I was getting e-mail all day yesterday on this, in two distinct categories:
(1) Readers who have trouble believing that anyone was ever named “Carl
Barks.” E.g. “What’s THAT all about? The author of DAS KAPITAL with a head
cold?”
(2) Emotional tributes to the enlightening and educative powers–not to
mention the spats-wearing prowess–of Scrooge McDuck. Sample: “I remember
one snippet of an episode where Scrooge and the nephews visit a poor island
where bottlecaps are currency and everyone has practically none. Scrooge,
in a fit of generosity, flies his plane over the island and dumps thousands
of bottlecaps, where they are joyfully scooped up by the islanders. All is
well, and Scrooge returns the following day to a diner to have lunch… only
to discover that the price of a sandwich has gone up from 5 bottlecaps to
1,000! Something clicked, and the connection between the two events
suddenly dawned on me. Had the show ended with the dropping of the
bottlecaps, my dimwitted mind might never have made the connection, and I’d
be subscribing to MotherJones today. Thanks, Scrooge McDuck!”
I can verify that Carl Barks did indeed exist, in corporeal form until
8/25/2000, when he went off to the great animation studio in the sky at age
99. To judge from all
the encomiums I have received from fiscal conservatives who first saw the
light while reading or viewing a Scrooge McDuck cartoon, Carl Barks deserves
an honored place in the conservative pantheon. So who’s got the keys to the
pantheon this week? Jonah? Rick? Andrew? Come on, someone must have
them. Where’s the duty roster, Kathryn?