ComicBitsOnline.com

On their web site [www.classicalcomics.com],the team behind the company write:

“Think about it for a second. Wouldn’t it have been great to study English Literature with gripping visual renditions of the stories running alongside the original text? Wouldn’t Shakespeare have been so much more accessible if there was an illustration with the text - or better still, pictures with a plain English version - such that they were actually fun to read? How much of a benefit would it have been when going through GCSE’s to already know the stories because you’d tackled them in a simpler form years ago?”

But how to go about this?  I mean,thinking about it,the only contact I’ve had with Shakespeare’s works since 1973 was trying to read through “The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare” circa 1989 and that almost killed my brain.  I’ll even admit that I preferred Vincent Price as the Ham Shakespearean killer actor in the film Theatre Of Blood spouting out the Bard’s words.

Shakespeare in a comic,though?  Does he become the new X-Man?

Joking aside,how can you convert Shakespeare into comic form?  Three versions is how.  “THREE versions?!” were my exact words when I saw the pre-publishing material at the May Bristol Comic Expo.  How does that work?

1. Original Text - the full script

2. Plain Text - a plain English version of the full script

3. Quick Text - with shortened dialogue for young readers and for those people who want to understand the story rapidly.

Still wondering how that works? Ahhh:Visual aid!

Below:ORIGINAL TEXT

Below:PLAIN TEXT

Below:QUICK TEXT
 

It really could not be any simpler.  Even educationalists point to the fact that literacy levels have dropped amongst school age kids.  A local TV programme earlier today featured a youngster with reading difficulties.  The teacher told the reporter:”I tell mum to buy the child a comic. It really does encourage literacy”.

I’ve been saying this for years and it’s something the Japanese as a society have understood for decades.

I think that it is very important that we get youngsters to read comics in the UK -they are our potential future market.  There is another benefit;I’ve known non-English speakers or people with basic English who say they’ve always wanted to read Shakespeare but could not understand it -go for Quick Text then try Plain.

But all this is good enough -what about the books?

above:cover for the ORIGINAL text version of HENRY V

Above:cover for the PLAIN text version

Above:Cover for the QUICK text version.

The books are full colour,144pp,paperbacks of US comic book size.  They will retail at £9.99 each and Henry V will be available from 5th November.

Script Adaption is by John McDonald,to whom I show complete and utter respect for what he has done -he desrves an award!

Pencils are by Neill Cameron while the inks are by British stalwart Bambos.  Three sample pages of the black and white work are shown below. 

Technically,he says putting on his military historian hat,these cannot be faulted.  They are superb in detail and accurate which means either Neill Cameron is a secret Osprey Books artist or does great and detailed research.

Bambos’ inking..sweet.

Colouring work is by Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson.  Again,vibrant and faultless and I’ve gone over these pages a few times believe me!

But Nige Dobbyn deserves an award for his job:lettering.  I hope his eye sight never gets as bad as mine!  Again,quality work.

If the quality of the books is even half as good as for the 16pp Preview editions then these will need to be treasured.

With Cinebook I thought we had seen the best quality we ever would on books in the UK but Classical Comics are just as good.

There are other treats coming:Frankenstein,Jane Eyre and Great Expectations -all boasting top creative teams.  As with Cinebooks,I think Classical Comics could be ushering in a new age of British comics.

Buy!