! No, the one that means much more to me is its first American reprint in THE BEST OF DONALD DUCK #1 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: 1965)!
While it has a little less detail than the original FOUR COLOR cover, I feel the BLUE background served the illustration far better than the garish orange of the Dell version! You can take your pick!
But, as I indicated, it was what this version REPRESENTS that makes it special!
Walking up the corner street to the nearest soda fountain store that carried comics with my aunt (not the one with the nice house - but the "more fun" one who lived off-and-on with us) on a Friday early evening (knowing there was no school for two whole glorious days) and finding this on the rack! I was so excited, I didn't even WANT a fountain soda! I just wanted to get this baby home, and leap into it!
...And finding it to be (what *still is*) my choice for THE SINGLE GREATEST COMIC BOOK STORY OF ALL TIME! THIS POST can tell you why, and spare me the additional marathon-depleted-effort!
And so we name THE BEST OF DONALD DUCK #1 our well-deserved and final (whew!) cover number sixteen!
9 comments:
"I'm going to completely self-dissolve in a pail of liquid human-goo!"
Well, it could be worse... at least you're not being turned into a puppet.
Or... to the extent you felt like you were being turned into one, you're free now!
After this marathon, you've, like Porky Pig in this old Cartoon Network music video, "earned a little rest."
That said... I'm already looking forward to your next post... organic or not!
Sorry I haven't replied to the questions you asked on some of your replies to my earlier comments. I've been pretty "horrifically busy" lately, but I'll reply soon.
Can't think of a better way for you to close out this series than with your favorite comic book story of all time!
Just realized I forgot to include a link to the video I was referencing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vJLF4OauQ
Ooh, I *do* like that 1965 coloring of this classic Barks cover! Enough that I just went online and bought myself a copy (I found a decent enough copy at an affordable price). Will be happy to have that in my stack of comics with favorite covers! I had included the 1987 Gladstone version of the cover in that stack, but I never loved Donald's light blue sailor suit against the deep blue sky. The 1965 colors look best to me. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Sergio: (you write):
Quoting me: "I'm going to completely self-dissolve in a pail of liquid human-goo!"
Now quoting you: “Well, it could be worse... at least you're not being turned into a puppet. Or... to the extent you felt like you were being turned into one, you're free now!”
You know, Sergio, I could easily have been turned into a puppet and never know it, especially during this 16-post marathon, because I still haven’t deduced exactly what “being turned into a puppet” feels like!
Perhaps it happened just before the sixteen straight days of this mad challenge dissolved me into a pail of liquid human-goo… and I might have actually been “liquid human-puppet-goo” for all I knew, but, since goo neither sees nor feels (…yes, that’s how NUMB I was left by the experience), I would have been completely oblivious to the transformation!
I’m not at all certain as to how I congealed myself back into my somewhat-flawed-but-loveable self. Maybe someone walked into the room with a pizza… or a copy of that “Super Goof by Paul Murry” volume of Disney Masters I keep pushing for… or, best yet… Esther, Averi, Cici, and Logan WITH a pizza, AND (all together now) “a copy of that ‘Super Goof by Paul Murry’ volume of Disney Masters I keep pushing for”! After all, no “goo” can love his family, eat a pizza, or push for a "Super Goof by Paul Murry" volume of Disney Masters… thus catalyzing my restoration from such an ooey-gooey state!
Porky did indeed “earn a little rest” after the rigors of THIS VIDEO but, tough as it was, he never quite self-dissolved in a pail of bacon grease! …And, aren’t we glad about that!
“Sorry I haven't replied to the questions you asked on some of your replies to my earlier comments. I've been pretty "horrifically busy" lately, but I'll reply soon.”
No, it is *I* who should be (and am) sorry for taking this long to get to these comments! The ongoing business of life – and running smack into the assignment of a new 48-page Mickey Mouse adventure story, with a rather challenging twist to its translation process while still inhabiting that (all together now) "pail of liquid human-goo" – are among the factors!
“That said... I'm already looking forward to your next post... organic or not!”
After 16 consecutive posts, we might go a little light on the “organic” for a while, but I enjoyed it so much that it may very well make a comeback… when you – and certainly *I* - least expect it!
Say, there was a goodly bit of it here, wasn’t there! …Well, it IS 12:47 AM as I write this, so no surprise!
Elaine: (you write):
“Ooh, I *do* like that 1965 coloring of this classic Barks cover! Enough that I just went online and bought myself a copy (I found a decent enough copy at an affordable price). Will be happy to have that in my stack of comics with favorite covers!”
Yay, oh-yay, is all I can say! (…Sorry, I’m just training for an arduous translation task to come – he says cryptically!)
You can see why that version of the cover is my favorite of the three! As great as the original FOUR COLOR issue was – and remains – the coloring of the cover seriously failed to bring out the sheer greatness that lies within! Unlike the pair of Bugs Bunny FOUR COLOR covers I highlighted.
Sure, you can say it was the nostalgia of a good day-turning-into-night, and there’s definite truth to that – since the ambiance that surrounded the purchase of the book still stands out to me almost 60 years later – but the coloring is just “plain better”! Funny, considering the book itself was about a place called “Plain Awful”! …Don’t mind me, it’s only 1:08 AM as I write this!
One thing about Western Publishing that I feel we will NEVER EVER KNOW is who their colorists were! I’d imagine that anyone who DID know their names and any identifying factors of their work is very likely no longer with us – as, presumably, are the colorists themselves. GCD just employs the blanket credit of “Western Publishing Production Shop”.
But someone must have felt the 1965 cover colors were an improvement over the 1949 ones – or maybe never saw a colored version of the 1949 cover, and just went with what he or she thought best!
Either way, that person’s work struck a chord with me in 1965 – and with you in 2024! ISN’T THAT GREAT! …And serves as a prime example of what I meant when saying: everyone’s experiences are “similar, but different” in the most remarkable ways!
“ Yay, oh-yay, is all I can say!” Vic Lockman! Is that you? Or is it Dr. Seuss?
Oh, it is definitely Vic Lockman, Deb… but by-way-of Dr. Seuss!
After all, before there was Vic Lockman, there was Dr. Seuss! And, while Vic’s style remains an influence on me, Dr. Seuss was likely the first “nice on the ears” prose I’d ever noticed.
Great cover pics. I bought an original Andes printing a few months ago off eBay, thinking it was a steal at $12…then it arrived bent into four (it was just thrown into a bubble mailer), and missing the centerfold, which was not mentioned. Needless to say, I was so disgusted that I got a full refund and threw the book out. Yuck.
Austin:
Great to hear from you! I feel your ebay pain over your awful Andes original!
While we all know that most ebay sellers do deliver what they advertise (…within reasonable variances of interpretation when it comes to condition) and package it safely, my long-held original view of ebay still holds to some unfortunate extent.
That being ebay can be “the wild wild west” (not the good “Wild Wild West” with Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, but an “anything goes” sort of environment where sellers can be (and sometimes ARE) outright dishonest in their practices.
I’ve had a few such experiences (some particularly egregious) and, unfortunately, ebay does not always come down on the side of the ripped-off buyer! Though I’m glad they did in your case!
About the only place I might disagree with you is your throwing the book out! While I *DO* understand and sympathize with your disgust, and your reaction very much makes sense in that circumstance, I would not have rid myself of what can be (despite its poor condition) viewed as an irreplaceable artifact of 1949!
Nobody’s makin’ any more o’ these rarities and each one (again, regardless of condition) that is destroyed makes one less of them on this earth! As a collector, you know there’s just something special about holding a Gold or Silver Age original – especially with a noted story by a famous creator – that the dozen or so reprints that followed just cannot equal (…even though Elaine and I like the 1965 Gold Key reprint cover better - 😊)!
I have a TERRY-TOONS #58 from 1947, published by Timely (the publisher that eventually became Marvel), with Mighty Mouse written by Stan Lee, no less (though it only has 14 of that story’s 15 pages).
In this case, the multiple flaws were SO egregious that ebay issued me a full refund and so displeasing with massive “rodent chews” (the one thing I CANNOT ABIDE BY in a pre-owned comic – and were not mentioned in the seller’s listing, as was the missing centerfold and other unacceptable horrors) that I didn’t even store it with my regular collection! That said, I could not bear to take a 1947 artifact of comics-publishing history (noted creator, noted character, etc.) completely “off the board”, so it remains in my garage – in the seller’s original packaging – as a reminder to NEVER buy from that seller again!
It also occurs to me that it could actually be of some use to someone who has a coverless copy of this book – which is assumed to be rarer than an original “Lost in the Andes” simply because many more people bought Dell Disney comics than Timely Terry-Toons. …And even your “Andes” could be of similar use to someone with a coverless copy – and not enough budget to upgrade to a complete one. I plan to eventually put it on ebay – listing it COMPLETELY HONESTLY – for a mere pittance, because that’s what it’s worth, and hope it does some collector some good!
But again… I understand your frustration!
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