King Lear: A Graphic Novel (Shakespeare Classics Graphic Novels)

These books, including this one, are great for kids who don’t like to read the original. My granddaughter loves them.

I'm so glad my professor assigned this, it helped me understand the play better and introduced me to graphic novels.

My son loved this graphic version of King Lear, and was lucky to have it signed by the author, who visited his school! I highly recommend all of Gareth Hinds graphic novels.

What a great job communicating this masterpiece.

Excellent introduction for middle school or reluctant high school students.

King Lear, derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre- Roman Celtic king, was one of William Shakespeare most famous tragedies. This dismal story is about a king who descends into madness when his life transforms from good to bad fortune due to his own misjudgment and we largely see how betrayal and revenge ensue throughout the kingdom. The story begins with King Lear deciding to divide up his realm amongst his three daughters. His two oldest daughters Goneril and Regan flatter him and are given their portion while the youngest daughter Cordelia does not resort to conniving and is disinherited and her portion split amongst the other two. To make a lengthy play much briefer I'll only hint at some of the scenes. After the defeat of the invading French army, Cordelia and Lear are taken, prisoner, meanwhile, sister's Regan and Goneril act in a cruel and capricious manner and eventually, they tussle over the evil Edmund. In a rage, the Duke of Albany ( Goneril's husband) demands that Edmund and Goneril be arrested for treason. Before Edmund is arrested, Edgar shows up and stabs his evil brother, and Goneril poisons Regan prior to committing suicide. Edgar reveals his identity to Gloucester who dies shortly thereafter. Albany and a dying Edmund try to prevent Lear and Cordelia being hanged but are too late for Cordelia. After Cordelia's death, a visibly shaken Lear carries her corpse in his arms. If you are familiar with Shakespeare plays you will know that he uses figurative language and metaphoric reflections. The storm on the heath is a reflection of King Lear's state of mind and also the kingdoms downward spiral of wickedness and despair. I truly appreciate that Hinds creates his imagery for this classic using a medium of technical pen and watercolor as it helps fuse a sense of anarchy. The ink and watercolor appear to be applied initially with lighter value and much of the heavy dialog is intact and included in a myriad of speech balloons. Additional washes are added to show an intensification of color or to strengthen shadows with loose marks. I thought the page where waterdrops are staining the cheeks clever as the speech balloon cascades down and across the page much like a waterfall or tear would. And I found the mixture of lead gray to vibrant red easing into a heavenly blue, tarnishing to a page where we see the wash of dull gray to be crafty. These colors emerge and contribute to our sensing Lear's state of disorder. His anger and torment at the turmoil of what transpired is clearly visible and eventually, we see his acceptance of grief. We know that the deep sorrow of what Lear ensued overwhelmed him for so long - he eventually dies and the kingdom is left to the Duke of Albany and Edgar to preside over.

King Lear is a tale about a king who is slowly descending into madness. The King decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, but instead of splitting the kingdom equally, Lear uses a more unique way. Lear tells his daughters whoever loves him the most will get the largest part of the kingdom. Goneril and Regan both tell their father that they love him more than anything in the world, while Cordelia answers the question honestly, enraging her father. The stage is now set for the schemes and plotting for old King Lear's throne. Shakespeare's plays are hard to read as normal plays. Reading King Lear in graphic novel format was much easier. Even though some of the speeches were shortened in the novel, it still had the Shakespearen feel. The artwork in King Lear is rather stunning. It shows the setting and reflects King Lear's state of mind. It is also easy to identify characters by the colors given to them in their clothing. I feel that reading King Lear is much easier to read in this format than reading it from a book. Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer Flamingnet Book Reviews Teen books reviewed by teen reviewers

For those reading graphic novels to get familiar with the plays, this one is not great. If you already know Lear, it might be enjoyable. But too much of Shakespeare’s original language is used. It’s just confusing what is going on. Also characters are not clearly introduced. No Fear Shakespeare graphic novels do a much better job of communicating who’s who, the important themes and the drama, while still retaining a taste of the original language.

Quickly despatched. Packed economically yet carefully. Delivered on time. Lovely quality book

Muy bien

Excellent

I love the pictures in this series of books

Wonderful illustration and makes this complex play easier to interpret, I'd highly recommend for anyone with an interest in the play or in illustration.