Manga Classics: Hamlet

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon” His vast body of work includes collaborations, plays, sonnets, and poetry. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Crystal S. Chan is an award-winning author and television screen play writer. She holds a degree in language and literature. Crystal is a huge fan of authors such as Jane Austen and she is equally passionate about Sailor Moon. Her passion for classic literature combined with her love of the comics medium allows her to strike a solid balance between preserving the depth of the original content while adapting the language for a younger generation. Julien Choy has been working in the comic, animation and video game industries for more two decades. His works include the comic version of SNK’s The King of Fighters, and Capcom’s Street Fighter in Asia. Julien is a multi-talented creator who has mastered a wide range of art styles. While he is widely known for his main-stream work, his passion lies with themes of inspiration, parenting, and the environment. He tried makes a special effort to share his positive attitudes with his readers.

KIRKUS -- One of Shakespeare's more tragic plays isthe subject of a graphic adaptation. As with the rest of the Manga Classicsseries, Chan has here kept the full script of Hamlet intact and, incollaboration with illustrator Choy, made this piece come alive. For readers whocannot make it to the theater to see Hamlet performed and for those who struggleto read the original, in particular, this is an accessible and appealingalternative. The visuals offer insights into the play, for example in the waythat a character's duplicity is shown with two versions of their face, each withdifferent expressions, making concrete what is being discussed in the dialogue.Subtle visual clues such as the wearing (or not) of shoes encourage readers tospeculate as to Hamlet's and Ophelia's sanity. In bringing to the page Hamlet'sfamous "To be or not to be" monologue, Chan's background research informs Choy'sblack-and-white line drawings, which show the variety of emotions and layers ofmeaning expressed. Backmatter includes a character design sketchbook and notesfrom the adapter and illustrator that take readers behind the scenes of thisgraphic-novel version. The manga-style art will appeal to teen readers familiarwith that genre. All characters read as white.Does justice to a theatricalclassic.