Watchmen in portuguese: who watches the translators?

Abstract

This paper aims to observe the four aspects pointed out by Zanettin (2008), regarding the translation of comics, that are, format, target audience, names, and intersemiotic relationship, within the graphic novel Watchmen written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics (1986) as well as its translations into Portuguese by Jotapê Martins and Hélcio Carvalho and published by Abril (1999) and Panini (2009), respectively. We also focus on concepts arising from readings such as those of Cirne (1990), Eisner (1995), Landers (2001), and Celotti (2008), to expand the knowledge about comic book translation and highlight distinctions to be considered within the process. We noticed, therefore, that the Brazilian versions present different choices for the aspects punctuated in Zanettin’s work, such as the characters’ names, in which we perceived that there is no pattern between the translations options, because sometimes the decision taken is to translate the names and sometimes to keep them like the original, for example in Night Owl (Coruja Noturna), Comedian (Comediante) and Twilight Lady (Dama do Crepúsculo); and in Rorschach, Ozymandias e Dr.Manhattan.