Shakespeare's Othello: A Graphic Novel

by Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore, Kevin Hopgood (illustrator)

Shakespeare's Othello like you've never seen it - or read it - before!

Classics in Othello has been adapted into a graphic novel by expert authors, Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow, with illustrations by Kevin Hopgood. Watch Iago's slimy plan play out like an irresistible thriller - as Othello's self-doubt turns to fury and becomes more and more consuming.

Classics in Graphics is a series of graphic novels for children aged 10 plus that has inclusion at its heart, flinging wide the doors of literature for everyone to enter and understand. Including dyslexia-friendly design on every page, and encouraging readers to relate to these iconic roles - casting spells, falling in love and winning duels. Each graphic novel includes pitch-perfect illustrations for presenting the tragic, the romantic, the comedic, the magical, as well
- snappy simplified text presenting Shakespeare's themes clearly
- introductory materials to help set the scene and context of each story
- heaps of extra material at the back to keep the learning and fun going, including an exploration of themes in the play, the language, Shakespeare's inspirations, the publication and performance of the play in history, a timeline of Shakespeare's life and works, and much more!

Plays available in the series Macbeth, The Tempest, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Twelfth Night

Praise for the Classics in Graphics "[...] an encouraging entry point to Shakespeare for my kids, and [...] an excellent job converting challenging language and literary themes to make it very inclusive, smoothing ease of understanding dialogue, plot, and narration without dumbing it down." - EricWilliamson, www.leagueofcomicgeeks.com

113 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2024

About the author

Steve Barlow (real name Steven Lowe) was born in Britain. He studied at Warwick University and Nottingham University, and worked at various times as a teacher, actor, stage manager and puppeteer. Then he went to teach in Botswana. On his return to the UK he met Steve Skidmore, collectively known as The Two Steves—are British collaborative writers who mostly work in the field of children's literature. They have written over 70 books together.

Reviews

[Alex Birch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and a fantastic introduction to Shakespeare's Othello for the unfamiliar audience. It also contains detailed sections on core themes and context in Shakespearean England before and after the main play text. My only reason for giving 4/5 is that I hoped this was the original text rather than a shorter, modern interpretation that fits into the speech bubbles. (Although, perhaps, this is more my error.) Some of the most memorable lines are there verbatim, nevertheless.

Therefore, I'd say the target audience is teenagers or adults who are first becoming acquainted with Shakespeare and his themes or those who are more familiar and want an aesthetically pleasing refresher. If someone wishes to read the unabridged play, they can read or see it elsewhere.

I definitely want to read the other graphic novels in the series.