‘Between Stage and Page’

This study analyses how the comic book La vida es sueño (Life Is a Dream) by Ricardo Vílbor, Alberto Sanz and Mario Ceballos transposes the form and content of Calderón de la Barca's dramatic text La vida es sueño (1635–1636) into the multimodal discourse of the comic. Drawing on Irina Rajewsky's theory of ‘intermediality’ and the concept of mise en scène, introduced as an analytical tool for comics studies by Geraine D'Arcy, the findings present evidence that the design strategies of the adaptation are based on a convergence of the modalities of theatre and comic, and on the imitation of the poetic visuality and musicality of the original via the comic's media-specific means. The resulting comic offers a sophisticated but nonetheless highly accessible reading of the philosophical, political, religious and ethical discourse of the Spanish literary classic.