Editing Carl Barks (section)

===Later life===
[[File:Carl Barks signing autographs in Finland in 1994.jpg|thumb|left|Barks visiting Finland in June 1994]]

Carl Barks retired in 1966, but was persuaded by editor [[Chase Craig]] to continue to script stories for Western. The last new comic book story drawn by Carl Barks was a [[Daisy Duck]] tale ("The Dainty Daredevil") published in ''[[Walt Disney Comics Digest]]'' issue 5 (Nov. 1968). When bibliographer [[Michael Barrier (historian)|Michael Barrier]] asked Barks why he drew it, Barks' vague recollection was no one was available and he was asked to do it as a favor by Craig.

He wrote one Uncle Scrooge story, and three Donald Duck stories. From 1970 to 1974, Barks was the main writer for the [[Junior Woodchucks]] comic book (issues 6 through 25). The latter included environmental themes that Barks first explored in 1957 ["Land of the Pygmy Indians", ''Uncle Scrooge'' #18]. Barks also sold a few sketches to Western that were redrawn as covers. For a time the Barkses lived in [[Goleta, California]], before returning to the Inland Empire by moving to [[Temecula, California|Temecula]].

To make a little extra money beyond what his pension and scripting earnings brought in, Barks started doing oil paintings to sell at the local art shows where he and Garé exhibited. Subjects included humorous depictions of life on the farm and portraits of Native American princesses. These skillfully rendered paintings encouraged fan Glenn Bray to ask Barks if he could commission a painting of the ducks ("A Tall Ship and a Star to Steer Her By", taken from the cover of ''[[Walt Disney's Comics and Stories]]'' #108 by Barks). This prompted Barks to contact [[George Sherman (comics)|George Sherman]] at Disney's Publications Department to request permission to produce and sell oil paintings of scenes from his stories. In July 1971 Barks was granted a royalty-free license by Disney.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbarks.dk/thecorrespondence1970s.htm|title=thecorrespondence1970s|website=www.cbarks.dk|access-date=October 4, 2019}}</ref> When word spread that Barks was taking commissions from those interested in purchasing an oil of the ducks, much to his astonishment the response quickly outstripped what he reasonably could produce in the next few years.

{{quote box |title=Ode to the Disney Ducks |source= —Carl Barks, 1999{{sfn|Blum|2008|page=293}} |width=270px |fontsize=80% |bgcolor=#eeffff
|quote=<poem>They ride tall ships to the far away,
and see the long ago.
They walk where fabled people trod,
and Yetis trod the snow.

They meet the folks who live on stars,
and find them much like us,
With food and love and happiness
the things they most discuss.

The world is full of clans and cults
abuzz as angry bees,
And Junior Woodchucks snapping jeers
at Littlest Chickadees.

The ducks show us that part of life
is to forgive a slight.
That black eyes given in revenge
keep hatred burning bright.

So when our walks in sun or shade
pass graveyards filled by wars,
It's nice to stop and read of ducks
whose battles leave no scars.

To read of ducks who parody
our vain attempts at glory,
They don't exist, but somehow leave
us glad we bought their story.</poem>
}}

When Barks expressed dismay at coping with the backlog of orders he faced, fan/dealers Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran suggested Barks instead auction his paintings at conventions and via Cochran's catalog ''Graphic Gallery''. By September 1974 Barks had discontinued taking commissions.

At Boston's NewCon convention, in October 1975, the first Carl Barks oil painting auctioned at a comic book convention ("She Was Spangled and Flashy") sold for $2,500. Subsequent offerings saw an escalation in the prices realized.

In 1976, Barks and Garé went to Boston for the NewCon show, their first comic convention appearance. Among the other attendees was famed ''[[Little Lulu]]'' comic book scripter [[John Stanley (comics)|John Stanley]]; despite both having worked for [[Western Publishing]] this was the first time they met. The highlight of the convention was the auctioning of what was to that time the largest duck oil painting Barks had done, "July Fourth in Duckburg", which included depictions of several prominent Barks fans and collectors. It sold for a then record high amount: $6,400.

Soon thereafter a fan sold unauthorized prints of some of the Scrooge McDuck paintings, leading Disney to withdraw permission for further paintings. To meet demand for new work Barks embarked on a series of paintings of non-Disney ducks and fantasy subjects such as Beowulf and Xerxes. These were eventually collected in the limited-edition book ''Animal Quackers''.

As the result of efforts by ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' producer [[Gary Kurtz]] and screenwriter [[Edward Summer]], Disney relented and, in 1981, allowed Barks to produce an oil painting called ''Wanderers of Wonderlands'' for a limited edition book entitled ''Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times''. The book collected 11 classic Barks stories of Uncle Scrooge colored by artist [[Peter Ledger]] along with a new Scrooge story by Barks done storybook style with watercolor illustrations, "Go Slowly, Sands of Time". After being turned down by every major publisher in New York City, Kurtz and Summer published the book through [[Celestial Arts]], which Kurtz acquired partly for this purpose. The book went on to become the model for virtually every important collection of comic book stories.{{or|date=March 2024}} It was the first book of its kind ever reviewed in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine and subsequently in ''[[Newsweek]]'', and the first book review in ''Time'' with large color illustrations.

In 1977 and 1982, Barks attended [[San Diego Comic-Con]]. As with his appearance in Boston, the response to his presence was overwhelming, with long lines of fans waiting to meet Barks and get his autograph.

In 1981, Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran, two long-time Disney comics fans, decided to combine forces to bring greater recognition to the works of Carl Barks. Their first efforts went into establishing [[Another Rainbow]] Publishing, the banner under which they produced and issued the award-winning book ''The Fine Art of Walt Disney's Donald Duck by Carl Barks'', a comprehensive collection of the Disney duck paintings of this artist and storyteller. Not long after, the company began producing fine art lithographs of many of these paintings, in strictly limited editions, all signed by Barks, who eventually produced many original works for the series.

In 1983, Barks relocated one last time to [[Grants Pass, Oregon]],{{sfn|Ault|2003|page=xliv}} near where he grew up, partly at the urging of friend and ''[[Broom Hilda]]'' artist [[Russell Myers]], who lived in the area. The move also was motivated, Barks stated in another famous quip, by Temecula being too close to Disneyland and thus facilitating a growing torrent of drop-in visits by vacationing fans. In this period Barks made only one public appearance, at a comic book shop near Grants Pass.

In 1983, Another Rainbow took up the daunting task of collecting the entire Disney comic book oeuvre of Barks—over 500 stories in all—in the ten-set, thirty-volume ''[[Carl Barks Library]]''. These oversized hardbound volumes reproduced Barks' pages in pristine black and white line art, as close as possible to the way he would originally draw them, and included mountains of special features, articles, reminiscences, interviews, storyboards, critiques, and more than a few surprises. This monumental project was finally completed in mid-1990.

In 1985, a new division was founded, [[Gladstone Publishing]], which took up the then-dormant Disney comic book license. Gladstone introduced a new generation of Disney comic book readers to the storytelling of Barks, [[Paul Murry]], and [[Floyd Gottfredson]], as well as presenting the first works of modern Disney comics artists [[Don Rosa]] and [[William Van Horn]]. Seven years after Gladstone's founding, the ''Carl Barks Library'' was revived as the ''Carl Barks Library in Color'', as full-color, high-quality squarebound comic albums (including the first-ever Carl Barks trading cards).

From 1993 to 1998, Barks' career was managed by the "Carl Barks Studio" (Bill Grandey and Kathy Morby—they had sold Barks original art since 1979). This involved numerous art projects and activities, including a tour of 11 European countries in 1994, Iceland being the first foreign country he ever visited. Barks appeared at the first of many Disneyana conventions in 1993. Silk screen prints of paintings along with high-end art objects (such as original water colors, bronze figurines and ceramic tiles) were produced based on designs by Barks.

During the summer of 1994 and until his death, Barks and his studio personally assigned Peter Reichelt, a museum exhibition producer from [[Mannheim]], Germany, as his agent for Europe. Publisher "Edition 313" put out numerous lithographs. In 1997, tensions between Barks and the Studio eventually resulted in a lawsuit that was settled with an agreement that included the disbanding of the Studio. Barks never traveled to make another Disney appearance. He was represented by Ed Bergen, as he completed a final project. Gerry Tank and Jim Mitchell were to assist Barks in his final years.

During his Carl Barks Studio years, Barks created two more stories: the script for the final Uncle Scrooge story "Horsing Around with History", which was first published in Denmark in 1994 with Bill Van Horn art. The outlines for Barks' final Donald Duck story "Somewhere in Nowhere", were first published in 1997, in Italy, with art by Pat Block.

Austrian artist [[Gottfried Helnwein]] curated and organized the first solo museum-exhibition of Barks. Between 1994 and 1998 the retrospective was shown in ten European museums and seen by more than 400,000 visitors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.helnwein.de/kuenstler/bibliografie/artikel_449.html |title=Gottfried Helnwein "Wer ist Carl Barks?" |access-date=November 14, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204083810/http://www.helnwein.de/kuenstler/bibliografie/artikel_449.html |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

At the same time in spring 1994, Reichelt and Ina Brockmann designed a special museum exhibition tour about Barks' life and work. Also represented for the first time at this exhibition were Disney artists [[Al Taliaferro]] and [[Floyd Gottfredson]]. Since 1995, more than 500,000 visitors have attended the shows in Europe.

Reichelt also translated Michael Barrier's biography of Barks into German and published it in 1994.