PRESS RELEASE ARCHIVE
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WHAT THE PRESS ARE SAYING ABOUT
MANGA SHAKESPEARE
"The Manga Shakespeare series flies off the library shelves"
- The Bookseller (May 2009) Read More
"one of those rare examples of an adaptation really getting it spot on... Klimowski and Schejbal succeed in bringing the real horror and tension of the original onto the page."
- Richard Bruton, The Forbidden Planet International Blog (May 2009)
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"Adding televisions and pop-cultural references to the scenery adds a new angle to the piece ... a resounding success"
- 4 stars Grovel.com, (February 2009)
"One stone-cold gem... creepy, elaborate and beautiful. [It] owes as much to the dark-hued surrealism of Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay as it does to Orson Welles's influential vision of Kafka."
- The Independent, 'Best Graphic Novels of 2008' feature (December 2008)
"What truly shines in this work... is the superlative visualization by newcomer Mustashrik. Working in stark white and inky black, he has created a spare but intense landscape that mirrors the emotions of the characters, and combines a sense of dreamlike isolation with a minimal backdrop that suggests a stage on which the drama is normally enacted. Using shadow, he has managed to make the assassination simultaneously graphic yet subtle, and by alternating tight focus and long shots, and using a thick brush to exemplify expressions, he has fittingly crafted a visual tour de force of Mark Anthony’s speech. Especially for the more artistically minded, this is a raw, striking, and powerful introduction to Shakespeare."
- Booklist Magazine, published by the American Library Association.
"If I have my way comics will play their part in the literacy debate. My son has no interest in English at school, but has devoured three Manga Shakespeare graphic novels, plus the graphic novel of Kafka's The Trial."
- Ian Rankin (quoted in The Bookseller)
"Perhaps this is the perfect way to reinvigorate Shakespeare for a new generation."
- The List (August 2008)
"the Manga Shakespeare series... is abridged, but this should not be seen as problematic, given the exceptional support the series offers readers in understanding the narratives and language of the plays. Varied angles, pacing and page layout create a great deal of interest and support and direct the reader"
- Dr Mel Gibson, National Teaching Fellow and visual literacy expert
(August 2008)
"If you think you know Shakespeare, you must check this out and think again. If you want to know Shakespeare, you should check this out because it will give you a different way into the canon of English Literature. And if you need to know Shakespeare for the test on Monday, this seems like a much better way than CliffsNotes to get a unique understanding of the story."
- The judges of The Cybills, The Children's and Young Adult bloggers literary awards (August 2008)
"Shakespeare expert Dr Andrew Murphy gave his support to the 21st century revamp of Macbeth. The St Andrews University academic... said "The Manga Macbeth retains a reasonable chunk of the original text while simplifying the story... I certainly don't think it demeans the text in any way. It's an interesting project and certainly won't stop people from reading the original text. In fact, it might actually turn people on to it."
- Dr Andrew Murphy in Scotland on Sunday (May 2008)
"SelfMadeHero... with the support of the British Council is making inroads into classrooms around the world."
- Publishing News (April 2008)
"A marriage of true minds: manga, the Japanese form of comics, and Shakespeare, the English bard. After all, both frequently feature love-struck girls and brooding heroes, then there are all the fight scenes."
- The Sunday Times, Singapore (April 2008)
"SHAKESPEARE MADE SEXY... nearly 400 years on, the Bard’s magic is as strong as ever... immensely popular"
- The Times of India (February 2008)
"The Swan of Avon meets Godzilla in this graphic re-working of the tale for the 21st century. Gothic, dynamic and imaginitive, it's a beautifully-illustrated abridged version of Shakespeare's malcontent hunchback."
- Mariella Frostrup, The Book Show, SkyArts (November 2007)
“Critically-acclaimed”
- The Times (August 2007)
“These artists demonstrate how vividly manga techniques and pacing can convey motion and emotion... the appetite for manga culture in this country shows no signs of abating... a Japanese export has become the future of comics.”
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The Times (October 2007)
“This 'manga Shakespeare' hybrid is unlikely – but makes absolute sense. The Japanese comic, or manga, is a in another way, it highly visual medium... as SelfMadeHero has discovered, it shares similarities with Shakespeare's theatre, relying heavily on recurring image and highly expressive gestures.”
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The Observer (October 2007)
“Comic book Shakespeare is not dumbing down but will help breathe new life into his great classics”
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Sunday Express (September 2007)
“the narratives crackle with energy and tease new insights from the silences behind the words... an exciting new way of bringing Shakespeare vividly alive”
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Globe Quarterly (Autumn 2007)
“Last March SelfMadeHero brought out a line of Shakespeare manga to wide acclaim”
- New York Times (September 2007)
“suddenly Will doesn’t seem so daunting anymore”
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The New York Post (July 2007)
“The manga versions are... visually appealing, intelligently adapted, and demonstrate that Shakespeare is a writer for every age. A cartoon version of Shakespeare is in some ways truer to the original than reading the text alone; the visual element was always supposed to be part of the experience.”
- Financial Times (March)
“This new series does in book form what film director Baz Luhrmann did on screen – make Shakespeare cool and accessible to a younger generation... Just as Leonardo DiCaprio made Shakespeare sound like urban American dialect, so it seems entirely plausible that Japanese mobsters should shout ‘Have at thee coward!’ before launching into a street fight... [the] artists use the dynamic flow of manga to give Shakespeare’s plots an addictive page turning energy.”
- Independent on Sunday (March)
“Let’s face it, reading the Bard’s stuff can be a tough slog for kids but put it in a comic book, and suddenly Will doesn’t seem so daunting... As far as the texts go, Manga Shakespeare seems like an excellent starting point or first-time Bard readers of any age.”
- New York Post (July)
“Manga’s edgy cool is the perfect companion to Shakespeare’s grand themes. You get graphic visions of the greatest words ever written, so the plays open up to you: after that, the full text is much more accessible. Shakespeare’s words may be intimidating at first, but what those words mean remains true to this day – these sharply drawn, intelligent versions will show you why. Glorious”
- Etc magazine (Autumn)
“From Italian operas to children’s picture books and hit feature films, over the centuries Shakespeare’s plays have appeared in all kinds of different guises. Now Shakespeare is being radically reinvented once again: this time, as manga. “To many British teens, manga, with its crazy hairstyles, vivid emotions and complicated storylines, seems exotic and different: a world away from the compulsory study of Shakespeare in school English lessons.”
- Jiji Press (March)
“Sonia Leong’s illustrations are striking and engaging, giving the transplanted story and immediacy and urgency words are respected, and so too is the original.”
- Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
“In many ways... manga and Shakespearean tragedy are perfectly suited. The Japanese form makes explicit some of the Bard’s abiding concerns: passionate love leads to violence, men defend their honour, families are defied and social mores corrupted...”
- Financial Times (March)
Read More
(August 2008)
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