Reflection on Black Cat Detective II: The Country of Extremely Cold (1): What do you want when people and animals are different?
Needless to say, this set of comics has long enjoyed a good reputation in the international comic industry, and the two authors have also won many awards, including the Angulan International Comic Festival. At present, this cartoon has been published five times. Fortunately, Chinese versions are also being published one after another, so that domestic fans can also enjoy such excellent works. When you finish reading this cartoon, you will be surprised, won't you, Stan? Li said it was a "perfect" cartoon.
Let's get down to business. Let's talk about the second part of this series, the extremely cold place. To tell the truth, the artistry of this work lies in the use of animal personification, which slowly shows the "black" of American society in the 1950 s-the ghosts of high-level corruption, racial discrimination and McCarthyism. This anthropomorphic creation technique of animals partly downplays the seriousness and violence of the story (after all, this is a cartoon), and at the same time it is very similar to George? Orwell's Animal Farm is very general, and different animals have their own unique "personalities", which is ironic. Such as Mossad, the protagonist black cat. Just like its name Blacksad, there is a faint sadness in the cold, which is the loneliness of the cat; Another example is reporter Vickery, who is a "clown" that should be in any serious story, full of skunks' smallness and funniness; Look at the polar bear captain and the white tiger tycoon, and the strong Xiong Ke and the cat will know that they are very powerful and well connected. In order to incline to the racism in this story, the colors of animal characters used also represent whites and colored people, which is clear at a glance. It is precisely because people have different subjective feelings about different animals that the characters in comics can come alive without complicated descriptions. In a short story of only 50 pages, this setting is very powerful.
Comics, after all, are a kind of graphic novels. Besides stories, the composition and color of the pictures must also be quite elegant. Starting from the split shot of the first scene of the story, the monologue slowly pulled from close-up to the big scene, with the "faint sadness" of the protagonist, finally settled on a panoramic picture that is not suitable for children. Oh, you will subconsciously think that this is not a cartoon full of jokes. Secondly, this is a detective novel. If you read carefully, you will find that many clues are cleverly arranged in the picture. This is the advantage of image art, which can put all the clues in the image, and the composition and color are carefully scrutinized. Telling stories with pictures without too many words is a great charm of comics.
Finally, talk about racism in comics. As mentioned above, readers can clearly judge the body shape, skin color and personality of these characters through the anthropomorphic creation techniques of animals. If human beings are basically similar in appearance except for skin color, facial features and so on, it is easier to distinguish the types of animal characters in cartoons from the appearance. Yes! It is precisely because of the "difference" that discrimination can grow. It is precisely because of the concept of "you are ... I am not" that human beings are estranged from each other and dislike each other. On the one hand, the personification of animals weakens the violent color of the story, on the other hand, it intensifies its irony. Can you reflect yourself from cartoons? And what kind of animal does the phase reflect? And "what is the hope that people are different from animals?" At the same time, women are still regrettable victims. They are weak but strong. Times have changed, and maybe this kind of thing will continue at a certain time and place.
It is because of black that white can be called white. Isn't it?
. America finally likes Mossad and little Kelly's eyes. They wanted to talk, but they were speechless and looked on coldly. And the photo on the back cover, turned into smoke and scattered with the wind.
Reflection on Detective Black Cat 2: Cold Country (Part II): Personification and Metaphorization, Satire and Reality —— Perfect Works of Art
After reading the first book, The Shadow Room, and then reading the second book, The Land of Extremely Cold, it is like jumping directly from Story Club to People's Literature.
Needless to say, the super painter of this work and the accurate description of the expression only care about the plot:
The story clues of the first book are extremely simple, and even the final BOSS information is basically sent by the villain pig teammates. Mossad itself has little detective ability except its own fighting capacity (being able to fight) and communication network (the police chief helps perjury). ...
As for the second book, the plot is superb in an instant. White hair and black hair are metaphors of racial discrimination, the price and sacrifice of rights, the deformity of father-daughter marriage and the evil consequences of revenge flowers. Analyzing the truth layer by layer, the story is a perfect work of art with both interest and artistry.
Interestingly, at the end of the story, among the children playing in the snow with little Kelly, there is a black and white zebra child. Moreover, the trousers worn by this zebra child are also black and white striped. Does this mean that the hope of "black and white harmony" lies in the next generation of children?
Detective Black Cat II: A country with extreme cold (III) Comments: Please let me taste this black hard.
Why is Mossad so awesome? Because people are so awesome, the manuscript entered the museum. This is a cartoon that can be called a work of art, okay? Comics, like zoos, are anthropomorphic animals, which fit the characters' personalities. Comics should be an art directed at the soul. And excellent comics should be more private things (heavy mouth darkness or Barbara's little magic fairy), and should not cater to readers in a fixed form. That's boring.
The male owner of this series is a black cat, a tough guy, which is not the same as the official identity of our black cat sheriff. He is a detective. In the evil capitalist society, even such a powerful state machine cannot guarantee to solve all cases. Private detectives, take people's money, help people eliminate disasters, and block their pants. Our black cat detective is here. Private detectives do not have the investigative power entrusted by the state. When the police seize clues, they can temporarily detain the suspected money, goods and people. Private detectives don't have this power. Find a date, find a little black man. All you can think of are private detectives, and you will accumulate experience in the process of searching. And it is in this process that our black cat detective has repeatedly lost and fought, and its detection value is not as strong as that of our Chaoyang aunt. But Mossad is not a super panda, but also an ordinary cat. After suffering, he finally solved the case.
In addition, the second book "The Land of Extremely Cold" perfectly highlights the ugliness and filth of evil capitalism. Who will save the people in dire straits here? The black-and-white war here started with fitness? There is a saying: "The poor have trickery and the rich have conscience". Who wants to do evil? Is it a big white bear, a white fox or a blind bird? Some people, because of that skin, some because of weakness, some because of jealousy, some because of hope, some because of revenge, began to fight for interests, and took pains for high positions, which brought bad luck to others for a while. Animal nature is such a fragile container that it can't stand a few snoops and damage its cat, so it can only watch Kellogg's eyes leave. Who does the animal in hot water depend on? In the future, who will walk independently on the thorny and difficult dividing line of the Great Depression and complete the great cause of liberating people all over the world and eliminating racial discrimination?
Can 12:44 Because they are all more than themselves, take them out and throw them in. However, the widow herself was deficient, and she devoted all her medical care.
Reflection on Detective Black Cat II: Cold Country (IV): Rashomon family-a family destroyed by prejudice and discrimination.
The second part of Detective Black Cat will gradually upgrade the dark atmosphere in the first part, and the protagonist Blacksade, as its name implies, will bring us into this dark and sad story step by step. There are many details in cartoons that are hard to find when reading Chinese. For example, the dividing line teacher, Mr. Gray, whose English meaning is gray, is also in the middle of black and white, and Mr. Gray's skin color is brown. The author's attention to details makes this series of works full of high reputation even more brilliant. Of course, cartoonists or writers like eggs, and Marvel comics is the best one.
If it is just a gorgeous painting, it can only be a good illustration. The core of a good cartoon is telling stories, and the ubiquitous atmosphere is set off, just like watching a movie, bringing readers into the world created by cartoonists. In an extremely cold place, the snow-covered land seems to indicate that the owner of this land is white. Coupled with Mossad's perspective, the incident came to the bottom and finally revealed the long-forgotten sad past of this town. It is also because of this past that these bigger events are gradually brewing. Next, we restore the whole story according to the information in the cartoon.
From Dana Smith's tombstone, we can know that 1929 was the time when Karup abandoned their mother. I don't know if it was the author's intention or accident. This year was also the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. It can be inferred that the Karupu couple came to the "dividing line" before 1929. In pursuit of social and economic status, Karup made friends with Smir. The upper class of this "dividing line" represented by Smil is the real racist. Over time, Karup abandoned Dana in the wild because her mother was black. But Dana's mother survived and gave birth to two beautiful daughters, which laid the groundwork for later revenge.
The above is the source of this story. A pair of lovers in love came to a strange city to fight for a better life, while the husband cruelly abandoned his wife and his own flesh and blood because he hindered his own development.
The power of hatred brought Jesse and Dana back to the "dividing line" with the sole purpose of getting back at their father! Staged a family Rashomon tragedy. So Jessie pretended to be a southern celebrity and married her father, having an affair with her subordinates but never letting her father and legal husband touch her. Dana slept with her father and had a baby, Kelly. Spread rumors that Karup loves children, paving the way for public opinion. Then he alienated his father and Huck, pretended to kidnap Kelly, used Huck and the Klan to get rid of Karup, and finally killed Huck. But unexpectedly, Huck killed his sister Dana to keep it a secret.
All this seems ridiculous, sad and hard to let go. It just started because of prejudice and discrimination against skin color. In the whole story, although justice has been done, it can't make people feel relieved, because the Klan is still a big figure in the "dividing line" of the smiles family, and racial discrimination still exists. A sad story ends, and no one knows whether another sad story has begun. As long as this deep-rooted prejudice between people exists, people will always get hurt.
Perhaps the author deliberately set such an ending according to reality, and it is precisely this that can be called blacksad! The unspeakable sadness in the dark is the eternal theme of this series! And with the end of the story, the last few pages have bright and lively colors! After all, Kelly is innocent, and children are the future!
About the bright red in the book, it only appears in the red dress of the Klan leader in Karup, the roses that Jessie gave Dana in the snow, the coats of little Kelly and her classmates, and the last car that Mossad drove. Karup's red dress is the representative of his leader and also indicates the fate of death and blood. The bright red roses for Dinah also reflect the end of Dinah's young and lively life. The more beautiful the rose is, the more it can reflect how pitiful and regrettable Dinah's fate is. The red of little Kelly and her classmates is the red of vitality and the red of new life. Finally, the red color of Mossad car is the calm after all the dust settles and justice is done. No wonder the author won the prize because of his control of color, which perfectly set off the fate of different characters and the corresponding emotional atmosphere.
Finally, extension: the terrible truth behind a song —— A look at American racism in 1950s from Detective Black Cat.
Reflection on Detective Black Cat II: A Country with Extremely Cold (V): Translation
The second book has been successfully published, which is a great joy! Binding and printing are as good as ever. I hope Houlang can continue to maintain such a high standard and finish Detective Black Cat.
I saw the film studio before, and I was particularly dissatisfied with the translation, so I made a special comment //book.douban/review/7569645/. Yesterday, I watched "Extremely Cold Land", and I felt that the fluency of dialogue was slightly better than that of the first film, but there were still some places that I felt inappropriate. Here is a list for reference and discussion:
[03] "Anyone who reads my book will think it is full of nonsense ..."
("In any case, replace" let "with" no "
Is it better to care? )
[Page 04] "Unfortunately, our cats are born with a keen sense of smell. It's really unlucky to meet such a person who has a grudge against soap. "
(Blacksade is not a humorous person. Are you sure he will call himself a cat? With the popularity of the internet
Is the translation of hot words really good? )
[Page 06] "This community is the dream of our founder. At that time, everyone thought that the war was over and it was time to prosper.
Prosperity-"
("Prosperity" is generally used to describe regions and countries, but it is obviously too big for communities. )
[09] "Cotton, you are an old man, and you will never change. I have warned you countless times that you are good and will never change. "
(27 words, three questions: 1. Repeat "you" frequently; 2. "Constant" repetition; 3. "Repeated teaching and no change" is generally taught by teachers.
It is an authoritative organization or individual, such as prison, school, parents, but the speaker is not. )
[1 1] "for example, I believe in the interpretation in the old testament."
The Old Testament can be trusted, but "explanation" should not be trusted, but "recognition" should be trusted. )
[Page 12] "Today, only a few of us are still guarding the precious heritage left by our ancestors to this country."
(the repetition of "people", but the problem is not big, it is better to change it to "ancestors". )
[Page 15] "I work as a maid in his house, and the way he looks at Kelly makes my back cold."
(The pronunciations of "cool" and "cool" are repeated, so "cool back" is naturally more. )
[2 1] "Before they came, the whole community was thriving and thriving. Now: Everyone is unemployed, and everyone is lonely.
Pain. "
(everyone? )
[Page 45] "Unexpectedly, Karup took revenge in the underworld with ..."
It is strange to use "in the dark" here ~ ~ The translator's habit of dragging idioms remains the same. )
Again, the dialogue in the whole book is only a few words. Please choose your words carefully and produce a reasonable translation. Don't let down the excellent printing and exquisite binding.
Besides translation, the theme of this part must also be mentioned.
Most people will applaud and deeply agree with this book for revealing the social problem of racial discrimination. But what I want to say is not "racial discrimination" itself.
The most striking feature of Detective Black Cat is to show human society with animal images, and to give different social roles according to the differences between good and evil in people's minds. Because the painter's skill is profound, it is not difficult to realize it. The beauty of this book is that it compares the color of animals with the color of human skin. I think everyone must be surprised by this idea. And this kind of natural and ingenious service of animal characteristics into a profound social topic can be called a creative move with more skill and connotation on the basis of "changing heads"
The second part is a typical example.
Unfortunately, of the five books that have been published, only the second one has done this. The rest are basically just good-looking "head-changing" comics. Moreover, since the fourth part, the attitude of the painter has changed. After mastering it with ease, there is always a little carelessness. The fineness of the picture is not as good as before, and the overall quality begins to decline.
Therefore, this film, whether in picture, plot or connotation, is already the highest level in the whole series, although it came a little early.
Above.