Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge "The Seven Cities of Gold": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 14

According to the expert commentary at the end of this book, the time period covered here was a very difficult time creatively for creator Carl Barks. For those of you wondering, we're talking 1955-1960. Apparently, Barks and the editors at Western Publishing butted heads over the contents of several stories. All of a sudden, the editorial staff began nitpicking over every little thing and especially took issue with anything that they deemed to be too violent.

The commentators don't seem to know why the sudden change. How good a comic book historian can these experts be if they can't make the connection that Western Publishing was freaking out over concerns brought about by the Comics Scare of the 1950s and the newly established Comics Code?!

True, I purchase and read the volumes of the Carl Barks collection out of order because I shop for the books based on current affordability and not sequence. Maybe in a previous or later volume, the commentaries will dive into the Comics Code. I just think if you're going to question why about something, you really either need to figure out the reasoning or don't call yourself the authority on something. It just makes for poor research. But that's probably just the history major in me coming out.

Within this difficult time, it's said that Barks' productivity waned and his creativity stagnated. I just don't see evidence of that in this book. In fact, for someone who grew up on DuckTales, this volume seems to align with that classic 80s toon the most out of the several volumes in this set I now own!

Several amazing adventures starring Uncle Scrooge and his nephews Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie take the ducks across the globe including an epic trek all over planet Earth in search of the fabled Philosopher's Stone. Then there's the sci-fi adventure The Mysterious Stone Ray starring those dastardly Beagle Boys. My favorite was The Golden Fleecing which I believe was adapted for the Disney cartoon series! Plus the origins of Scrooge's steamboat days are explored in action packed story titled The Great Steamboat Race. 

When I reviewed Don Rosa's The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, I commented how much I disliked the talent making Scrooge so ornery. Yet, this volume here confirms that Carl Barks was behind the anger because in reality, he was a very disgruntled man. I'd really like to read a biography about Barks. Though I'm not all that sure if such a thing exists. And if it does, I surely hope it's not written by the 'expert' who neglected to connect the damage Dr. Wertham did to the comic book industry in the 1950s to all the in-fighting between Carl Barks and his editors. For if it is, I might have to take a pass.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.