Graphic Novels Open Access to ‘The Bard.’

Am I showing my age when I admit that I got my first taste for many of the greatest works of literature in the 1960s courtesy of Classics Illustrated comic books?

My taste was whetted for many great books and plays, via the same medium as I caught the latest adventure of Spiderman or X-Men.

Many a comic was surreptitiously hidden under a school desk – occasionally seen by a teacher, confiscated, then ritually torn in half, and deposited scornfully in the bin. One particularly crusty old teacher dismissed them as a ‘travesty’ of great literature.

How times have changed. Now graphic novels, the glossy successor to those newsprint treasures of my misspent youth, have been transformed into teaching aids, opening even ‘The Bard,’ to a wide variety of students in a range of original text, plain text and quick text.

I’ve checked out the various editions of the Graphic Novel of Romeo and Juliet, where the only difference between the different versions is the text in the bubbles. Remembering my own early sorties into Shakespeare, and my constant to-and-fro between text and glossary, these publications just make it all so much easier.  Henry V, Macbeth and Tempest have received similar multi-version graphic novel treatments. There are comprehensive teaching resource packs available with each title.

Neil Litchfield

For further details, visit Book & Volume at http://www.bookandvolume.com.au