In this chapter, we take a look at some moments when V de Vingança was mentioned on Folha de S.Paulo, one of the biggest and best known newspapers in Brazil.
V de Vingança received special attention on Folha de S. Paulo when released in Brazil. On November 20, 1989, the newspaper brought an article signed by Andre Forastieri about that graphic novel (see pictures 29 and 29a). In that week, the second number of the series would be available in Portuguese for Brazilian readers. The headlines announce that the story shows the world after the 3rd War and say that it “happens after a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States”51
. Readers can find more information inside the newspaper. The scene chosen by the paper depicts an explosion, which readers of that paper can easily connect to the nuclear war just mentioned.
Picture 29 and Picture 29a (detail of Picture 29)
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http://acervo.folha.com.br/fsp/1989/11/20/136, accessed on October 17, 2013.
“nuclear war”, “nuclear attack”, “nuclear battle”, “nuclear weapons” were a constant theme in the news, so Moore’s book had a clear connection to the time being. Also, as we have just mentioned, the article was written on November 20, 1989, only 11 days after the Berlin Wall had been destroyed, setting that way an important remark for the era of the Cold War. So when the article mentioned “nuclear war”, its author knew that he was talking about something familiar and quite real to his readers.
Looking further on the page indicated, what first attracts the eyes of the reader is another scene of the book, when the main character, wearing a mask, asks “ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?” (see picture 30). The picture is a reproduction of one of the last panels on the last page of chapter 3, book 2. In Globo’s series, that would be actually the last page of the second book. The article announces that “Moral ambiguity is theme of ‘V de Vingança’”52
. On the same page of the newspaper, we can read that “Epic / Marvel changes command and invests in new horror titles”. There’s also a paragraph announcing that the movie ‘Captain America’ had just been filmed in the USA.
The article about V de Vingança announces it as a miniseries in three editions published by Globo, informing its price and its 64 colored pages. Information about the work is also relevant. It says that it took seven years to be written, time that Alan Moore took to become one of the names of most prestige in international comics.
On the other hand, it is mentioned that the original editor is Warrior magazine, which is English. V for Vendetta was conceived originally as a series for Warrior, and the editor Dez Skinn asked Moore and Lloyd to give it a “pulp” style, with a story happening in the 30s. Instead, Moore and Lloyd created a story in the near future, keeping the “pulp” elements of the story. The article goes on telling the main plot of the story, highlighting the government motto in the novel – “Strength through purity; purity through faith” – and stresses that such purity demanded the extermination of blacks, Jews, homosexuals and whoever opposed to the regime. According to Folha de S. Paulo, “V is extremely cult”, quoting authors like Shakespeare. They mention also Guy Fawkes, considered the greatest traitor in England’s History, when he tried to explode the Parliament’s House. The article concludes saying that “V de Vingança is a world of moral ambiguity”, and Alan Moore left all moral decisions to the readers, and made them think. For the
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critic, the goal has been achieved.
Picture 30 An article about the book
The presentation of this strange graphic world is at least picturesque, due to the illustrations, due to the expressive typography, due also to the style of the article. While any reader will understand that the Vendetta world is British, that the English title is V for Vendetta, there seems to be no real language problem, since no attention is paid at all to the translator, nor to the kind of language he writes. But this is not too amazing, since translation scholars know well that (except in Canada) comic strips and other genres from “peripheral literature” tend to ignore translators. Which also implies that we are not supposed to
Picture 31 Review
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Muñoz-alvo, Micaela & Carmen-Buesa-Gomez. The Languages of Translation. Keys to the Dynamics of Culture. P.33-60. Translation and Cultural Identity. Selected Essays on Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.
V de Vingança is mentioned time and again on Folha de S.Paulo, but ten years later, on April 5, 1999, another article calls our attention, when it was being reprinted in Brazil (see picture 31). This time, the publishing house is not Globo, but Via Lettera, which publishes it in two volumes. The article is signed by the local reporter Thales de Menezes, and announces V as “classical English comics”, as well as “one of the great works of comics’ writer Alan Moore”. The newspaper highlights that “few titles are so essential” in a good comics collection as V is. Menezes tells the history of the novel’s production, mentioning the original, too, in English, back in 1982. To describe Moore’s work, he uses expressions such as “ingenious plot”, “refined”, “almost literary” and “serious”. He goes on mentioning other of Moore’s relevant works, such as The Killing Joke (A Piada Mortal, in Brazil) and Watchmen.
Picture 32 On the right, detail of the illustration.
On March 12, 2006, V de Vingança is mentioned again, this time by journalist Sérgio Dávila, in his article De mudanças, lá e cá54. As soon as we lay eyes upon the page, we see a face covered by V’s mask (see picture 32). The author talks about conflicts involving the USA and
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http://acervo.folha.com.br/fsp/2006/03/12/101, accessed on September 20, 2014.
others, he mentions V de Vingança. Interestingly enough, he says that the Wachowski brothers based their film on “Alan Moore’s homonym graphic novel from the 80s”, and adds that Moore unauthorized the cinematographic version. Remember that the credits on the film only mention Lloyd (see picture 13, in chapter 2 – Getting to know Alan Moore). Then he goes on talking about the historical facts (when Guy Fawkes tried to kill King James) and the plot of the movie. In the end, he concludes that, “taking off all the Hollywoodian fat”, what we have is revolutionary: soon after September 11, “the most powerful entertainment industry in the world” releases a movie in which “the villain is the rightful government and the hero is a terrorist who explodes buildings”.
As we can see, V de Vingança was not only mentioned while it first came to Brazil, but also when it was reprinted, and again when the story reached the big screen, among others, showing some evidence of the position of that graphic novel.