Some more stuff

(sorry i'm late!)

This time i bring 3 examples for your consideration. I'm also using the format i was told translations tend to follow when it involves comic. It's divided by page, panel, and text. I can see how it could be accurate but how it must involve a lot of effort to decode and now i understand those mistakes I saw now and then in comics i guess.

Original: Making light of Nice Pete's musical sensibilities

---

Hoja 1
Panel 1 Texto 1
"oh si, hermano. hurra."

Panel 2 Texto 1
"hurra por unos tipos."

Panel 4 Texto 1
Teodor: ¿Entonces qué onda con la banda de aquellos?

Panel 5 Texto 1
Ray: Nice Pete canta unas pinches letras locas sobre una nota de bajo. ¿Es como esa madre de rock negro élfico? ¿De Noruega? ¿Si me entiendes?

Panel 5 Texto 2
Teodor: Ah, con letras todas como,

Panel 6 Texto 1

Teodor: LA FURIA DE LA RATHA MOME

Panel 6 Texto 2
Teodor: AVASALLO LA TIERRA DE PAR EN PAR

Panel 7 Texto 1
Ray: No, lo suyo es aún mas tonto. Es como,


Panel 8 Texto 1
Ray: ¡EL SEMEN DEL DEMONIO CUBRIÓ LOS MORTALES PASTELES UNO POR UNO!

Panel 8 Texto 2
Ray: ¡LAS LEALES DONCELLAS LOS SIRVIERON Y PRONTO EL TRABAJO DE SATÁN ESTUVO HECHO!

Panel 9 Texto 1
Teodor: ¡AH JA JA!, Oh Cielos.

Panel 9 Texto 2
Ray: ¡En serio, viejo! ¡Es lo que dice!

---

Now, This strip brought to my attention several issues. First one, the slang must be, even if outdated, be consistent, in order to link the usage with Achewood in a way that can be understood, i mean, the reader might recognize some slang usage as old (80s based, like the original in the comic) but in the end the reader must come to understand the slang as an exclusive part of the character's composition. That must be accomplished by creating novel slang or using outdated terms, and then being constant and congruent with its usage.

Secondly, each character has a voice of their own, carefully crafted by the author in the process of character development. It is my duty to faithfully recreate the existence of these voices, without the advantage of time to develop in my translation. Consistency and creativity will be key here.

Finally, working in a text format is insanely easier than my old 'translate-edit' method, and much faster, but doesn't allow me control of the wording to better fit existing panels, and because of the differences between spanish and english, a translation might end up much longer than its original text, creating graphic adaptation issues.

There's also the issue of translating or not personal names. It's often tricky, and i'm afraid that, Achewood being such a well oiled machine depending on so many cogs, one of these funny but meaningful names, I'll have to come up with decent translations for many names. These should be still funny and creative, though. I can't afford to just say 'Robot-mentira'.

Next translations should involve the GOF.

Why? Who? How?

Basically, why not?

But seriously, why Achewood?

If we believe the author, Achewood gets about six million daily visits, making the author completely able to make a living solely with his creation, via merchandise sales.

Achewood has a unique humor, that nevertheless has managed speak to and attract a vast amount of readers. (The wikipedia article explains it better than i ever could, being i'm not as anal as a wikipedia editor)
As an up-and-starting translator i'm highly interested the challenge involved in translating (or adapting, as much as i don't like the term) Achewood, owing to the humongous amount of terms, references and elements that basically belong more to Achewood than to a particular culture.

As far as i know, there haven't been serious attempts to translating the strip, just some fan-made attempts in latin, and norweigan ( I also made an early spanish attempt)

It is then that i proppose to translate Achewood to spanish, more specifically, mexican spanish, Mexican culture, being, due to its closeness to California, where Achewood is based, an apparent source of inspiration, making it a fair trade.

This started as a mere hobby for my amusement and practise, but the validation of my translation teachers has pushed it into a project with a life of its own. I hope the blog will allow me a close control of my progress, to eventually turn the work into something akin a graduation paper, perhaps. Flights of fancy about publication will be discused with mr. Onstad, Achewood's author.

Who the heck is behind this?

The name's Aldo, i'm 23, and i'm Achewoodholic. It's my sincere hope that the love i have for the comic is turned into serious efforts to create translations faithful to the original spirit, yet understandable (and hopefully enjoyable) in a whole different culture. What i am lacking in experience yet i hope to make up for with hatred towards improper translation.

Why blogger? The Achewood characters use it. Works fine so far, though it has a couple of annoying quirks.


That's all for now.

Start

Achewood debuted October the 1st, 2001, coincidentally the very same day i became 17 years old. I must confess that when i found the then-relatively unknown world of the 'webcomic', years later, Achewood's starting day did bias my interest a little bit.

Even back to the period in which the webcomic made an effort to appeal, not only to the lowest, but to all the denominators to earn a niche and audience, Achewood dared to be 'itself', and exist under its own rules and sense of humor, at the same time taking advantage of the digital medium it existed within: I.e. a total lack of editors, specific schedules, advertisers to please or to be censored by.

After a brief starting period to find and stand in its own feet, based on developing the personalities of its multiple characters, Achewood has become one of the best and most esteemed representatives of the webcomic genre.

The already described advantages (inherent to the webcomic, but not always fully taken advantage of) have no doubt allowed the creation of Achewood's characteristic humor, since the author has total creative liberty over it, what allows him to base in all sorts of experiences to draw humor from, from the rudest and most scatological ( an alcoholic tiger puking hard enough on a football to make it roll three feet) to the deepest and most tender of emotions, (the emotional development of a neurotic cat after finding love) everything drenched in a generous dose of californian culture, idiosyncrasy and even gastronomy, impossible to describe as 'simply american', defining this culture a conflict by itself.

It's the result of the union between the author's creative liberty and his hability to express his culture that makes Achewood such a particular product, with a humor of its own, not compatible with everyone. (Even so, Achewood reports 6 million readers across the US) It is also a considerable challenge for the translator, who must sort thought a tidal wave of california-local and specific terms, old timey slang, and countless cultural references, that the author is able to use at his free will, lacking as he is of a target demographic to pander and subjugate himself to.