Bonus
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But what were they saying? (Baptism by Fire)
In “Baptism by Fire” one of the buyers speaks a different language. So what’s he saying?
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The Subtleties of Translation
The image here shows the French and English versions of the same scene. The French uses the pronoun “on” to create ambiguity in the conversation. The equivalent “one” isn’t commonly used in conversational English, so instead, we focussed on the way Datta was killed.
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Steve Englehart
Some comic-book writers are iconic, but there are also other more low-profile writers who were also influential. Steve Englehart, who worked at Marvel during the 70s, is one of the latter. While everyone raves about the work of Alan Moore, I think we shouldn’t overlook writers like Englehart who incorporated very contemporary issues into his stories. Take for example the Watergate subtext in the “Secret Empire” saga (for instance, in issue 175 of “Captain America”) and corruption in the business world, which is shown through Roxxon Oil (“Avengers” issues 141 to 149). Englehart also had a gift for creating coherent worlds that were well adapted to the titles he worked on. He served the storylines without twisting them around to fit his own style. Because of that, some claim he lacked personality, but we feel this demonstrated great skill and respect for the reader.
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The Role of the Villain
We’ve mentioned that we want to give our characters a complex personality. And you know what they say: the better the bad guy, the better the story. In our opinion, villain Oroshimaru gives Naruto a whole new dimension. His nearly metaphysical ambition to master all forms of combat is a welcome alternative to the usual ambition of world domination. “Goldfinger” (the movie) remains one of the best Bond films because the confrontation between hero and villain is not only physical but also psychological. In the ensemble film “Syriana,” Christopher Plummer’s Dean Whiting only makes a few appearances but each time, his presence electrifies the scene. The same goes for David Strathairn’s role (Bourne Ultimatum), which, thanks to the work co-director Noah Vosen, is imbued with the strength of conviction. This villain doesn’t wake up in the morning looking forward to eating babies. Just like the good guys, he just wants to see his businesses succeed. We’ll come back to this topic later.
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Lost in translation
We’ve mentioned that we want our heroes to speak different languages in certain circumstances. This sometimes requires changes to the story’s translation. For instance, in “Baptism by Fire,” our agents travel to Bordeaux. In the image here we see them arriving at the hotel. In the French dialogue, the characters talk about missing luggage. But in the English version, we keep some of the French dialogue verbatim and then add a comment about Fabien knowing how to speak French. That wouldn’t make any sense in the French version. See image.
