Hamlet: No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels

by William Shakespeare, Neil Babra (Illustrator)

Read HAMLET in graphic-novel form—with NO FEAR! 
NOW IN COLOR!
 
Based on the No Fear Shakespeare translations, this dynamic graphic novel—now with color added—is impossible to put down. The illustrations are distinctively offbeat, slightly funky, and appealing to teens.
 
Includes :
- An illustrated cast of characters
- A helpful plot summary
- Illustrations that show the reader exactly what’s happening in each scene—making the plot and characters clear and easy to follow
 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Classics, Young Adult

216 pages, Paperback

Published August 4, 2020

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Madison Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun graphic novel. It dealt with dark and crazy things in a good way. It added to my understanding of the story.

[catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

iconic. honestly. i loved this book. like i know it’s the graphic novel but i kind of wish i read the whole book now. the revenge?????? the malice and the madness and the overall book. i loved this. and the graphic novel was very cool. like reading a play even more than jsut seeing the lines. cuz you could really see the expressions and stuff. really glad i read this book!!!!

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, I didn't care for the design style. It's just not my thing! However, that doesn't really affect my review. It was pretty ok, it wasn't something special, nor do I feel like I understand Hamlet better now (luckily, I love Shakespeare and know enough already!). I think it's just best fans of the play instead of people wanting to get the know the play, if that makes sense!

[rhylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for English class. I enjoyed the storyline but the pictures were sometimes a little too graphic to the point where it was hard to look at. There were also just a lot of parts I predicted.

[electronic machine management associate · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Just no. Do yourself a favor and find yourself a copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet: The Manga Edition instead of this. No Fear is by far the worst graphic novel adaption of the play I have ever seen. The text feels like a stale, off brand version of Shakespeare's masterpiece, with the characters feeling unlikable and at times, completely insufferable. In combination with this, the illustrations are generally poor quality, unreadable sketches that are passed off as "offbeat" and "quirky." These issues stand out especially in contrast with Tintin Pantoja's lively and expressive art found in Adam Sextons adaption. In addition to the low quality translation and illustration, the text seems to remove large parts of content regarding Hamlet and Horatio's relationship, perhaps due to a fear of seeming "too gay" for readers. Horatio doesn't even TOUCH Hamlet in the final scene. In combination with an earlier removed scene, this cumulates into the feeling that the author was trying to avoid including any of the original content that might read as having queer subtext. Subtext or not, this results in an incredibly awkward death scene for Hamlet where Horatio just stands to the side while his best friend bleeds out on the ground. This is NOT what Shakespeare wanted. Shame on whoever approved this text for publishing.

[Elissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this to use as supplement to some of my struggling readers when reading Hamlet (using a combination of original Shakespeare and modern English via No Fear Shakespeare). It was meh. Yes, it gave them a visual for comprehending some scenes, but 1) they did not like the graphics (color nor design) and 2) surprisingly, they preferred the fuller experience of reading the original text. While this graphic comic is by the same publisher as the No Fear Shakespeare version of the play, the comic abbreviates much of the language to the point that Shakespeare’s barbs are lost. Not completely— they did do a good job with making a graphic version— but I would only use certain pages as a supplement, not entirely in place of reading the play.

[Chase Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a good book don’t get me wrong. I loved the Hamlet book but I just don’t really like graphic novels. It’s not really my style of reading. The story of Hamlet is really good though and it ends in a really interesting way.

I had to read this for English class and when I first heard we would be reading Hamlet, I was super excited. Then, the teacher brought out this book and I was kind of like “what?” It was good and I enjoyed the story but I just wish I would have been words instead of pictures. That may just be me though.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for any Challenge. Just for fun.

I love Shakespheare and found this graphic novel of Hamlet and thought I would check it out. Glad I did. They did a really good job and I very much enjoyed it. The art was well done and I think they really captured the emotion behind the characters.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an awesome graphic novel adaptation of Hamlet! I loved what they kept of the original script. The characters and motifs they used were amazing. I had a really fun time reading this! It had been a while since I last read or saw Hamlet and it is one of my favorite Shakespeare.

[Aïda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to read before going to see Eddie Izzard as Hamlet. It had me hooked. Glad I got to read this beforehand in the limited time I had. Ideal because I'd never seen the play before, nor the film, not had read the original. Having read this graphic novel (I actually read it in one sitting before going to see Izzard in the evening) so recently helped me identify not just the plot but see who she is playing all the time. Our teens are reading it too (post-Izzard) and they're also enjoying it. And, of course, now I want to read the original to savour it all even more.

[Donald Bullard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It enlightens fully...

The art here makes Hamlet real. I couldn't complete reading the play. It is a bit to put together. Here I have a down to earth copy, and it convinces me of the universal appeal of the story. Amen.

[Nayeli Gomez Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve wanted to read Shakespeare but the theater format is not for me. Reading it in this format helped me go through it.

[Jesse Scobie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool, well illustrated, inked and paneled graphic novel on the greatest Shakespeare play!

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.”

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty solid adaptation!

[AF · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the artist depicted Hamlet’s arrogant faces. Some of the art got a little sloppy towards the end, but 4 stars truly for Hamlet’s fun expressions.

[Shelby Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great to showcase the sarcasm and madness of Hamlet. Excited to use this as a resource for students!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Graphic Novel format is GREAT!!!

5/5 graphic novel
3/5 story (It's definitely worth reading. It is Shakespeare. It's not super long. But, it's a classic tragedy. I'm much more of a fan of Shakespeare's comedies.)

I definitely recommend reading Shakespeare in this graphic novel format! It really helps to understand what is happening and get a more full expression of the play than just reading a script. The artist did a great job!

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the illustrations and read it before my trip to helsingor bc I couldn’t be bothered to read the actual play