theeuropeantouritaly

'I wish Walt Disney could be here!', exclaimed Carl Barks with generous sincerity, happy for the attention given him by the many Italian colleagues present the 2nd of July in Milan. The old man did not seem tired, but was well dressed and always appropriate, never over-talking. But when his two agents took a limousine trip around the most important city of the northern Italy, Barks preferred to have a little rest in the hotel.

They were days of very hot weather, Milan was an oven and you were almost able to see mirages in the streets. The day after, Barks was driven to a more temperate place on the sea side in Rapallo, a town famous among Italian comic fans. Rapallo is also the town of U Giancu, a restaurant where many of the most important cartoonists in the world have dined, leaving a page of their art to be hung on the walls.
Saturday and Sunday, Barks was invited to have dinner with friends and colleagues, and a lot of cartoonists and columnists wanted to see the man whose picture they had seen so many times before in magazines and fanzines, but never dared hope to meet.
As in every other country some of us were hesitant about asking Barks for an autograph to have as a souvenir. But a lot of us had brought publications to be signed. And Barks did it, as well as signing the invitations and the restaurant's menu, where an angry Scrooge was reproduced from a Barks drawing.
But the most thrilling moment came when Bill Grandey (one of Barks' agents) asked everybody to pay attention, because Barks was going to put his signature directly in one of the empty spots on the wall of U Giancu. All the restaurant's walls are completely covered with pages by comic artists. Some of them, like Sergio Aragones, Mort Walker, Reg Smythe and virtually all of the Italian crew have made a special drawing directly for the owner, Fausto Oneto, all caricatures of him. But you can also see original drawings from Alex Raymond, Billy deBeck and Otto Messmer. As you can understand, it was not always possible to get the author's signature.
So, Barks found a small free space on the wall where he could sign, and I think U Giancu has found a way to preserve it from deteriorating.

Two days later Barks had a day off. Along with some Disney men he travelled around Milan. At the same time, two enormous boxes containing the famous Barks oil paintings arrived from Germany. I was waiting for them with Chiara Regina in the exhibition center of the Fiera di Milano, one of the most important places of this kind in Italy. They were running a big exhibition named 'Topolino 60 anni insieme', where it was possible for the first time to admire old animation cels from early Disney cartoons featuring Mickey and Donald, original drawings by Ub Iwerks as well as pencil sketches by Bill Tytla.
In this frame the exhibition of Barks' oils should have taken place. Everyone knew that there were some oils to show, but not that they were so important. It was a real thrill to take them out of the boxes and hang them on the walls. I must say that the reproductions in books doesn't look so interesting, but to the paintings in front of you, with the glittering, spaient use of the light for the evocation of the stories to which they referred, they were able to move every real Disney fan!

In the meantime, Carl Barks was onboard a yacht on the Garda lake, together with the young artist roberto Santillo and photographer Guido Frazzini. He is supposed to have said, that the trip was really amazing!

The following day Barks visited the editorial offices of the Italian Disney, but for me the most important day was when I got the honour of introducing Barks to the Italian columnists during a crowded press conference in a hall of the Fiera di Milano.
After a presentation by president of the Italian Disney, Umberto Virri, I tried to explain who Barks really is and how important his contributions to the development of the ducks were, and how he made them more complex, introducing strong personalities like Uncle Scrooge and Gyro Gearloose.
Barks was not far from me, and a translator tried to do her work the best she could. Barks seemed to understand everything, and sometimes I watched his eyes to see if he agreed with my speech, and he was always smiling. It was really strange for me; I can say that I learned to read with his comics, and now - with the big number of Disney artists and story men available - destiny chose me to explain to the people who Barks is.

I was also lucky to speak a little with Barks on two or three occasions. I learned that Barks doesn't take credit for the creation of Gus Goose (as it has been written), but only made him live: 'In the beginning he was only named Cousin Gus. I liked his character because he was driving Donald crazy with his desire for food. We used him only one time in the animated cartoons, but then I used him again with Grandma Duck.'
Also on the birth of Huey, Dewey and Louie, Barks had something to say: 'They were created by the story department. We started to work on a story board telling that the three nephews went to visit uncle Donald.'. And Bill Grandey added: 'We must also say that Roy Disney, Walt's brother, credited the same Barks for the creation of the nephews in their first cartoon.'

I want to finish with Barks' words on another subject. In Italy the Duck Man met a lot of friends, old and new. Most of them were young artists, a part of which are involved in the creation of new Disney comics. What better occasion than ask directly to Barks, if he had a suggestion for young artists who want to continue writing and drawing stories with the ducks. 'I'll tell them, first of all', said Barks, 'to read the stories of the ducks that are produced now, then those that were made in the past. And then try to find YOUR OWN way of writing and drawing new stories. A way that, possibly, must not be similar to those just experimented. Be original.'

Thank you, Carl, for this last lesson.

Luca Boschi

Giovan Carpi, Barks, and Luca Boschi		Barks in restaurant U Gianco
Courtesy of Luca Boschi		Courtesy of U Gianco