Cover: Carl Buettner

Four Color #147

May 1947 · Dell · 0.10 USD

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About this Issue

Four Color #147 is a cornerstone of Carl Barks's early solo work on Donald Duck — a 32-page adventure that helped establish the template for the globe-trotting, comedically escalating Duck tales Barks would refine throughout the late 1940s and 1950s. Published in May 1947 as the fifth Donald Duck solo issue in Dell's Four Color run, it demonstrated that an all-ages funny-animal book could sustain a full-length narrative built on satirical plotting and genuine comic timing, well before that ambition was taken for granted in the genre. The story's art was submitted to Dell in December 1946, placing it squarely in the productive mid-period of Barks's anonymous early output — a body of work whose full authorship wouldn't be publicly credited until decades later. It also occupies an interesting bibliographic position: counting backwards from the first numbered issue of Dell's dedicated Donald Duck series (which launched at #26), Four Color #147 retroactively functions as Donald Duck #1.

Contains 4 stories

If the Hat Fits

1 pp · Anthropomorphic-Funny Animals

Donald Duck

Volcano Valley

30 pp · Adventure, Anthropomorphic-Funny Animals

Donald DuckHuey DuckDewey DuckLouie Duck

In "Volcano Valley," Donald Duck finds himself in a whirlwind adventure after mistakenly receiving a full-size WWII bomber instead of a model plane. Sent to the South American nation of Volcanovia, he and his family must navigate a bizarre rule: only national heroes may leave the country—though Donald’s attempts to earn that title only land him in trouble.

Donald Duck and Radio Trouble

10 pp · Anthropomorphic-Funny Animals

Donald DuckHuey DuckDewey DuckLouie DuckDaisy Duck

When Donald Duck sends Huey, Dewey, and Louie to buy six eggs, a flipped advertisement leads them straight to the Friendly Credit Store—where they walk out with six expensive radios instead. Now Donald must figure out how to pay for the unexpected purchase, all while his nephews try to keep the mix-up a secret.

Donald Duck's Big Blow-out

10 pp · Anthropomorphic-Funny Animals

Donald DuckHuey DuckDewey DuckLouie DuckNeighbor Jones

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Good) $66

CGC 9.8 · 1 in census $4,878

CGC 9.6 · 2 in census $2,822*

CGC 9.4 · 6 in census $2,592

CGC 9.2 · 7 in census $1,290

CGC 9.0 · 14 in census $968

CGC 8.5 · 18 in census $809

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 28 in census $550

CGC 7.5 · 30 in census $319

CGC 7.0 · 23 in census $195*

CGC 6.5 · 13 in census $135*

CGC 6.0 · 23 in census $135*

CGC 5.5 · 9 in census $135

CGC 5.0 · 9 in census $135

CGC 4.5 · 7 in census $135

CGC 4.0 · 7 in census $135

CGC 3.5 · 3 in census $113*

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $100*

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $81*

CGC 2.0 none in existence

CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $53*

CGC 1.0 none in existence

CGC 0.5 · 4 in census $37

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Carl Barks wrote and drew the lead story, submitting the art on December 9, 1946, with a companion short submitted December 30 of the same year, according to Grand Comics Database records sourced from Alberto Becattini's Disney Index. As was standard practice for Dell's Disney output at the time, Barks received no public creator credit — the book carried only the Walt Disney Productions copyright. The cover was handled by Carl Buettner rather than Barks, a common division of labor in Dell's Disney comics production of the era, while backup stories were contributed by Tom McKimson and Jack Hannah, both veterans of Disney animation.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published May 1947 by Dell; the full indicia title is 'Walt Disney's Donald Duck in Volcano Valley, No. 147.'
Lead story 'Volcano Valley' (32 pages): script, pencils, inks, and letters all by Carl Barks — art submitted December 9, 1946.
Plot: Donald accidentally receives a full-size WWII bomber instead of a model plane, sells it to the fictional South American nation of Volcanovia, and must become a national hero to leave — only to be declared a national menace instead.
Cover art by Carl Buettner; two 10-page backup stories by Tom McKimson ('Radio Trouble') and Jack Hannah ('The Big Blow Out!') round out the issue.
Features Donald Duck and his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
Retroactively numbered Donald Duck #1 by collectors and GCD editors, counting backwards from Dell's dedicated Donald Duck series which launched at #26 — though five earlier Four Color issues (including series I #4 and series II #9, #29, #62, and #108) also starred the character.
The Volcano Valley lead story has been reprinted numerous times internationally, including in The Carl Barks Library (Another Rainbow, 1983), Donald Duck #256 (Gladstone, 1987), Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney's Donald Duck Adventures in Color #5 (Gladstone, 1994), and The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library vol. 5 (Fantagraphics, 2013).
Dell Four Color was structured as a series of one-shots functioning as try-out vehicles; Donald Duck would eventually graduate to his own numbered ongoing Dell series in the early 1950s.