Having been a long time comic book fan, as a kid I began asking people who were traveling abroad to look for comics in a foreign language. And that sort of giddiness for seeing my favorite heroes in a book in something other than English hasn't really diminished. Friends and family heading on vacation know the drill. And, on the rare occasions I am abroad, I look as well.
While any comic is a thrill, Superman and Supergirl comics are considered bonus.
My parents recently went north of the border to the Quebec area of Canada and found this slick hardcover book about Superman ... in French! And, despite my being at my advanced age, they bought me it as a souvenir.
As an added bonus, there is a great Supergirl page, showcasing both the Silver Age Kara and the New 52 Supergirl.
Cousin, cousine indeed!
My high school French is rusty but she has "des pouvoirs identiques sous l'influence du Soleil jaune" - that is the same powers under the influence of the yellow sun."
And 'aussi une grande heroine' - she is also a grand hero!
Okay, maybe I am just a big kid, but I was so pumped to get this.
Since I was on the topic, I thought I would also share an Italian comic my folks got me many years ago. These Panini books end up having three comics in one package, this cover book - Superman #16, as well as Action Comics #599 (a team up with the Metal Men) and Adventures of Superman #439.
Great panel by John Byrne.
Does anyone else look for foreign comics?
I do, but I'm Brazilian, so foreign comics for me include American comics. :)
ReplyDeleteDigital comics are great for me since now I can get new comics faster and in the original language...
I'm Swedish, so the "foreign" appeal is not as strong in me - from when I was, like, 9 I started reading English-language comics as well as Swedish ones. But, I am always fascinated by western comics in a *completely* foreign language, like Spider-Man or X-Men in Japanese.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is fun to think that my Swedish-language Superman comics (Stålmannen in Swedish, literally "Man of Steel") are exotic to you. :)
Hi,
ReplyDeletePanini has (sadly) never printed anything DC in Italy, she was bought by Marvel and merged with Marvel Italia and has since printed everithing Marvel in Italy. But never DC.
The book you posted was published by "Play Press" that held (most) DC rights in the 90s and was then followed bay Planeta deAgostini and then, to date, by RW-Lion.
The 3-stories format has been a standard for printing US comics in Italy for decades and it's still widely used since starting and closing titles in Italy is not as easy as in the U.S.
Furthermore, DC comics have always had a rougher time in Italy, compared to Marvel's, often changing publishers and formats and never reaching the numbers of Spidey's house.
Good stories ended up in bad printings, more capable publishers ended up with poor material, a lot of storylines remained unpublished besides DC getting in Italy almost 25 years before Marvel.
RW is making a good job now, but printed comics are facing difficulties worldwide, and they have a lot to catch up.
As an example of how badly DC material was often managed in Italy, the page you posted is NOT Matrix's first appearence in Italian.
ReplyDeleteThe storyline had already been printed erratically and lacking parts by Rizzoli some years before. They used to attach a 4color-comic-book format insert in their de-luxe comic magazine "Corto Maltese" printing Byrne's Superman. The Superboy/Supergirl Pocket Universe saga was the last storyline published, lacking pages and issues. Then they stopped printing Superman stuff still retaining publishing rights for some years.
So, technically, that is the first appearence of Matrix in Italy, and I'm afraid it's pretty rare stuff, although badlly issued.
Thanks for the comments. So grateful that non-US folks are Supergirl fans and visit here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the added info Nobile! So interesting.