"The Good Duck Artist" - March 27, 2009

For comic readers in the 1950s, times could be grim. The art form was anything but respected, superheroes had mostly disappeared, and crime and horror comics were banned. Superman was busy pulling cruel practical jokes on his friends and Batman was fighting aliens, so for real adventure, readers turned to Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. What they found there was a series of globe-spanning treks featuring Donald Duck, his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and his wily and parsimonious uncle, Scrooge McDuck. Fans noticed that some of the stories were better-written and drawn than others, but since the Disney corporate image required the illusion that Unca Walt himself personally created everything that went out under his name, that one creator was known only as "The Good Duck Artist," rather than his real name: Carl Barks. When Barks retired (for the first time) in 1966, the secret of his real identity leaked out to fans who were delighted to finally be able to connect the artist's name to his work. Despite being in his mid-60s and having more than 25 years of comics behind him, Barks was persuaded to come out of retirement to write more stories featuring Donald and Daisy Duck and the Junior Woodchucks. Unable to put his art aside, he took up painting, concentrating mainly on farm scenes until he was commissioned to recreate one of his WDC&S covers. Word of his paintings spread like wildfire among collectors, and Barks was soon selling them for thousands of dollars each.  While Disney originally approved his efforts, unauthorized sales by a fan led to the company revoking his license until Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz persuaded Disney to change its corporate mind and allow Barks to continue creating paintings of Donald, Uncle Scrooge, and his other creations until his death in 2000 -- only months short of his 100th birthday. Museum exhibitions of his art have drawn hundreds of thousands of fans who are charmed by the humor and clarity of his work.  I met Barks in the 80s. Unlike the mob scenes at most of his appearances, he and his wife Garé were alone, so I got the chance to have a long talk with him. He was charming, funny, and surprisingly self-effacing for a man whose influence spread far beyond comics. How far? Remember the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark? They were taken from Barks's Seven Cities of Cibola. Bet you didn’t know the real Indiana Jones was Scrooge McDuck! Suggested Sites... Carl Barks - obsessively comprehensive Barks site. Carl Barks Fan Club - preserving the Barks legacy of stories and artwork for future generations. Grand Comics Database: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories - cover galleries and credits. Fantagraphics:The Complete Don Rosa Library - the further adventures of Uncle Scrooge and company, by Barks's greatest successor. You Tube: Carl Barks Meets His Fans - brief Q&A session about the relationship between Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge.