InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Tankor SMAAAASSH!"

jlroberson (jlroberson) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-24 04:46:00

Current location:	Seattle
Current mood:	discontent
Current music:	Do Make Say Think
Entry tags:	char: lulu, creator: frank wedekind, creator: john linton roberson, genre: adaptation, in-joke: shameless plug

Lulu: 10 Pages of a Work in Progress

As some of you know, I'm an indie cartoonist, and some time back I posted an autobio story, "Martha," which was my final story in my 4-year exploration of the smut genre. Having gotten tired of that, I have been working this year on a long-planned adaptation of Frank Wedekind's LULU plays(the other plan was WOYZECK, but, uh, a bit too heavy for me at this time), "Erdgeist" and "Pandora's Box." The latter of which is best known as a silent Louise Brooks vehicle. I love Brooks, but that's been done, and besides, it was hardly a definitive adaptation. Mine isn't either but I'm trying to be at least faithful to its spirit. But mine is set in the modern era, and I am being a bit loose with the rather archaic PD translation I'm working with.
In any event, I though this might be a good venue to show some of it so far, as you folks have taste, and I'm certainly not putting it on my site before shopping it around. So, here's ten pages of it. Most of these lack the greys I'm going to add later(more or less as you see in the first two), so please keep that in mind. Without further comment, here you go.

Mods: this is my own work under my own copyright, so hopefully I can post as much as I like.
(c)2009 John Roberson. All rights reserved.

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jlroberson
2009-08-25 03:25 am UTC (link)

Thank you! (and to everyone)

Yep, she's Lulu. There's a strange running gag in the play--which I considered cutting, but I'm trying to avoid doing that unless it's irrevocably dated(it won't be Jack the Ripper at the end, for instance)--that each of the men she's with renames her. In this case Goll chose "Nellie."

I don't think I can take any credit re: the writing, though as I said, I am modernizing and rephrasing almost everything in the process of adaptation(and Lulu's remark about the symbolism of the cat was my own invention), but that's Wedekind, really, not me. Well, via translation. (Christ, I wish I knew German)

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greenmask
2009-08-25 11:43 am UTC (link)

I think that modernising and re-phrasing counts, actually. Especially if you're adding cat-inventions here and there! :]

I watch a lot of stuff that started out non-modern or non-english (and my beloved likes to re-write character biographies from fighting games and make them make english sense) and the amount of bad subs or bad hip-shakespeare professionally produced has given me a healthy respect for people who can take dialogue and re-mould it whilst keeping the intentions and the freshness of the original.

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	jlroberson 2009-08-25 02:01 pm UTC (link)
	Well, that's higher praise than I deserve then. Thank you! (Reply to this) (Parent)

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