Graphic Shakespeare

by Various, Michael Ford (Retelling), Stephen Haynes (Retelling)

Including Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Graphic Shakespeare is a collection of illustrated Shakespeare classics retold as exciting and fast-paced graphic novels for young readers, a format which is particularly popular with reluctant readers. Straightforward narratives in modern English accompany key excerpts from Shakespeare's original dialogue, and difficult words and phrases are explained as they occur. A running glossary at the foot of each page helps young readers with any challenging vocabulary without disrupting their reading experience. Specially commissioned, full-colour, dramatic artwork faithfully respresents set-pieces from the plays, and brings excitement and atmosphere to the tales. Speech bubbles work with the main text to emphasise and enhance the retelling.

Genres: Classics, Graphic Novels, Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Well of Lost Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read Hamlet and Macbeth from this collection, but that was more than enough to know this adaptation wasn’t for me. The panel work was confusing to the point of distraction—characters looked so similar that I often couldn’t tell who was who unless I relied solely on the dialogue. Hamlet and Horatio blended together visually, and in Macbeth the various Thanes became a sea of interchangeable faces. Add to that speech bubbles scattered without clear flow, and reading became an exercise in visual guesswork rather than immersion.
What really broke the rhythm, though, was the explanatory text beneath the images. Instead of enhancing understanding, it felt like constant mansplaining—pulling me out of the scene just as I was trying to engage with it. The result was a disjointed, stop-start experience that made both plays feel tedious rather than electric.

Graphic Shakespeare? Not for me. 🎭📚

[Corey Wozniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the MacBeth adaptation. The art is ~not special~ (nothing like Ian Pollock’s very cool _King Lear_ illustrated adaptation, which I’m also currently reading), but the footnotes are helpful, and some of the original language is is retained even while its length is significantly abridged.

I’ll be teaching this to my seniors mostly because the 40-ish pages is much easier to manage in a short, holiday-interrupted quarter than the full, unabridged text of Pollock’s more artful _Lear_. It will do!

[Chelsea Rapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but at times it was a little hard to read at times. The panels could be a little bit of a confusing time. The art style was good and I enjoyed reading some of my favorite Shakespeare plays. Out of the plays I've read four of them in high school. Hamlet is the only play I don't think I've read before, but I know the plot. One of my favorite plays is Midsummer, but I think I liked the Romeo and Juliet version the best in this.

MVPs: Hamlet, The Witches, Friar Lawrence, Puck, Brutus

[Manna_Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun beginning for introducing Shakespeare plays. We each choose characters and have fun reading each character’s part in a different voice. Each graphic story includes enough details to catch the gist of the story and includes the well-known lines, usually with a line or two of modern interpretation beneath the panel.

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good intro to Shakespeare for kids; I really like the different illustration styles for each story

[Prasad GR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been consuming Shakespeare in different forms lately and this is definitely among the best. With great pictures peppered with iconic lines from the plays, this gets as close to the real thing as possible by helping one visualise the play. And as proof of its greatness, it inspires one to read the real plays too. Plus it is a great way to get kids started.

[Feebag]

I enjoyed this alot, it was my beginners entry to the work of Shakespeare, because I struggled to read and understand his plays so this is a good taste of them. my favourite is hamlet.
the footnote has explanations for difficult words which is helpful.