Duck Man Part 2 - Barks and Rosa

Two names we could not continue this discussion without mentioning are Carl Barks and Don Rosa, two names synonymous with the Disney Ducks. Barks is the Father of the Duckiverse. He began as an in-betweener at the Disney Studio in 1935, whose unit was responsible for cartoon shorts starring Disney's latest popular character Donald Duck and worked on several cartoons for the studio before he quit to work as a comic artist. In 1943, Barks would be asked back to work on a new comic book line starring Donald Duck. The first story was called The Victory Garden, and would be the first of over five hundred stories that Barks would create over the course of three decades. Barks would give Donald his Uncle Scrooge, his nephews, Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold, Gyro Gearloose, and dozens more. The universe that Barks created would later go on to be the inspiration for the animated TV series Ducktales. While he worked for many years annonymously, as most did at Disney, after the 1960's word had gotten out that the man that fans referred to as "the Good Duck Artist" was in fact Carl Barks. Barks never officially retired, but his out put slowed down throughout the nineties, and he passed away in 2000 at the age of 99. But his legacy lives on through his wonderful and funny duck characters.

Ode to the Disney Ducks

They ride tall ships to the far away,
and see the long ago.
They walk where fabled people trod,

and Yetis trod the snow.

They meet the folks who live on stars,
and find them much like us,
With food and love and happiness
the things they most discuss.

The world is full of clans and cults
abuzz as angry bees,
And Junior Woodchucks snapping jeers
at Littlest Chickadees.

The ducks show us that part of life
is to forgive a slight.
That black eyes given in revenge
keep hatred burning bright.

So when our walks in sun or shade
pass graveyards filled by wars,
It's nice to stop and read of ducks
whose battles leave no scars.

To read of ducks who parody
our vain attempts at glory,
They don't exist, but somehow leave
us glad we bought their story.

-Carl Barks 1999

Don Rosa began work on the duck characters in the mid 1980's. Rosa, was actually not a trained artists, but rather actually has a degree in civil engineering which brought about his signature drawing style of the ducks. Rosa had been of fan of Barks and the Donald duck comics since he was a kid and was quite excited to work on the Scrooge McDuck stories. Rosa would go on to create elaborate adventures for Scrooge, partnering him with other characters from Carl Barks' Duckiverse. His most famous storyline is probably The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. The stories that Rosa created would later serve as inspiration for the Ducktales TV series as well as Darkwing Duck.

Though not quite household names in the world of comic book fandom, Carl Barks and Don Rosa are the Godfathers of the Disney Duckiverse, whose characters and stories have entertained million over the years.