Bilingualism in Comic Scripts: Interesting Or Distracting?

[Arturo R. Garcia]

Hi, new member here ...

For the past few months I've been workshopping a comic project of mine with a non-comics writers' group. Since it's set in the Tijuana/San Diego area, I've been writing the TJ scenes with Spanish dialogue and the English translation as subtitles. To minimize the potential for clutter, the panels tend to be larger than usual. Close-ups won't have more than one line of dialogue.
The more I've worked with this technique, the more I've enjoyed it; it allows more of my characters' cultural nuances to make their way into the story. But it's become a point of contention with my fellow writers, who say that "the bilingual readers won't care, and the English-speakers will think it's cluttered."
My question, then, is: what works have you come across or written/drawn that feature subtitles? How did that make you react as a reader? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks much for your time. Looking forward to participating more in the group.

Regards,
Arturo

[Linton Robinson]

I have similar problems, writing chiefly fiction about the same border area.

I don't have any published solutions off the top of my head, but will keep an eye out.

Are you the artist?

[Arturo R. Garcia]

Nope, I'm also a writer.

As far as recent published examples, DC's Blue Beetle series just published an issue where 90 percent of the scenes have all-Spanish dialogue, with the English script in the back. I'll be interested to see how it sells.

[Chad Denton]

My only experience was the recent "Blue Beetle" comic and even that doesn't quite match what you describe.

Nonetheless, I would have to fall into the "interesting" camp - speaking as not only a reader, but as someone who's fascinated by foreign languages and is currently learning how to read in one. It would,a at the very least, be an excellent teaching tool. Also I think there's something to be said for writing dialogue in the characters' language and how you can put in nuances of speech that might otherwise be lost in translation.