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UBU #1
edited by Hans Nissen
($5.00 US/5.00 € from Hans Nissen / Rautatienk. 1 B 9 / 15100 Lahti / FINLAND.
E-mail. Also available in the
Poopsheet Shop)
Review by Matt Dembicki
The art in
Ubu #1 is wonderfully rendered in an alternative European style, but the stories are this Finnish anthology's downfall. To be honest, I'm not sure if the stories are just nearly incomprehensible or if they are poorly translated. Editor Hans Nissen provides a translation of the text in a small supplement, but it's difficult to follow as you are constantly looking at the art, then at the translation, and then at the art again. In addition, the supplement doesn't note which text goes with which pages. I frequently found myself reading the text for a different story than I was looking at. The translation itself seemed a bit rough at times, often making it unclear what was happening in the stories. But, again, the art is superb and the production is top notch. And you also get a nice Jim Woodring story with no text, so there's nothing lost in translation!
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