Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Mystery of the Swamp

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library #3

by Carl Barks

From the Everglades to the Grand Canyon, danger and intrigue at every turn! Carl Barks’s first foray into his signature series of adventures in “lost civilizations'' takes the Ducks deep into the Everglades, where they find themselves bedeviled by the enigmatic Gneezles, who have escaped detection from outsiders since the days of Ponce de León ― and want to keep it that way. Then, the fun comes fast and furious as Donald invents a radar detector to track the nephews, the boys open their own detective agency, an ice-skating race, a water-skiing race, the nephews fall into the Grand Canyon (!), and Donald decides to build the largest kite in the world! Barks’s only Mickey Mouse mystery, “Mickey Mouse and Riddle of the Red Hat.” As we circle back to Carl Barks’s earlier stories, the Good Duck Artist delivers another superb collection of surprise, delight, comedy, adventure, and all-around cartooning brilliance. 215 pages of story and art, each meticulously restored and newly colored. Insightful story notes by an international panel of Barks experts ― including internationally famed cartoonist Freddy Milton (Donald Duck, Woody Woodpecker). Full-color illustrations throughout

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Humor, Childrens

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2024

About the author

Carl Barks was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck. He worked anonymously until late in his career; fans dubbed him "The Duck Man" and "The Good Duck Artist". In 1987, Barks was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Barks worked for the Disney Studio and Western Publishing where he created Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), The Junior Woodchucks (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Cornelius Coot (1952), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), John D. Rockerduck (1961) and Magica De Spell (1961).
He has been named by animation historian Leonard Maltin as "the most popular and widely read artist-writer in the world". Will Eisner called him "the Hans Christian Andersen of comic books." Beginning especially in the 1980s, Barks' artistic contributions would be a primary source for animated adaptations such as DuckTales and its 2017 remake.

Reviews

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I (almost) always love these collections and look forward to each release with hot anticipation. This book collects some of Barks' earliest tales, most of which I had read before--but the title mystery was new to me (and had some charm). Most of the stories here are shorts, and not the longer adventures that Barks would arguably become more famous for (though his ten-pagers are also often masterpieces). So much of this book is just sheer nostalgia love. The entire series has fresh meaning for me because I read so many of them while I was in the hospital a few years ago, and they helped keep me sane. I really love these books, and while the commentary in the back continues to only partially fulfill, it's not so bad--sometimes I get some really interesting tidbits or surprising edits.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl Barks is one of my favorite artists/writers and I love the hardcover "Complete Carl Barks Library", I try to get at least one and sometimes two a year and they never fail to amaze. The quality of the actual book is as great as the quality of the stories, the art, the humor - beyond compare. This one was as good as any other that I've ever read and even includes a Mickey Mouse story at the end. I do love humor comics, everything from Donald, Mickey, Uncle Scrooge, Archie, Sad Sack, Richie Rich and the list goes on - I wish they were more of "a thing" these days but until that happens, I'll keep reading the old ones.

Great stuff! Carl Barks is a genius.

[David Corleto-Bales]

The legendary Carl Barks, (1901-2000) drew Donald Duck and his universe for Walt Disney from 1942 to 1966. In this book are cartoons from 1945 and 1946, including the only Mickey Mouse story that Barks did for Disney from 1946. Donald is typically striving for some money making venture, but also always in competition with his three enterprising nephews and trying to keep Daisy happy, (easier said than done.)

[Steven desJardins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl Barks hasn't quite hit his stride in this collection of early Duck comics, but everything he did was great.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as great as his later work, but it has some fun stories and terrific art

[Charlie R · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s great to see this era of Barks, where his artwork has settled in and his storytelling chops are developing. While there aren’t really many long tales, getting so many ten pagers is a treat!

[KingDanOfNewTrails · Rating 5 out of 5]

9.2/10
Not as great as Carl Barks’ later work, but I still think it’s incredible.Also this volume features the only Mickey Mouse story he ever worked on.

[Jameson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early and late Barks are still fun, if not great fun, and this volume gets better as it goes along. And by the end even though Donald’s neck is still elongated, the stories are pretty good.