10"x 8 "Miniature Litho (1991)
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Over-sized, full-color comic book, spiral bound in white plastic, a special edition reprint of “A Christmas for Shacktown” |
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| Character images (c) Disney Enterprises, Inc. are provided for infor
mation purposes only and not for commercial reuse or reproduction. |
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Readers of Donald Duck comic books saw “A Christmas for Shacktown” for the first time in November 1951, less than ten years after Carl Barks’ prodigious three-decade output of 500 Disney duck stories had begun. This classic tale appeared in Donald Duck Four Color #367, two months before Uncle Scrooge #1, but the 32-pager had most of the earmarks that identified Scrooge stories to come: multiple scenes in the money bin (protected by a loaded cannon pointed at the front door), the hopeless loss of Scrooge’s fortune, its ultimate retrieval and … oh, yes, it also had a moral-tale-of-Christmastime ending with fellowship and good cheer. New and old-time fans alike often point to this story as their all-time favorite. The cover to the original printing (cover date January 1952) shows Donald dressed as Santa Claus, ringing a bell while riding a toy train. Nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie (tiny Santas with false white whiskers mimicking Donald’s) heft up a sack full of what surely are toys for the unfortunates of Shacktown. The Old Duck Man’s painting, Gifts for Shacktown, is based on that scene and was done shortly before Christmas in 1975. It is reproduced in the miniature lithograph full size, the first in Another Rainbow’s long-run series to be based on a specific holiday theme.
All copies in all editions worldwide of Gifts for Shacktown came originally with an over-sized, full-color comic book, spiral bound in white plastic, a special edition reprint of “A Christmas for Shacktown,” numbered to match the lithograph. (If you own the litho, hang on to the comic! Not much is deducted from the pair’s resale value if the comic book is missing, but its inclusion will definitely enhance the pair’s future resale potential.)
Gifts for Shacktown and text about the painting are printed as a double-page spread in The Fine Art of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck by Carl Barks (plate 93, pages 268-269, chronological number 115, Barks’ 25th oil painting from 1975). The Black Box in Chicago printed Gifts for Shacktown in three editions of continuous tone.
- 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% (sold)
- 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)