Leviathan turns Chinese

Peter Blegvad’s Book of Leviathan has just come out in Chinese. This is extraordinary given that Blegvad’s comic strips, originally published in the Independent, are densely packed with wordplay and puns. Yet China Times have succeeded in translating the adventures of the faceless baby Levi, his big sister, cat and pink rabbit, in its entirety. Chinese speakers can now understand the perfect stasis that results from a cat falling with buttered toast strapped to its back, or watch the way in which, strip by strip, the cookie crumbles. Next stop for Levi is Paris, where the new French comics firm, L’Apocalypse, are setting to work with their punning dictionaries.

Sort Of – incidentally – took its name from Peter Blegvad’s first album with his group Slapp Happy. If you’re curious, here’s the wonderful opening track.