We have some great behind-the-scenes updates directly from the book’s editor and restoration artist, Kim Weston. He recently shared a status update on the progress of Carl Barks Pencils and Storyboards: King Scrooge the First and Other Stories – The Fantagraphics Studio Edition, giving us a much clearer picture of when we might actually see it land on our shelves.
Here is the breakdown of the latest news:
The Book is at the Printers
The most important piece of news is that the volume has been officially approved by Disney and is currently at the printers. The final cover art and contents page are locked in, and the updated assets should be reflecting on listing sites like Amazon very shortly.
Fluid Release Timeline
If you are tracking the release date on Amazon, you might want to keep your expectations flexible. Weston noted some conflicting data points regarding when the book will actually be available to readers:
- The Retail Listing: Amazon currently advertises a release date of September 15, 2026, though Weston is skeptical it will be widely available online by that exact date.
- The Copyright Page: The internal copyright page of the book officially lists the publication date as November 2026.
- The Reality of Distribution: Fantagraphics shipping timelines can be highly fluid. As a point of comparison, Weston pointed out that while the upcoming Uncle Scrooge: Lost Beneath the Sea has an official August 2026 copyright date, collectors in Europe and elsewhere were already receiving their copies in late May and early June.
The current goal: Weston is highly hopeful to have early physical copies in hand for the Baltimore Comic Con 2026 in late September, with wide distribution following in the autumn.
A Call to the Collector Community
Because the survival rate of Barks’ original production material is so low, these archival books rely entirely on the willingness of the community to share resources. Fewer than 300 original Barks story pages and covers are known to exist, scattered across more than 200 private collections worldwide—and the storyboard sketches and cover concepts are likely even more widely dispersed.
Weston put out a call to the fan community: if you own or have high-resolution scans/photographs of 3-tier or 4-tier original art, covers, storyboard scripts, or concept sketches, reaching out to contribute ensures that future historical volumes can continue to be compiled.
Source: Facebook CarlBarks Group