From an earlier, short interaction we had, Mssr Lvxferre was kind enough to help catch me up with some nice Portugais & Brésilien comics & graphic novels.
(Lvxferre, keeping it cool as ever)
(seriously, that’s his avatar!)
So let’s dive in–
Most comics I read are manga, so I don’t know a lot about the ones in Portuguese; the exception is Maurício de Sousa’s “Turma da Mônica” (Monica’s Gang) [samples], as it’s something I grew up reading. However the author is Brazilian (and markedly Paulista*), and the target audience are kids so… probably not what you’re looking for.
* i.e., from São Paulo
That said, I looked for recs across the internet, and found a few interesting ones:
“Balada para Sophie” (Ballad for Sophie) - from Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia. About a misanthrope pianist in the century XX, visited by a journalist who makes him tell her his thorough life’s history. The art style looks really polished and nice. (as seen in the lead image above)
Note: it’s by writer Filipe Melo (Portugal), and Juan Cavia (Argentina, home of a million great comics creators)
Note2: Me, I’d previously read it, and liked it a LOT, as well as other GN’s that take the reader in to the ‘heart of music,’ so to speak --JE
“A Fórmula da Felicidade” (The Equation of Happiness) - from Nuno Duarte and Osvaldo Medina. A mathematics prodigy finds an equation that grants everyone but himself happiness. The animal characters seem to evoke something of a fabula*.
* folktale
(right-click as needed)
“Estes Dias” (These Days) - from Bernardo Majer. It’s a half dozen slice of life stories, mostly about monotony and relationships.
Appreciate, friend. Appreciate.
So that’s maybe the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ I would hope. In any case, it’s great to hear about more comics & GN’s across various Euro-languages from around the world.
Plus-- I understand that there’s more specifically to say about the relative scarcity of Portu’ & Brésil comics and GN’s across the general ‘comics-sphere.’ Something to maybe explore in future…?
Oh, and of course–
RIP, dear Jane
She was one of my heroes in life, and one of the very best of us naked apes, as I perceive it. ❤️
Hi! I’m Portuguese. From Portugal. I don’t find many people from Portugal on Lemmy or Piefed. Some Brazilian, but not Portuguese folk.
Feels good to see some representation in this lovely tiny corner of the internet.
Anyway, Felipe Melo is really well known in Portugal. Maybe because he is also many other things. He’s a jazz musician by trade, he teaches it too, but he became famous as a filmmaker. He also participates in comedy shows that he writes for and joins in with other comedians. This to say that he had a leg up over others in getting his work more visible out there.
I would say that there was a time that José Carlos Fernandes was almost as known as Miguelanxo Prado in the circles of “Banda Desenhada” in the Iberian Peninsula. But that was a long time ago.
If people like more out there stuff there’s “Terminal Tower” by André Coelho and Manuel João Neto. But be warned that this is very experimental from concept to execution. António Jorge Gonçalves is also an author that is well reviewed in this type of work. “A Minha Casa Não Tem Dentro” is a particularly personal work of his.
Sorry, I have weird taste.
But I like other things. I suppose Daniel Clowes isn’t very normal to a lot of people, is he? Ugh, what else? Is Adrien Tomine normal enough? I mentioned Miguelanxo Prado as well, love his work… I know, what about Zidrou? I’m gonna stop now. I’m basically apologising for existing at this point.
Anyway, keep up the great work you do. I’ve been following you since the Lemm.ee times. I also moved to Piefed from there. Thank you for the great recommendations along the way.
Cheers.
Ps: Jane Goodall was the best humankind has to offer. Surely missed and forever appreciated. A true inspiration.
Thanks for the extensive comment and recommendations! :D
Me, I read and liked Prado’s Streak of Chalk, and hope to read more of him. I’m also kind of embarrassed to so far not have given much attention to Portugal and various other Euro countries. This is generally improving though, as most European stuff also comes out in French, which I work on every day. I’m getting more and more comfortable reading whole tomes at an early “A2” level, or at least skimming through them, trying to get a sense of everything.
Anyway, keep up the great work you do. I’ve been following you since the Lemm.ee times. I also moved to Piefed from there. Thank you for the great recommendations along the way.
That means so much to me. <3 This project is mostly a labor of love and a way of giving thanks to the creators, but at times it can be difficult, especially when my lower back is giving me trouble. (I like to sit upright when writing)
So, I was thinking why the local (Brazilian) production of graphic novels is next to non-existent. I think it’s four factors:
- The general belief that adults should not read comics, but “ackshyual” books.
- Competition for the local market with American comics and Japanese manga.
- The internet further encouraging content that is easy to share across social media, thus shorter.
- “Go big or go home” mentality. As if you were not supposed to create things for a restrict target audience (be it regional or people in a certain situation or people from a certain trade or whatever); it’s seen as failure to appease “the whole”. This encourages the production of unsalted slop, instead of creating things some might love and some hate.
There are some exceptions to #1, like the short strips published in newspapers. Often political and/or social commentary, but some artists (like Glauco - example below; may he rest in peace) are fairly good at humour:
Sorry for the low res. Original in Portuguese here.)Regarding #3, some artists that publish online are fairly good, like Carlos Ruas from Um Sábado Qualquer:
Still not graphical novel tier. At most he publishes multi-part strips.At least when it comes to the first three factors, I think Portugal is in the same bag.
Here comes the political part: this means most quality content is ultimately imported, with money flowing from Brazil (and likely Portugal) into USA and Japan, as surplus value being extracted from the population.
Also, may Jane Goodall rest in peace.
Huh! Some interesting (if a bit sad) things to think about, there…
Those two visual examples you shared look pretty funny, indeed. Assuming they’re typical of those comics, then I’d say they would easily be in a higher tier of European funnies.
Oh, wow… Um Sábado Qualquer is in fact pretty dang genius (especial love to the Christian slapstick). Right, then-- I’ll be adding it to the updated WEBCOMIX. Thanks. :D
Btw, you mentioned USA and Japan seemingly dominating the Brasilian comics scene, but what about BD (Euro) comics and GN’s… do you get much of that stuff imported in Portu, French or English?
Only a few European series are well known here - mostly the ones with an animated cartoon millennials watched as kids. Like: The Smurfs, The Adventures of Tintin, Asterix and Obelix, Marsupilami.
I can also attest at least some people being aware of The Bored Witch (spin-off of The Triplets; I remember asking my mum to buy me the books, when I was eight, so I could stop borrowing them all the time from the library) and Druuna (perhaps the only one in this list that is not kids-friendly!).
It’s always content adapted to Portuguese, though. Most of the population is monolingual.
I feel however that the internet is changing this quite a bit, and for the better. Mostly allowing people to enjoy content they wouldn’t otherwise, due to licensing and/or language barriers.
Only a few European series are well known here - mostly the ones with an animated cartoon millennials watched…
Interesting.
You know, as far as Tintin goes in the States, I believe it’s been very much the same case, along with maybe a couple others, such as Les Schtroumpfs (“The Smurfs”). I.e.-- most people know them by the animated series, hardly guessing that they were based on a bunch of fun albums (and frankly much better albums, as with Tintin).I feel however that the internet is changing this quite a bit, and for the better. Mostly allowing people to enjoy content they wouldn’t otherwise, due to licensing and/or language barriers.
Well… that sounds good!
Bah, I beg your pardon y’all for being pretty trash at running the community the last week or so. Today was ‘touch up some rust day’ right inside my apt, and the fumes… those fumesss…
Oh, umm-- Mssr Lvxferre, may I ask how your English came to become seemingly so very strong, coming from a culture which mainly sticks to just Portu’? (no offense intended, mate)
You know, as far as Tintin goes in the States […]
Yup, pretty much the same here. The main difference is that Euro comics there compete with local ones; here, with equally foreign comics.
may I ask how your English came to become seemingly so very strong, coming from a culture which mainly sticks to just Portu’? (no offense intended, mate)
Given my trade (I’m a translator), I take this as a compliment!
Long story short most of my English was from games and music; and later on my job and the internet forced me to keep it in shape. Plus I got lucky some relatives taught me Italian as a kid - not only it helped me to learn English and others later on (as I already had the basic “drilling” for language learning), but I feel like it prevented me from bubbling myself too much into a single linguistic community.
