May 15, 2007
Poofreading
Lord knows, I'm not one to talk about proofreading -- I've made my share of typos (the one in the title to this post was intentional, by the way). But really -- if you're expecting me to pay $50 for your book, would it kill you to make sure it's been edited?
I'm talking about Nexus Archives Vol. 1. For those unfamiliar with Nexus, it's the story of a powerful being plagued by dreams of mass murderers. The only way this being -- the titular Nexus -- can quell his dreams is to execute the murderers about whom he dreams. Nexus is set in the year 2481 -- except, if you look at the back cover of Nexus Archives Vol. 1, you would read that the book is set in the year 2841.
I'm also talking about Spirit Archives Vol. 12. In his introduction, R.C. Harvey describes the splash page that introduces us to recurring Spirit character P'Gell: "Her zaftig figure, revealing gown, and sensual pose tell us that she is a woman who uses her body as bait."
This is the splash page in question:
And this is the definition of "zaftig".
Main Entry: zaf·tig
Pronunciation: 'zäf-tig, 'zof-
Variant(s): also zof·tig /'zof-/
Function: adjective
of a woman: having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump
P'Gell is many things, but "pleasingly plump?" "Having a full rounded figure?" Uh ... no.
Now, both of the problems I have highlighted are problems that require actual editing. Unlike the typo in my post title (told you I did it on purpose!) it would take more than a quick pass through a spellchecker to catch. It would require actually being familiar with the work you're editing and with the meaning of words. But is that really too much to ask of those editing a high-end archive?
Posted by Jason Fliegel at May 15, 2007 9:59 AM
Apparently it is too much to ask. I pretty consistently find at least one error of that type (year messed up, a name spelled wrong, issue or page number references off, obvious credit errors) in almost every DC or Marvel collection I buy, and most from other publishers as well. One recent comic I picked up managed to claim one contributor was nominated for a "Schuster Award" and another had a book coming out from "Simon & Shuster" on the same page!
It's just more evidence (if any was needed) that graphical story telling is still not taken as seriously as we would like. The Catch-22 is, a little more attention to detail might help it be taken a little more seriously.
Sadly, by current Western standards of beauty, that woman IS plump.
P'Gell is not Paris Hilton, and therefore by today's standards, she *is* zaftig. Sad but true.
Unfortunately, things are tough all over in publishing these days. Belts get tightened, and extra cash for proofreading is often the first to go. It's not just comics publishers cutting back.
P'Gell as depicted in this illustration is not plump or zaftig, even by Paris Hilton standards. Zaftig does not mean, even in Hollywood, "not skinny." I asked a friend who is an agent and a film producer what Hollywood thinks zaftig means, and he said, "Plump but not fat. Plump by real world standards." That's just one guy, but I agree with him.
As for the greater issue of proofreading, it's not just comics. I read a large volume of recent and new books, and I spot numerous typos in every one, and I'm not even going to pretend to be a good proofreader. I have no idea why this is.
I generally read zaftig with the connotation of abundant breasts and hips, but still with a discernible (concave) waist. H.G. Peter's Etta Candy is not zaftig.
That woman has a pretty good sized bosom, I think, by the standards of 1946 imagery. (Try to forget modern bust inflation.) They're bigger than her head.
The key would be her bottom, I think, which is not terribly visible as shown.
She's an edge case, I think. Not enough data, but not a ridiculous assertion either. IMHO, for that image, 'zaftig' works better than 'buxom'.
A classic zaftig woman would probably be someone like the chunkyish era of Anna Nicole Smith. Or maybe Jennifer Coolidge, aka Stifler's Mom.
Here are
some more pictures of P'Gell.
She's not zaftig by any definition. She's built like Lana Turner -- large breasted, but with a small waist.
Those are all the same picture.
But yeah, P'Gell is not zaftig.
Egads -- they are the same picture, aren't they? I realized they were the same pose, but I didn't notice they were the exact same picture. Oops!
See, this is where a good editor could have helped me!