Macbeth (No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels)

“But crimes such as these always have punishments in this world, in that our violence simply teaches bloody lessons to others…and then those students return to plague their teachers.”(no page numbers)

Shakespeare’s timeless and bloody tragedy, Macbeth, is featured in this manga-style graphic novel. Elizabethan English is substituted for a more accessible modern day translation in this story of the treacherous and ambitious Macbeth and his rise to power in medieval Scotland. In staying quite true to the original play, he will do almost anything to gain and maintain his power…however fleeting and terrorizing it may be. I always enjoy Shakespeare and I liked delving into this version. The story is told in modern English dialogue show more making it easy to follow. The illustrations are very character-centered, but I thought that the black-and-white diminished the impact of the story in that I didn’t find it as dynamic or frightening. It would be a great complementary piece to use in a high school English class as a way to help students further understand the story or to help struggling readers to connect with the power of the story without getting hung up on the language and conventions. No matter the platform, the Bard strikes gold again! show less

I actually really liked this book. I think because plays and graphic novels are both dialog heavy, they really mixed well. It just seemed to fit perfectly in a graphic novel form. The art is not half bad either (they have some of the best hair I have seen in graphic novels). I would say give it a try if you are curious. I will probably be reading more of the Shakespeare graphic novels.

Note: I did not read this book the way sparknotes are usually used. I read it for entertainment purposes only. Therefore, I am not entirely sure how helpful it would be for a class setting.

The illustrations are fairly atrocious, but the book is a good source of a modern English translation.

Hardcover: ISBN 10: 1725499720 ISBN13: 9781725499720