Wencelas the Red Ketchup

Well, it’s been a week since I last posted the first few pages of Red Ketchup, and I haven’t received a cease and desist message from the author or artist in question. Too bad that only three people have bothered to download it so far. The fact that I hid the download link at the end of a long summary might have had something to do with it. Another possibility is that the concept of Red Ketchup simply isn’t that popular to my regular audience. But I'm still stubbornly going to go through with this project to the bitter end.












So to recap, here’s the link again if you missed it the first time around. And here’s the link to the latest translation effort where we find out the backstory behind the Medival Red Ketchup. While I’m a pretty faithful adaptor to the spirit of the text, there’s one particular panel where I had a slight historical anachronism in the form of a different font, but I think it works pretty well in context. (I'm not going to spoil it for you - you'll have to find out for yourself)

I’m not a regular scanlator, and would more prefer to focus on my writings about comics than be diverted by doing google translations via Paintshop. Though I’ve noticed that several albums of Red Ketchup have been regularly taken out of the library since these posts started, so maybe I’m succeeding on that front there.

Year of the Bears

Jan Berenstain died earlier this week of a stroke after continuing the writing duties left by her husband Stan, who died in 2005. Stanley and Janice better known as Stan and Jan Berenstain were prolific children's authors who produced an astonishing amount of books in their lifetime. I remember that one of the stories that they though would never get animated was "The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV", which with its message of "turn off your TV, get off your duff and do something else" would be totally counter-intuitive with their sponsors who would insist on their audience paying attention to their commercials. Amazingly enough, this episode DID get animated, but for the 2003 show, not the 1985 show, which some old fans still prefer.

Everybody's feelings about when they start to outgrow their childish interests vary, but for me personally, their quality decline started with "The Bearstein Bears and Trouble with Pets". The other books released a few years back weren't BAD per se, but they lacked the creative spark that their earlier books had. In essence, once the Bears started catching on, Stan and Jan became factory outlets, producing material, no matter if it was good or not - their built-in audience would gobble it up nonetheless. It's always a disappointing experience to see a beloved franchise literally disintegrate before your eyes, as fans of various Mangas and Cerebus can atest to. (I'm still sore that the McDonaldland Fun Times magazine started becoming more slipshod in their covers and contents even though I no longer go out for eats there) There was no need to update the Big Honey Hunt when the old cruder illustrations still had enough charm of their own.

















What I'd really like is not a continuous reprint of the later years, when Stan and Jan were struggling to come up with ideas that would relate to (ironically enough, considering the nature of the Bears) Nuclear families, and artwork that looked less polished compared to earlier printings. Particularly the oversized Berenstain Bears Almanac, Nature Guide and Science Fair books, stuffed with all kinds of rhyming trivia. Even a children's book reviewer who normally loathed the Bear's newer books, but tolerated them because her son loved reading them.


































I have a particular fondness for the Bear's Almanac, especially since my Mother went out of her way to rescue it after it was going to be thrown out of the library. There were a few torn pages, and it was literally falling apart, but nothing that a little tape and rewrites could solve. (It wasn't until I saw an extra copy at a school library that I found out there were bears on a beach near a palm tree, which hadn't been included in the illustration)


































What's particularly interesting is the "revisionist history" that's done for a few holidays. Since so much American media were threatening to confuse the cultural identity of Canadians (having very few successful commercial outlets of our own), we had to struggle to make our mark known, so we wouldn't be too confused when given conflicting messages. It's one thing to be told something, and another thing entirely, when you see something yourself. Especially if 99% of the source of your information comes from reading, and you have a terrible auditorial memory. What are you going to trust? What you hear, or what you see and read?


































Therefore, unconvincing edits were added to the page, even though it ruined the rhyme. (For the curious, the original stanza for the above is "U.S.A.") Of course, my mother's attempts to preserve cultural identity failed to change Brother Bear's stars & stripes shirt to a red maple leaf. Her photoshop skills could only go so far.






















The other instance was where the Bears celebrated Thanksgiving. Like the July holiday, Thanksgiving isn't as important as it is in Canada compared to the big kerfluffle it's given in the States. Since Canadian Thanksgiving is more about celebrating the end of harvest season, it's importance is faded away in the background with the arrival of Halloween, and thus, we're spared the triumvirate of three holidays at the end of the year. We're given a reprieve for a month before getting to celebrate Christmas (or Hanukah, Kwanzaa or whatever December holiday you celebrate).


































It's this beginning page that I have the most fond memories of though. Back when I was still learning how to talk, my sessions were being taped to give proof that I could speak, and thus be eligible for oral education. When asked to tell the story, I started out by repeating the the words on the page in blunt monotone, each sentence being recited with minimal effort. It wasn't until I was stopped and told to act like I was actually there that I changed my tune and started talking animated and excitedly Since then, I've taken the lesson of varying the sound of my voice to express my moods and haven't stopped. (Well, except for when I'm in one of my black moods)

I'd also like to see a reprint of their holiday books that were made into animated specials, such as The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise and The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree. I refuse to believe that these books aren't being reprinted simply because of their quality. Surely children wouldn't object if they actually saw more Berenstain Bears they'd never seen before?

Marching Laika Lying

It's the start of a new month, and depending on where you're living, the weather is either unseasonably warm, or still freezing cold, leading to all kinds of various mood swings. These Spring fevers can be the result of the shifting temperatures playing havoc with your body temperature, causing lethargy and drowsiness after dealing with long winter months in the cold.

















Here, we also see the first character design of April before she developed the style we would become more accustomed to. Her hair is more wilder and brown compared to how it would be lower and fuller. (I suck at naming hairstyles)



















What do you call that spiky hairstyle where the hair sticks out at an appealing pointy angle? You see this kind of hairstyle covering the eyes and foreheads in protagonists in various Manga and BD titles all the time, yet I have no idea if it even has a name. Any takers?














Another rarity - Elly indulging in something that's not housework, while April attempts to impress her mother with a display of musical prowess.



















Since Elly was very obviously the avatar for Lynn Johnson, this is clearly another reference to how the creator felt about having children who were constantly invading her "private time" by demanding her attention by making noise. Think I'm exaggerating? There are various strips that show Elly being interrupted while working and reacting appropriately, and could also explain why she identified with Mike running back inside a burning house to retrieve a manuscript he'd been working on at the expense of his wife and kid. The job is the one defining element in their lives, and without it, they have nothing.







Referring to the previous case of Spring fever, these shorter days can bring about cases of SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, where people can become depressed due to lack of sunlight.

















Lately, there have been recent studies that show that there are people who suffer from the opposite ailment, and become depressed from too much sunlight (like yours truly), and prefer working in the dark. This is why some of us become night owls - it's the only time when we're able to feel in our natural habitat with minimal distractions, and are forced to cope with a workforce that insists on working when it's light out.











On the bright side, there's still Spring Break to contend with. If Japan's Golden Week wasn't an absolute necessity that needed editorial notes to explain, Spring Break would be an acceptable alternative. Though apart from Mardi Gras, there's very little similarity between the two. However, if you don't celebrate a week off where you live, then you're plumb out of luck.



















Sorry for the segue into a non-sequitur, but it was the only way to make the text fit the theme for these pictures.

Never Encountered Encounter

When Raijin Comics was first founded at the start of the millennium, it introduced a wide range of Mangas, none of which really clicked with their intended audience. Like so many anthologies, it failed from an attempt to appeal to every possible demographic, and as a result, wound up alienating their customers. Their results were too scattershot instead of focussed, and could've benefited from a more consistent theme throughout their titles.


































But all this has already been mentioned before. It recently got a memoriam from Jason Thompson, which outlined much of the history and their bizarre competition with Shonen Jump and trying to get the attention of the typical comic-book audience. My favorite part is the description of Grappler Baki, "a martial arts Manga so bizarre it's beyond my ability to describe without contorting my body into a pretzel-like shape with a sickening crunching sound." That's pretty much what trying to copy any of the double-page spreads in the Manga are like.

However, there was one particular Manga that was given a 4-page preview in a Raijin Manga supplement issue that caught my eye. Most of the other titles were mentioned, such as Revenge of Mouflon, First President of Japan, Slam Dunk, and even the much-loathed Bomber Girl. This title certainly got my attention with the second page which... well, I'll let the page below speak for itself.


































Basically, any story that has a rash of unusual suicides and inexplicable deaths is certain fertile grounds for being a page-turner. However, despite it's strong premise, it never wound up showing up in the pages of the magazine. There also were single-page ads for Bow Wow Wata right next to Wild Leaguer (a Seinin baseball Manga by Watanabe Yasuhiro) Maybe the rights fell through? It's disappointing that there's never been any word of a follow-up, let alone an explaination for Encounter's disappearance from the Raijin lineup.


































Apart from the Manga having won an International Manga award (with a cash prize of 100 million yen) and being part of a wife/husband team, I can't find anything else out about the story. Konohana Sakuya (the pen name of Nishino Megumi and Nishino Kohei) claimed to be breaking new ground with their releasing their Mangas simultaneously on the internet, but this is laughably out-of-date nowadays. Amusingly enough, their Cyber-Manga page opens up with the sentence, "Bland-new CYBERMANGA for you". They have a webpage, but very little information on what their Mangas are about. There's not even a scanlation of it, when pretty much everything else has been given a shot. Sure, I could look it up on a wiki page, but getting the plot summary in text form loses some of the magic somewhat.


































If there was a Gutsoon title that deserved more attention, this would probably be it. The closest we ever got to a Manga like this was Alive the Final Evolution, which started out strong, but fell into mediocrity. Hopefully, Encounter didn't meet this same fate.

Adam's Babysitting Endurance

Adam's next-door male chauvinist neighbour, Walter, continuously teased Adam for being a househusband, often in the form of outright mockery for doing activities that would otherwise be thought be only suitable for the "weaker sex". However, Adam was also had another miniture nemesis in the form of a woman named Alison who would drop off her baby while she went off to do some chores.

















Adam would start out the day intending to do nothing but relax, and be constantly foiled by a little kid whose only impulse was to cry all day long once he was out of his mommy's reach. In future strips, Alison devised more elaborate ways to convince Adam to keep looking after her kid even when he had no desire to do so. This is the kind of trickery that rival brothers or sisters would resort to in order to tease their younger siblings.

















At this point, it's clear that Alison's sadism is intentional. The woman doesn't even have to leave the room for her baby to start crying. To be fair, that open-mouthed position is the only way readers would even remember the kid in the first place. Quick question - without looking at the pictures, what is Joseph's hair colour? Chances are you couldn't even remember. That single-toothed black entrance is the most defining image of the baby.

Once baby Nick joined the household, Joseph dropped out of the picture, since it would be redundant to have two screaming kids.

Origins of Red Ketchup

When certain breakout characters such as Popeye show up and become more popular than the main character, it becomes an exercise for the creator to justify their existence. They can either downplay their usefulness or play up their appearances for all it's worth. If their story is at the risk of floundering under obscurity, usage of these madcap characters becomes more important for saving them from cancellation. The general consensus is that once a character gains popularity through public opinion, an elaborate backstory is then created for them once they've generated enough popularity. Similar to how Wolverine was supposed to be a one-off character, but eventually wound up becoming the most iconic X-man member ever.


















In Red Ketchup's first story, he was given an origin that was condensed into four short pages. His childhood is mostly defined by an abusive father, and as a result, is more sad than funny. (More details at the end of this post)

















However, Red Ketchup's first true appearance was in Black and White, and is just as crazy as the man's colour adventures. He showed up 2/3rds of the way in the 2nd Michel Risque book. Michel Risque is notoriously difficult to describe without sounding completely insane, since so much of what happens seems to be a rambling stream of consciousness where a single man gets involved into more and more outlandish situations that he has no control over. They're very much a style of this happened, then this happened form of storytelling. It could best be described as an adult Canadian version of Tintin. The influences are certainly apparent there, especially since the story is told in 3-4 page chunks, allowing for plenty of variation between chapters. If you divide a typical Tintin volume, you'll often find that where the boy detective starts out is a very different place from where he eventually winds up at least halfway through. So too is it with Michel Risque.









Red Ketchup gives an air of menace by quoting that he "always gets his man!" (The actual Mountie motto is "Uphold the law") The implying threat is that eventually, Michel Risque and Red Ketchup will eventually meet up, reaching towards a common goal. From these panels alone, you'd be hard pressed to know that Red Ketchup was a pasty Government albino. Red Ketchup starts gathering information by touring the streets with his effective negotiation skills. This tactic works effectively until he meets a suspect who likes getting hurt.

















"Talk first, then I'll hit you." (BTW, if the concealed nipples bothers you more than the implicit violence, you might want to reconsider your values) After going through several informational dead ends, he finally hits upon the location of a link to said drug runners who just happen to be on the very boat that Michel Risque is unknowingly helping.

















Once Red Ketchup catches up, there's a shooting match between the criminals and the authorities while Michel is totally oblivious to the overseas gang warfare happening behind his back. He's looking for an antiseptic in a medical box when the other one was stuffed with handguns.
















Meanwhile, the druglord, Raoul Escobar takes an immediate liking to Michel Risque's girlfriend Poupine. To get a better idea of this vision of loveliness who's stolen his heart, here's a side-by-side comparison with her love interest. He conducts an elaborate kidnapping scheme to have her by her side, while Michel embarks on a crusade to find out where his girlfriend's gone.












However, Escobar shouldn't stay confident for too long, since Red Ketchup hasn't exactly gone down with the ship. Keep in mind that this is only the end of the second book, and he has yet to ingest drugs at an alarming rate. He was already crazy long before he even took his first snort.









At the beginning of the third book, Red Ketchup is reviewing his mission from his chief back in Washington after failing to catch Escobar and surveying the amount of damage he's done, as par for the course. To put the extent of his actions in context, all of the below took place over a period of only nine pages, not counting when he was swimming for shore.
















"Eight destroyed Government cars, a coast guard boat annihilated with the crew, a hotel and three private residences dynamited, eighteen deaths, forty people injured and maimed and eleven charges against you for breaking and entering, damage to property, cuts and wounds, rape, torture, etc..."
"But chief... You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs!"

In all fairness, The hotel bombing is the only thing Red Ketchup wasn't directly (or indirectly) responsible for, though he was there when it happened. The scene then shifts to a bordello house where perversions of every kind is tolerated. Raoul Escobar has a dialogue with a man who has some truly weird fetishes of his own.
















It isn't until he goes home and cleans up that we discover this man's true profession.
















With the Commissioner's permission, Red Ketchup hopes to find any trace of Raoul Escobar by casing out the usual joints with his typical interrogation techniques:









Upset with not finding any leads, he confronts the Commissioner because he's beginning to feel like he's being led in circles and not getting any closer to his target.























However, Red Ketchup isn't the only major worry that's hanging over the Commissioner's head. A mook gangster who's part of Escobar's crew is also tired of Red Ketchup's interference, and wants the Commissioner to have him taken care of. In a state of ethical integrity, the Commissioner objects to the gangster using language that would offend his mother.

















Said gangster decides to make things easier by blackmailing the Commissioner by threatening to show his kindly old mother incriminating photos of his little pastime activities with children unless the Red Ketchup problem is resolved.



























This page is particularly noteworthy, because it's the first time that this comic has shifted away from the main protagonist and focused on a cliffhanger for a secondary character. Quite naturally, Red Ketchup manages to get out of his predicament. Somehow, this random murder is newsworthy enough to get an article in the paper, further scaring the crooked Commissioner.






















Seeing himself backed into a corner, the Commissioner decides to go to more desperate measures and just have Red Ketchup killed by less conventional means.

















Miraculously, Red survives the grenade attack, and it's only after he gets back to his apartment that he realizes that he's still in shock.





















Under his current condition, he's in no shape to continue without help. It's at this point that he decides to take a little sniff from a pack of cocaine to boost up his strength and starts down a slippery slope that he'll never be able to back up from now on.











The man does not know the meaning of restraint. (If he ever did, it was deleted from his memory)























After killing the crooked Commissioner, he finds the first lead he's ever got on finding Raoul Escobar - an invitation to a costume party. Once he arrives at the party grounds, Red rushes into the scene guns akimbo, then stops just long enough to put on an inconspicuous disguise.















Inside the mansion, after spending months of resisting her capturers, Michel's girlfriend, Poupoune is starting to develop Stockholm's Syndrome and worrying about Raoul Escobar who's come down with love sickness. Meanwhile, Red ketchup helps himself to the contents of a snuff box.























In a contrived coincidence, Michel Risque has also somehow managed to make his way into the Escobar estate through a series of events too complicated to explain. (That's him in the bunny suit. Don't ask - it's the most normal thing he's worn in a long time) At the costume party, the two men only narrowly miss each other, and engage with a certain Escobar through a case of mistaken identity through different methods. After realizing that the shot man isn't Raoul Escobar, the party devolves into a shooting match between rival gangsters, the gatecrashers and innocent bystanders.


































In the confusion, Red Ketchup manages to make his way up to the bedroom where Poupoune and Raoul Escobar are, leading up to an inevitable conflict between between the naive Quebec hero and the FBI agent...
















...only, that's not what happens. Red Ketchup quite literally throws Poupoune into Michel's arms, since she's "getting in the way", and he's more concerned with killing Escobar than their romantic reunion.


































In a way, this was kind of a fitting exit. Red Ketchup was threatening to take over the Michel Risque comic, and thus was subsequently given a spin-off title under his own name. The differences between the two men could not be more obvious. While Michel Risque was something of a reluctant hero, Red Ketchup was something akin to a force of nature.

I've been collaborating with LeChatVert in an attempt to translate Red Ketchup for the masses. This'll continue until I either get a restraining order from Réal Godbout and Pierre Fournier, or my upload site gets cancelled. Whichever comes first. If our luck holds, I'll be able to add Michel Risque to the list once Red Ketchup's over with.

You can download the first two stories in English here: