“Modesty Blaise” cut up in Sweden: the challenges of adapting a newspaper comic strip to the comic book format

Lefèvre, Pascal 2022. “Modesty Blaise” cut up in Sweden: the challenges of adapting a newspaper comic strip to the comic book format. New Readings 18 , pp. 70-87. 10.18573/newreadings.129

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Abstract

Every graphic narrative is originally made for a specific publication format, but when a comic is selected for translation, it is not uncommon for the local publisher to choose a different format. This transition from one publication format to another can give rise to several problematic issues, as seen in the case study of “Modesty Blaise” presented here, which focuses on how the first story of that series went from a British daily comic strip to a Swedish comics magazine (called there serietidning). After proposing some prototypical descriptions of the relevant publication formats, the case study focuses on the formal modifications that both the text and the pictures underwent in their journey from the UK to Sweden. The publication format of the Swedish comics magazine (based on the US-American comic book) was not well suited to publishing the daily tiers, because these were slightly too wide for the smaller pages of the magazine. To make the daily tiers fit the comics magazine format, panels were vertically cropped, or conversely horizontally extended, at times even completely deleted. The visual treatment of the dialogue balloons was similarly problematic. This article argues that these modifying practices impacted the way the comic was experienced and moreover raise the issue of derogatory treatment of the artists’ moral rights.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration N Fine Arts > NE Print media P Language and Literature > PD Germanic languages P Language and Literature > PE English P Language and Literature > PR English literature P Language and Literature > PT Germanic literature
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2634-6850
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 June 2022
Date of Acceptance:	16 December 2021
Last Modified:	24 May 2023 00:23
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/150317

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