Carl Barks no doubt would have been puzzled if he had had the opportunity to glance at some of his front covers published in other countries. Not so much because of the, often, highly different use of colours (Barks always delivered his material in black and white), but more because his work was occasionally changed and mutilated. Sometimes this would be for a reason (see more HERE), but most of the times the publishers' altering dispositions seem strange and thoroughly unnecessary. For instance, why would a publisher feel the need to mirror a cover, remove background, or delete or add characters thus interfering with Barks' work? The answers will never see the light of day, but the mutilations are here for all to see.

This page will take a brief look at some foreign countries' Barks covers, and they have been sorted in alphabetically order according to the nation names. You will see Barks' original front covers accompanying the foreign covers in all examples. It is important to know that you are only treated to a very few examples of the more puzzling kind (no examples of surprising colouring, mirroring, background alterations), but, sadly, there are still plenty of examples to choose from....

U$45 - October 1963       Australia - Giant312	U$56 - March 1956       Australia - Giant679
WDCS242 - November 1960       Brazil - OPD488	WDCS159 - December 1953       Denmark AA08/1957
WDCS157 - October 1953       Finland - AA16/1958	WDCS261 - June 1962       Finland - AAP14
U$62 - March 1966       Germany - TGDD83	U$30 - June 1960       Greece - MM684
WDCS215 - August 1958       Holland - DD51/1958	U$08 - December 1954       Holland - DD48/1969
FC0456 - March 1953       Italy - AO53040	FC0275 - May 1950       Italy - AR73
FC1184 - May 1961       Italy - TL300 (back cover)	WDCS250 - July 1961       Italy - TL333
WDCS212 - May 1958       Norway - DD05/1959	U$09 - March 1955       Spain - DM157
U$56 - March 1956       Sweden - KA38/1967	WDCS236 - May 1960       Turkey - MIK9

EXTRA

Sometimes it would seem that the publishers were out to confuse the readers! Just look at these two perplexing examples:

WDCS108 - September 1949       Italy - AO50202 Here Barks' well-known front cover has been heavily altered, as the Ducks are all wearing turbans! The only plausible explanation for such vandalism must be that the Italian magazine contains the Barks story MOC04 Maharajah Donald...

FC0282 - July 1950       Italy - AO 54007 This is basically the same type of vandalism but with a twist. Again, Barks' original front cover is well-known, but in the Italian magazine only part of it has survived. The rest derives from the magazine's main story FC0009 Pirate Gold...