The reason is that the issue contains the story VODOO DERIVATE by Bernd Frenz and Carsten Dörr which yours truly had the privilege to translate last December.
They needed somebody to translate the story as their usual translation guy was not available and they knew I was doing the translations for the HORST comic. And it seems they even colored it ( the print version in the german comic magazine KURZ SCHLUSS was in black and white ).
So anyway, I don´t know if there will come some money of this gig ( which I would invest in new comics or a new laptop depending on the amount ) but it sure is a thrill to read your name in an actual issue of HEAVY METAL. And in the same issue as Milo Manara.
Here is a link where you can see more preview pages
The next announcement is the 28th Salon del Comic de Barcelona which this year takes place from the 6th of May till the 9th at the Fira de Montjuic.
Last year I couldn´t go because of my shoulder injury and I don´t know if I can go this year. I sure would like to see the guys from Rantifuso again ( I must be three or four issues behind their actual issue ) and get my hands on a copy of the X - Men comic by Chris Claremont and Milo Manara which still hasn´t come out in Germany.
Or get some new issues of DOLMEN the best publication about comics now that WIZARD has put its main focus on comic movies, toys, video games and such stuff. The problem is that when I go to a convention I like to go for the whole time because otherwise it´s just not worth the effort. Normally I can bunk at my aunt´s apartement since she lives alone and can use the company. Even if I´m at the convention most of the time. But that way I can at least go to the convention every day, I can shower before I get there ( which is very important when meeting comic pros - or the chick dressed as Catwoman ) and I can go there one day earlier or stay one day longer if I´m still tired and meet some relatives while I´m there.
Now this year my mother told me that I can´t do that because my aunt is too old now and she can´t care for me. I just need a place where I can sleep more than anything else but it seems I have to look for an alternative. Which means getting in contact with my cousins down there and see if I can sleep over. Right now I wouldn´t even need a bed since I´m still sleeping on the couch because of my shoulder problems. Otherwise I would have to look for a hotel to stay at or just go for one day or the weekend. Which in my opinion is too much trouble for just one or two days. And you would always ask yourself if you would have had better luck getting sketches on the days you weren´t there.
So I don´t know if I can go this year. Nevertheless here are some links. The first one is for the main page where you can get info about the Salon del Comic de Barcelona past and present as well as about the Salon del Manga.
Here you can get the all important general information like a map, how to get there and the opening hours which this year are :
Thursday 6 of May : from 10:00 till 20:00 h.
Friday 7 of May : from 10:00 till 21:00 h.
Saturday 8 of May : from 10:00 till 21:00 h.
sunday 9 of May : from 10:00 till 20:00 h.
Tickets are 6 EUROS and as usual you get a free comic for your ticket at the FICOMIC booth.
Artists this year include Jeff Smith, Jock, Ethan van Sciver, Gene Ha, Lewis Trondheim, Tanino Liberatore, Jaques Tardi and underground legend Gilbert Shelton. You can get the full list ( which will probably be updated ) here
Of course that´s just the tip of the iceberg since a lot of artists are not included in the list and in most cases you only get the full information at the convention when you get the convention booklet with all the signing info. For instance last year neither Jordi Bernet nor Carlos Pacheco were announced. But it´s a safe bet that if EL JUEVES is present that Mr. Bernet will show up or that if PANINI has a booth there Carlos Pacheco will show up if he has the time.
Maybe this time I can get a Power Girl sketch by Carlos Pacheco since I couldn´t get one by Adam Hughes who was supposed to come at the last Salon I attended but had to cancel at the last moment.
And - last but not least - there are the usual expositions which this year include The rhythm of comics, an expositon about the relation between music and comics, a retropsective about Vasquez, one of Spain´s best known comic veterans, an exposition about Hal Foster´s Prince Valiant that shows some original pages, Joso goes Hollywood which showcases some of the great artists that have come from Spains premier comic school like Pascual Ferry or Salva Espin. Other expositons are about comic artist Ana Miralles ( who did the art for this year´s poster for the salon ), The revolucion of the brushes ( last year´s winner for best art and breakthrough writer ), The blind snakes ( last year´s winners for best work and best script ) and - best of all - a showcase of Rantifuso ! Yay !
Speaking of comic conventions, last year they managed to put the Salon del Comic de Barcelona and the International Comic Salon in Erlangen at almost the same date. So you had to choose to which one you wanted to go which in the end made no difference to me since I couldn´t go to neither one. This year the International Comic Salon in Erlangen is taking place from the 3rd till the 6th of June which means that if I can´t go to Barcelona maybe I can go to Erlangen. We´ll see. In any case here´s the link although it doesn´t include much info at the moment ( like a picture of this year´s poster, natch ) :
Now back to some pimping which will be only for my german readers : as some may recall I made an announcement a few months back that HORST would make a triumphant return to print. And that I would post more information when the time is right.
Well, dear fans of Germany´s most famous rabbitt the time is now. PANINI is reprinting all the HORST material in 4 paperback editions of which the first one is already available. As someone who is only tangentially involved ( I should be getting to finish the next translations ) I don´t have a comp copy so you will have to wait for my review till I can get my hands on one. What I can say is that the colored pages I have seen on the web look fantastic.
Of course it wouldn´t be PANINI if they hadn´t managed to put some kind of f - word - up into it. One of the reasons I buy so little german comics is that german publishers like PANINI manage to ruin it all at the last moment. Be it that they have to include some really awful stories with fantastic ones, they have printing errors or really bad translations. If it´s not one thing it´s the other. Well, seeing as HORST is already in german and colored I thought they couldn´t ruin this one.
Huge mistake ! It seems someone at PANINI decided they had to " modernisize " the text. I can´t even imagine how much this must gall the involved artists. Okay, I have to see an actual issue to see how bad it really is....but the idea alone sounds stupid. That´s one of the instances of publishers f - word - ing comics up that I hate the most : fixing something that´s not broken just because somebody has a stupid idea. Which additionally costs more money and time and effort.
Anyway, I hope it´s not too bad since I wanted to pimp this thing heavily and get some copies for gifts and stuff. Because if the german edition is successful maybe we can get interest up for english and spanish editions and I may even get some cash. Or PANINI could make their usual f - word - ed up translations and even force us to delete our version. Who knows ?
In any case here are some HORST preview pages
And since we´re talking about HORST here are the links to the original blogs
Speaking of HORST, it´s one of the free giveaway comics at GRATIS COMIC TAG, something nobody in Germany really expected.
Yes, it´s true, german comic shops are giving away free comics. This must really be the end times. After the financial crisis and natural disaters in Haiti and Chile now another sign of the Apokalypse. Or another sign for hope.
On the 8th of May ( yes, it´s during the Salon del Comic de Barcelona ) Germany´s comic shops are - finally ! - following the american example and giving away free comics and they managed to put together 30 comics for this. You can get the info about the participating shops here and here is a list of the available titles which include HORST and the fine folks from HORRORSCHOCKER Germany´s best horror anthology title.
So that´s all for today. I hope it wasn´t too long and there was something interesting for you in it. And it won´t be too long till my next post.
New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN :
You know, I got in this mess to begin with because of people screwing around in the air.
