7/13/09 Our local comics, and “Local”
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Who is Company President Shima, and why do some committed Japanese fans try to imitate his life? Why on earth would anyone create a wine-tasting comic? The answers to these questions and more as Mulele and Tim flip through the latest issue of Japan’s Morning Comics. |
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Love her, hate her, or… don’t really care about her, Megan McKeenan’s North American journey in Local, by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, is worth discussing. Was there a point to the exercise? Tim and Brandon ponder. |
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My understanding is that the lettering in Japanese comics was hand-written into the balloons by the artists, and then (in the 80s and 90s anyway) type set and glued on by girls in editorial.
Shima Kosaku is not the first manga to use left-to-right dialogue to indicate foreign speech. In fact, I think it is common practice. I stole the idea for WCT JAPAN after I saw the technique used in Hiroaki Samura’s OHIKKOSHI which I translated for Dark Horse. My idea was that whenever Granny and Melissa spoke to each other it would be horizontal; when they spoke to locals it would be vertical.
Regarding hand-lettering vs type-set lettering, I will add that Japanese translations of American comics (especially indies) usually use hand lettering — see the Japanese editions of Ghost World and Hate.
KS
p.s. I heard that Shonen Jump’s circulation actually used to be SIX MILLION sold per week during it’s peak.