Bill Peckmann &Comic Art &Disney 15 Jul 2011 06:59 am
Sheriff of Bullet Valley – 2
- Today we continue with part 2 of 3 from Carl Barks‘ brilliant comic story, “Sheriff of Bullet Valley.” Bill Peckmann who sent the whole thing to me for posting, starts with an oil painting by Barks which was based on this story. Bill writes:
- Here’s Carl’s painting of the cover (caption to follow). It’s taken from “The Fine Art of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck” by Carl Barks. It was published in 1981 by Another Rainbow Publishing Co.
“The Sheriff of Bullet Valley”
(Click any image to enlarge.)
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Bill Peckmann wrote:
- Fortunately for us, “Bullet Valley” broke down nicely into 3 acts, but then again with the ol’ master, Carl Barks, at the helm, I’m sure luck had nothing to do with it.
One more note on the coloring. After rummaging through other colored reprinted (and original) versions of BV, I’ve come to the conclusion (IMHO) that this might be one of the best colored Barks story ever. I wish I knew who did the art direction on the the coloring, great job. Usually the colors are all slightly over saturated or are computer gradated, this version has all of the colors done nicely in a simple pale mode and boy, does that let Barks’ line work (one of the best in the business) superbly shine through!
on 15 Jul 2011 at 4:42 pm 1.The Gee said …
This is kind of a superfluous comment but….
the weird thing about these comics, a lot of the Disney ones actually, some of the shorts and probably including some of the strips, too, is when the characters ride horses.
They are usually cartoon horses and work better than the cartoon horses in Roy Crane’s comic strips* but it is so danged odd given the logic of a world or anthropomorphized critters that do stuff.
*which are hilariously bad given the nature of his work
on 15 Jul 2011 at 11:23 pm 2.Michael said …
You have difficulty accepting a duck riding a horse, how about a mouse that’s larger than his dog? There is no logic to these animals or Mickey Mouse wouldn’t still exist.
on 16 Jul 2011 at 1:40 am 3.The Gee said …
Oh, I know. That’s part of the beauty of cartoons. I do look at them as having some form of logic, for the sake of the work, the story and the gags.
Somehow Mickey is a mouse yet he isn’t. Jerry is almost always a mouse within his confines and in relation to those around him. Mickey, Donald, Bugs, etc. are given their respective sizes and play particular roles. So, I don’t exactly take them as being a mouse, a duck and a rabbit. I am not sure anyone really looks at them as being close to literal. Even animated/cartoon people are abstracted, hopefully just right.
Magically third things. They are not chimeras exactly, just different amalgams. Heck. A griffin always struck me as stupid and too jokey. (But, then so do platypuses and a lot of animals from Australia.)
When I can just accept cartoon characters because they just work and are somehow believable, magical third things is an easy way for me to describe them. Somehow they are Plausible things. How solid the characters are is a testament to the creators, of course.
That said, most certainly, there’s a lot more to good cartoon characters that. But, most who might read this are already very aware of this on greater levels. I’m just saying where I’m coming from, why the horse thing is jarring for me.
Anyways…. enough with this lame-o, content-adding rambling on my part. It hardly matters at all. Though, if anything, hopefully, people should read the all of the acts of the Barks story. It’s a good one and its cool that it is being shared. Thanks.
Still, seeing animals riding other animals is always jarring, in a funny way. Maybe, like with dancing monkeys, that’s part of the joke.
on 16 Jul 2011 at 1:45 am 4.The Gee said …
grrrr….
If anyone read the above, sorry if the writing is klutzy. Long day.
It seriously is just meant to be additive and not silly or pretentious or whatever.
on 16 Jul 2011 at 1:33 pm 5.Bill said …
Gee, nothing klutzy about those kool comments, keep ‘em comin’!
on 18 Jul 2011 at 3:28 am 6.Eddie Fitzgerald said …
This really is a good example of comics coloring. As Bill said, too many comics overwhelm the drawings with garish color. This example is just right.