Pepper&Carrot (heavy) derivation: the case of the succesful Bulgarian book publishing by Prikazka-Igra

32 comments

Punx 2022-10-07 16:51

See, Bulgaria is Orthodox Christian country, so they're minding thier traditions, as some of Eastern European countries still do.

reset by peer 2022-10-07 18:22

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/824940740698046499/988365903496347668/TheySeemToBeVeryGoodFriends.png

BirdOfPrey 2022-10-09 00:42

Yes, and I want to add that in Eastern Europe it is completely normal to use "O, боже..." even if you are completely not religious, it's more of a set expression at this point. Overall, most of the mentioned edits are very understandable, and even though I can see how those changes can leave a bit of bitter aftertaste for David, I think it was a good/smart idea overall, considering the culture of those countries.

Although I don't really understand why they felt the need to add dialogue for the textless episode.

Vinay 2022-10-09 10:40

This may be the biggest challenge with open source art. You can create something based on your vision and that of the team of people you closely communicate with. Then you reveal it to the world and everyone is free (or even encouraged) to do with it whatever they want. It can be fun but it can also be painful. Of course those who are good at their art are typically tolerant and accept that enthusiast who create their derivatives may not be able to reach up to their "level". I love how Kiko Loureiro (current Megadeth guitar player) released his instrumental solo album called Open Source and released all the stems so everyone was free to do their own thing with it (and put vocals where there were no vocals). I think that's very cool and probably also how you envisioned it. What I don't like of what's done with the book is that they made no artistic contribution to the story (aside from adding text to a silent episode) but merely removed a human element that didn't fit their agenda. Even if it may not be strictly "forbidden", I do think it is unethical for different reasons. One is that I think a derivation shouldn't merely be a censored version. The other one is that I think it is harmful to use the full episode and remove that one tile with the kiss. It is a big slap in the face for those who felt represented by Shichimi and Torreya. I really do think that it is super harmful for someone to feel rejected like that. In particular if a few frames onwards you can have a battlefield full of kissing heterosexual couples, but a single kiss between two lesbian or bisexual girls has to be removed. Considering they didn't include all episodes anyway, I think it would be better if they'd just skip this entire episode rather than censor it. So much for the lesbian/bisexual kiss issue. As for the added text, I think that's acceptable for a derivation. As for the font issue, I think that goes to show the lack of care and attention they put into the book. If the fonts are open source and you still don't manage to print the appropriate fonts?

But yeah, what can you do against unethical practices that aren't forbidden? I do think that it would be worthwhile to make it very clear to them what you think of their practices. It may or may not help, but at least it is good for them to know.

Arnaud 2022-10-10 20:03

French reader here. I just want to give a different view on the "cute lesbian kiss" removal.
Love is good. Kisses are good. People are good, be they lesbians or not.

But I would never encourage a young or anyone that can be influenced into considering lesbianism. Never.
So when reading this episode and seeing the kiss I was bummed.
There is a trend these decades in exposing such scenes. Like this would be cool, hip or what not.

Let me clarify why this is my position, if need be.
On the moral stand point, being tolerant, "accepting the differences" might seem like a positive openness.
To me however, it in fact boils down to indifference:
"Wanna be a lesbian? I don't care. Do what you will with your life."

Well sorry, but I would not watch nor let my friend jump from the roof, with tolerance... for fear that he could die.
In my experience, gay people, taken as a group are less happy than others, as their suicide rate shows.
And it might be partly due to society regard on them, but frankly I think that's only (a minor) part of the truth.
Of course I never reduce a person to its sexuality, nor would ever offend a lesbian by urging her to quit being so.

But children and wanna be adults? Don't push them this way.
The close friends I have in this situation are far from the gay-pride orgies and vocalism,
and their sexuality rather inspires me pity. I'm not talking numbers here, but on a personal, case-by-case basis.
Of my 2 daughters, may none live through this lost pain.

Now to the gay pride lobby -taken as a corporation- is an entire separate matter,
that call for tolerance but will ironically yell at reading my mind...
Let them recall that Rome and Athene have fallen with the like of them: powerful yet weak, depraved beings,
violently crushed by the next civilization. Life is not always cute to people taking vice as a standard.
And history gives clear lessons, even centuries later.
May Europe society not listen to their perverse (but lobby-loud) voice, and burn as a consequence.

So long for my fake love with tolerance. I much better love my close friends alive and homeland.

Arnaud 2022-10-10 20:28

I love Pepper and Carrot, David : thanks for this great, yet too often thankless work of open art, and the frequent help to the community as a whole!

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-10 20:38

> Don't push them this way.

Hi Arnaud, you miss fundamental info in my opinion about it: it's not a personal preference, nor something you can "push" someone into, or make them "considering lesbianism" as you wrote. We all discovered our libidos while we were teenagers and none of us made a choice about the target of our libidos. Early, we just knew what was arousal (or not) for us. That's not what I call a choice (maybe bisexuals can choose? idk...). Showing this couple in the series is a sign of acceptance to those born this way. Removing this aspect of Pepper&Carrot official is not negotiable: I added them for personal reasons beyond artistic or any fashion considerations.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-10 20:39

Thank you very much! And also for sharing your thought.
I hope you'll continue to like the project, the story and my contributions to FLOSS. 👍

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-10 20:41

😆😆😆

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-10 20:48

Thank you for the feedback Vinay! You did put words on what I felt about the "slap in the face".
All I could do was to publish this blog post to communicate my feeling about it and tell them by email I posted a blog post about it.

Arnaud 2022-10-10 20:53

I very much like your answer, thanks.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-10 20:54

Thanks for the clarification about "O, боже...".

Yes, I can also understand the edit considering the culture. I'm not blaming the publisher directly. I can even imagine they totally don't bother about the kiss personally and love the series as it is, but at the same time feel they would get only attack and backfire if they publish this 'as it is' on their country, bookshop, and local culture. I'm also sure that if I had a usual publishing contract in France, my publisher would sell the right to other countries that would do the same strategy of "adaptations to their market".

> Although I don't really understand why they felt the need to add dialogue for the textless episode.

Haha, same. Maybe this was like an open door of some sort of artistic opportunity and self-expression to have fun for them.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-10 20:57

Have a good evening Arnaud! 👍

Vinay 2022-10-11 13:14

Sorry I don't understand everything you said here and the associations you make with Rome, Athens, Europe burning and all that. What happened in the comic? One girl saved her girlfriends life, they kissed (as they were girlfriends after all) and moved on. Homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality AND heterosexuality have always been super common in both the animal kingdom as well as in the human world. As far as I know, everything other than heterosexuality has only become a taboo with the advent of the big religions and sadly quite a few have been quite violent enforcing this taboo. So yeah, when you say "gay people, as a group, are less happy than others (apparently being the group of heterosexual people), as their suicide rate shows" do you mean to say that gay people are inherently less happy regardless of how others treat them or would it be a possibility that gay people may be less happy when judged as mentioned above, just for who they are? I'd say it is not just the correlation that matters in this context, but also the cause and effect.

Boyan Yordanov 2022-10-11 15:43

I received my copies today. First things first, they did a very good job with the actual book design and construction. It's a beautiful representation of your work. And I was happy to back it because I want to see more comics, especially such suitable for all ages, being published in Bulgarian.

I stumbled on this post, while I was looking for references to add some context for English speaking friends when I shared pictures of the books, because for my shame this is the first time I heard about the series.

I intentionally didn't read the PDFs or the source ahead of receiving the books and I have to say that I'm not particularly happy to discover the changes mentioned here. I don't know the publisher, so I'll reserve judgement until I read both versions, but it does indeed seem like an attempt at making it easier to digest for the local audience. However I still think that it's at least a little misguided because in my experience younger people aren't really religious or conservative and wouldn't mind it at all, especially those that would buy a comic book for their kids or for themselves. And in general I can't imagine it improving the story in any way. If anything we need more representation not less, in order to make such edits completely unnecessary in the future.

The "Oh, God" bit above was already explained above and yes it's more of a common expression than anything only religious people would say.

Adding dialog to a speechless episode is also an interesting choice which I'm actually interested to see if it works or not. One of my favorite comics this year was Step by Bloody Step by Si Spurrier and Matias Bergara which also doesn't have any dialog or text in it and I love seeing such experiments that show the power of the medium to convey a good story even without a single word.

In the end I still hope that the success of the campaign would encourage them to release more and bring in new readers to the original, and of course that they'll keep their profit sharing promise and hopefully take your feedback into consideration for future releases.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-11 15:49

Hey, thank you very much for your very positive feedback and for purchasing the book! It's good to read the quality is here 👍

Nikola Raykov 2022-10-11 16:36

As the Bulgarian publisher I felt the need to make some clarifications on the decisions I have made.

1. On the most controversial subject: the lesbian kiss
First let me clarify that we do not have different words in Bulgarian for a "friend" and a "girlfriend", both are "приятелка". The two girls might still be intimate friends, we just don't get to see the actual kiss. The reason for this is very simple. This panel would have caused a scandal in Bulgaria, the whole comics would have been labeled LGBT propaganda (especially considering the fact that there are no male heroes in it at all). Our audience as a publisher includes very small kids. It would have been a huge problem for something that is actually a very small detail and does not have any relevance to the main story.

As an author myself I completely understand David's opinion. I would have been irritated if somebody made a similar change in my works, but I just don't think the hate and the labeling of the whole comics is worth it for something that is so insignificant. If it was important for the main story or the message of the work (like in V for Vendetta for example) it would have been very different story.

2. On the "Oh God..."
This was already explained above, so no need to go into details, a lot of atheists would use this as an expression, but if I knew this will irritated David, I would have used different wording.

3. On the removal of the episodes
Episodes were not removed. It was rather a selection of the other episodes that left some of the others out. We are a very small publishing house and we do only 2 projects per year. I wanted to be able to tell the whole story of Pepper and Carrot (up to this point), but anything above 2 books of 100 pages would have been an overkill trying to publish and sell it. So we picked up all the episodes that are related to the main stories and left out the single ones (such as summer special, Christmas special, etc.). I would love to publish them at some point in the future if the comics are well accepted by the audience (I would also love to include some of wiki info and David's conceptual art).

4. On the silent episode
After all the single episodes were left out, this turned out to be the only silent one. It looked extremely strange as if in the middle of the story all characters just lost their ability to speak. My goal through the whole time was to try to create a consistent story. This is also the reason why Episode 19 was moved right after Episode 12 (don't know if David has not noticed this change or he likes it as it makes sense).

I have an utter respect for David's work and all the decisions I have made as a publisher were with absolutely the best intents.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-11 17:00

Hi Nikola,
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer on the blog, and again thanks for your huge work on this derivation.
Yes, I think the (2) "Oh God..." was clarified and I totally understand it, I'm not offended or irritated at all by it now I understand the context of usage. I also understand the removal of the one-shot episodes (3) so the series can fit your format. About the silent episode with speech bubbles (4), thanks for underlining that it was the only silent episode left and you made the change so the episode blends better with others in the book. And finally about (1) thank you for confirming that "this panel would have caused a scandal in Bulgaria". I understand that you wanted to avoid the attack of being labeled LGBT propaganda and this is something I had in mind when I wrote this blog post. Thanks again for your nice words about the respect of Pepper&Carrot and your best intentions. I'll add an update in the blog post for future readers about the topics in question and invite them to read the comments for clarification.

Arnaud 2022-10-11 17:07

> What happened in the comic [...] kissed [...] moved on.
Agreed. Yet in this blog post, we discuss it :-) And from the education standpoint, I fully relate to the publisher.

> Homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality AND heterosexuality have always been super common in both the animal kingdom as well as in the human world.
In nature yet, though kiwis (plants) and hippocampus (animals) have different (rich and interesting) ways to reproduce,
when it comes to humans, resorting to homosexuality ends either the specie reproduction or faithfulness (and love?)

Hopefully David won't mind: I think his words are very well put:
> We all discovered our libidos while we were teenagers and none of us made a choice about the target of our libidos.
While I don't fully agree, those words plainly show that there are both heterophile and homophile tendencies in every one.
Bi-sexuality well exists as feelings, natural attractions.
When it comes to acts though, One would have a hard time trying to be both faithful and bisexual in his/her acts.

> everything other than heterosexuality [...] taboo [...] religions and sadly quite a few have been quite violent enforcing this taboo.
And as you say, a long history, sadly enforced by violent/fundamuntalist persons.
Not exclusive to religions though: homosexual acts have been condemned by the law in a majority of countries and periods.
Enforced in Germany for instance, by Hitler (again) with an estimated 100,000 men arrested as homosexuals!
Yet he's far from what I'd call a religious person.
Some religions, for their credit, clearly distinguish a person from his/her acts (they've paved the way for modern justice),
and some call their members to love all humans, which should lay ground for a nice society. There is hope.

> So yeah, when you say [...] it is not just the correlation that matters in this context, but also the cause and effect.
Yeah, I would love my friends and cousins to be happy, yet they're met with challenges more fierce than "others" (bear with me), such as:
Faithfulness, parenthood, big tensions in their desire for happiness, and then of course, society look on their (potential) acts.
And I don't particularly like it but that's just how it is.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-11 17:37

Edit of the blog post is done :-)

reset by peer 2022-10-11 18:57

> Let them recall that Rome and Athene have fallen with the like of them:
> powerful yet weak, depraved beings, violently crushed by the next civilization.

Its a popular view that Rome 'fell' (actually it didn't, just became multiple polities, but anyway) because it was decadent, but it simply isn't supported by any reasonable reading of the historical sources. This is known as the 'weak men create hard times' fallacy and I'd be happy to post an article debunking it when I find it again. In any case, there is nothing weak, nor depraved about not being exclusively attracted to someone of a different gender than oneself.

Indeed, I'd argue that being able to ignore the ridiculous claims society sends one's way about it is a personal strength, as it relies on the evidence of the interpersonal relationship in question. Basically, it seems you are assuming being gay, bi, or otherwise non-hetero is about sex; that isn't the case, or at least isn't the whole story. Just as in heterosexual relationships, it is usually about love and can even be chaste.

> resorting to homosexuality ends either the specie reproduction or faithfulness (and love?)

Gay people have children, through the institution of surrogacy. And no, those children aren't 'manipulated' to be gay, in case you were wondering that...as David already pointed out, one can't actually change someone else's orientation, its not possible. Hundreds of 'pray away the gay' programs have tried and failed, with disastrous consequences. Studies show same-sex relationships typically have less incidence of cheating than heterosexual ones. And again, we are talking about love here, not whatever 'vice' you are imagining. I'd urge you to talk to more LGBT people if your understanding of what the life situation of your gay friends is has led you to repeat such cliches that only serve to promote homophobia and fear of people living differently than one does.

Arnaud 2022-10-12 08:59

> 'weak men create hard times' fallacy
Never heard, I'll read about it and make my mind, thanks :)
Supposed elites will have a hard time leading their people and protecting them whilst living from orgy to orgy.

> there is nothing weak, nor depraved about not being exclusively
> attracted to someone of a different gender than oneself.
I was referring to LGBT lobby hope this is clear, not homosexual persons, they are strictly different.

> Indeed, I'd argue that being able to ignore the ridiculous claims society [...]
Fully agree

Gay or not, surrogacy is a less than optimal starting point to me: it's claiming a child for oneself, against nature.
No I am not afraid said children be manipulated. Sure hope they all get to see their education compensated by the alter sex though, as this is a dire need.

> I'd urge you to talk to more LGBT people
please don't mix friends in their personal sensibilities with this damned lobby.

archeronaute 2022-10-12 19:20

Glad to see that this was a respectful derivation despite all the changes. But it's still sad that they had to remove the kiss. I understand that they wanted to avoid any backlash, I just find this kind of scandal ridiculous.

Also, there is a typo in "The cool side" third paragraph:
"The published [publisher?] told me it is promised to be print on high quality paper and hardcover."
Might not be worth editing the blog post though.

David Revoy Author, 2022-10-12 19:50

Thanks for the feedback! (and for the typo too, I'll fix it now.)

Stemy 2022-10-12 20:57

Ouais, c'est triste, mais malheureusement prévisible quand du contenu est publié dans des pays qu'on qualifiera euphémiquement de "pas très ouverts d'esprit".

reset by peer 2022-10-13 02:10

well, I know nothing about a lobby (to me this brings to mind hobby stores). all I can speak is from my own experience, those of others I have spoken to, and from scientific research that is published. anyway, as promised here is the rebuttal essay: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yRSBkCcKp2I this is in video format as you see, I read it in text form from the same author but can't find that again.

Vinay 2022-10-13 12:48

One part of me doesn't want to continue this discussion as it goes way beyond what Pepper and Carrot and even the Bulgarian derivative mentioned in the article is all about. But I'm reading so many false assumptions and associations that I can't let that pass.

Regarding your response, I didn't mean to say it were the religious people who exclusively discriminated non-heterosexual people. I do think however that such discrimination was taught. And yes, explicitly stated by the big religions even though they were eventually adopted by people who weren't so much tied to these religions. As for this dictator you mentioned, I don't even know whether he was religious. He was known for explicitly designating anyone who didn't fit his very specific mold as "bad". We all know how horrible this turned out to be.

On a related note, I'm surprised by your claims about a "LGBT lobby". There is no such lobby as far as I know. As I mentioned above, there has been an anti-LGBT lobby at several points in history (and even today) and there are several attempts to restore mutual respect and tolerance. But they don't push anyone in any direction, but rather enforce individuals to discover themselves and be accepted. Hence it is not a lobby as such, it doesn't promote anything, it doesn't push anyone in a direction it doesn't want to go. Whereas the anti-LGBT lobby requests LGBT people to not express who they are and not act the way they feel.

Your view on sex seems from a different world. I haven't heard of anyone who practices sex exclusively for reproduction. Nearly everyone I know does it for pleasure and I'd be surprised to find someone who completely ignores this aspect. Would a couple of individuals being attracted to others of the same sex end the species? Sorry to burst your bubble, but it doesn't act like a "stop" button, in case someone told you it does. And yes, non-heterosexual individuals can definitely contribute to the next generation. First of all simply because people naturally lived in herds and the complete herd cared for the young, not just the biological parents. So it didn't by any means hurt to have a few who haven't been pregnant or haven't made another one pregnant at some point. In fact, a while ago in a local zoo (Artis Natura Magistra in Amsterdam) found an abandoned vulture egg and put it in the nest of a homosexual vulture couple. The hatched the egg, raised the chick which has eventually successfully been released on Sardinia. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43786685). So yes, this gay vulture couple helped save the species from extinction, nowhere near your awkward claims.

I've seen you mention words like "orgy", "weak", "surrogacy" etc which are completely unrelated to sexual orientation and especially unrelated to his comic, so I won't bother discussing that.

As I mentioned, I was already torn on whether to even respond here. You may post again and I may or may not respond. But if I don't, doesn't mean I approve or agree.

Arnaud 2022-10-13 16:15

> this discussion as it goes way beyond what Pepper and Carrot
> and even the Bulgarian derivative mentioned in the article is all about.

You're right, let's end. I think we walk this world with 100% complementary
(or opposed, depending) views: sharing a good beer would make this a positive
discussion, but here is not the place...
Sorry I misinterpreted you! It goes both ways though:
> Your view on sex seems from a different world. I haven't heard
> of anyone who practices sex exclusively for reproduction
That one is so out of nowhere I had a big laugh, I owe you,
man: it's so remote from what I said, and live :D

Have a nice day

Arnaud 2022-10-13 16:16

> https://youtube.com/watch?v=yRSBkCcKp2I
Thanks for the link

Wikipe-fan 2022-10-23 01:56

I'm impressed by the civility of the debate here. Most of the questions debated are about observable effects, so they can be empirically studied. For those interested in the research on homosexuality:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Hooker (a pioneering researcher)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_psychology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_parenting#Research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquired_homosexuality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_sexual_orientation#Sexual_orientation_and_evolution

Should I maybe point out that the homosexual kiss was consensual, while the heterosexual ones had severely impaired consent? Granted that France has some norms around kissing that are not much like those of most English-speaking countries. Not to mention the fact that East Asian cultures tend to consider age to be higher-status than youth...

The missing panel could be sold as a paste-in sticker from this website. I would not be surprised if it sold more copies than the book.

Nenko Genov 2022-12-11 13:24

Hi everyone. My name's Nenko and I'm a Bulgarian reader, one of the many who backed the publication of the comics with an early preorder of the two volumes. I'd like to share my view, not just as a reader, but as a professional. I'm a writer, translator, editor and book blogger, and I keep a close eye on everything that's been going on on our local scene, especially when it comes to kids, middle grade, young adult and comic books. I've been following also reactions on social media, reviews, etc. And here's what I think...
I see Mr. Raykov's point of view, I think it is totally valid, yet I completely disagree with it.
Nikola Raykov started way back with a cute interactive tale for kids (Prikazka-igra means "a Fairytale-Game"). It was a self-published project, kinda like a kid-friendly version of the famous “Choose your destiny” book adventures. The book was also made available for free as a PDF file. Parents were able to download the entire content and decide if they want to buy a physical copy and back the author. It was a success, which lead to upgrades – new editions with better illustrations. It led to sequels, which lead to board games and cooperations with other authors and artists. Nikola Raykov received critical acclaim and several prestigious Bulgarian awards. Prikazka igra turned into a trusted brand, a household name if you will… And it is still a family owned, self-publishing business and a passionate personal endeavour which I much admire and appreciate. The fear that a single drawing of a kiss between two girls can somehow tarnish this image is… sad.
Pepper and Carrot is the first comic book project and the first non-Bulgarian work published by Prikazka igra. Open rights must have been key choosing the project, among with the gripping art, enchanting world and magical heroes.
However, none of the readers had been informed in advance about the changes made in the content. I myself was clueless about the true nature of the “adaptation by Nikola Raykov” part. Everything seemed legit. Then this article by author David Revoy came out… And I couldn’t help, but feel disappointed. Might not seem like a big deal to some, but it’s the principle behind it that counts.
To begin with, yes, I understand Mr. Raykov’s fear of backlash. There is a crowd of homophobic neanderthals on the Internet who would bash books they haven’t even read. Several titles that’s been under heavy fire recently? “Julian is a mermaid”, the “Heartstopper” series, etc. Does that stop them from reaching their audience? Nope. Does that diminish their sales? I doubt it. There’s a good number of books with liberal, progressive, open-minded content out there in Bulgarian bookstores, most of which goes under the radar of trolls and haters, especially if you do not popint it out explicitly to them. When you say, “Hey, guys, here’s a way to teach your kids some tolerance and acceptance – read “The Boy in the Dress” by David Walliams – trolls emerge, damning the book to hell for twisting the young minds of Bulgarian children. If you don’t point out that in a certain book of his, a black female priest marries a spinster librarian in the end, it’s all quiet. “Heartstopper” hate comments exploded on social media only after I recommended volume two in two large groups so it bugged some users and attracted their conservative right-wing buddies.
Another example. Nobody attacks Rick Riordan’s books in Bulgaria, they are a huge commercial success, nobody cries over the dozens of LGBTQ characters in them, but if I go around waving a flag saying it’s cool that Magnus Chase has a gender-fluid love interest– I imagine a small s**tstorm in the comments section. Yup, we don’t lack “defenders of traditional values” who fear that Europe and the West will turn their kids gay with their LGBTQ propaganda and such… Those guys are a loud minority, they do not represent the entire country and the entire audience and the entire local culture. Their existence though only underlines the need to have more representation and diversity in all of our stories. The fact that some type or feature is widespread while another is not does not turn the later into not-normal. We need informed, empathic, educated, emotionally intelligent audience. And you cannot start too early.
Why would you exclude something as innocent as a kiss but sill keep the scene where the character loses her clothes and an elderly man is drooling over the view?!? The logic behind the decision entirely eludes me. (Not to mention that nobody in the world will read “a girlfriend” into the Bulgarian translation. „Близки приятелки“ means “close friends”, without implying any intimacy. They are actually „гаджета“, and should have been translated as such 😉 )
And why isn’t there any fear of backlash AGAINST the removal of the kiss? Obviously, that could happen too, right? I as a Bulgarian and a father of three daughters, would like my kids to enjoy the comics as close to their original form as possible.
As an author I had to fight mild censorship attempts during the editing process of my middle grade novels. It was not LGBTQ content, it was about ethnicity, immigration and helping refugees. I pointed out progressive storytellers like Michael Morpurgo (“Shadow” touches upon horrors of war, fleeing your homeland, facing police brutality, corruption, trafficking…), who are published successfully in Bulgaria and do not cause any outrage whatsoever. And so I convinced my publishers that it is OK not beat around the bush. If someone has an issue with the messages of my books, I am OK with that, they are now my audience, they can look elsewhere, end of story. If I hadn’t won the battle, I would not have let the book to be published without the scenes I wrote and I felt were important and part of the heart and the essence of the book, the reason for its existence beyond its value as kids’ entertainment.
As a translator and editor, I’ve also been in a position where certain changes to the text were absolutely necessary, otherwise small details, like an inappropriate joke or a certain word, would sound appalling to Bulgarian audience if not changed. But I would never ever change the author’s true intent or the nature of their characters.
I don’t want to judge Mr. Raykov too harshly though. Mistakes happen. He just played it safe. I cannot blame him for that, the financial risk is on him after all, and he has mouths to feed and bills to pay like any of us. The success of one project paves the way for the next one.
But the sad thing is that it seems like the author got to know about it post factum. If you choose to publish someone’s creation you shouldn’t edit it and publish it in a different form without the author’s full knowledge and consent. I don’t talk about the legal side, just the moral side of things. If a small portion of this creation worries you, contact the author, work together on a solution, and if there isn’t one, if there can be no compromise, then part ways. There are other stories out there. What happened here is straight-out censorship, which is very wrong in my eyes.
The question “Would the kiss have been removed if it had been between a boy and a girl?” stays without an answer to this day.
But just like one panel shouldn’t ruin the experience, one missing panel also shouldn’t. Fortunately, it is much easier to ADD a panel, than to REMOVE one! So… Here goes “the patch”, which you can easily apply with the help of a good printed, scissors and some glue. With the kind support and full approval of the creator:
The hi-resolution page (without text) is here btw: https://www.peppercarrot.com/0_sources/ep36_The-Surprise-Attack/hi-res/gfx-only/gfx_Pepper-and-Carrot_by-David-Revoy_E36P10.jpg , and all files of all langs can be found here: https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/webcomic/ep36_The-Surprise-Attack__sources.html

David Revoy Author, 2022-12-11 20:17

Thank you for your detailed feedback 🥰 and the idea to 'patch' the book and print and paste the missing panel is brilliant. 👍

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Pepper&Carrot (heavy) derivation: the case of the succesful Bulgarian book publishing by Prikazka-Igra

The cool side

The "meh" side

Is it allowed?

Matter for thought about derivations...

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