Review. From the age of 10 until around 14 I read American comics possibly more than any other reading material.. I immersed myself in the world of Stan Lee and Marvel comics. I was an aficionado, closely studying the credits on every comic. I knew that any comic with artwork by Steve Ditko or Jack Kirby was a must buy, but I also appreciated the skill of the inkers and letterers in making the art vibrant and the words legible without interfering with the action and adding meaning to the text. It went without saying that if the scriptwriter was Stan Lee the comic was worth reading.

I thus came to the graphic novel of Macbeth with probably twice as much experience of graphic storytelling than I had of Shakespeare! Thus I will start my review by looking at the books as comics. As graphic novels they succeed on every level. The artwork is stunning; characters are well defined, settings drawn effectively and evocatively and the use of framing excellent. The inking is, if anything, the high point of the presentation; adding depth and texture to every panel. The scenes depicting the witches on the blasted heath are particularly good ( They would make great posters – I can see them on teenager bedroom walls!) Every aspect of the production of these texts shouts quality. The paper and the binding as well as the care and attention given to the illustrations If I was still an adolescent boy and found a copy in the school library I would jump on it!

The original selling point of all of this is, though, that this is a way of getting to grips with Shakespeare ( and other canonical texts which are being produced in the same way, for example ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Great Expectations’). Classical Comics have therefore produced three versions of ‘Macbeth’. The first with the full, original text, the second (plain text’) where the original text is ‘translated’ into modern English, verse for verse, and third (‘quick text’) where the dialogue is reduced to as few words as possible, but still attempting to retain the full essence of the story. The graphic novel approach works wonderfully well. Just as Shakespeare comes alive on stage, so it does here. Shakespeare’s words, stunning though they are, are not always easily understood ( at least, not by me). Thus the way characters are shown acting and reacting is incredibly helpful in working out what is happening. The ‘original text’ version would be immensely valuable in school contexts purely for this reason alone.

If anything shows Shakespeare’s mastery of words it is comparing the original text with the plain text version. .’ Boundless intemperance in nature is a tyranny’ becomes ‘’A lack of self discipline becomes a bad fault.’ However as I read the original text I found myself saying ‘what on earth does that mean?’ and then referring to the plain text, which was very useful. I approached the ‘quick text’ version with even more scepticism. ‘ Men must not walk too late who cannot want the thought. How monstrous it was for Malcolm and for Donalbain to kill their gracious father? Damned fact!’ becomes ‘I can’t believe Malcolm and Donaldbain murdered their own father. ‘And yet it works. Macbeth is a rattling good story and this is a way orfreading it quickly, not getting entangled in the words and getting a feel for the overall story, characters, setting as well as engaging with the basic themes. Pupils can then go back and work on the words themselves. I didn’t think that the quick text always reflected the meaning of the speeches in the original text, but, on reflection, comparing the two would help to reveal meanings and develop appreciation for Shakespeare’s unique ways with words.

So this overall package works very well. As a teacher I would probably get multiple copies of the original text , the odd copy of the plain text and a few copies of the quick text for use in my classroom. I would also have both the original text and the quick text in the school library where both would, I’m sure be extremely popular.

Talking of teaching brings me to the study guide. This is full of useful background information and practical activities for the KS2 and KS3 classroom. However, like many of this type of book, it would be enhanced by showing how a teacher might plan over a 3 or 6 week period, moving from a literal understanding of the action to a deeper appreciation of the characters and themes, for example. Overall, an excellent addition to the English teacher’s resource repertoire and the graphic novel tradition. I’m looking forward to reading ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Hamlet’ in the same manner!

• Original text version ISBN 978 1 906332037
• Plain text version ISBN 978 1 906332044
• Quick Text version ISBN 978 1 906332 05 1 Adapted by John Macdonald.
• Macbeth Study Guide by Karen Wenborn ISBN 190633210x

2008-04-20