TOM BARKER

Tom Barker who lives in Indiana, USA, is a renowned photographer and videographer who has produced photo sessions with a number of comic story celebrities. This article was first published in September 1995.

I was destined to meet Carl Barks.
In late August, 1993, I videotaped an interview of Carl Barks in his studio in southern Oregon. Excerpts of the interview were to be included in a documentary. I was co-producing with Gary M. Carter of Overstreet Publications, 'The Overstreet World of Comic Books'. The interview was conducted by Michael Naiman and it went very well, lasting over an hour. Plus, we were able to record various photos of Mr. Barks from throughout his life.

By early summer 1993 Gary Carter and Michael Naiman were successful in making arrangements through Bill Grandey and Kathy Morby of the Carl Barks Studio to videotape an interview of Mr. Barks in late August. This was perfect timing as we were going to be taping at the San Diego Comic Con anyway. We would have ample time to drive up to Oregon and sufficient time to drive to Prescott, Arizona, to get additional footage at Gladstone Publications, and an interview of Gladstone Publisher Bruce Hamilton.

My younger brother, John, accompanied us on the trip, assisting with the audio and lights. When we arrived early on a Friday morning at the Barks studio, I wondered who would answer the door. I guess I just was not ready to see Carl Barks himself open his front door, extend his right hand, and welcome us inside. My first impression of Mr. Barks was surprise at how tall and robust he is, a man of ninety-two years!
I forget what was said in those few awkward moments. What I wanted to say to Carl Barks was how much I had enjoyed reading his stories over the years, how much they had entertained me and, indeed, influenced my moral development. More than that, I wanted to express in words the gratitude of a generation of youngsters who had been more than simply entertained by his stories.
This is what I wanted to tell Carl Barks. Alas, the most I could muster was, It's a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Barks.

We had a lot to accomplish in a specified period of time so we set to work. It takes about an hour to set up for a videotaping session, lights need to be focused, sounds needs to be checked. Finally we were ready to begin. Sadly, I was not able to relax and enjoy the interview as I was too intent on the technical monitoring of the process. It would not be until weeks later when I reviewed the tapes that I could actually follow what was being discussed by Carl and Michael.
Among other things, they talked about how Barks developed the Donald Duck character from a 'squawky and feisty guy' as depicted in the movies into someone who 'could do some thinking'. My favorite part was Carl talking about how he created Uncle Scrooge for just one Christmas story, never figuring he would have any more use for him!

After the taping we all engaged in the ritual of 'getting the artist's signature'. Mr. Barks was very gracious in filling our requests. A comic book which I asked him to sign was an original issue of Uncle Scrooge that contained my favorite Scrooge story, The Golden River (U$22). We also took photographs of each other in various combinations of poses.

It was at this time that I managed to tell Carl that I had been reading his stories for thirty-five years and enjoying them immensely. He responded by thanking me for being such a 'loyal customer'. What I really wanted to do was to sit down with him for a couple of hours over coffee and reminisce over some favorite Scrooge stories. But that was not to be. Some Disney people were up from Burbank discussing the latest oil painting of the Disney Ducks which Carl had just finished. We packed our gear, said our good-byes, and we were gone.

In the intervening two years since the interview, I have had time to reflect and discover that Carl Barks over so many years is still influencing me. His phenomenal career has been an inspiration. Carl's stories have given me the ethical foundation, the moral compass by which we can achieve our goals and realize our dreams. It really doesn't seem that long ago when I learned from a duck named Scrooge that through faith, hard work, and a little bit of luck, there can always be another rainbow for us all.

Thank you, Carl Barks, over and over and over...

Preparing for the session

Signing a comic book

This contribution is an excerpt from an article in The Duck Hunter #2 © Tom Barker