The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library

Fantagraphics launched the Complete Carl Barks Disney Library with Lost in the Andes in December 2011. Since then, they have released two volumes each year. The volumes in this library are numbered chronologically, but they are being released in a different order. For example, the first volume released, Lost in the Andes, is volume 7. Carl Barks Disney comics were published between 1942 and 1966. When the Complete Carl Barks Disney Library is completed, it will have around 30 volumes. Carl Barks is in the Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, and he is a Disney Legend which makes this library essential reading for Disney Duck Fans as well as all Disney and comic book fans.

The Seven Cities of Gold

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 14: The Seven Cities of Gold was released by Fantagraphics in November 2014.

Both illustrations that make up the cover of this book are from the story The Seven Cities of Cibola.

This edition of the Carl Barks library is 244 pages, and it includes 28 stories that were published in 1954-1955. There is a short biography on Carl Bark’s life as well as behind the scenes pictures and stories about each and every story that is included in this edition. It is full of great and interesting information. I am glad that it is included in this volume and every volume of the Carl Barks Disney Library.

Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 14 is available in hardcover and Kindle\Comixology versions. A link to buy this book can be found at the end of this review.

The next new release in this series, Carl Barks Library Vol. 21, Christmas in Duckburg, will be released in October 2019.

Included Stories

There are 28 Disney Duck stories included in The Seven Cities of Gold:

• The Seven Cities of Cibola
• The Million-Dollar Pigeon
• Temper Tampering
• Wrong Number
• The Mysterious Stone Ray
• A Campaign of Note
• Diner Dilemma
• Cash on the Brain
• The Lemming with the Locket
• Classy Taxi
• Blanket Investment
• The Tuckered Tiger
• Easy Mowing
• Ski Lift Letdown
• The Fabulous Philosopher’s Stone
• Cast of Thousands
• Deep Decision
• Heirloom Watch
• Smash Success
• Luncheon Lament
• The Great Steamboat Race
• Come as You Are
• Roundabout Hangout
• Riches, Riches, Everywhere!
• Watt an Occassion
• Doughnut Dare
• The Golden Fleecing
• A Sweet Deal

In the first story, Scrooge decides that he wants to find a new way to earn some income. He goes on a hunt with his family to look for arrow heads which turns into a treasure hunt for The Seven Cities of Cibola.

In The Million-Dollar Pigeon, Scrooge sends money to the bank via of carrier pigeon to be thrifty and save money. It is a great plan until the bird flies south for the winter.

It is the day that bills come due in Temper Tampering. Scrooge finds a nickel that was placed outside his building by his clerks to put him in a better mood.

Scrooge dials the Wrong Number when calling Daisy. He believes in talking to the phone operator for the full three minutes since he gets 3 minutes for the 10 cents that he paid.

Scrooge is starting to get gold fever when gold dust clogs all of his pores in The Mysterious Stone Ray. His remedy is to get some ocean air on the beach. A rescue mission emerges when his nephews find an SOS note in a bottle, but what happens when they discover that the note is from a Beagle Boy?

Scrooge runs for election as a Treasurer in A Campaign of Note, but he doesn’t want to spend any money for his campaign. When he suddenly figures out he needs to spend money to win, he turns to his nephews to find the best way to spend the money.

Scrooge tries to bargain at a diner for the price of a cup of coffee in Diner Dilemma.

Mrs. McMooch is looking for a handout from Scrooge in Cash on the Brain.

A lemming gets a hold of a special locket belonging to Scrooge McDuck in The Lemming with the Locket. Why is this locket important to Scrooge? It holds the combination to get into his money bin. This story was adapted into an episode called “Scrooge’s Pet” for the original DuckTales animated series.

In Classy Taxi, Scrooge turns his limo into a taxi to make some money on a rainy day.

Scrooge invests in an electric blanket to keep warm and to hatch chickens from their eggs in Blanket Investment.

Scrooge tries to draw higher attendance to the Duckburg Spring Festival in The Tuckered Tiger by hosting an animal race where he will reward the winner with his weight in diamonds. Who will win Scrooge’s horse or the Maharajah’s tiger?

Scrooge and Donald go back and forth on who has a better mower in Easy Mowing? Scrooge’s mower is a sheep.

Scrooge is running a ski lift where he does not charge customers to ride up the ski lift, but he charges them triple the amount to ride the ski lift down the mountain in Ski Lift Letdown.

Scrooge, Donald, and the nephews go on an adventure to find the Philosphers Stone in The Fabulous Philosopher’s Stone.

Scrooge’s doctor recommends that he gets some recreation time by going fishing in Cast of Thousands.

Scrooge gets a good deal for coffee in Deep Decision by using a folding cup that expands.

Scrooge’s family Heirloom Watch is the key for him getting an inheritance from his Uncle Quagmire McDuck. The watch can predict when the next eclipse of the sun will happen.

Scrooge starts up a pottery business which sets up shop at the bottom of a hill on a dangerous curve in Smash Success.

Scrooge takes Grandma Duck our for a dinner in Luncheon Lament. He gets sick after the meal, not from the food but from the price of some of the food.

Eighty five years ago, Scrooge’s Uncle, Captain Pothole McDuck, raced Horseshoe Hogg’s uncle in a steamboat race. Both steamboat’s had challenges that prevented them from completing the race that would give the winner full rights to a southern mansion. In The Great Steamboat Race, Scrooge McDuck and Horsehoe Hogg complete that race that their uncles started so long ago.

Scrooge gets invited to a Come as You Are party while he is taking a bath in a tub full of money.

Scrooge feeds a squirrel some nuts in a park in Roundabout Hangout. Scrooge comes up with a method to keep feeding the squirrel without having to buy more nuts.

Scrooge brags to his nephews that he can find riches anywhere in Riches, Riches, Everywhere! He picks a random spot on the globe, the deserts of Australia, to prove his point.

Instead of buying 75 candles for his birthday cake, Scrooge buys a light bulb that gives off the same wattage as 75 candles would to save some money in Watt an Occassion.

Scrooge bets the person working at a coffee shop that he can soak up all of the coffee with a single donut in Doughnut Dare. Scrooge wins the bet by using a doughnut that he made from a sponge.

Scrooge, Donald, and the nephews go up against the Larkies and a dragon on an adventure for some Golden Fleece to make Scrooge a new coat in The Golden Fleecing. The Larkies are what inspired the Harpies from an episode of DuckTales 2017. There is even a comic frame showing the Larkies flying away carrying a boat.

Even though Scrooge is thirsty, he still walks additional miles in the desert to get a better deal on the price of soda in A Sweet Deal.

Final Thoughts

This is definitely another solid volume of classic Carl Barks stories rich with family adventures and life lessons on how to save a buck or two. These Fantagraphics volumes are a treasure to all Disney Duck fans.

We get treated in the back of the book to a few of the fantastic comic covers that Carl Barks illustrated.

The behind the scenes content on each story really completes this volume for a comprehensive experience. I can’t wait to read through the rest of the volumes in the Carl Barks Library.

As a reminder: It would take a lot of time and money to compile a comic collection that included all of these stories. Anything that takes a lot of time and money would not be approved by Scrooge McDuck.

Thank you to Fantagraphics for allowing us to go through this Disney Duck journey. I feel smarter for increasing my Disney Duck knowledge base by reading this volume.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

You can order the book at the following links:

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 14: The Seven Cities of Gold

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