Rockerduck wrote:Barks never wanted all that stardom. Barks wanted to be left alone.
That Barks wanted to be left alone is the impression that Wim van Helden gives, in a book from 1985, about the Jippes and Barks interview in May 1982. That was before Bruce Hamilton's Another Rainbow published the Carl Barks Library in 1983, which contained new Barks art and new Barks Disney paintings, which last happened in 1976 and one time in 1980.
In the 1980s and the 1990s Barks gets busy again, and in especially in the 1990s Barks became a star in the sense of a celebrity who walks over a red carpet at a premiere. There are photo's on which you can see such an atmosphere. There were Barks parties where Barks art could be bought, a Barks Tour through Europe, Carl Barks Studio products, a new Barks story. Barks is often shown smiling and he looks as if he's enjoying the attention.
Rockerduck wrote:That's also the reason why, while working for Western, he would not ask for a raise in pay, despite he was the poorest paid of all of their artists. Barks said that, if he had asked for a raise, the editors would have let him work harder for his money, but now they left him alone.
Do you think it's good not to ask for a raise? I think Barks should have had more guts as he wasn't left alone at all, judging the terrible cutting in some of his stories. When Barks got a chance to do his own comic, he didn't dare to risk it.
That Barks is a good artist doesn't necessarily mean he's a good business man. And work is business. Barks has also said he was inspired by the cheque-machine. Then why didn't he go for a better price and better conditions, so that he would had to work less for more money?
I think Barks is romantizing a bit. Or maybe he doesn't want to know how much money he missed at the time.
I've read that editors didn't forward fanmail, so that Barks didn't know his stories sold very good. That gives doubt about how editors are. They are to make money from their artists, not because the artist is good at artistically feeding our brain. The cheaper the better. You can see that even when Barks sold well. That's why I tend to think of all comics as pulp. It's just material to attract costumers, to get their money into the editor's pocket. And there are often artists who are working hard while others get the money. The suggestion that Barks was a good guy for not asking a raise, would suit the editors and Disney fine.
Rockerduck wrote:"I liked being left alone."
This is in past tense, principally speaking. And is this about being left alone by editors or by fans? That's a difference.
Rockerduck wrote:Barks did the European tour in 1994 to please his fans and editors, and he was always friendly, but he didn't really like it.
I think Barks did the European tour mostly for himself. Otherwise it would be strange, if you love other people more than yourself. It sounds romantic that Barks crossed the ocean just because he loved us and the editors, but why didn't he do that travel earlier then?
Rockerduck wrote:Rosa even went on strike over royalties, because his anme was on the covers of some Disney books. It takes a big ego to do that.
Rosa has the right to strike. What I found strange was that it seemed like a game. A fan or friend revealed the strike, and then Rosa was the hero for wanting to keep it silent. But if he wanted to keep it silent, then why did he tell it? I wondered if that could be a trick to manipulate media, like internet. The messenger gets the blame and Rosa can say to the editor that it went against his will, while still benefiting from the news. I looked at it as yet another self-promotion by Rosa, trying to get attention at cost of others.
The same with his correspondence with Kai Saarto, last year. Rosa gets into trouble and then uses his private network to have someone make a public statement.
What I dislike about Rosa's is his hypocrisy. He says one thing, but he does the other, while claiming that he still does the same thing, and that other is stupid for not seeing that. You never know when you can trust Rosa on his word.
I mean, if Rosa wants to make a lot of money, then just say so! I remember him writing on DCML that old comics should be sold at original cover price, and now he's auctioning his comics at Ebay. And look how it's advertised by Rosa's agent. The non-Disney comics are special because Rosa is a Disney artist. As if a comic would be worth more, simply because Rosa held it in hands.
Rockerduck wrote:Barks never did such things.
With the Carl Barks Studio there were some financial matters. Law-suits against editor Bruce Hamilton. I believe one example was a book named Unexpurgated Barks, with old Barks drawings that were free from copyright, from the 1920s and early 1930s.
I've heard that Bruce Hamilton is very hard on money. Very stingy. Like Scrooge, so to say. I don't know what was going on, but I imagine a stingy editor doesn't like any managers coming inbetween him and Barks. Managers cost extra money.
That's a reason why I'm not so convinced of just only those two managers having all the blame, as there were also other financially interested parties. 'Horsing Around with History' (1994) was sold to Egmont, and I would be surprised if that story was as cheap as the stories from other Egmont creators.
I remember accounts about editors being irritated about the higher prices that were asked by the Carl Barks Studio. (O, what a shame. Duckburg founder Barks gets a higher price.)
I think a "stardom" thesis should contain the following points when explaining The Dark Age:
- Bruce Hamilton and money
- Egmont and money
- Carl Barks and money
- Grandey and Morby and money
- William Van Horn and money
- Don Rosa and money
As Frank Zappa would say: "We're only in it for the money." And some people are better in getting their share than others.
I think working for Disney is like working for a huge franchise company where cheap employees are used. Of course there is always an employee who works harder for less. That person is of course the hero of the company, and when he retires he might get a watch for which he will be eternally thankful to his bosses.