Franco-Belgian adorableness
Eeeeeeeee! "Valley of the Exiles", aka the English translation of Spirou & Fantasio #41, came in the mail today, and I'm really happy with it, let me tell you!
Story/Dialogue: GOOD YES WOULD READ AGAIN/10
It's pretty silly, naturally (summary: Spirou and Fantasio get washed away into a remote valley with some very peculiar wildlife, but things take a turn for the worse when Fantasio is bitten by a bug that makes its victims agressively insane), but it's a pretty solid adventure story with a lot of dramatic tension, too (Spirou, injured, has to navigate through the valley trying to find help or a way out for him and Fantasio, all while avoiding his one-time best friend's murderous advances, and trying not to get bitten himself).
Overall, the translation seems like a pretty decent one -- not that I can compare how faithful it is to the original, but at least everything made sense, I didn't catch any glaring errors, plus I enjoyed the colorful phraseology ("Leave me alone! I'm going to blow off some steam by exterminating a few million bugs before I surrender my body to the appetites of this hellhole's fauna!" haha wow ok Fantasio dang), and there are some cute puns to be had, and I'm pretty sure pun-translation is always difficult, so props for that!
Plus, I like how these two interact. True, they both fall into the "generic boy adventurer" character trope, but it's enjoyable to watch their antics. They're a bit more sassy than Tintin-- OK, Fantasio's a lot sassier; he's more the Captain Haddock-esque grumpy comic relief-- but Spirou, despite fulfilling the straight-man reader-proxy protagonist role, does manage to display a bit of a personality and a decent range of emotions, so that's already a difference right there (plus he... apparently "desires" a busty female version of himself?! Haha, ok, I'm cool with that).
I mean, Tintin's great and whatever, but you just don't see him making faces like that!
He'd just be all like "Good golly! A mummy!" :o
Art: YES UGGH DOES NOT DISAPPOINT/10
Janry was the S&F artist for the main series in the 80s and 90s, and his art has sort of a gritty noir-feel to it most of the time. His faces aren't always my favorite (not to say his expressions aren't fantastic, it's more that his less-exaggerated "default" faces are sort of hit-and-miss), but I really dig his use of black, the details on clothing and musculature, and his weighty gestures and posing. Plus he draws great beautiful bony hands. Definitely will be pouring over pretty pictures for a long time to come!
THOSE HAAAAAAAANDS <3
Some other highlights:
I find Fantasio's murderlust to be kind of hilarious, because I am actually a terrible human being.
Cutest panels. Poor geckos DX
Overall: I recommend it! Particularly if you like things involving adventure, action, friendship, and worlds populated by strange creatures (which, if you're reading this blog, I know you do, right? C'moooon, you know what I mean *wiggles eyebrows suggestively*)
And I guess they're planning to translate the one where they go to Moscow and Fantasio wears a tutu? Haha yesssss XD
Story/Dialogue: GOOD YES WOULD READ AGAIN/10
It's pretty silly, naturally (summary: Spirou and Fantasio get washed away into a remote valley with some very peculiar wildlife, but things take a turn for the worse when Fantasio is bitten by a bug that makes its victims agressively insane), but it's a pretty solid adventure story with a lot of dramatic tension, too (Spirou, injured, has to navigate through the valley trying to find help or a way out for him and Fantasio, all while avoiding his one-time best friend's murderous advances, and trying not to get bitten himself).
Overall, the translation seems like a pretty decent one -- not that I can compare how faithful it is to the original, but at least everything made sense, I didn't catch any glaring errors, plus I enjoyed the colorful phraseology ("Leave me alone! I'm going to blow off some steam by exterminating a few million bugs before I surrender my body to the appetites of this hellhole's fauna!" haha wow ok Fantasio dang), and there are some cute puns to be had, and I'm pretty sure pun-translation is always difficult, so props for that!
Plus, I like how these two interact. True, they both fall into the "generic boy adventurer" character trope, but it's enjoyable to watch their antics. They're a bit more sassy than Tintin-- OK, Fantasio's a lot sassier; he's more the Captain Haddock-esque grumpy comic relief-- but Spirou, despite fulfilling the straight-man reader-proxy protagonist role, does manage to display a bit of a personality and a decent range of emotions, so that's already a difference right there (plus he... apparently "desires" a busty female version of himself?! Haha, ok, I'm cool with that).
I mean, Tintin's great and whatever, but you just don't see him making faces like that!
He'd just be all like "Good golly! A mummy!" :o
Art: YES UGGH DOES NOT DISAPPOINT/10
Janry was the S&F artist for the main series in the 80s and 90s, and his art has sort of a gritty noir-feel to it most of the time. His faces aren't always my favorite (not to say his expressions aren't fantastic, it's more that his less-exaggerated "default" faces are sort of hit-and-miss), but I really dig his use of black, the details on clothing and musculature, and his weighty gestures and posing. Plus he draws great beautiful bony hands. Definitely will be pouring over pretty pictures for a long time to come!
THOSE HAAAAAAAANDS <3
Some other highlights:
I find Fantasio's murderlust to be kind of hilarious, because I am actually a terrible human being.
Cutest panels. Poor geckos DX
Overall: I recommend it! Particularly if you like things involving adventure, action, friendship, and worlds populated by strange creatures (which, if you're reading this blog, I know you do, right? C'moooon, you know what I mean *wiggles eyebrows suggestively*)
And I guess they're planning to translate the one where they go to Moscow and Fantasio wears a tutu? Haha yesssss XD