...Or, maybe it's HERE ALREADY, for all I know!
Disney Masters Volume 11: Mickey Mouse "The Ice Sword Saga" Book 2 by the great Massimo DeVita... and a host of others you may know!
Yes, it's the long-awaited follow-up to the amazing Book 1...
...Where Mickey and "legendary hero Goofy" (?!), along with the great wizard Yor, faithful Boz, and the "hero's hero" Gunni Helm (all pictured above) make a habit of saving the fabled land of Argaar from doom and destruction - coincidentally every Christmas Eve!
As for that "host of others" all working in service to the wonderful storytelling of Massimo DeVita, that would be the "Disney Comics American Creative Core Four" of David Gerstein, Jonathan Gray, Thad Komorowski... and the humble host of this very blog, li'l old me!
A lot of you have missed us (and, it would seem, not without good reason, Joe editorializes), but we're back and (cliche warning) better than ever!
...Or, more likely it's Massimo DeVita's talents that just make us look that way!
Just as with Book One (first page of which is seen below), we begin again with a lead story written and drawn by DeVita, with "Translation and Dialogue" by Jonathan Gray, followed by one "T&D'ed" by me!
Even Gunni Helm's ELBOW (at middle right) is *too heroic* to be contained by panel borders! ...And this is only BOOK ONE, wait until he really gets started!
But WAIT, as those TV pitchmen often say, there's MORE! The DeVita delights continue with an additional Donald Duck story "T&D'ed" by Thad Komorowski - and an Arizona Goof story "T&D'ed" by David Gerstein!
(Another cliche warning)... I feel like we're GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!
Buy your tickets (...er, COPY) now folks, seating is limited and we can promise no extra shows or make-up dates! First come, first served... and first delightfully entertained!
If you haven't read any of "The Ice Sword Saga" tales yet, but think you "know it all" by (Third cliche warning)... "judging a book by its cover"... DON'T!
For what it's worth, I am NOT a big fan of "sword and sorcery" or "fantasy/mythology" stories!
I didn't like "Wizards of Mickey" (for reasons well beyond its silly title), or "DonaldQuest", or anything in that vein...
...BUT, THESE ARE DIFFERENT!
THESE ARE "MYTHOLOGY" LACED WITH A HEALTHY DOSE OF SCI-FI!
And THAT, I LOVE!
Assisting our usual cast, in this final installment of the Saga, is SAN HOLO (Yes, I named him! Blame me!), "Interstellar Cabbie" (owing to the past DC Comics series "Space Cabbie" - see illustration further down), who carries his fares on a giant bug rather than a spaceship!
Space Cabbie...
Nice, but... "Next Time, Get a BUG!"
Just a few more quick items, before we bump up against "Spoiler Territory"!
Gunni Helm - the "hero's hero" (a character I really enjoy writing) is in top bombastically heroic form...
Taking my dialoguing cue from the also-bombastically heroic version of Aquaman, from the animated series BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD!
Speaking of dialoguing influences, there's also the character of "Dragon Yorrfeet" (Yes, I named HIM too! Can't ya tell?) who, in both books, was written with Wally Gator in mind!
It just wouldn't BE a story "T&D'ed" by me if there weren't a "BERTRAM" in there someplace!
And the occasional familiar quote...
A wonderful Carl Barks quote now said by Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse... the later two courtesy of your's truly, who has loved that line from Barks since first reading it over five decades ago!
Finally, Goofy has some fascinating interaction with a "Higher Power"... but that REALLY WOULD be spoiling!
It's all here waiting for you in the fourth and final chapter of "The Ice Sword Saga", in a tale titled "Mickey Mouse and Goofy Meet the Sleeping Beauty in the Stars"! (...See? I told'ja it was mythology an' sci-fi deliciously smooshed together!)
Join the journey now! You're in for a great time with Chapters 3 and 4 of "The Ice Sword Saga" and Donald Duck and Arizona Goof to boot!
And, just as we did (far more frequently) in the old days, let's all meet-up here in the Comments Section for some heroically-stirring discussions!
(Final cliche warning, but true)... YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT!
Gunni Helm's heroic-honor, you will!
4 comments:
Joe:
Welcome back to the world of comics after the change at IDW. *face palm* Just curious but you mentioned several times that you influenced the dialogue? Does this mean it’s not just a translation as written by the writer? How much dialogue is changed or influenced and why? I thought they were just being translated from whatever language they were written in. Please fill me in. I love this series and I’ll make sure to pick it up when the box set comes out, looks like October.
Jim:
Thanks for the back-welcoming! It’s great to BE back in any capacity, be it full Translation and Dialogue, or providing text pieces, as in other upcoming volumes!
I think the best way to answer your question is to describe exactly what I do, vs. a more literal (and flat, robotic) translation that has, alas, become the norm at my former publisher. To be fair, perhaps this has changed, as I abandoned their product after 2-3 months of “giving it a fair chance”. But, if “spicing it back up” was their aim, they know how to contact me, and the rest of the team – who could do exactly that!
It begins when I receive a PDF of the story as it appeared in its original Italian (or, Dutch, or whatever the language). I look through that PDF, recognizing certain words and/or phrases (my ethnic background is Italian) and following the flow of the art to get a sense of what the story is about, and how it progresses to its conclusion.
Still using the PDF, I create a page-by-page, panel-by-panel breakdown template, where each character’s “lines” will be filled in as part of the final step.
When that is done, I take each and every written word (lines of dialogue, captions, sound effects, signs, banners, etc.) and type it into Google Translate to get the “general gist” of what is being said or seen. I copy the (very) rough English (computer-generated) translation to a Word document that is also broken down by page. Now, I have a reasonable idea of what each and every page should “read” like.
Finally, on a “three-split” screen, I use the PDF (to follow the action), the Word document (to match “general gist” with the art of the PDF), and just sit back and (as Mark Evanier once told me many years ago) “let the characters take over” – and, heads-down, fill-in each line of the template with ACTUAL dialogue! The dialogue you will read in the finished story – additional editorial changes notwithstanding.
That is why it’s called “Translation and Dialogue”, and not just “Translation”! I *create* the dialogue out of the original creator’s story layout and the “general gist” of what the balloons and captions “translate-to” from the native language.
I have been reading these comics since the early Silver Age, and am VERY familiar with all of their quirks and nuances (as are David, Jonathan, and Thad), and that’s why the stories that are “T&D’ed” by our team always come out so well.
I bring ALL of that to bear, when pairing the art with the “general gist”, to create a finished product that I have always been proud of. And, if you know how much I love these characters, you can gauge both that “pride” and the great amount of effort I put into it. …That fully applies to ALL FOUR members of our team!
I’d like to think it’s “something you can see” even in the few panels that I’ve reproduced in this post!
I consider it a great honor – and a still-greater privilege – to be able to put words of my own creation into the mouths of characters created (or certainly REFINED) by the great Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson… and by Mr. Disney himself!
To this day, I deeply lament the loss of that privilege at my former publisher, but rejoice in continuing as part of the magnificent line of deluxe hardcover books from Fantagraphics!
I hope that scratches the old curiosity itch, Jim! …It’s always my pleasure to respond!
Excellent stuff — both this book, and the stories it translates! It will come across as no surprise from the co-creator of the Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids, and an eminent Doctor Who fan, that I'm a sucker for science-fiction/fantasy mashups too. (Though arguably, DonaldQuest was that too, not "pure" fantasy — it's just that in comparison it just wasn't very good at it.)
Achille:
If I may return the compliment, this Blog has been vastly enriched by the visitations the Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids and the countless “Secret Societies” that have risen up in their wake!
It’s kinda become a fantasy world all its own, into which your humble Blogger has been drawn as a confused or bemused participant! It’s like I’m “Wilbur Post” and there are a thousand or so groups of “Mr. Ed-like creatures” going about their odd business all around me – as I try to figure out what’s going on! …Or I’m Mickey Mouse amid an infinite “pnumber” of Eega-Beevas!
Further, that “eminent Doctor Who fan” is to “blame” for reawakening my long-dormant appreciation for that series, introducing me to the current series which (despite my all-abiding love for all things 1960s) blows away the old – and for the corresponding uber-expansion of my DVD collection (to encompass ALL seasons of BOTH series)! …Just stay out of Esther’s way for a while, okay! :-)
I should also take this opportunity to announce that I am on the verge of submitting the first draft of the THIRD Rebo story by Luciano Bottaro! Rebo is as cantankerous and egotistical as ever and, if possible, his two hapless generals are even more obsequious than before!
And Giorgio Cavazzano’s magnificently drawn “Plantastic Voyage” (my title, of course) is still out there waiting to be savored!
Despite all the horrible things that have come together all at once (particularly in the United States), it’s STILL a wonderful life!
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