International Comics topic

[vaillant]

I have to get back, I haven’t forgotten the thread, of course.
I just wished to gain more focus on my research, and I have little time. We’ll see…

I always find John C's observations very reasonable. For now, about "superheroes as a genre", I just add that he expresses more or less my idea.
Plus, I would like to add that there are some of the weirdest Marvel stories of the 1970s (namely, Steve Gerber's Defenders or the Son of Satan, Omega the Unknown, etc.) which aren’t great, solid stories being "superhero stories", but just because they deal with real people, and in a very intimate way.
I recall a Defenders story by Gerber ("Too cold a night for dying", Giant size Defenders #14, where Trish Starr has just lost her arm) as one of the most deep and touching Marvel stories ever.
Cheers.

Ah, vaillant, that's so good and I'd love to read the rest of the story.

@paw, about "Pippo e gli inglesi": I’ll manage to locate a copy for you, I don’t recall its length. Just have patience…

[paw broon]

Thanks for going to all the trouble.
We did a review of Omega years ago, in our fanzine AKA, which I'm trying to have a friend scan.   When I get it, I'll send you a copy.

[paw broon]

My sister-in-law brought me back a small pile of  Frew Phantoms from her holiday in Australia - the benefits of preparing a list and a bit of bribery - and, coincidentally, a couple of weeks later our local library hosted a comics/g.n. night with some local small press companies on hand to chat.  The main talk, however was given by David Bishop, one time editor of 2000AD and the Megazine.  He was very entertaining, informative and funny.  Being a bit slow on the uptake, it was well into his talk when he mentioned the Woman's Mirror - an Aus. weekly which featured The Phantom - when the penny dropped.  David has written over 40 Phantom stories for the Swedish Phantom comic, most of which have also appeared in the Frew editions and I'm fortunate to have some in my collection.  But he told me later that when he submits a story to Semic, or whatever the co. is now, in Sweden, they obviously translate it into Swedish but when the strip goes to Frew it is machine translated back into English, despite David having offered Frew the original English language strip.  No wonder that at times reading a Frew reprint of a Swedish story jars a bit.
The Frew comics are rather poorly produced but it is the only way I can read the Swedish stories.  The Scandinavian Phantom titles are very nice publications.

[vaillant]

Hi paw, I have yet to get back with the Jacovitti historical survey, but I delayed because I am interested in considering the war-related stories, starting with "Pippo e gli Inglesi". In fact, I’d also like to consider an english translation. Just be patient… 

[paw broon]

Nessun problema, vaillant as I'm up to my ears in stuff to read and look at.  More than I can remember in a long time and all because of the good people on here and CB+.  I've said it before but it bears repeating - the more I find out, the more questions there are.

[vaillant]

Anyway, I have to do it, and working on these for you it’s the excuse I need to get started…
Plus, I’m sure you’ll love them, and it’s my intention to pass on to the other few war-themed Pippo stories by Jacovitti (1945-1949), which shows a rapidly evolving, almost mature style, and should be enjoyable for JVJ and Tilliban as well…

[tilliban]

Alway curios to see something by Jacovitti!
 

[narfstar]

Here is a question for any of this wise bunch. Did we have any intellectual rights agreements with the former USSR? Did they have such a thing as copyright under communism? Then the big question, is the work produced in a former Soviet block country during that time period, legal to print (put online) in the USA?

[John C]

Here is a question for any of this wise bunch. Did we have any intellectual rights agreements with the former USSR? Did they have such a thing as copyright under communism? Then the big question, is the work produced in a former Soviet block country during that time period, legal to print (put online) in the USA?

As I recall (there's a LOT of great stuff published in the Soviet Union, though I wasn't aware of comics), the situation was...bizarre.  You might want to double-check this, but my recollection is that the government claimed perpetual copyright over everything and we didn't have any sort of relationship.

However, by treaty, all copyrights are considered published from some absurdly-recent date and granted back to the authors, and those we do support.

Again, double-check that, but that's what I remember from a diabolical plot involving science fiction novels.