10" x 7 1/2” Miniature Litho (1996)
 |
Full-color, comic reprint of “The Ghost of the Grotto ” |
 |
|
| Character images (c) Disney Enterprises, Inc. are provided for infor
mation purposes only and not for commercial reuse or reproduction. |
|
Donald, Huey and Louie stand watch near the ruin of an ancient galleon, fearful of what may lurk in the night … for young Dewey has been kidnapped by the mysterious Ghost of the Grotto, an armored apparition who -- according to legend -- appears once every fifty years and whisks away a young boy, who is never heard from again! Tonight is the fateful night. Carl Barks’ painting Menace From the Grotto is based on a scene from that story, “Ghost of the Grotto,” which first appeared in Donald Duck Four Color #159, August 1947 as a 26-page adventure.
The original 16”x12” oil painting, Barks’ 20th oil in 1975 (and 110th overall) was too small to be reproduced in the traditional large size, so Menace From the Grotto, printed in 16 colors, became Another Rainbow’s 12th Carl Barks miniature lithograph.
In Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book by Michael Barrier, Barks is quoted from an interview talking about “Ghost of the Grotto.” Barrier writes that “Barks said … this story was a rare example of a (tale) that was conceived as ten pages for Walt Disney’s Comics and grew into a longer story for Donald Duck . ‘I can remember the first idea I had on that was just trying to figure out something Donald could do. I thought of him sailing boats and came up with a potential ten pages of gathering sea-weed, and selling this kelp, which would give me a lot of gags with boats. Like (I have said) before, I think of a scene, I mean a locale, and think, “Well, I feel in the mood to draw boats and the ocean and so on,” and that would cause me to start working on that particular type of story. As I developed more and more things with the story, I think it’s quite possible that (the) Ghost of the Grotto was brought in as a menace. There is so much in that, I couldn’t have thought of it in a whole bucketful of writing at once. It had to have come out one thing after another’.” Carl’s recollections are right on the mark! To have conceived the full “Ghost of the Grotto” in an initial concept is hard to imagine. The story is so masterfully structured it shows thinking that would awe most novelists. It is such a beautifully woven texture of plots and subplots, Gladstone decided to include a copy of Donald Duck Adventures #9 -- a November 1988 reprinting -- with each miniature lithograph purchased of Menace From the Grotto, which tells the complete story, “Ghost of the Grotto.” (A special, new cover was drawn for the comic by long time fan favorite, Mike Royer, based on Barks’ painting. Mike has had a long, distinguished career in comics, inking legends such as Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics. He instantly accepted the offer, in part, as a Barks admirer and personal acquaintance. He also did another Gladstone cover adding background and special effects to an original concept by Daan Jippes with title and water by Carl Barks, inking “The Mystery of the Swamp,” for DDA #7, published two months earlier, which we feel is one of the company’s most impressive efforts among our 700+ comic and album covers of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Copies of Donald Duck Adventures #9 are available, while supplies last (See Gladstone web pages.)
Chronology: Both the painting and the comic book story were reprinted in The Carl Barks Library of Donald Duck Adventures in Color #7, that re-released the Old Duck Man’s long Donald Duck adventures from the 1940s-’60s chronologically. This series of 25 oversized 11”x 8 1/2” square-bound albums each contain a Trading Card with art and information about the story or stories in that book. Inside issue #7 is a very informative illustrated article, “The Ghost of Things to Come,” in which Associate Editor Geoffrey Blum reveals insights and conversations with Barks about the research and thinking that went into “Ghost of the Grotto.” As Blum comments, “It’s instructive to watch (Barks’) transformation of raw material into finished comic, for it shows (the man) evolving as an artist.” Very highly recommended! This album is also available from our company while supplies last. (See the address below.)
Menace From the Grotto was produced in four U.S. editions: 5 Progressive proof sets; 100 Gold Plates; 125 Ghost prints; and 595 Regular . These 10”x 7 1/2” minia-ture lithographs were trimmed to an overall size of 13 1/2”x10” and printed by Black Box of Chicago on Opalesque Keramique TM paper, constructed of 100% cotton fiber for strength and longevity and guaranteed not to fade under normal, stable storage conditions for hundreds of years.
- Regular Edition Price for #11 and up $395 (sold)
- Regular Edition Price for #2-10, add 15% (available)
- Regular Edition Price for #1, add 55% (available)
- Gold Plate Edition #11-100, add 20% (sold)
- Gold Plate Edition #2-10, add 55% (available)
- Gold Plate Edition #1, add 125% (sold)
- Publishers and Printer’s proofs, add 80% (available)
- Artist Proofs, add 120% (sold)
- Progressive Proofs, Special Editions and Foreign Editions, inquire. (available)