Don Rosa, Carl Barks and The Feud for Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge Legacy

[@kforcer]

My Dad grew up loving the works of Carl Barks, and he passed that love onto me and my older brother. Whenever we would buy a Duck comic for him as a present, it would inevitably be something he'd already owned or read. Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck was very special to me, because it was the closest I was ever able to get to buying my Dad a Carl Barks Duck book he hadn't already read. He was battling cancer at the time, so it was one of the last presents I would be able to buy for him. But I would see it by his bed, so I know that he read it and enjoyed it. Something interesting to add, regarding Carl Barks; we have him to thank for Indiana Jones' most memorable scene and basically, for the movie in general; Lucas and Spielberg acknowledged that he was a major influence on them when it came to the film and that the roll boulder trap in Raiders' opening scene was a direct homage to a nearly identical trap in an Uncle Scrooge comic.

[@JerkComic]

First of all, thank you so much for sharing that story. I don't think a lot of people get why I love comics so much, and that is the kind of thing that has kept me witnessed and in love with this medium for my entire life. Secondly, I am so sorry for your loss. I'm glad that Rosa and Barks were not only able to bring you all a little closer, but give you something to share in the what must have been some of the most difficult moments of your life. I think Don would smile to hear a story like that... he's not very self aggrandizing, but that's why he does what he, well did what he did I suppose. Such a shame about his vision. As per Indiana Jones, it was all I could do not to just go off on a rant about all the amazing stuff we've seen and read over the years that is directly related, or drawn from Rosa and Barks' work on Uncle Scrooge. I didn't get runs of their stuff for years considering the prices of a lot of stuff and the fact trades were non-existent when I was younger trying to pick them all up. It's been absolutely fantastic to get to check them all out all these years later and fall in love with them even more the deeper I dive into them and learn about them. Thank you again so much for sharing the story, I hope you enjoyed this video and I super appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment - helps out the channel immensely!

[@ftloc]

Great video! Why do you not have more views and subs already? Good trivia, very entertainingly delivered. Subbed!

[@JerkComic]

Maybe not doing enough trending type material, not a ton of "topical" stuff I guess? It's just interesting stuff I learn on a daily basis while I research and delve into the history of the medium. I find it entertaining obviously but always assumed it would have somewhat of a limited fan base, though admittedly not this small haha. Thanks so much for the positive feedback - appreciate the sub and the comment, helps out a ton for a tiny channel like this!

[@ftloc]

@@JerkComic If you just keep doing what you're doing and keep making great content, I am sure you will find your audience. Sometimes it may take some time but I feel your energy and passion and natural eloquence are just wonderful and it is bound to happen. I'm going through your videos now and the only one suggestion I have for now is try splicing in relevant pages/images from comics over your voice from time to time. It really adds to the edit and post production time and effort but pays off in retention and watch time. But honestly, just keep making videos on things that you're passionate about and you'll see your audience find you.

[@JerkComic]

@@ftloc "If you create the content, they will come..." I keep telling myself that, but honestly I'm having fun so I don't mind either way. I'll just keep plugging away doing what I do. My Trivia videos are all very image heavy - and they take a lot more time obviously so I decided to do some videos with just my ugly mug on camera for most of the time. Admittedly this one I really scimped on - should have at least had images of Barks and Rosa but what are you gonna do? I'm getting better, and if you watch the Ghost Rider video or the latest Trivia videos you'll get an idea where I'm at with Premiere as well, since I'm learning as I go kinda on the fly and just trying to make it look as much not like crap as I can haha. I think the Ghost Rider is a good step in the direction I want to see the channel go but I'll need some time to learn, grow and hopefully expand. Can't thank you enough for taking the time to give me some honest feedback and check out my stuff. Means a lot!

[@petedudson6671]

I like the William Van Horn stuff as well. I think he really captured the essence of the shorter Carl Barks strips whereas Rosa took over the mantle of the adventures.

[@JerkComic]

You know, I've never read much Van Horn stuff. I was really into Barks as a kid even though I didn't know it and I kind of fell into Don Rosa as I got older and more serious about comics and it was a nice easy transition outside of superhero stuff to a more "adult" Scrooge as a kid - but I think you're right, adventure is a much better description now that I'm older. Are there any good collections of the Van Horn stuff out there? I know that getting a lot of the Scrooge stuff is notoriously difficult as it falls in and out of print all willynilly. Thanks for checking this out btw - hope you enjoyed! Really appreciate you leaving a comment as well, helps out the channel a ton.

[@petedudson6671]

@@JerkComic Thanks for the reply. Not sure about WVH collections. As a kid growing up in 70s-early 80s NZ I discovered the Disney comics through second hand book stores. My brother and I knew there were very good and very very bad DD and US but didn't know about the writer/drawer. Just knew that at some point they went from amazing to crap. Eventually found out about the Duckman. Didn't know anything at all about the rivalry with Don Rosa until I watched your video so cheers.

[@jhoodcomics]

Awesome stuff. I know Barks and Rosa are masters at their craft, but I haven't worked around to picking up any of their work. I need to make a point of it.

[@JerkComic]

Barks' is considered to be on a level with Moebius basically everywhere but America - one of the greatest storytellers of all time. The storytelling and attention to detail that he brought to the craft changed the medium indelibly. Its a real shame he was so reclusive as I"d love to do some more stuff about him specifically. I should probably do an overview of his stuff for folks in the US that haven't checked it out - and Rosa's stuff... Well that's where it all got interesting and crazy for me. I loved the Barks' reprints when I was a kid without ever knowing who was writing - they were my sisters comics and I just snatched some from time to time and gravitated towards these Scrooge stories. There's really good collections of both of their complete works and if it sounds at all interesting I can't recommend it highly enough! They are after all the best selling comic books in every single part of the world except for America I believe haha

[@reprintranch]

Random addition -- Fans of Don Rosa might enjoy his "Information Center" column in the fanzine "Rocket's Blast and ComiCollector," aka "RBCC," which appeared from 1974-79 in RBCC (not sure of the exact issues). Way back when I was a young pup in the mid-70s, I stumbled upon two used issues of RBCC (113 and 114) and was hugely impressed with Rosa's knowledge, writing skill and illustrations.

[@JerkComic]

Rosa always said he was born to write and draw Uncle Scrooge and the more you learn about him the more true that statement becomes. Rosa's knowledge of the comics from which he drew inspiration was astounding, especially in an era when tracking down issues and getting inside information on creators was almost impossible. I've never read Information Center, tracking down some of those fanzines or even scans/transcriptions of the articles can be difficult. Love reading Rosa's work and I know he had at least one strip he did for RBCC so will be doubly worth trying to track down. Thanks for the info!

[@reprintranch]

@@JerkComic Cool, glad I could provide some good info. One other thing I shoulda mentioned about Information Center -- at least in the two issues of RBCC I owned, the column ran for multiple pages -- like, maybe 10 pages -- though I can't say whether every issue contained that much Rosa-authored material. My own copies are long-gone, but the top local comic shop here (All-Star Sports Cards and Comics, Gainesville, Florida) had a bunch of old RBCC issues awhile back, so next time I pop in (probably this Saturday) I will ask. Also, I just found a great KZbin video that presents Barks' "A Christmas for Shacktown," which was one of my fave Duck stories when I was a kid -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHXLoniIqq-fd80

[@reprintranch]

Well, bad luck. I went to All-Star and it turns out they'd sold almost all the RBCCs. The two left in stock were at their warehouse and were old enough that they might not contain "Information Center." But I'll keep an eye out.

[@RealMoukeycat]

I dont know what to say. Other than I love the ducks by Carl Barks and Don Rosa.

[@JerkComic]

I love 'me both too - kind of a shame that Rosa is such a kooky guy that his appearances and stuff always seem to be very tense and u-enjoyable for him, but his work never seemed to be a very enjoyable experience for him either I guess. At least their stuff is back in print finally. Back when I first did this it was kind of a crap shoot but a there's been some great collections the past few years... which I had some coin to pick them up as I'd love to toss them under the microscope on the channel for sure!

[@Bucky749]

I’m reading fhe don Rosa collection volume 9 . Didn’t don rosa once say he would only use characters Carl Barks created. I mean as far as don rosa is concerned from what I’ve heard Carl barks is Stan Lee to him . While most see don Rosa kinda like Jack Kirby I hope that’s a good analogy.

[@JerkComic]

Yes I do believe that Rosa said that, although I don't know if he stuck to that for the entirety of his career. I guess Lee is an okay comparison considering how many people worship him but he didn't come up with jack squat, that was all Kirby and Ditko and Heck and Severin and Everett and a million other people stood on the backs of and stole credit for their work. Rosa wasn't really like Kirby either as he didn't come up with much himself. He's more comparable to someone like Frank Miller that came along and took characters like Batman and Daredevil and fleshed out the worlds people before him had created if that makes any sense? Not trying to be argumentative either btw appreciate you checking this out and taking time to comment, means a lot and helps out the channel a ton.

[@joshualong6900]

I'd like to see more classic artist features like EC artists and writers. More Barks and Rosa. More Creepy and Eerie artists

[@JerkComic]

I was really into that when I started the channel but it seems that there's more of a niche audience for that stuff than I initially though. I'm super big into EC but it's been hard putting in the same amount of work for videos on those guys and getting thousands less people. Still trying to work out a good way of featuring more classic content on the channel and upping the view count at the same time. Either way, seriously appreciate you checking this out. I hope you enjoyed and I really appreciate you leaving a comment btw. Means a lot and helps out the channel more than you know!

[@RobinLeGaming]

I love the fact that people keep making videos about Don. I mean - I've found this video while doing a regular search on _"Don Rosa_ on KZbin; every few weeks, there is at least one new video! I love this! It shows that the Don Rosa fan community is still active and even growing :D Also, very cool video. May I ask where/how you got a DVD of "Life and times of Don Rosa"? I was only able to find the digital release on DanishDox, unfortunately.

[@JerkComic]

I got it directly from the distributor over seas. Shipping was murder so I will see if I can find a U.S. distro for you when I get off work tonight

[@RobinLeGaming]

@@JerkComic That's very nice of you, but I'm from Germany^^

[@JerkComic]

@@RobinLeGaming Did a lot of poking around and it looks like the entire site that hosted the store where I got the DVD from is gone. Domain is owned by some sort of porn portal at this point unfortunately. I purchased a DVD directly from one of the producers and I'm sure they still have some copies - I still have their e-mail if you ever want it but it appears that not only is this out of print but that the entire company that produced it has folded and disappeared since then...

[@RobinLeGaming]

@@JerkComic Ah, OK. That's why I didn't find anything^^ Are you talking about cordes.film@gmail? (Already wrote with him once about how much I like the documentary)

[@JerkComic]

@@RobinLeGaming Try these - might still be active, I know I talked to Jacob on his personal e-mail but can't find it right now, if you have no luck let me know or if I come across it will definitely hit you with that as well [e-mail] or [e-mail]

[@asurprisetobesurebutawelco6617]

Epic

[@JerkComic]

I'm just glad that they buried the hatchet and it seems like Rosa has finally come to some kind of peace with his place in the Scrooge universe at this point. Still weird to me that more people don't talk about him and his work seeing as he's alive and his work on Uncle Scrooge is some of the finest published mainstream work you will find from any era. Team that with expanding on the only other Disney guy who I give a real toss about, Carl Barks; unique and complex world and you have a recipe for some of the greatest comics ever published imo.

[@ta5777]

Did you wind up getting the don rosa artist edition book? It was on sale for cyber Monday

[@JerkComic]

No I didn't. Got soooo close but ended up having to cut myself off haha. Picked up like 4 of those things that I'd been dying to get before I noticed it and just couldn't legitimize ANOTHER one! Really wishing I had though... should have. Dang it.

[@ta5777]

@@JerkComic which artist edition books did you wind up getting? Would be cool to see future videos on them!

[@JerkComic]

@@ta5777 Maxx, Wrightson, Reed Crandall and Graham Ingels. I legit don't have a table or room big enough to shoot them. I wish they did digital copies so I could do a video on them! I literally have no clue how I would shoot them as I was doing a treasury edition last night for a new video and had a hell of a time getting that to fit in frame. Those EC books especially are just insane. They're double up size with added margins! Might be able to do my Rocketeer as its by far the smallest but even that would be pushing it! Did you pick up the Rosa book? It wasn't added until mid day and I had already gotten 4, just couldn't do it had to sell a few nice books to pay for this even haha. Totally worth it and probably should have popped for that Rosa edition... now I'm all regretful and passed at myself lmao. My wife is going to murder me when this box shows up too, holy God. Was 20 bucks for shipping on 4 of these though so curious to see how they're sent.

[@ta5777]

@@JerkComic Yea, I wound up getting the Rosa book and the Spirit Volumes 1 and 2. I got the Silver Surfer Artist Edition from another store. I'm gonna start reading the Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge first next week and then make my way to Don Rosa's Scrooge. I wonder which one I'll like more....You can try shooting the Artist Edition book vids like this guy perhaps: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpTFqIp8pcqWiZY

[@JerkComic]

@@ta5777 yeah the only beds in my house are occupied by my 5 year old and my wife when I shoot haha. I work full time at a day job and shoot late at night to do something useful with my insomnia lmao. Maybe in the next year or so when we move I will have a little space to do something with them.

[@SAPProd]

I’m a Don Rosa and, to a lesser extent, Carl Barks fan. It’s no question Barks is the one who set the mold by which all other comic artists who write/draw Duck books follow, but I do like Rosa’s storytelling sensibilities (his Scrooge is a man who always seems to bear some amount of melancholy of the path life took him and ponders often what might have been, and it’s something the romantic in me latches onto) and his art (I find his characters more expressive and the background details so engaging). The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck is an annual read for me (and one I recommend every time someone goes “suggest a book for me to read”) and the Companion stories are almost equal to it (the letter left in the snow at the end of Heart of the Yukon, Goldie paying off her debt to Scrooge and leaving in tears at the end of Prisoner of White Agony Creek, and the absolutely epic Dream of a Lifetine, where Scrooge finally is able to “rescue” Goldie without interruption, if only in a dream, are moments that rival cinematic moments). Having met Rosa around the circuit convention, he’s a man I respect for being both a fan, a fan of fans, but a man of integrity (he refuses to make a buck off of Disney projects those of lesser intent would take advantage of, a sign at the table disavowing any connection to DuckTales). Thank you for this video and for more insight into Rosa’s career history.

[@wordart_guian]

there are some other great duck authors in europe IMO but they don't tend to get translated into english

[@JerkComic]

Who? I love me some Duck books, not above using some Google translate or something. I dig some Carl Barks and definitely love Rosa so I'd be down to check out some recommendations if you've got some. I know Duck books are big business outside the US, saw the newer Scrooge Mystery doc and was kind of underwhelmed and would be interested in actually seeing what people outside the US are reading

[@wordart_guian]

@@JerkComic well, if you love rosa, you'll probably love the Arild Midthun/Knut Nærum stories (which act as - really good - additions to the L&T, and the art is great), and lately Kari Korhonen is doing L&T additions too. Marco Rota is well known even overseas I think, his stories are classics and he's an awesome artist. Then there's Marco Gervasio, whose Fantomius series is one of my favorite ongoing series. Personally, I'm also a fan of italian stories from the 1960s-70s, although if you're coming from the US comics, the italian tradition is something else entirely. for example I think Guido Martina has great plots that made my childhood, but his stories make you hate all of the characters. (italian-style stories are much longer, often 60-80 pages for 3-parters, use a different page format, the characters are more theatrical, especially seen in the way scrooge speaks, there's a different cast with rockerduck, battista, brigitta, fethry... , the artstyle is often more cartoonish/colorful although some artists do dramatic really well, there are also often parodies of movies and books with duck characters, and donald has multiple secret alter egos)