The Tempest from Classical Comics

I have spoken before about my passion for graphic novels and how I think they are so engaging for encouraging literacy and creativity within young people. There are lots of types of graphic novels that are available for teachers and Learning and Teaching Scotland has published a great graphic novels resource for professionals who might be interested in this subject.

For schools wanting to get into graphic novels you can’t beat the work from Classical Comics. I've written about their Macbeth and Henry V work before and also how it is available electronically for you to use with your class or even add your own speech bubbles!

Anyway, Classical Comics have also just recently released The Tempest as a graphic novel. It is written by William Shakespeare, scripted by John McDonald, penciled by Jon Haward and inked by Gary Erskine. 

As before with all the Classical Comics releases there are three editions:

1. Original text version: Ideal for purists, students and readers who will appreciate the unaltered text.

2. Plain text: The full text made more accessible by the translation into modern English.

3. Quick text: The full play in comic book form, translated into modern English and with less dialogue for a faster paced read.

There are PDFs  available on the Classical Comics website that explain all three available formats in more detail.

According to Gary Erskine’s blog, 'there are more books planned and the future brings other classic authors to the graphic novel treatment soon'. Great Stuff - I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Comments

[MrsW]

I just asked my elder manga-head what she thought of Manga Shakespeare (we gave her Romeo & Juliet for a starter), and how it compared to straight text Shakespeare.... she said she's never read straight text Shakespeare. She's in S3. Obviously the sky is falling in :))

[David Muir]

Can I put in a plug for Asterix (who will be 50 years old in a few days time) who taught me everything I know about puns. :-)

[Jonathan Wylie]

Just came across this the other day...

http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic

...another one to add to the list?

[OllieBray]

@Mrs W - I though all schools taught Shakespeare? I must be out of touch. I guess also that CfE will mean that this is no longer compulsory?

@David – Wow I didn’t know that Asterisks was going to be 50 this year, that’s great!

@Johnathon – Great site here Jonathon, had not come across or seen that before. Lots of great potential for a superhero unit!