Thursday 14 March 2013

Varjak Paw Around The World #2

Japan


The Japanese edition of Varjak Paw is one of my favourites, right up there with the Russian one.  Although it doesn't use any of Dave McKean's brilliant art, I love the look the Japanese publishers created for it.  Here's the front cover of the first book:


And here's the back cover:


Unlike the Russian edition, which has different covers but keeps Dave McKean's artwork for the interiors, the Japanese edition has its own custom-drawn artwork & layouts, unique to this edition.  Here's an example - I think this is a scene where Varjak meets the Scratch Sisters:


And here's a dream sequence, which uses the same strategy that Dave did, placing the dream images behind the text, but using the soft charcoal pencil look that the Japanese edition uses throughout:


The cover of The Outlaw Varjak Paw looks pretty similar to the first book at first glance - but look closer and you'll notice lots of small, subtle differences - especially the reflections in Varjak's eye (click on the image to see it large!)


In the first book, you can see the palm trees of Mesopotamia reflected in his eye. But in this one, I'm pretty that it's Sally Bones... and she also appears on the back cover, looking rather terrifying, as she does in the Russian edition.


So what do people think?  Did the Japanese publishers do a good job?

4 comments:

Ivan said...

it's really amazing.It is better than the Russian edition.That's just Sally Bones, I turned out better in the Russian edition.

Jade said...

I love how the covers seem to almost be mirroring each other. Great concept. Though I don't feel like the illustrations really suit the book as much as the originals, though they are pretty neat.

SF Said said...

Thanks very much, Ivan! I agree, it's pretty amazing!

SF Said said...

Thanks Jade! I think you're right - the originals are definitely the best, I can't imagine anyone doing it better than Dave McKean - but I find it really interesting to see these different takes on it...