A Midsummer Night's Dream: The Graphic Novel

by John F. McDonald (Adapter), William Shakespeare, Clive Bryant (Editor)

This is the entire, unabridged play brought to life as a vivid and engaging full-color graphic novel.

With its mix of real people who stumble into a fairy kingdom (with its own problems!) it is little wonder that this play is one of the best loved and most performed of all Shakespeare's masterpieces - and a firm favorite for outdoor theater on a warm summer's evening.

Designed to encourage readers to enjoy classical literature, titles in the Classical Comics range stay true to the original vision of the authors.

To support the use of this title in the classroom, photocopiable teachers resources are available that offer lesson plans and activities from 6th grade and ISBN 978-1-907127-75-5



Hermia is in love with Lysander but her father forbids them to marry, insisting that she marries Demetrius instead, whom Hermia’s friend Helena loves. Hermia and Lysander escape to the woods, pursued by Demetrius and Helena. However there is trouble in the woods because the king and queen of the fairies, Oberon and Titania, have quarrelled. To spite Titania, Oberon instructs the mischievous Puck to squeeze the juice of a magic flower into her eyes while she sleeps, so that she falls in love with the first thing she sees when she wakes. He also instructs Puck to apply the same magic to Demetrius so that he will fall in love with Helena. However, Puck gets it all wrong...

Genres: Graphic Novels, Classics, Fantasy, School, Comics, Shakespeare, Young Adult

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

I'm a professional writer. I've had 3 novels published, with another due out in September 2009 and two more being written. I've written 2 screenplays - one of which won the IndieProducer Screenwriter Award in Los Angeles in 2009. I've also 'ghosted' books for media celebs, politicians and business-people. I've scripted award-winning TV drama and graphic novels and I've written stage plays which have been performed in London and Paris.

Reviews

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember loving the original play when I read it in school but for some reason, this adaptation didn't work for me. Perhaps my tastes have changed or the mood isn't right or the book simply missed the mark. Striking illustrations though! I skimmed the text but loved the visual feast.

[Ruthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I liked the graphic novel more than I liked just reading the play. Why? Well for one, this graphic novel has some AMAZING illustrations, and it was much easier to understand what was going on with visual queues. I highly recommend this approach for anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with the play, but are feeling overwhelmed.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent adaptation, but I felt that it left something to be desired. The art was beautiful, and made it easier to understand, however there was something that I cannot put my finger in that just was not "right", if you know what I mean.

However, this partictular one of Shakespeare's plays is not in my top few that he ever wrote, so I may be biased.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations for this edition are just gorgeous! I would give the book itself 4 stars, but the text 3.5 stars.

That feels blasphemous but I am completely uneducated on Shakespeare (I do remember AMND being discussed in English class in school but I remember very little) and so I think I need to read plain text versions of Shakespeare lmao. I did love the magical and supernatural themes to this though, a Fairy Queen & King? The little trickster puck, and people acting under spells, and physical transformations? Very fun!

But I could only just follow what was going on but that was 100% because of the amazing illustrations. But at the end of the play (within the play) there is an image of all the actors playing music, and at that exact moment I heard an ice-cream van melody outside so that was pretty magical. Magical is exactly the word for the illustrations of this edition too!

[Nori Fitchett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I much enjoyed this adaptation as someone with an obsession with Midsummer Night’s Dream.
My only nitpick is that the face can sometimes be unnerving and I’m not overly fond of Oberon’s design 😅

[Morgan Epstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome illustrations that depicted Oberon and his fairies as more evil than one might take away from Shakespeare’s original descriptions. Might use some pages to pair with the play for my students!

[Fiza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't like to read Romantic books such as Romeo and Juliet but this book is so funny and less romance I enjoy it very much.

My favourite character of this book is Puck. I feel like he is the one who was keeping in touch with the reader and make the reader laugh.This book is my favourite book of Shakespeare!

[Isabelle Boutin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Déception. J'ai trouvé que bien que les dessins étaient très beaux, ils diminuaient la portée de l'histoire et caricaturaient le drame. Je crois que j'aurais été plus satisfaite en lisant la version originale.

[tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read plain text, not original text. Thought it was a great rendition and would be an awesome teaching tool.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the graphic novel. I am going to see the play at the globe theater in London, and now I will have a better understanding of it ...a great way to understand a Shakespearean play...

[Emelie Johansson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this as much as I did the original story. I think it was because the images made the story even more confusing to me. I do believe that some people would really enjoy this though.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the ridiculousness of Midsummer, but this graphic novel was not my favorite. So many of the characters look too much alike, and although this is the original Shakespearean text, a lot has been cut out. It's good for a stand-alone independent read, but Shakespeare is amazing because it's meant to be read and performed. The structure of this causes the reader to lose sense of the language and form. It's helpful for my students because as 8th graders, the pictures help them understand what's going on, but I wasn't that impressed.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd experience. Illustrations sometimes great. Then suddenly, for example, the lovely Hermia turned unattractive and unrecognizable three pages in. Yea, I get that fairy dust changes appearances, but later in play. Seemed like there were too many visual distractions. Then all the "GRAARR" and "RRRRIP" and "clapclapclap" stuff from 1960's TV Batman. It took me a week to slog through this: "ZZZZZZZZZZ" and "ZZZZZZZZZZ" page 46. Then, p. 47, "ZZZZZZZ" five times plus one "SQUEEEZE" . So I read the play in one day (from The Complete Shakespeare) and enjoyed it more.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic. Translated to plain English, this is the perfect choice for English classrooms everywhere. No more toiling through the King’s English, students will be sure to appreciate the modern interpretation. The art is beautiful and engaging and gives life to the script.

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few things that do not quite work in this adaptation of Shakespeare's play but other things that work better than most graphic novel adaptations of Shakespeare. On balance, it is one of the best.

[Javen Rahemtulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shakespeare play was humorous and very enjoyable. (I especially love Bottom's stupidity), The graphic novel is well drawn and helps portray the story better than words alone.
Great book, I highly recommend it!

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was really good! i cant wait to read the original!

[Kotori · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was fun, but since I am not familiar with Shakespeare, I didn't get some words.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun graphic interpretation of Shakespeare's play. Each act is beautifully illustrated and the feel of the play comes out, even with the rhymes and lyric flow of the text.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for a young friend and read it first myself while listening to an audio version. I think it's a great way to experience Shakespeare, if you can't go to a play.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is good. The illustrations are awesome.

[Johnrobert Cochran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was one of Shakespeare's most entertaining plays. The pictures also helped me understand it better.

[Ertan Beşkardeş]

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[Megan Crusante · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with the 7th graders I’m tutoring. Low rating because I don’t like graphic novels but this is actually my favorite Shakespeare!

[Anna Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun version with some great, comprehensive history at the end!

[Ali Mojtahedzadeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi Dear Friends

My name is Ali and I really enjoyed reading this masterpiece (A midsummer night's dream, graphic book), so I started translating this book in to Persian (My Native Language).
But suddenly I ruined pages 127 and 128 by a horrible accident. So, could anyone send me snapshots of those pages? Any small picture from which I could read the lines, would do, and be appreciated a world.
I live in Iran (as you might've noticed) and due to political issues and sanctions I'm unable to provide another copy easily.

Thanks' a lot and desperately waiting
Ali.M
alimojtahedzadeh@hotmail.com

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations. They were very creative and captivating, the colors and design drawing the eye into the picture. So much to see! I just saw this play last summer, so the story was fresh in my mind, and the graphic novel stayed true to the story from what I remember. I would definitely recommend this graphic novel to reluctant Shakespeare readers. Personally, I think Shakespeare should be performed, not read... but if you can't see a performance, this is the next best thing!

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great idea! I wish this had been around when I was in high school. I'm going to use this to introduce my 7 year old daughter to Shakespeare. We're going to see the play this weekend.

Be aware this is an adapted text. The words of Shakespeare aren't here, just the story.

[Susannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great version for middle school students to understand the story. However, the language of Shakespeare is obviously lost and so is the drama format. But a good starter, especially for young readers.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was okay. Demetrius looked super creepy though.