Articles from KOMIX #139

[Kriton Kyrimis]

I am posting a translation of two editorials from last month's Komix,
as well as the interview with Don from that issue, as I believe they are
of general interes to the list. [Items within square brackets are my
own comments. Everything else is as faithful a translation as I could
make from the original Greek. Remember that "Especially Dedicated"
is the Greek title for "A Little Something Special".]

Enjoy,

Kriton.
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                            ***************
                            *** WARNING ***
                            ***************
The end of Don's interview contains an even bigger spoiler for "A
Little Something Special" than Geoffrey Blum's article in the Gladstone
publication, as Don explains why that article spoiled the story for
those who hadn't read it yet. [Yes, Komix published the interview *after*
the story.]
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                            *** WARNING ***
                            ***************
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[From the letters page]

_The issue of Komix that you hold in your hands is a double, celebratory
issue, celebrating the new millennium with a special on the three top artists,
Carl Barks, Romano Scarpa, and Don Rosa, with three three of their best
stories. Especially dedicated, then, from all of us to all of you. Many happy
returns!

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               From America to Italy and back again
                        THREE TOP CREATORS

    Regarding the most important comics creators in the Disney world, it
    appears that success always knocks three times. the role they played
    in forming the duck mythology was definitive. Today, their work is
    read by and entertains millions of readers throughout the world and
    it appears that it will continue to do so in the coming decade.


Carl Barks, Romano Scarpa, Don Rosa.  The conditions under which they
developed their creative activity were distinctly different among them. Carl
Barks began drawing his stories in America of the '40s, at the time when
comic books began to appear. In Italy, Scarpa, starting from Gottfredson's
work, began building his own tradition and putting the foundations for what
would later become known as the Italian school. Many years had to pass until
Don Rosa, driven mainly by his admiration towards the great master, Carl
Barks, created his own classic stories, continuing the tradition.


THE DUCK MAN'S ERA

During the time when Carl Barks accepted Western Publishing's proposal to
create each month a ten-page story starring Donald Duck for Walt Disney's
Comics & Stories, he had already worked as an animator at Disney Studios. It
would not be an exaggeration to say that thanks to his pen, the ducks became
some of the most famous and most recognizable comics characters in the entire
world. During his long carrier, Barks created an entire universe for the
ducks, while he also breathed life into characters that enriched that universe.
Characters such as uncle Scrooge, Magica, the Beagle Boys, Gladstone, and
John Rockerduck.


AND THERE WAS... SCROOGE

Barks drew stories that would first of all satisfy himself. When, in 1947, he
needed a rich uncle for a Christmas story starring Donald, he created a
character that would transcend time and become famous throughout the world, the
extremely rich Scrooge McDuck. At first, he was nothing but a very rich duck,
a parody of Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' story _A Christmas Carol_,
and nobody could imagine that this duck would meet with such a success.
However, thanks to the pen of his creator, uncle Scrooge acquired a
personality and a past, whose roots reach to the American pre-industrial age
and the years of the gold rush.

Today, Barks story production, from 1942 up to 1967, when he retired, looms
impressive, and uncle Scrooge's long adventures have a prominent place in the
heart of the readers. Their hero has become a trademark of the classic
barksian adventure.


ITALIAN SPECIALTY

During the middle of the '50s, in neighboring Italy, a Venetian artist called
Romano Scarpa would undertake the difficult task of continuing the Mickey
Mouse stories drawn by another American pioneer, Gottfredson. The Italian
creator created adventures through which his Mediterranean temperament was
strongly expressed. *The Lentils of Babylon*, which we publish in this issue,
are one of the best samples of Scarpa's artistic vein where, apart from the
drawing, he also signs the script of most of his adventures.

The "comics maestro", as his fans call him, also created a multitude of new
characters that enriched the Duckburg and Mickey City universe, exactly like
Carl Barks had done, whom the great Venetian had the opportunity to meet and
to exchange compliments, ideas, and drawings with him. Not hiding his
admiration for Scarpa's work, Barks will mail him an idea that not only would
the Italian maestro turn into a story, but would be used excessively by his
imitators: the dollar perfume which drives uncle Scrooge mad.


THE ROSA PHENOMENON

During the end of the '80s, the lack of a great story-teller, such as Carl
Barks, had been more evident than ever. Neither his stories, which were already
being reprinted since 1970, nor the few by Romano Scarpa, which even after a
decade had managed to cross the Atlantic, were enough to cover the needs of
comic books. It was then that, in 1986, like a deus ex machina, Don Rosa made
his appearance.

After the publication of his first story, titled *Son of the Sun* (_Komix_
#89), the road opened for the most charismatic successor of Carl Barks. During
his, up to now, twelve-year career, Rosa had created a series of
stories that read like novels, which have redefined the duck universe, while
the grand epic, which he created in 1992, the *Life and Times of Scrooge
McDuck* (_Komix #100-111), has been honored with the Will Eisner award. Until
then, never before had the ducks' adventures contained so many references to
older stories, inside jokes, and hidden details, which initially only Barks'
studious readers were in a position to find.

Until then, this element from the series of stories that he created could only
be found in super-hero comics series, where readers would confirm their
"complicity" with the artist and the fanatical admirers of the character,
through elements that only they could recognize.


JOURNEY THROUGH THE WORLD

When Carl Barks retired, he left his successors a rich inheritance. He did not
seek for the wonderful stories that he created to have a temporal continuity
within the framework of a larger story, such as Batman's, for example, where
the hero's past has been determined in every detail. Today, however, his
stories keep being read with the same pleasure, although decades have passed
since the time they were created, making his work a classic. In his large
journey through the world, from America to Italy and back again, Barks' work
has inspired creators such as Scarpa and Rosa to create their own classic
masterpieces whose timeless value time and readers have confirmed.

[Captions, p.6:]
Don Rosa, Carl Barks, Romano Scarpa

[Captions, p.7:]
Top left: the fictional dimension of Scrooge the prospector, from Don Rosa's
pen.
Top right: Mickey tells of his adventures in this drawing by Romano Scarpa.
Bottom left: An oil painting by Carl Barks titled The Black Gold Miner.

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      The evolution of an art through the work of three of Disney's tops

                 THREE GENERATIONS, ONE ART, ONE CENTURY

Three artists, three generations of creation, one young art that has happily
completed its first 104 years and has every reason to look at the new century
with optimism.


THE CHARISMATIC PIONEER

Carl Barks belonged to the generation of pioneers, the generation that has
nothing and can win everything. When he worked in the comics field, almost in
the middle of his career, he was already a mature and recognized artist who
had in his assets a successful history in the cartoon field. When he was asked
to transfer the world of Disney's cartoons to the printed page, he had to
start from scratch. Without teachers and armed with his talent and experience,
the only limits to what he could achieve were the limits of his imagination.
Thus, uncle Carl slowly set up an entire universe around Duckburg's microcosm
and created a great, classical style.


THE EUROPEAN SUCCESSOR

The universe of Disney characters had already been formed to a large degree by
creators such as Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson when Roman Scarpa came to
add his own brush stroke. The charismatic Venetian played a definitive role in
acclimating American comics to the Old Continent. The noir esthetics of his
Mickey stories is reminiscent of Floyd Gottfredson, and uncle Scrooge's
adventures hide with difficulty his influence by the work of Carl Barks.
Scarpa managed to renew the esthetics of Disney comics by injecting it with a
warm Mediterranean temperament that allowed him to set up stories with a
complex and unpredictable plot, as well as add new characters with a
characteristic personality and almost surrealistic figures to the duck
universe.


A NEW START

During his first steps, Don Rosa had to prove his worth not only to his
colleagues and rivals, but to his teachers, as well, since he was addressing
to an already formed audience with difficult tastes. Instead of choosing to
break with the past, Don preferred the return to the roots. A fanatical
admirer of Carl Barks, Rosa studied the universe of his great teacher, with the
studiousness of a scholar, and looked for originality in the art of expanding
and studying in depth. *The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck* (_Komix_
#100-111) was not just a recap of epic dimensions of the biographical data of
the richest duck in the world, which had been strewn throughout Carl Barks'
pages; above all, it was an attempt to find the deeper meaning of the Duck
Man's huge work. Don Rosa may have not added many new characters to the duck
world yet, however, he has enriched the character of the heroes that his
teachers have  created, and has introduced modern and contemporary questions
to his stories.


IN THE THRESHOLD OF THE NEW CENTURY

The pioneer with the unbridled imagination, the Venetian with the
Mediterranean temperament and the European education, as well as the citizen
of the world from Louisville, may represent three different generations, three
different ways of thinking, but deep down they are more alike than it seems:
all three of them are great story-tellers.

Thanks to creators such as Carl Barks, Roman Scarpa, and Don Rosa, the account
for the first century of the duck world is more than impressive, and this may
be the best omen for the fate of the Ninth Art in the new millennium.

[Caption:]
Barks at work, Scarpa at his drawing board, and Rosa posing in front of his
favorite characters.

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    Don Rosa talks to _Komix_ about the back stage of his story

                          ESPECIALLY DEDICATED

    _Especially Dedicated_ is an... especial story in many respects. The
    creator of this unique story, Don Rosa, agreed to answer _Komix_'
    questions and to share with us his thoughts, exclusively for his
    Greek friends.

KOMIX: How do you explain the fact that Scrooge's employees and his fellow
citizens are so well-informed about his adventures?

ROSA: In the final chapter of the _Life and Times_ I show, according to my
version of things, that Scrooge had retired from action at the end of the
'30s and, after this, Duckburg had forgotten almost everything about him.
Nobody realized that he was so rich! When he left his seclusion in 1947,
Duckburg learnt about the glorious and turbulent life of Scrooge McDuck.


KOMIX: Where did they learn about so many details, though? Through the press?
Or are Barks' and Rosa's comics  also published in Duckburg?

ROSA: Well, yes! They learnt all they know about Scrooge from Duckburg's
newspapers. I also believe that Duckburg's Television shows an animated series
showing an inaccurate version of uncle Scrooge's life, without his
authorization. Scrooge is always trying to sue the producers of this series...
This is my personal opinion about the place of the _DuckTales_ series in the
universe of Barks and the ducks.


KOMIX: In many of your stories, Scrooge comes face to face with his own past.
Do you like these stories more than those where we see him simply trying to
increase his vast fortune?

ROSA: Absolutely!!! You have noticed, of course, that in my stories Scrooge
never ever manages to keep the treasure that he was hunting. I believe that
for some time now, writing a story where Scrooge becomes even richer than he
is, is not at all interesting. Who cares? Scrooge is already as rich as he
could be! It is much more interesting, however, to see why and how he fails to
achieve his goals...  Sometimes the mistake is his, and other times it is the
result of forces beyond his control. This is the lesson taught by the greatest
movie ever filmed on the subject of treasure hunting: John Huston's _Treasure
of Sierra Madre_, starring Humphrey Bogart. The film would have had absolutely
nothing to teach us, if the gold seekers had managed to "keep" their gold. In
reality, the movie talks about about the absurdity of greed and the great
importance of little things. The same theme appears in the more recent motion
picture treasure hunts of the Indiana Jones trilogy. It is exactly this that I
am trying to achieve by writing uncle Scrooge adventures. I try to show that
Scrooge McDuck is incredibly proud of his achievements, of everything that he
has accomplished in his life, and this is not because he has become rich, but
because he sees his accomplishments as the triumph of his will and abilities
over all kinds of adversity. Money only has value for Scrooge as a trophy of
his victories. I also try to show that, despite his riches, Scrooge is "only a
poor old man" at heart, just as Barks has said. He is troubled by certain
unfulfilled desires and perhaps he would have preferred to have stayed in the
Yukon with his lost love...


KOMIX: Working on translating your story, we couldn't find what a
"_veeblefram_" is, to which Scrooge refers on page 11, and we translated it as
a "gold-plated spiked hammer"! What is it?  Is it something that one could
buy? [These guys have little sense of humor. At least they came up with a
funny-sounding improbable object; the thing I translate as a "spiked hammer"
is something with which you bang metal to remove rust, so it's one of the last
things one would consider gold plating!]

ROSA: I'm not sure, as I've never heard of it! Perhaps the version of the
script you have for my story has an error at that point. Is it the word
"veeblefetzer", which I use often--although it doesn't mean anything in
particular? In any case, it is not a reference to an older story by Barks. It
is just a synonym for "gadget", "thing", a kind of "whatchamacallit". I often
use such funny, meaningless words, which I used to encounter in MAD magazine
during the '50s. As you know, MAD magazine was a comics magazine before
becoming the familiar modern satirical publication.


KOMIX: Us Greek readers have a particular fondness for Donald. In _A Little
Something Special_, he seems to feel, somewhat more than usual, his uncle's
sensitivities. Are we right?

ROSA: Hm... Yes, although I rarely find the time to develop this side of
Donald. I'm afraid that my favorite character is Scrooge, and the main bulk of
my work aims to develop his personality. However, I believe that Scrooge and
Donald have a certain special relationship, but I don't think that Donald
should be "sensitive" enough to realize this. I believe that I must always
show him feeling "envy" for his trilionnaire uncle and that Scrooge must
always display a lack of respect and sarcasm towards him! Despite all this, I
believe that Scrooge behaves this way because he knows that Donald's life is
happier and that his fortune is a burden, which is something that, among other
things, prevents him from returning to the Yukon to find Goldie. Scrooge is
envious, in turn, of Donald, and for this reason he treats him badly. Of
course, there is no way, nor does he dare, to admit it... not even to confide
it to himself. Hewey, Louie and Dewey know, this, as well, as they are the
most "mature" persons in my stories. I always try to show a few details about
the relationship between Scrooge and Donald, in many stories. I believe that
this is preferable to telling everything at once in just one story.

KOMIX: In _A Little Something Special_ we see, for the first time in decades,
Disney characters kissing, and in two different scenes at that. The first time
was, from what we recall, in 1943 in a ten-page story by Carl Barks,
*Lifeguard Daze* (Carl Barks 10x10). The first kiss in your story is just a
gag. The second, however, is that "little something special" that money can't
buy and which Scrooge wanted so much.

ROSA: I'm glad you say this! Some people have not even suspected that this
kiss was that unique gift that Scrooge desired. _Gladstone's_ people wrote an
introduction to my story, where they revealed the end... they said that the
kiss was just an epilogue to the main story. Damn! But it's in these two last
pages where the entire essence of the story lies! Yes, it is not a gag. It is
a very serious moment for Scrooge! And mainly what Goldie whispered in his
ear. What did she tell him? What did she promise? Only I know, but you can
guess.

[Caption, p.39:]
The cover of the story for _Uncle Scrooge Adventures_ #2.
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