AGATHE AND THE LITTLE THINGS
DOMITILLE COLLARDEY
DUSTIN HARBIN
HARK! A WAGRANT!
LES CHAUDS LAPINS
LISA HANAWALT
LITTLE LOVE MONSTER
MATTIAS ADOLFSSON
MUSEUM OF MISTAKES
ORNERYBOY
SARAH GLIDDEN
SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFAST CEREALS
Steve Holfhard
XKCDF.A.Q.
- Q : Who are you and what is this blog ?
- Q : The translation are sometime awkward, how do you work ?
- Q : Can we help you to make it sound better ?
- Q : I am french, but I fluently speak english, can I help anyway ?
- Q : I can’t translate, but is there anything else I can do to help ?
- Q : How did you make this layout ?
- Q : Can I use the same layout for my blog ?
- Q : Where can we buy your work ? Do you have a shop with posters, mugs or T-shirts ?
- Q : Can I use one of your comics to print a shirt / a poster / to put it on my blog / to illustrate my book / magazine ?
- Q : Can I buy you an original artwork ?
- Q : I’m very rich and I want to hire you / I want to publish your work
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Q : Who are you and what is this blog ?
I’m Boulet, a french cartoonist living in Paris. I’ve had about 20 books published, most of them for young readers. I also worked on two books of the “Dungeon” series with Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar (available in English, ask at your local comic shop).
This blog is an attempt to translate my french blog ” bouletcorp.com “. I started in 2004 and have drawn more than 1600 entries. I’m trying to catch up but it’s a huge undertaking! -
Q : The translation are sometime awkward, how do you work ?
The translation is a very delicate subject !
Most of the translations were performed by followers of my french blog, but very few of them are native anglophones, so the accuracy varies a lot.
I tried to find a professional translator but it turned out it was far too much expensive for me alone. So I offered to give an original artwork in exchange of amateur translations (like, for a month or so of comics to translate) but even then it was complicated because just the re-handwriting the texts and posting them alone took a lot of time, and having to do original artworks for it and posting them was a lot of work too. Anyway I can’t manage it like this either.
So for this new version, I’m going to give it a try and translate all by myself.
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Q : Can we help you to make it sound better ?
That would be the idea !
As you can see in this FAQ, I’m not so good in english ! So here’s what I have in mind: if you think you can make the translation sound better, just write your propositions in the comments, and I will gradually update the comics.
The more comments and remarks I’ll get, the more I’ll be happy !
Just be indulgent, I try my best, and translation is not my main job !
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Q : I am french, but I fluently speak english, can I help anyway ?
Yes you can, of course, but must tell I will pay more attention to native anglophone comments !
I had a lot of people trying to translate, and each time, english or american people told me it was still awkward. French people tend to be overconfident with their level in english or at least, with their ability to translate a comic. It’s not just about being accurate, it’s also about making it soud good, you have to feel it, and that’s almost impossible if you are not english or american.
The best help I could help would be from english or US cartoonists !
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Q : I can’t translate, but is there anything else I can do to help ?
Even if it’s written in english, it’s not easy to share this webcomic: in France I can rely on cartoonist friends or specialized reeferers to share, but it’s very difficult to make people discover my work in other countries !
So if you want to help, it’s very easy: you can share with your friends ! If you have friends who don’t speak french, tell them about this page, and use social networks to share the comics you liked !
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Q : How did you make this layout ?
First, this blog was programmed with flash.
But flash is a very heavy format, and very difficult to share. A few months ago, I decided to rebuild it whith a different platform. I discussed about this with Arnold on Twitter. He’s very good with WordPress, so I designed and he made this happen !
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Q : Can I use the same layout for my blog ?
WordPress is supposed to be a free-sharing platform, but we worked a lot on this, and we don’t specially want that anyone could use it without consulting us.
The layout programming is Arnold’s, so you can ask him and he will be the only judge ! If he likes your work, I think he will be happy to authorize you to use this !
His contact is at the bottom of the site, on the main page.
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Q : Where can we buy your work ? Do you have a shop with posters, mugs or T-shirts ?
For now, there’s not such a thing. I try to keep this the less “commercial” I can. But maybe I will change my mind some day !
The only available work I have in english are the two books I drew for the serie “Dungeon” with Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar. Ask for it in any comic book shop ! The more you ask them to order it, the easiest will it get to obtain !
If you want to have a better translation of this webcomic, you just have to harass US and UK publishers, till one of them agrees to publish it in english
For my french work, I drew a lot of books, here’ the entire list:
Glénat Editions:
-Raghnarok
Tome 1 : Dragon Junior
Tome 2 : Fées et Gestes
Tome 3 : Terreurs de la nature
Tome 4 : Légendes urbaines
Tome 5 : Tempus Fugit
Tome 6 : Casus Belli
-La Rubrique Scientifique
Tome 1
Tome 2
Tome 3
-Le Miya (with Reno, Julien Néel and Libon)
-Womoks (only scenario, drawing by Reno)
Tome 1 : Mutant, suspends ton vol…
Tome 2 : Le croiseur s’amuse
Tome 3 : Albon, les brutes et les truands
La boîte à bulles Edition:
-Le vœu de…
Tome 1 : Le vœu de Marc (coscenarist with Nicolas Wild, drawing by Lucie Albon)
Tome 2 : Le vœu de Simon (coscenarist with Lucie Albon, drawing by Lucie Albon)
-Amour et Désir (Collectif, seven pages under the alias Ella Forbin)
-Delcourt Edition:
-Donjon (avec Lewis Trondheim et Joann Sfar au scénario, et Lucie Albon à la couleur)
Tome 5 : Un mariage à part
Tome 6 : Retour en fanfare
-Notes (these are the compilations of all the entries of the french blog)
Tome 1 : Born to be a larve
Tome 2 : Le petit théâtre de la rue
Tome 3 : La viande, c’est la force
Tome 4 : Songe est Mensonge
Tome 5 : Quelques Minutes avant la Fin du Monde
Tome 6 : Debout mes globules ! (à paraître, 23 novembre 2011)
-Chicou-Chicou (under the alias Ella Forbin, with Aude Picault, Domitille Collardey, Lisa Mandel and Erwann Surcouf)
-Boule de neige (collective compilation of works for the 24-hours comics of Angoulême )
-La Maison Close (collective book by Ruppert et Mulot)
-La Page Blanche (scenarist, drawing by Pénélope Bagieu. Release in january 2012)
-Bragelonne Edition:
-Tous malades ! (original title: Now we’re Sick) (illustrations for a collection of adult poems by Neil Gaiman and other authors, with Reno and Mélaka)
-Erik le Viking (illustrations of the french version of Terry Jones’s book)
-L’almanach illustré 2008. (texts by Laurent Genefort and Gudule)
Nekomix :
-Soupir (collectif)
Tome 1, 2008
Tome 2, 2009
-Nekomix 7 spécial cinéma (collectif)
-Barclay-Universal :
-Repenti (Illustrations for Renan Luce’s album, christmas edition)
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Q : Can I use one of your comics to print a shirt / a poster / to put it on my blog / to illustrate my book / magazine ?
No, you can’t !
All this comics ask a lot of time to draw, and I don’t want them to be taken out of this blog, especially if it’s for commercial use.
And most of this blog material is already printed by the french publisher Delcourt, so it would be highly illegal !
They are some exceptions, though:
-You can use one panel or two if you are making a citation (for example: if you write an article about my work or about webcomics in general, you can show a couple of pictures, without asking me. You just have to put the source under it: my name and the blog’s URL, clikable if your article is on internet. You don’t specially have to tell me, but it would be nice)
-If you want to share a story on internet, the way I like better is one panel, clikable, redirecting to my original blog.
-You can use a comic or more for pedagogic use if it’s a non-commercial use: if you’re a teacher and you need a printing from the blog for your class, if you’re a student and need an illustration for an essay or your thesis, I’m totally ok if you respect these two conditions: you have to ask me FIRST (because I wouldn’t like to illustrate something I totally disagree with), and the use must be completely NON-COMMERCIAL (you CAN’T sell it, no matter the format), NON-POLITIC (especially if you are a kind of nationalist NRA douchebag) and NON-RELIGIOUS (I’m an atheist, and I work for no church or cult) -
Q : Can I buy you an original artwork ?
I don’t really need mone for now, so I don’t sell my original works… So no !
And I have a lot of work waiting to be done, so I don’t have time to make special drawings for birthdays, christmas presents or stuff like that ! -
Q : I’m very rich and I want to hire you / I want to publish your work
Ok, send me an email and we’ll see !
I’m not specially looking for work now, but if you have something nice to propose, maybe we can find an arrangement !
If you want to publish material from this blog, my publisher shares the copyrights with me, so you have to contact him ! look for “editions Delcourt” on the web !
"No reaction yet but don't be shy. Aaaawww' com' on"...preum's? :/
I hope you told this rude guy where he could put his gloves?
The second person, it's me. I can't stand people who read a book wide open (Yeah, I know...), it breaks the spine ! I know, it's bad to be anal like that, but I want to keep them forever. I can understand for the children however. When I was a child, it was a different story.
like.....seriously ? gloves ? ...
So, did you wear it??
Or did you just throw right into his insensible face ???
So ? I once punch a friend because he soiled one of my book. And as that friend spit a lot of saliva as talking or laughing, i make him wear a small mask who cover just the mouth and the nose when he read one of my book. And i also tell to people to not turn the pages by the corner. Ohhh, and i hate, HATE cartoonists who close the book with the ink still fresh !! Hope they'll all burn in hell.
Naaaan ! le [p]sycho ! Enfin une raison pour être content de ne pas être auteur de bédé : on n'a pas à rencontrer ce genre de personnes :-]
Second or third picture, it's "shredded" instead of "shreded". My typing corrector also tells me so ;-)
In the "I"m going to crash your happy night" verse : it doesn't sound as natural as in French, especially with the kids. You had a large team of voluntary translators... what did they become ? Possibly an English-born. Saying that only to help, of course :P @Anonymous between Romain and djakk : are you serious or just waiting to be slaughtered in comments ?
Also these two you don't read at table -> Don't read at the table (or "No reading at the table" or if you feel like making a silly reference, "One does not simply read at the table") I take these so we could write -> I took these so we could write (concordance des temps !)
Airelle, Can we say : "I take this so we can write ?"
Matteic ""In the "I"m going to crash your happy night" verse"" What ? Where ?
beck: "I'm taking these so we can write" if you want to convey the idea of the action taking place right now. Check these two pages to see the difference : http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_present.htm http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_present-continuous.htm
Matteic: I don't see what you're talking about either... Where did you see that ? I had a team of voluntary translators, it wasn't always accurate anyway, and I had less fun ! I prefer keeping it like this, I can feel my english skills improving ! :D
Airelle: thanks for the advice ! I will fix that soon ! :)
Just recently discovered your cartoon - it's quickly become my favourite!
Thanks for your comments, and hello to all the newcomers from Reddit ! There's a big discussion there, about "should we be extra careful with books or not ?" and it's very interesting. If you don't know Reddit yet, this is the perfect occasion to discover this great site ! http://fr.reddit.com/r/comics/ (This is the link for the "Comics" thread, but there are lot more of it !)
I completely agree with you. Books are to be read, not preserved.
Congrats Boulet ! Your comic made it to the reddit's front page !
Haha, those people aren't really into comics, they are obsessive-compulsive autists who just happen to focus on comic book collecting :D
Won't put a warning next time... it's my comment about "the dialogs don't feel natural"
j'ai acheté ce bouquin (que j'adore) y a un bail et comme les pages se décollaient à cause d'une mauvaise colle ben j'ai payé 45€ pour le travail qu'une (superbe blonde) relieuse de livres a fait sur ma BD adoré. Vue qu'à ce jour il est introuvable en TBE ou neuf sur le net.... http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/286967502X/bedetheque-21
Par contre j'avoue que les Astérix et Gaston Lagaffe de mon enfance ont pris cher... Pages déchirées ou gribouillis sur les pages, de la petite soeur à l'époque.
"And look, do you see that stain? I swear to god, when I took it to be signed by Boulet, he sneezed on it! A great big green booger! I am so lucky! It's like he put his personal wax seal on it!!!" Well... if the guy was really a collector, he'd be thinking like that :D
The gloves extra bonus sounds unreal ! This is when one has to say : OMG !!
I've been going through your archive today. Wonderful stuff :) But this... this made me fell in love! This is the right way to treat beloved comics!
Nice to meet a kindred spirit. None of my Calvin and Hobbes books survived my childhood. I may need to head over to the bookstore and start replacing my collection so my child will have something to wreck someday.