More on LOS12 and Barks in Norway

[bjorn-are.davidsen@s.televerket.tele.no]

Don!

Welcome back and thanks for your comments on my 
comments on your Lo$12! ! 
I don't know if any of us really understand the amount of work 
and thought you have put into the whole of Lo$. However, I 
really appreciate what you have done, even if we may 
disagree on one or several points!
 I think one reason for our somewhat different understanding 
may be the normal difference between those who look at a 
work from "the outside" and those who have "inside 
information" (you as the artist really know what you have tried 
to accomplish and which alternative possibilities you have 
considered (and turned down) as to where to put the climax, 
how to draw $crooge,  a.s.o.).
When this is said I think you'll still have to struggle (for a 
long time) with readers who for obvious reasons consider 
Barks' work as a kind of "canon"/"Holy Writ" which should not 
be tempered with.  When Barks at a certain period drew his 
figures in a certain way, the devoted readers (like myself) will 
tend to look at (or FEEL very strongly) that as the truth. Even 
if we intellectually may agree very well with your reasonable 
explanation as to why you chose to draw as you did! 
I think I also understand the problem that arises when having 
to put a story within the framework of 15 (or 16) pages, 
thinking about it from the artist's point of view. However, it 
looks a bit different when you look at it as a reader. The 
problems in the plot (e.g. $crooge's too easy victory over the 
Beagle Boys) remain problems, even when there is a 
perfectly understandable rationale for it, considering the 
restrictions you had to work within. 
I am not trying in any way to say that I have the "correct view" 
on these matters and you not! I think this is the kind of 
situation you constantly find yourself in as an artist. 
Sometimes the readers wil really love it while you know how 
much better you could have done it had you had better time, 
done more research, not been ill last wednesday or whatever. 
And other times the readers will for several "external" 
reasons (e.g. marked differences from Barks' versions) find it 
(or parts of the story) more difficult to like, even if you have 
done the best you possible could have done, given the 
restrictions/framework you had to work within. 
I don't have any good solutions to this problem. It is a 
challenge to keep on working in the shadow or footprints of 
The Master! Even if he had been a lot nicer or given more 
constructive criticism of your work...

THE MASTER IN NORWAY!

Last monday I had the great fortune to be present when Barks 
visited The Nobel Institute in Oslo. Unfortunately it was not to 
receive the Literature Prize for 1994 (that is up to the Swedes 
to decide - come on!), but (by coincidence?) that was the place 
where Norwegian Comics Forum (Norsk Tegneserieforum) had 
a meeting with - and a panel discussion on  - Barks. It was 
said that this was the meeting Barks had promised to stay the 
longest at when in Norway.
There were about 10 persons in the panel (among them Geir, 
who told about rowing Barks in a viking ship on Saturday) and 
ten times as many in the audience. 
Barks stayed for almost an hour and made a very good 
impression, being in good health, full of vigour, warmth and 
humour. He did not look a day older than 70. And he did not 
mention a certain Rosa at all, neither directly nor indirectly. 
And the audience had the tact to refrain from asking questions 
on that.
 
Barks was given got the "Sprong Prize" for best foreign 
publication in Norway (in 1988 I think!) for his "Ancient 
Persia". He answered questions on which stories he liked the 
most ("Ancient Persia", "The Golden Helmet" and "Lost in The 
Andes" were mentioned), how he liked Walt Disney ("we were 
scared to death"), how he began to draw for Disney ("saw a 
note in the papers in 1935 and sent them some samples of 
his drawings"), how he looked at violence in modern comics 
("he did not like it at all"), why Donald Duck Comics are so 
much more popular in Norway than in the States ("Because 
you can read") and some more. 
Then there was a photo session where everybody could take 
a picture of themselves (and some others) with Barks.

 Then he left and the panel took over, debating Barks place in 
comics and popular culture (according to Historical 
Researcher Oeystein Soerensen at the University of Norway 
one of the very few true story tellers and mythmakers in our 
century, while a certain Geir Hasnes said Barks did the same 
to comics as Dickens did to the novel and Beatles (I think) to 
popular music).   They went on to talk about Barks' paintings 
and litographies, the relations between Another Rainbow, 
Gladstone and Carl Barks Studios (a not too good relation one 
was left to understand), and about other Disney artists like 
Don Rosa. There was mixed feelings about him, ranging from 
"much over praised" to "very underrated". I think most people 
in the panel felt that while no one really can be compared to 
Barks, Don's work is in fact a LOT better than any other 
modern Duck artists. Even if he lacks Barks depth and 
understanding of the human person and how to make the right 
flow of a story, he is very good at slapstick gags and keeping 
true to Barksian details and intention (after all this was a 
panel on Barks so the comparisions had to be made, even if 
all would agree that Rosa is Rosa and Barks is Barks). 
I had to leave before the panel finished, so there may have 
been more coclusions. Perhaps Geir can correct any 
misunderstandings on my part!
By the way, I took about 12 minutes video of Barks answering 
qustions. The picture quality is very good (nice close ups), 
but the sound quality rather poor as he spoke very low and 
there was some disturbance from the audience and other 
more noisier cameras. It is however, possible to hear most of 
what he says! 

Bjorn-Are



 


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