GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES: The British Invasion of Classical Comics

[Ryan Goble]

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!

[Katie Wisnosky]

Ryan, Great plug. I will be purchasing class sets of Macbeth and Frankenstein after the holidays. My kids will love these comic books. I will have to contact Clive directly and see if he will Skype in or have an online discussion with my students.

[Ryan Goble]

I'm sure Clive or some of the artists they work with would be game! How cool would that be??? If you do that make sure you do a blog post or something so we can all share in your awesome(ness). Jo Wheeler from the company also joined so you might contact them both!


Ry:)

[Peter Gutierrez]

I had a good talk with Clive at NCTE, too, and I agree with your assessment of these books as high-end graphic novels. In fact, I'm recommending Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest as two top '09 titles in an upcoming blog for SLJ on good comics for schools.

[Ryan Goble]

PG - when you do the blog - please share an exerpt here and link out to the full blog at SLJ!!! Share your work!!

Happy Holidays!

[Jeannean Berglund]

I have used the Macbeth full text version with both regular juniors and my AP students. Some students, even the high-er performing ones, need the visual element. I was concerned that the economy might be affecting business but it sounds like they are doing well. I hope they are around for a long time.

Jeannean

[Ryan Goble]

Yeah, nothing is more frustrating than when teachers assume "high level students" don't need "cute comics" - uh. Glad to hear more AP teachers aren't afraid of comics :)

[Jeannean Berglund]

Afraid!?!? HA! They all know I'm a Batman/Star Wars comic-book collecting geek:)

I had my AP Lang (different class) students read Maus after reading Elie Wiesel's Night. We also did a visual analysis unit using Maus and other graphic novels. Because of the new visual literacy requirement on the AP test and other state tests, graphic novels are seen as a legitimate reading experience by teachers and administrators. One of my fellow teachers is going to get a set of Pride of Baghdad for her 9th grade honors section. She also did her master's thesis on the use of graphic novels in the classroom. I know of many AP teachers who use Maus and also Persepolis. When I was looking for materials for Maus, I found a lot of college-level resources as well.

Jeannean

[Ryan Goble]

Just keep sharing all those great resources with everyone here :)

Happy New Year!

Ryan:)

[Jo Wheeler]

It's great that the graphic novel format is being embraced in US teaching methods as well as here in the UK.
As well as graphic novels, we also produce teaching resource packs for each book which are written by teachers for teachers. Each pack provides exercises that cover structure, listening, understanding, motivation and character as well as key words, themes and literary techniques. The teaching resource packs are 100+ page books (covered spiral-bound) with photocopiable pages and include an electronic version of the teaching resource on CD for whiteboards, laptops or direct digital printing.
You can flick through Classical Comics current US titles brochure here: http://bit.ly/5KWUlc
(and the teaching resource packs are on page 19 of the brochure.)
Jo

[Ryan Goble]

Jo, you might copy and paste this post into the "comment wall" in this group. That way everyone will get an e-mail about your note - I'm sure people would love to know about the teacher resources in the group!

Great you added it here for those who read this at a later date!!!

Thanks for contributing!!

Happy New Year!

Ryan:)