Customer Reviews

Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book

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Back when I was just a tater, I spent a lot of time waiting anxiously with the other kids for the next Donald Duck comic to hit the stands at the drugstore. Even at this undiscriminating stage, we all knew that one artist drew and wrote better Donald Duck stories than anyone else. He used exciting words that expanded our vocabularies, and his pictures were full of wonderful, imaginative details for us to pore over. We called him the "Good Duck Artist." The GDA, of course, was Carl Barks. His stories were filled with wry humor which made it possible for our folks to appreciate his comics as much as we did. If you haven't been introduced to Barks and his work, you've missed out -- and this book belongs in your library. It gives the comic aficianado a look at Barks' life, career, and artistic vision, beyond just "the ducks." From his early, sometimes rather racy work for "Coo Coo" and other "spicy" magazines to his current jewel-like oil paintings (of ducks and other subjects), this book provides a comprehensive review of a unique body of work by a surprisingly complex man. Whether you're an aspiring comic artist, or a Barks fan who wants to know more about Barks, or if you're just looking for a good book with lots of fun comic art, you should find something of interest here.

"Thank you for the copy of Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book by Michael Barrier, which we are thrilled to see finally in published form. It was worth the years of waiting, and we hope will supply the answers to the myriad of questions which Carl must answer thousands of times over. Now he can just say buy the Barrier book published by M. Lilien..." -- Gare Barks (Mrs. Carl Barks)

"Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book is the very long-awaited biography/bibliography/critique fo the Good Artist's work by Michael Barrier. It is published in a handsome, sturdy, well-designed hardcover edition by M. Lilien of New York, with a lovely dust jacket featuring a self-caricature of Barks on the front and a color photo of the Duck Man on the back. Inside you will find a detailed account of Barks' life and career, with each story discussed and highlighted. There are many photos of Barks as a young man, sketches and cartoons he did for the Calgary Eye-Opener and as inter-office gags at the Disney Studios... If you are a fan of Carl Barks, you simply, absolutely, positively and unquestionably must have this book and right now. If you are a comic-book student, you must have this book to see how thoroughly and well comics can and should be studied..." -- Don & Maggie Thompson, The Buyer's Guide For Comic Fandom (R)

"...Barrier covers not only the life of Barks but his particular thematic preoccupations (the "rescue theme" in which the parent/child roles are reversed is documented with considerable wisdom, for instance). The photos of Barks, his house, and other people he worked with are precious glimpses on an important period in comic book history, and the many drawings by Barks and others constitute a real treasure trove for both fans and scholars..." -- Cat Yronwode, The Buyer's Guide For Comic Fandom (R)

I bought this book quite a few years ago and am assuming that it remains essentially the same. If you know who Carl Barks is, and if you appreciate/enjoy his definitive comic book Duck stories, especially "Uncle Scrooge" (whom he created) and the Donald Duck feature in the old "Walt Disney's Comics & Stories", then you absolutely must have this book, despite its kingly price in hardcover. My first edition copy has no interior color and the b&w pics are not the best reproduction quality but, still, it is something that any self-respecting Barks fan must have in their library.

I bought this book quite a few years ago and am assuming that it remains essentially the same. If you know who Carl Barks is, and if you appreciate/enjoy his definitive comic book Duck stories, especially "Uncle Scrooge" (whom he created) and the Donald Duck feature in the old "Walt Disney's Comics & Stories", then you absolutely must have this book, despite its kingly price in hardcover. My first edition copy has no interior color and the b&w pics are not the best reproduction quality but, still, it is something that any self-respecting Barks fan must have in their library.

Carl Barks was a Walt Disney Studio animator in the golden era when they still cranked out cartoon shorts of Mickey, Donald and the gang. He was given an opportunity to work at Western Publishing, the comic book company to write and draw Donald Duck comics. Barks actually drew several titles and covers for Western (Gold Key and Whitman comics were part of Western) including Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, Walt Disney Comics and Stories, and others. Along the way he developed family and friends for the duck, including Uncle Scrooge, Gladstone Duck, Gyro Gearloose, Grandma Duck... and a whole detailed world for the ducks such as the city of Duckburg, Uncle Scrooge's money bin, the town's founder Cornelius Coot, and villians such as the Beagle Boys.

What Barks created exceeded everyone's expectations, especially his own as he was a very humble man who did not know until he was retired what a huge impact he had on his readers. He was an unsung hero as they did not allow the Disney comic artists to sign their work or publish their name in the titles. Barks simply became known as "the good duck artist" by his fans, we horded his comic books away and never knew his name back then. All this changed in 1981 when the Michael Barrier book came out and we all finally knew who he was and which were his comics. Barrier had wonderful interviews with Barks, who kindly shared his life story, his influences, and how he created his duck stories.

As we grew up, we learned that Barks work impacted many famous people who collected his works, like George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg who were kids themselves when the books were on the stands. The scene in the first Indiana Jones movie of the theft of an idol on a pedestal that triggers a series of traps including a giant rolling ball in the Indiana Jones movie is a intentional homage to a Barks comic, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #7 in a story titled, "The Seven Cities of Cibola." in 1954, and another story called "The Prize of Pizarro" from issue #26 in 1959 used a similar gag.

This book also includes a complete bibliography of all the stories by Barks, by title, date, description of cover art, reprints, plot summary, and more. There are also 4 very useful appendix in the book. All in all, an indispensable book on Barks, and still the best on Barks in my opinion.