The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Comic Novelization

[Akril]

When The Lion King was released, a comic novelization of the movie was released, and it can be read on this very site. When Simba's Pride was released, a comic novelization of that movie was also made. It was printed in multiple languages, but to my knowledge, it was never printed in English. Some scans of the Dutch version of the comic made it onto the Internet several years ago, but it was never translated aside from a few bits and pieces.

Recently, Nitrol posted some scans of the Polish version of the comic, and I decided to translate the entire thing into English. I used both the Dutch and the Polish versions, since I would sometimes run into a line in one version that I couldn't translate, meaning I'd have another one to resort to. The Dutch text is often longer, so I favored it a bit more than its counterpart.

This comic is a pretty fun read even if you're familiar with the movie. There are several new scenes, some of the more superfluous scenes are gone, and there's a lot of new dialogue as well. The characters also look great, some of them even better than they appear in the movie: Nala's eyes are the right color, Kovu doesn't have huge pupils like he does in most of the merchandise, Simba doesn't look fat, Pumbaa isn't dark maroon, and even Kiara's adult design looks better.

So here we go:

Page 1

Page 2
Drinking game idea: Take a drink every time you see a pose in this comic copied from clipart or a screenshot from the movie. Regarding Nala in the bottom left panel, I've actually seen her with narrow ear rims in a couple of promotional images for Simba's Pride, but they were dark, not light.

Page 3

Page 4
The Dutch version of the comic called the Outlands "the Forbidden Lands". I like the way Kiara and Kovu meet here -- at least Kovu was doing more than just sitting there.

Page 5
Ironically, Kiara really comes off as the more competent of the two cubs during the crocodile scene. Also, is anyone else getting deja-vu from that last panel?

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9
Kiara stammers a little in response to Simba's first line in the Dutch version and giggles in the Polish version. I decided to go with the latter.

Page 10
Wow, lots of child abuse on this page. Also, the whites of Vitani's eyes are pure white throughout the entire comic.

[Akril]

(Well, it seems that Imageshack is making things difficult for me. It's already removed a couple of the scans I posted yesterday because of terms of use violations, so I'll have to upload them to my personal website now.)

Page 11
Vitani's eyes actually look a bit yellowish in the first panel -- however, her irises look red. Oh well...nothing unusual about that.

Page 12
One difference between the Polish and Dutch versions of this comic is that the Polish version doesn't have any sound effects written in the panels. The Dutch version has a "BONK!" sound effect in the panel where Rafiki gets hit in the head with his staff, but this version only has some red stars.

Page 13
I like how Rafiki is really skeptical of Mufasa's scheme in this comic instead of going along with it and playing matchmaker to Kiara and Kovu. Also, notice that Kovu still has the narrow ear rims he had as a cub.

Page 14
It bugs me how completely passive Nala is in the third panel. The Nala from TLK would have reprimanded Simba immediately, but here she's like, "What? You're breaking the promise you made to our daughter two minutes ago? Okay, whatever."

Page 15

Page 16
Kiara actually comes off as a fairly competent first-time hunter in this scene. It helps that one of her poses is copied from one of Nala's poses when she is chasing Pumbaa in TLK.

Page 17
I admit got a chuckle out of Kiara's line in the sixth panel. : )

Page 18
Apparently this is a definition of the word "safe" that I'm not aware of...

Page 19

Page 20

[Akril]

Page 21
Kovu's line in the center panel is a bit different in the Dutch version. I kept the Polish version in because I thought it was better...and it IS a valid question to ask.

Page 22
I had trouble translating Timon's line in the fourth panel. What I eventually put there isn't an exact translation, but I think it's close.

Page 23
You'd think as long as Kovu was throwing out facts about actual rhinos, he'd point out that rhinos are solitary animals that don't form large herds...but hey, I'm not the writer.

Page 24
Kovu's line in the sixth panel really grabbed my attention because it's actually an alternate version of the "He wasn't my father, but he was still a part of me" line that wound up in the movie (according to the SP script on lionking.org)

Page 25
The addition of the scene where Kovu realizes he has a chance to attack Simba really adds a lot to his character.

Page 26
New scene alert! And regarding the bottom left panel, I know the creators of SP were trying to make Simba more Mufasa-like, but copying his pose from a piece of Mufasa clipart? Come on...

Page 27
Wow, Nuka bleached his mane in that last panel.

Page 28
Vitani kicks some serious butt in this comic. Case in point, panel 2.

Page 29
Is it just some quirky coloring at work here, or does that Outlander extra in the last panel have pale ear rims?

Page 30

[Akril]

Page 31
Kovu certainly has more of a spine in this scene than he does in the movie. Unfortunately, the direction of Zira's swipe really shows how Kovu's getting a vertical cut from it doesn't make sense. (And there are some more Outsiders with those pale ear rims...)

Page 32
I'm amused at how oblivious Kovu is to all the animals glaring angrily at him as he merrily bounds back towards Pride Rock.

Page 33
Strangely, Nala seems to be angry at Kovu as well instead of being worried, as she was in the movie.

Page 34

Page 35

Page 36
Really cool additional scene here.

Page 37
Kiara's eye looks like Kovu's in that reflection. I'm not sure what to make of that (though the way this scene was rewritten makes is even more touching). I don't know what to make of Zazu's eyes in the last panel either.

Page 38
Both the Dutch and Polish versions had Simba calling the gorge "Antelope Canyon". I changed "canyon" to "gorge", since that word has been used before in the TLK universe. More dialogue from Kovu and Kiara here, too.

Page 39
I like how Simba shows such concern for Nala during this scene...it would be nice if there was more interaction between them in the comic, though. (and Vitani continues to kick butt.)

Page 40
Woah, that second panel could be interpreted in so many ways...And is it just me, or does the same Outsider appear in the fourth, sixth, and eighth panels? Heck, I think she even appears in the first panel of page 39.

[Akril]

Last set of comics, guys!

Page 41
Zira just keeps getting more and more evil in this comic. And say, check out the lioness with the one line in panel 5 -- a female Outsider with GREEN eyes? Cooool...

Page 42
That exchange between Zira and Kovu in the last row of panels...woah. That's pretty much all I can say. Just woah.

Page 43
Vitani gets a few extra lines here, but her sudden wisdom seems even more out of the blue than Kiara's. (Which might explain the "What the...?" look Kovu is giving her. And yes, that's Vitani speaking in panel 3. An ellipsis connects that word bubble to the on in the previous panel in the Dutch version.)

Page 44
Zira seems like she actually wants to be saved in this scene, and the way the scene plays out, it almost seems like Kiara couldn't save Zira because she got distracted by the dam breaking.

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Page 46

And that's all!

[theLioness]

Thank you so much for posting these! I really appreciate the effort you put in to translate the text. I also really enjoyed your comments since they made me look over each page a second or third time for those details

[TheDoctor]

Wow.

That was a very, very nice comic. I love the additional scenes and I think that just about all the alterations they have done to the script work out wonderfully (and they left out Upendi! Hallelujah xD). Simba and Nala also look more on model in this comic than in the film. I don't know whether to think that that is awesome or sad... xP

Thank you so much for translating and sharing it, Akril! =D

[Pixie]

AWESOME! Better than the film!

[Akril]

Thanks everyone! I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

There are spots in the comic where I think the translation could have turned out a bit better, but overall I'm pleased with the results.

[AdAstrα]

That's awesome! If only the movie would have been a little bit more like this!