GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES: The British Invasion of Classical Comics

[Ryan Goble]

This is normally something that stays in the Graphic Novel & Comics group but it so cool I wanted to cross post it in a few other places. If you want to stay up on graphic novels do consider joining that group.

I had the good fortune to meet MC POPPER & Managing Director of Classical Comics, Clive Bryant at the NCTE national conference . I was familiar with their work from a hipster comics store in the Village (NYC) when they were available only as British imports. I thought their books were beautiful and I had the sense that there was some intense thought behind their production.

I spent some time with their comics and got the full story on the company at NCTE -

Here are four things that set Classical Comics apart...

1.The artwork is a major evolution from the old school Illustrated Classics most of us are familiar with. The darker stories have the feel of brooding DC comics and they are loaded with brilliant coloring and printed on thick glossy paper. These are high end graphic novels.

2. They print 2-3 versions of each text (you could even say 4 or 5 versions if you count the American & English versions).

It goes something like this:

They also have "No-Text" versions where students can fill in the dialogue!!! This allows for a lot of differentiation for different levels of readers.

I picked up their original text version of Frankenstein so I could refresh myself on the novel. It was an incredibly mindful edit of Shelley's work and a great read!

3. In their educator section they make some of the comic artwork available for students to remix using ComicLife software - very cool!

4. They have free downloadable PDF study guides/excerpts from Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest available at - http://www.classicalcomics.com/education/freedownloads.html

If you teach any of these texts you've got to check these adaptations out...

Present titles include:
Henry V - William Shakespeare
Macbeth - William Shakespeare
The Tempest - William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

The following titles are "in production" - for info see http://www.classicalcomics.com/titles.html
The Centerville Ghost - Oscar Wilde
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Sweeney Todd - (Anonymous)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
Richard III - William Shakespeare
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestly

I hope Clive shamelessly plugs new publications here at MC POP and keeps us in the loop as new titles come out here in the US!

Check out the Classical Comics website if you get a chance - http://www.classicalcomics.com/index.html
and contact Clive if you have any questions - I'm sure he'd be excited to Ning chat with teachers!