Comics / Digital Comics

Persepolis 2.0 – Web Comics Mash Up

By Hervé St-Louis
July 6, 2009 - 22:32

Persepolis, the graphic novel originally published in 2000 about the Iranian 1979 change of regime has garnered much critical acclaim and has been adapted to an animated film in 2007. In light of the June 2009 election crisis in Iran, overseas supporters of the faction denouncing the election’s results have reworded the original graphic novel to reflect their perceived reality of what’s happening in Iran.

The mash up artists, Iranians based in Shanghais, China, have received the official support of original cartoonist Marjane Satrapi and are freely transmitting the graphic novel to the public on their Web site Spreadpersepolis.com. Cartoonists and other copyrights holders often do not accept positively the mash up of their original work by others. In the case of Persepolis, there has been substantial changes made to the original work of the cartoonist, as well as a redistribution of her original work for free.

This author notes that the political agenda of the mash up artists and the original cartoonist seem to trump usual concerns for direct beneficial gains. As of this date, the publishers of the graphic novel in both English and French have not indicated whether they would consider publishing Persepolis 2.0 as a book.

However, it is clear that sales of the original comic book will benefit from this Web exposure, dismissing traditional concerns of copyrights holders that redistribution of their work and editing are undesirable. As a Web comics, Persepolis 2.0 is clearly borrowing an older format while using digital means to edit contents and to be distributed. The trend in many Web comics is to be published and optimized for Web delivery, not adapted from print delivery for the Internet. Will Persepolis 2.0 lend to more legitimacy of Web mashed up comics by mash up artists?

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12