A Guidebook to the Carl Barks Universe

Additional credits: Black ink drawing on a plain piece of white paper about 5 inches x 7 inches.
Apparently, part of December 13, 1960 letter from Carl Barks to Ronald O. Burnett.

Reportedly, this drawing shows Donald with the longer bill and in his usual "agitated" state; with the text "Quack, quack to you, Prof Burnett!" above Donald, and "Remember when Donald looked like this?" below Donald.

Owners, past and present: Owned by Lynne?

Publications:

Unpublished?

Questions: Has this material been published? Do you have a scan or xerox of it?

Sources

shake, malcolm!

Inducks: ...
Barrier: ---
CBL: ---
Type: personal drawing
Creation date: 1961, July 25
Art: ---
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: [none]
Submission: 1961, July 25
Publication date: 1996, April
Issue: Comic Book Marketplace V2#34
Pages: 1
For: Malcolm Willits
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Appears at the beginning of a bound volume owned by Malcolm Willits, containing rare comic book issues. Barks made it for Malcolm upon the occasion of their first meeting on July 25th, 1961, in Seattle Washington. (This is one of two drawings in the book. The other drawing was penned by Jack Hannah.)

Publications:

Comic Book Marketplace V2#34 (USA): [monochrome?]

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

fortuna favet fortibus

Inducks: ...
Barrier: [not mentioned?]
CBL: 08C-563
Type: personal drawing
Creation date: [1961]
Art: [none?]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: ---
Submission: [1961, October 27] [as part of correspobdence]
Publication date: 1983, August
Issue: The Carl Barks Library - Set VIII
Pages: 1
For: Michael J. Cronin
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Part of October 27, 1961 letter from Carl Barks to Michael J. Cronin.

Uncle Scrooge poses beside a money sack placed on a chair. The ribbon on the sack contains Latin motto "fortuna favet fortibus" (fortune favors the bold).

Backstage: When a group at the Harvard Business School chose Scrooge as their mascot, Barks made this "black and white study of Uncle Scrooge" to hang in their meeting-room.

Publications:

The Carl Barks Library - Set VIII (USA): monochrome
The Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in Color No. 8 (USA): monochrome

Correspondence:

October 27, 1961 letter from Carl Barks to Michael J. Cronin

Sources

joe cowles with too much popcorn in his popcorn wagon's popcorn popper

Inducks: ...
Type: personal drawing; Strathmore bristol board; ink.
Creation date: 1961?
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: [none or unknown]
Issue: [none or unknown]
Pages: 1
For: Joe Cowles (Joseph Cowles)
Orientation: portrait
Width: approximately 8 inch
Height: approximately 10-3/8 inch

Additional credits: Joseph Cowles: "Barks' drawing for me was done on Strathmore bristol board, the same material on which he drew most of his duck stories." (July 29, 2000 e-mail) Original drawing is in black and white. Detailed information

Backstage: In the early 1960s, Joseph Cowles was one of the first fans who personally met Carl Barks. Joseph's work on a popcorn machine at Disneyland inspired Barks to make the ten-pager "The Candy Kid" WDC 263-01.

Publications:

Unpublished?

Circulating material:

colorized scan: colorized by Joseph Cowles in / before July 2000; width=400 height=526

Correspondence:

[1961?] letter from Carl Barks to Joseph Cowles)

Other views: See "circulating material" field.

Questions: Has this material been published?

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

snarl!

Inducks: ...
Barrier: ---
CBL: 01A-014
Type: personal drawing; [pencil?]
Creation date: [1962]
Art: [none?]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [1962, January 17] [as part of correspobdence]
Publication date: 1984, July
Issue: The Carl Barks Library - Set I
Pages: 1
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Part of January 17, 1962 letter from Carl Barks to Malcom Willits.

Publications:

The Carl Barks Library - Set I (USA): monochrome

Sources | image: © [Carl Barks]

diagram of squarish page format

Inducks: ...
Barrier: ---
CBL: ---
Type: personal drawing
Creation date: 1962
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: ---
Submission: [1962, April 19] [as part of correspobdence]
Publication date: 1992, August
Issue: The Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in Color No. 8
Pages: 1
For: Malcom Willits
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Part of April 19, 1962 letter from Carl Barks to Malcom Willits.

Publications:

The Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in Color No. 8 (USA): monochrome; small picture

Circulating material:

monocrome scan: contains a handwritten date ("4/19/62"); more details than publication in The Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in Color No. 8

Correspondence:

April 19, 1962 letter from Carl Barks to Malcom Willits

Sources | image: © [Carl Barks?]

ah, spring! sweet days of love!

Inducks: ...
CBL: 03A-009
Type: personal drawing, ink.
Creation date: mid-1960s
Art: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: mid-1960s ?
Issue: the society of the first dime [little booklets] ?
Pages: 1
For: The Society of the First Dime
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Scrooge stands among his money, looking at his first dime with hearts in his eyes. Signed in the upper left corner with the note "Best wishes to The Society of The First Dime." Under the drawing, Barks wrote a poem in all-capital (comic book-like), centered lettering, credited to Scrooge McDuck:

Ah, spring! Sweet days of love!
Sweet days when men should take the time
a money hill to climb,
and there
renew their love affair
with their first dime!
-- Scrooge McDuck

Backstage: In a June 24, 1984 interview with Bruce Hamilton, Barks said: "A bunch of fans at the University of Wisconsin got together, organized the society, and sent me an honorary membership in it. [snip?] It had about ten members and lasted for several years. I drew a couple of cartoons for the little booklets that they passed around among themselves."

Publications:

the society of the first dime [little booklets] (USA): ?; details unknown
The Carl Barks Library - Set III (USA): monochrome; poem is moved to the right of the drawing.
Zio Paperone #32 (Europe, Italy): page 4; monochrome?; colored?
Zio Paperone #100 (Europe, Italy): page 59; monochrome; colored

Circulating material:

monochrome A4 xerox: unedited; source unknown

Interviews: June 24, 1984 interview with Bruce Hamilton (questions by Hamilton, Geoffrey Blum, and Thomas Andrae).

Other views:

large picture: monochrome; colored

Questions: Is this drawing inked or penciled? What is the size? Have the society's "little booklets" survived? Are the names of the members known? Are other cartoons for the soctiety known to have survived?

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

you can't take any more orders

Inducks: ...
Barrier: ---
CBL: ---
Type: personal drawing; [blue pencil? blue pen?]; signed
Creation date: 1974
Art: [none]
Pencil: [Carl Barks] [blue pen?]
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [1974, September 13] [as part of correspobdence]
Publication date: [none or unknown]
Issue: [none or unknown]
Pages: 1
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Part of September 13, 1974 letter from Carl Barks to Jim Lowe.

Scrooge sits in a bath-tub full of money, while (a picturized) Carl Barks sits behind his drawing-table. Scrooge holds a piece of paper and uses his cane to poke Barks in his backside, saying: "Write a letter to Jim Lowe in Tallynassy. Thank him for the nice things he says about me, and tell him that you can't take any more orders for paintings. I'll have worked you to death long before you get your present orders finished. Hurry up!"

Owners, past and present: Owned by Jim Lowe?

Publications:

Unpublished?

Circulating material: A slightly larger scan can be found on Jim Lowe's website.

Questions: Has this material been published?

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

i, too, like to do things with architecture, kalervo!

Inducks: ...
Type: personal drawing, pencil.
Creation date: 1974
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: 1985 (Finland)
Issue: Sarjainfo, issue 48, 3/1985
Pages: [1]
For: Kalervo Pulkkinen
Orientation: landscape?
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Backstage: Kalervo Pulkkinen is a Finnish comics specialist and architect.

Publications:

Sarjainfo, issue 48, 3/1985 (Finland): Monochrome or greyscale.

Other views:

larger picture

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

best wishes to piero zanotto

Inducks: ...
Type: personal drawing, pencil, signed.
Creation date: 1974?
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: [unknown] ([Italy])
Issue: Noi, Qui Quo Qua
Pages: [1]
For: Piero Zanotto
Orientation: landscape
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Below the image itself, the original picture contains the text: "Best wishes to Piero Zanotto -Carl Barks". Piero Zanotto called it (translated from Finnish) "the inner circle of Duck family".

Backstage: Piero Zanotto has written a foreword for Barks collection Noi, Qui Quo Qua. The Finnish version is called Me, Tupu, Hupu, Lupu. (And in English, something like: "US, Huey, Dewey, Louie".) Zanotto wrote to Barks and asked for some "proof" that this legend actually existed. In reply he received the family picture. Picture itself was originally not inked, which Barks humorously explained by drawing a very shaky version of Donald�s head in the letter.

Publications:

Noi, Qui Quo Qua ([Italy]): ?; details unknown
Me, Tupu, Hupu, Lupu ([Finland]): family drawing; greyscale
Komix #129 (Europe, Greece): Family drawing. With or without text? Details unknown.

Other views:

larger picture: greyscale; with text and signature

Questions: Has (all) the above mentioned material been published in "Noi, Qui Quo Qua"? The complete family drawing has been published in "Me, Tupu Hupu Lupu", but not the letter nor the "shaky drawing".
Has the family drawing ever been inked by another artist? Reportedly, Zanotto's text seems to give the impression that later the drawing was inked so it could be published.

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney Productions]

siren idea

Inducks: ...
Barrier: ---
CBL: ---
Type: personal drawing; story idea; [pencil?]
Creation date: 1975
Art: ---
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: Carl Barks
Hero: [none]
Submission: 1975
Publication date: 1999, March (Europe, Italy)
Issue: I Maestri Disney #14
Pages: [1]
For: Romano Scarpa
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch
Finished version, by others: I TL 1061-A Zio Paperone e il casco d'oro [part 1]; I TL 1062-A Zio Paperone e il casco d'oro [part 2]

Additional credits: Part of 1975 [letter?] from Carl Barks to Romano Scarpa.

Brigitta seduces Scrooge by spraying herself with "money" perfume odor. A note under the drawing reads: "If this siren idea is any good, you're welcome to it. C.B."

Backstage: According to an article in Uncle Scrooge 242, this sketch has been misplaced. Since then, Scarpa has made several redrawn versions from memory.

Known reconstructions, drawn by Scarpa:

money perfume
coloured version, possibly shown at an Italian Scarpa exposition in the early 2000s.

Details: Barks erroneously spells Brigitta's name as "Brigitte".

Surviving material: Apparently, the original material finally has surfaced. Publications:

I Maestri Disney #14 (Europe, Italy): monochrome
Romano Scarpa - Sognando la Calidornia ([Italy]): details unknown; [monochrome?]

Correspondence:

1975 [letter?] from Carl Barks to Romano Scarpa

Other views:

larger picture: width=400 height=551

Questions: Do you have information about the other reconstruction(s) by Scarpa?

Sources | image: © [Walt Disney]

plenty of time

Inducks: ...
Type: personal drawing, pencil.
Creation date: 1976
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: 1973(?)
Issue: Stripschrift #59-60
Pages: [1]
For: Freddy Milton
Orientation: landscape?
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Drawing from a 1976 letter to Freddy Milton. Text on the drawing: "Plenty of time... this old hack won't be 75 until March 27th, meanwhile he still feels no older than 74 years, 11 months, and some days. (Wheeze Gasp Grunt Chatter Squeak) Why don't you celebrate something worthwhile - like the birth date of beer?"

Publications:

Stripschrift #59-60 (Netherlands): monochrome

Correspondence:

1976 letter to Freddy Milton

Other views:

larger picture

25 years of successful publication

Inducks: ...
Type: personal drawing, pencil.
Creation date: 1977
Art: [none]
Pencil: [Carl Barks]
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: 1978
Issue: Striprofiel [1978 issue]
Pages: 1
For: [editors of Dutch weekly Donald Duck Weekblad]
Orientation: landscape
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Drawing on the backside of a copy of bird standing in water in a forest [card], congratulating the editors with the 25th anniversary of their Dutch Weekly comic "Donald Duck Weekblad".

Publications:

Striprofiel [1978 issue] (Netherlands): greyscale

Other views:

larger picture

hi, markku!

Inducks: ...
CBL: 07A-012
Type: personal drawing, pencil.
Creation date: 1970s?
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: 1985 (Finland)
Issue: Sarjainfo, issue 48, 3/1985
Pages: [1]
For: Markku Kivekäs
Orientation: [portrait]
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Backstage: Markku Kivekäs is/was editor in chief of the Finnish comic "Aku Ankka".

Publications:

Sarjainfo, issue 48, 3/1985 (Finland): Monochrome or greyscale.
The Carl Barks Library - Set VII (USA): Monochrome. Balloon and text are removed.

Other views:

larger picture

finland, here we come!

Inducks: ...
Type: personal drawing, pencil.
Creation date: 1970s?
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [unknown]
Publication date: 1985 (Finland)
Issue: Sarjainfo, issue 48, 3/1985
Pages: [1]
For: [unknown]
Orientation: landscape?
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch

Additional credits: Details unknown.

Publications:

Sarjainfo, issue 48, 3/1985 (Finland): Monochrome or greyscale

Other views:

larger picture

Questions: Is it also published in "The Carl Barks Library in Color"?

ich trinken zu ihr!

Inducks: ...
Barrier: ---
CBL: ---
Type: pencil drawing; signed
Creation date: [1986]
Art: [none]
Pencil: Carl Barks
Script: [Carl Barks]
Hero: [none]
Submission: [1986]
Publication date: [unknown] (Germany)
Issue: [unidentified]
Pages: 1
For: Herrn Kabatek
Orientation: portrait
Width: [unknown] inch
Height: [unknown] inch
Project: [one of six designs]

Additional credits: Made on request of Herrn Kabatek. One of six designs. Barks wrote the German text "Ich trinken zu ihr" by himself, with the help of a German dictionary. Literally translated it means "I drink to you!"

Owners, past and present: Still owned by Herrn Kabatek?

Publications:

[unidentified German publication, possibly a Donaldist issue]: page 36; [monochrome?]

Questions: Where has this material exactly been published? Do you know the unidentified German publication?
Is Barks's German text grammatically incorrect? Is it a common phrase in Germany?
Do you have any information on the other five designs?