Uncle Scrooge's Father Passes...

Work smarter, not harder...




Eleven years ago today, Carl Barks went on into history...

At his home in Grants Pass, Oregon the man that created my favorite Disney comic to read as a child, passed away. He started at Disney in the mid Thirties and later went on to draw Donald and the gang well into the late Sixties. In his comics, the characters were dramatically different than the shorts. Donald was not near as much of a rascal and he took readers on adventures to exotic and exciting places way before Dr. Jones ever did. For an old man, he was mighty limber (Scrooge, not Barks). Carl did as Walt did, not creating stories for children, but the child in all of us. And I delighted in every issue he provided me. My love of adventure started with his words and pictures and I owe him a great deal of gratitude. Many youths of today will not even know him, but they do know of him through his creations.

And he lives on through them in comics, films, shorts and television...

A Christmas Carl...

As we come close to Christmas I thought it would be nice to also celebrate the creation of one of Walt Disney Comics most famous creations...

Uncle Scrooge.

A half a century old, the grumpy duck is! Fifty years ago. All the way back in 1947 Carl Barks wrote and drew a story called "Christmas on Bear Mountain" in Donald Duck comics. Dell Comics actually published it in "Donald Duck #178". It marked the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck of the Scottish clan of McDucks. He didn't have all the familiar personality quirks that we would come to love, but the core idea was there.

The story follows Donald, broke and unable to buy any gifts for his family. He gets a surprise invitation to his Uncle Scrooge's mansion way up on Bear Mountain. Scrooge has sent for his nephew so that he can test his character. He plans on scaring Donald by dressing up as a bear. But nothing in life happens as planned and a baby bear wanders into the living room while they're out and falls asleep beside the warm hearth of the fire place. Hilarity ensues and through a series of unintended consequences Scrooge believes that Donald has past his test and comes the next day to have Christmas with them.

Carl Barks never intended on using the character for other than that one issue, but he soon realized the fun he could have with ole' Scrooge McDuck and the rest is history.

Scrooge is my favorite Walt Disney comic book character. I remember as a child having my Pappaw take us out to a late dinner at a diner in my small, home town. When we would get up to pay the bill at the front counter there was a comic book rack across from the register. You know the kind, whole batches of comics placed in clear bags with three per bag. He'd always have me pick out a collection and I always picked a few Uncle Scrooge comics. I'd tear open the plastic wrapper as he drove us home and scan through them giggling. It's some fond memories I have of my Pappaw and that McDuck...

If you get a chance to find a copy of Donald Duck # 178, don't hesitate. It's a great story with wonderfully rendered Barks artwork. If you've ever read any of Don Rosa's work you'll notice he pays tribute to Barks tales, particularly "Bear Mountain" in his enormously entertaining stories.

So as you gather round to celebrate the holidays this week, remember that another thing we have to be thankful for is that rich, old Scrooge McDuck and the three cubic acres of wealth in his Money Bin. He looks pretty good for fifty, doesn't he?

The Illegitimate Son Of Carl Barks...

Now if you're a true Disney fan then you know who Carl Barks is. And if you've been reading this blog for very long you should definitely know who he is since I've posted a few things about him over the past year.

For those new to this world of Disney Geekdom, Carl Barks is the most famous Disney comic book artist... he started work at Walt Disney Productions in the animation department, but then started drawing Disney Comics and made some of the best stories concerning Donald Duck. He essentially created a lot of the mythology that revolves around Donald... from his home town of Duckburg to his foul relatives. One of these relatives is his greatest creation: Scrooge McDuck... one of the most popular Disney Comics characters and later in the late 80's/early 90's the star of his very own show "Ducktales", which was based on Carl Barks stories.

Whew... that was a long set-up for something that is not about Carl Barks. Anyway, Carl was irreplaceable... no one could take his place and certainly, no one could equal him. Now for the longest time Disney fans held this as one of the self-evident truths of Disney lore. Back in the 80's along came an artist by the name Don Rosa. Don not only drew great, highly detailed art for his stories, he actually wrote the stories as well. And they were not good stories... they were great stories. Barks himself would have been proud. It seems no one was as much of a Carl Barks fan as Don Rosa was... he could quote you from specific issues and had every story, every character down pat. Over the last decade his stories have earned him a very loyal following amongst Disney Comic Book fans(his largest following is in Europe). It's widely felt that the successor to Carl that never could exist actually did!

So who is Don Rosa?

Gioachino "Keno" Don Hugo Rosa was born in Louisville, Kentucky on June 29, 1951. An extremely talented comic book writer and illustrator known mainly for his stories featuring Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and other Disney characters. Don started working for Gladstone Publishing in the mid 80's after editor Byron Erickson received a phone call from Rosa asking to draw comics for them. Erickson told him send a story and he'd see if it was good enough for publication. Not thinking much else about it, Erickson went about his work until the day the story arrived that Don had written and drawn featuring Uncle Scrooge. The skeptical editor opened up the envelope and read the story Rosa had sent. It was a tale called "Son of the Sun" and the editor was amazed. Elated even at reading this fresh, smart and entertaining story from someone out of nowhere. Needless to say, he published it. The story became a huge success and was nominated for a Harvey Award.
Eventually Don stopped working for Gladstone because of creative differences, but as luck would have it he found work writing and drawing stories for the Dutch publisher Oberon, the publishers of an American Disney children's magazine called DuckTales (based on of the animated series) . He didn't work for them for very long and left soon after over financial disagreements.

Eventually, Rosa was contacted by Danish publisher Egmont, who had been publishing reprints of his stories. They wanted more of his stories. Thankfully for them, Don wanted to write and draw more of his stories as well. He joined Egmont in 1990 as a freelance writer/artist and has had a successful relationship with them ever-since. It was just after joining Egmont that he started work on what was to be his most famous work: "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck", a twelve chapter story featuring his favorite character, Uncle Scrooge. The series was extremely successful and won an Eisner Award(the Oscar of comics) for best continuing series in 1995. If you've never read this series and are a Disney Geek or fan... shame on you. Go out and purchase a copy right away.

Eventually the success of this series spawned a sequel known as "The Life and times of Scrooge McDuck Companion". Unfortunately, Egmont didn't want any additional chapters so the French publisher Picsou picked up the initial run and Rosa started freelancing for Picsou as well as Egmont.

Don Rosa still writes and draws stories for Egmont to this day. Fans of his work look forward to each and every new issue that comes out. Although he is mildly popular in America, he is highly regarded in Europe by Disney fans across the continent. Slowly, he is achieving more notoriety here in the States and his stories and artwork are prized possessions for Disney Geeks everywhere.

Take a break from your normal routine tomorrow and go into a comic-book shop. Ask the large man with the long hair and goatee behind the counter if they have any issues of Don Rosa there. If he's worth his salt in terms of having knowledge of Disney Comics, then he'll direct you to the Disney section and let you fall in love with with Uncle Scrooge all over again.

Just like we did with Carl Barks so many, many years ago...

Old Ducks Just Fade Away...

After more than 30 years writing and drawing "Donald Duck" and "Uncle Scrooge" comic books, Disney Legend Carl Barks retires from creating the books on this day in 1966. Although most fans of the comics don't yet know who draws those wonderful stories, over the next few years a large following begins to build.

Carl Barks didn't realize how influential he was with his Disney tales until well into the late 70's and early 80's. Always the humble man, he reflects back on his stories with surprising modesty.

We will not see another talent like his in Disney comics until the 90's gives us Don Rosa... known affectionately to some fans as "the lost son of Carl Barks"(more on him in a later post).