[Arts] The Good Duck Artist(s)-Carl Barks

[Julius2]

Author: Julius2
Original Thread: The Good Duck Artist(s)

Carl Barks

Carl Barks

Carl Barks was born March 27th 1901. He was one of the greatest comic
book artists of the past century. "But why?", one might ask. Because he created a
whole universe, developped characters and brought them to a whole new level; he
wrote and painted almost a thousand stories featuring some the greatest Disney
characters including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck and others. A
small article would be more explanatory though.

First Steps
It is common knowledge among fans that he started drawing from a very early
age, but he did not become an artist from the beginning. He never finished basic
education due to hearing problems so he had to start practicing jobs from an early
age. In fact, he practiced many professions-which he abandoned or was forced to
abandon quickly (something which inspired the constant job-finding problem
Donald Duck faces all the time). His first "real" job was no other than that of the
cartoonist. Most people think that cartoons are made easily simply by drawing a
couple of scenes and magically making them appear on screen. That's not even
half the work needed. The drawings must be connected together in order to have a
smooth animation. That's the job of the interbetweener, and that's what Barks did
when he startind working for the Disney studios. By quickly exhibiting his talent
and intelligence he was moved to the story department. Walt Disney believed that
the young man had good ideas worth being realised. There he met many brilliant
people, including Jack Hannah, who taught him many things about animation.
They managed to creat some very good stories which are now considered classics.

Comics!

Barks together with Hannah created a a small, simple comic book story based on
gags called "Pluto saves the Ship" featuring the most famous canine pet in the
world. His biggest work, however, was none other than the 64 page story called
"Donald Duck finds Pirate Gold" (created with the help of other artists). Both stories were realised a little time before
Barks left the Disney Studios (thus abandoning animation). The title of the story
mentioned, is misguiding, because his nephews also participated in the treasure
hunt. "Treasure hunt", "adventure". Words that no one back then could associate
with a family of... ducks. That is, no one, except for Uncle Carl. He was the first
man to put the family into such great adventures. By reading National
Geographic, he was inspired to draw marvelous scenery and as he said "he used to
travel in his armchair" (it took years for him to actually travel anywhere due to a
lack of passport).

Creator of a Universe

A term that applies to certain gods of various religions. But if comics were a
religion Barks would certainly be the God of that one. Before Barks Unca Donald
was just a tempered youngster and the three nephews a trio of spoiled,
ill-mannered kids. After Barks however, Donald became a little more adult
(without ever losing his funny side of course) and with a deeper personality. This is
proven by watching a cartoon with Donald and comparing it to a Barks' story.
The nephews were also changed. The duck genius came up with the "Junior
Woodchucks", a non-profit, rank filled, global organisation filled with medal
thirsty boy (debatable!) scouts. And then we have Scrooge ($crooge) McDuck, the
richest duck in the world (#1 Appearence: "Christmas on Bear Mountain"). Barks
gave him a background richer than his money bin (which was later added) by
refering to his earlier achievements. Gyro Gearloose, neighbour Jones, Little
Helper, Gladstone Gander, Gus Goose and many others (including bad guys,
always trying to steal McDucks hard earned fortune) were created by Carl Barks.
The city were the ducks live (as well as Calisota, the U.S. state where the city is
located) is also a creation of the great artist. Not only did Barks create many new
characters, he also reshaped the previous ones dramatically.

Synopsis
Uncle Carl, was and shall always be the "Good Duck Artist". His work is the
reason disney comic books are the way they are now and his fans are thousands.
His greatest character, Scrooge has his own biography and family tree (created by
Barks "successor", Don Rosa). All the Disney artists accept him as their "teacher".
Carl Barks died in August 25th 2000 leaving behind him a legacy.

Don Rosa

Don Rosa


Don Rosa was born in June 29th 1951. He is considered to be Carl Barks' successor, mainly because he continued the great duck adventures and because he created some of the best stories with Scrooge McDuck as the main character. An article follows, explaining his "title" and work.

First Steps

Don Rosa (full name: Keno Don Hugo Rosa), like Barks started drawing from a very early age. He has stated that he started drawing cartoons before he learnt how to write. His passion for comics quickly made him demonstrate his talent. He soon was influenced by Barks as he started reading the adventures of Uncle Scrooge. By realising his designing abilities he decided to enter the university of Kentucky (he grew up and still lives there) in order to become a civil engineer. He managed to successfully earn a Bachelor's Degree. But that's where his education ends. He did not receive any art education at all. It was in University when his first comics were published as part of the University newspaper. It was a small comic strip called Captain Kentucky, a parody of Superman that focused on political satire. The reseblance between the Captain and Rosa is trully remarkable. The Captain also appeared into the city's (Louisville) newspaper. But his carreer really started with Gladstone. Rosa noticed that Gladstone was publishing was publishing comic books with Disney characters. Disney comics had not been published for a very long time, so the artist was excited. He contacted the the editor and said "I am the man who can write and draw adventures with Scrooge McDuck", as he said in an interview. He was hired.

Europe!
His first published work featuring the Ducks was "The Son of the Sun". The story is still famous today. The main character was, of course, Scrooge accompanied by his nephews Donald and Huey, Louie, Dewey. This team was the one that was mostly used in his adventures. However, problems with his payments and Disney, made him abandon Gladstone. But what was about to follow was unexpected. European editors (especially Scandinavian ones) had been publishing some of his stories. Without knowing it much he had a huge fanbase in Europe. It was in 1990, when the Danish publisher Egmont requested him to join. Rosa joined with his former editor from Gladstone, Byron Erickson.

Expanding the Universe

Don Rosa not only worked with the pre-existing characters, but like Barks, he altered them. Scrooge became more of an adventurer. He is presented as a hard working personality and more just. He has earned his fortune by "being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties" like Barks wrote, but his fortne is now more than mere money. It's memories, as "each dime has its own memory". Scrooge's romantic life when he used to be a gold miner was described, too. Donald became more lazy and cowardly, but also more heroic sometimes. The nephews are more mature, and the use of the woodchucks' book became more frequent. Rosa made the "bad guys" funnier but also explored there history. The Beagle Boys, for example, becam a family of villains with their roots in Mississippi (their fathers were steamboat thieves!). Rosa also created a new villain: Arpin Lusène.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck

Don Rosa has stated that Scrooge has always been his favourite character. His editor asked him to write a series of stories focused on Scrooge's past. Rosa had already written a stry that took place in the 19th century, when Scrooge was a little boy, he like that type of stories and agreed. He wrote 12 episodes starting from 1877 and ending in 1947 (Christmas). In order to write the series he gathered information on Scrooge's past. This information is scattered around many stories and it was a very difficult task to gather all of them. In the Life and Times, Scrooge meets many legends of the past including the Dalton brothers and Theodore Roosvelt. Don Rosa loves history, and his work (LToS and others) is heavily based on historical facts. Later he wrote the LToS Companion which includes stories that take place in the past as well. For his graphic novel he received on of the greatest awards a comic artist can receive: the Will Eisner Award.

Conclusion
Don Rosa, is indubitabely one of the greatest Good Duck Artists of our century (and the past one). Although he is not well known in his homeland (USA), his stories are very famous in Europe and his Scandinavian fans are hundreds. His work has some controversy, because many believe he turned Donald into a lazy fool, while Scrooge became a hero. Nevertheless, his stories are considered one of the best in terms of plot and drawing style. Don retired in 2008 due to medical problems and problems with his editors.