Five drawings from the mid-20th century by Carl Barks, famed Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic book artist, have been recently brought to the public’s attention to the delight of the artists fans.
[The columnist emailed] Michael Barrier, a Barks scholar whose “Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book” was published in 1982, and attached photos of the find. Was this news to him?
“A trove of five Barks originals is self-recommending in interest,” Barrier replied in part, calling my message “wonderful.”
David Allen, of The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, explains how he became aware:
In writing a while back about the beloved Disney comic book artist Carl Barks, I mentioned that Barks drew a few editorial cartoons for a former Hemet neighbor who had relocated to Rancho Palos Verdes and was fighting with City Hall over a helipad he wanted to build.
This prompted a message from reader Doug Evans.
Wrote Doug: “Hokey smoke, I have some of those Carl Barks helicopter cartoons you mention in today’s column!”
The article has photos of three of the drawings (part of one shown above).
The article is also carried by The Los Angeles Daily News and The Orange County Register.
To refresh your memory, from 1942 to 1966 Barks wrote and drew comic book stories featuring Donald Duck, his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, and Donald’s Uncle Scrooge — a character Barks created — that were read by millions of children.