Othello

by Stacy King (Adaptor), Crystal S. Chan (Contributor), Julien Choy (Illustrator)

A brilliant general in the service of Venice, Othello is also the new husband of the adoring - and young - Desdemona, whose innocent hero worship has blossomed into love. But can a beautiful girl, so much younger than her husband, truly be faithful? Othello's trusted ensign Iago seems to think not. Can Othello trust him? Can Othello trust anyone? Manga Classics presents Shakespeare's classic story of love, hate, vengeance, and betrayal, in its full, original glory! (This volume features the complete, unabridged text from the Shakespeare Play.)

Genres: Manga, Classics, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Romance, Theatre

420 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2021

About the author

Hi there! I'm a Toronto-based writer and editor who works in both prose and graphic novel formats, usually for younger readers.

My current projects include:

Dungeons and Dragons Young Adventurer's Guides - introducing new players to the classic role-playing game through amazing new artwork and streamlined prose.

Manga Classics - faithful adaptations of western literary classics with Japanese-style artwork.

Beyond writing, my interests include historical costuming, comics, manga, young adult fiction, magic realism, chocolate, and the oxford comma.

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I am certainly surprised. I am not one for comic adaptations of classic literature, save in certain well-done GNs, but this manga was excellent. It is complete and unabridged but with a manga style. As strange as this sounds, it can give new readers of Shakespeare a great background, due to the visualization of the characters. The manga also is able to use visuals to their utmost, as the environment echoes the thoughts of the characters and this helps to facilitate understanding of the archaic phrases which might be unfamiliar to modern readers.

The Manga also does a great job of using visuals to express various emotions, thus you can actually see a greed demon or lust demon in the background mirroring the character's thoughts. This is a great visual aid to the story. The fact that the visuals also give life to the "stage" setting (Venice) for the play is excellent.

Now..the story- Othello is a famous Venitian Admiral (though a dense and jealous person). He is married to Desdemona. His secret rival for the Admiralty is his ostensible second- Iago. Othello also faces competition for Desdomena's heart in the form of Cassio and Roderigo. This diverse cast all come to conflict as Iago, a serpent of a man, spreads lies about Othello's wife and causes him to lose control. Othello is a tragedy about ambition, lust, betrayal, and misjudgment.

If you're new to Shakespeare or wish to introduce to a younger reader, new to Shakespeare, then this unabriged manga is for you. Highly recommended.

[Mathilde Paulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, it's wonderful to read the manga adaptation of a Shakespeare play alongside the actual play. I think this would have been more difficult to both get through and understand without the footnotes from the original piece, so I definitely recommend co-reading!

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

General Othello is newly married to the beautiful Desdemona. Iago is jealous of Othello's high position in the military, and pretends to be Othello's friend, but swears to get his revenge by making Othello miserable any way he can. Iago spreads lies that Desdemona has been unfaithful to her new husband, and plants a seed of suspicion in Othello's mind. Once Othello's heart is poisoned by Iago's lies, it means tragedy for everyone involved.

I am so impressed with this graphic novel! The artwork is beautiful and each panel shows a clear story. The classic story of Othello retains all its integrity, and the characters are powerfully depicted. This edition uses the original words of Shakespeare, and I enjoyed revisiting this beautiful play in a new format.

I love the beautiful artwork! I was glad to see that each character has such a unique style that makes them, their clothing, their hair, and face really memorable. There is also a family tree/character relationship chart at the beginning of the book to help you keep track of all the characters. I just love how the designs reflect the personality of each character, so that you immediately know whether they are trustworthy or not.

The tension and emotion of the story really comes through in the art. Even small changes in the coloring or lighting show a change in mood or scene, and as the characters develop and change through the story, the setting slightly changes to reflect that as well. As Othello begins to suspect his wife, his character is drawn more and more in shadow. And as Iago gains the upper hand, he is shown standing above the other characters.

I was especially impressed with the portrayal of the villain, Iago. He is such a complex character, and it was amazing to see how quickly his facial expressions could change from friendly and honest to sneaky and evil. His personality was blazoned on the pages!

Reading this manga was like having a movie playing in my head; it all feels so real and vivid as you are reading it!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Liz (Quirky Cat)]

Yes! It's time for another Manga Classic! I have officially hit a point where I actively look forward to these releases. It's so much fun to see the classics rendered through different media.

Manga Classics: Othello is, in many ways, a long time coming. But before I dive into that fact, I should probably cover the basics. Manga Classics is more or less exactly what it sounds like: an initiative to adapt as many classics as possible, making for a new experience for many. For others, this is a much more approachable media, and it makes the classics less intimidating. That is why I love it so much.

This version of Othello was lovingly recreated by Crystal S. Chan (adapter) and Julien Choy (artist), and covetously the original work was by William Shakespeare. I've got to say; this one really held up to the adaptation.

Then again, I might be biased – Othello is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, so it was riveting to see how the adaptation would turn out. Overall, I think they really nailed it. The story felt appropriate, and while they (naturally) had to cut down on some elements, Crystal S. Chan did a fantastic job of holding onto the core elements. Meanwhile, Julien Choy's artwork was able to work in many of the subtle details, removing many conflicts of show and tell. It's perfect, and I cannot wait to see what they'll adapt next.

Thanks to Manga Classics and #Edelweiss for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/5 for the play itself, but 5/5 for this brilliant manga execution. The use of shading to show the deviation of character's thoughts and the depiction of jealousy "the green-eyed monster" was very interesting. This contains the full complete unabridged text and it is the best version of Othello available!

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

kinda dug this format tbh. but the iambic pentameter is hard to hear when the lines are chopped to fit into speech bubbles. pretty cool though, and I love how it is the OG text!!

[Khari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodness, how does this have only 6 ratings?

I guess because people get intimidated by how it's the full original text, don't let that intimidate you, this was awesome.

Shakespeare drags you through horror, rage, disgust, pity, and sadness. The nefarious machinations of Iago, the innocence and naivety of Desdemona, the jealousy of Othello, you get to experience them all vicariously through this rendition of the drama.

Going by how much I got into this and into Hamlet and how little I got into Macbeth, I'm going to go with Shakespeare is a genius and modern translators of his work do not do him justice. Read the original text manga versions, not the modern adaptations.

I haven't read Othello before nor seen it performed, so this was an entirely new experience for me.

I was struck by Shakespeare's manipulation of things his audience would have had memorized. When Iago said "I am not what I am", not only was he letting the audience and his fellow characters know that he was not to be trusted, but he was doing so by manipulating a Biblical passage, making him all the more demonic. He did that constantly, he told Othello not to trust his words. Why didn't they listen to him?

The first scene was impressive to me because of how much innuendo can be packed into a couple of sentences. Iago is a master of this. He leads everyone around with his words, not by ever coming out and actually saying anything, but by implying just enough to make innocent things seem incriminating.

He really is a piece of work.

Desdemona though, it's not that she deserves what happens to her, but man is she an idiot. She seems utterly incapable of reading her husband and instead frolics about playing word games with Iago and random people on the street. Everything he says is poison, how does she not realize it?

I guess that's the genius of the play, it gets the viewers all worked up wondering why no one in the play seems to see just how manipulative Iago is. It also brings to mind the times in our own lives when we have been manipulated by someone to our detriment. I guess the main point is to be careful who you trust.

[Bree Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”

Read for British Literature.

4.5 stars. The action of the play was immediate — the first scene was mostly exposition, but it also served as initial characterization and foreshadowing for what’s to come. I was pulled in right away.

The various themes of reputation, deception, and trust are interwoven so beautifully. Because of Iago’s deception, Cassio loses his reputation — but he himself doesn’t want to deceive Othello, one of the most honorable and truthful men who knows. Cassio beautifully states, “I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so good a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so indiscreet an officer.” Othello values honesty over all else, so much so that when Iago falsely makes him believe that his wife, Desdemona, was unfaithful, he kills her so that she won’t be unfaithful to anyone else; and when he learns the truth, after the murder, he kills himself because he believes it to be the just thing to do.

The end did feel a tad abrupt, and I’m not sure how I feel about the whole murder suicide thing. It makes sense, but I think there may have been a better way to go about killing Othello that wasn’t suicide. Also, I’m glad Cassio lived but I very much wish Iago had died. And it’s a damn shame that Emilia died. She was the true hero. She exemplified the trait of honesty more than any other character, and put great value on honor — exactly unlike her husband. It would have been nice to see her kill him, rather than the opposite way around.

Adapting Shakespeare’s text to manga format is genius — plays are already focused on dialogue, like manga/comics are, and the stage directions can be portrayed through visual cues. The artist, Crystal Chan, also plays with the environment and shadows in a way that’s super interesting.

Overall, this edition of Othello made the reading experience an absolute joy. The art was phenomenal, and I could tell that great care was put into the creation of this edition. In my opinion, this is the best way to experience Shakespeare, short of seeing it performed live.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although as a purist I will always love the original Shakespeare plays or at least the original versions I read when I was much younger, I can certainly see the appeal of these Manga Classics versions of these timeless stories. For students who prefer to see everything acted out or like movies, they are a great introduction to Shakespeare, and for those students who struggle to understand the language of those times, it provides support through illustrations and cartoonlike panels. I always think that the women in these books are depicted as always doll-like and many of the characters have large, expressive eyes, but nevertheless, I appreciate them for what they are. In this version of Othello, the highly-regarded general, Othello, finds his faith in his wife and his marriage to Desdemona undermined by the suspicions the untrustworthy Iago plants. It's fascinating to watch the wily man take an innocent gesture or a glimpse of affection and twist each one into ammunition to make Othello question his wife's love for him and her faithfulness. I've always found this play to be an excellent example of a skilled manipulator who knows just which chord to pluck to sow discontent. While some may read this as a play about race and ethnicity or one about the difference in a young bride and a much older husband, and yes, there is no one more jealous or frightening in his jealousy than Othello, it's clearly an example of how communication about fears and weaknesses might have prevented tragedy.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a great adaptation. The art is not great--feeling like high school notebook anime imitations of low-middle skill--and the panels and limited facial expressions are not arranged in a way that makes the meaning of the dialogue clearer to readers not fluent in Shakespearian English. The introductory pages in particular jump right into thick Elizabethan phrasing, with no background imagery to clarify it or the characters' personalities (even Shakespeare-nerd me who has seen a few Othellos had trouble getting a grasp on what they were going on about). That first scene felt like the first half of it had been cut out. The whole book felt like one of those performances where everyone has memorized their lines but you can tell by their flat or wonky delivery that they don't really understand what they're saying.
For an easier introduction to the play, you're really better off watching a BBC film adaptation with skilled actors.

[Sophia Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to Othello, and this adaptation certainly piqued my interest in seeing this play acted out.

Othello is the Emma of Shakespeare. However, in this case, the meddling main character intentionally ruins everyone's lives --playing a game of 4D social chess that no one with so much of a sliver of morality wants to see won.

I've said it before: the over-the-top flamboyance of manga readily lends itself to the, well, theatricality of Shakespeare. The ability to visually depict thematic motifs and metaphorical language assists the reader in understanding nuances that are more difficult to pick up on if only the plain text is provided.

I appreciate the inclusion of the full, original text as it enables the reader to authentically bridge the gap between simply reading the script of the play and watching the play live (as Shakespeare intended).

[Critter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this book adapted Othello. Shakespeare's works have always caused me to struggle a lot with the text and most of this is from how Shakespeare's works have been presented to me in the past, so I am always excited to find different adaptations of his work. This adaptation really blew me away. The art and framing of scenes was truly beautiful and very evocative. I absolutely loved this book and will be seeking out more adaptations of classics from this series.

I would like to thank out Diamond Books for providing me with an ARC.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extreme Book Nerd Your Way Challenge 2022
Summer Reading Challenge 2022 - Graphic Novel

I really do enjoy the Manga Classics. I love seeing the way the book/story/play comes to life with the imagination of the Illustrator and the story adaptor. I have really enjoyed being able to "see" the facial expressions and it sometimes really helps to interpret what Shakespheare was trying to convey.

[Tayler Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have only read Othello once during college in my Shakespeare class. I have my own thoughts and feelings on the actual Shakespeare play, but I want to leave this review for the manga adaptation. I love the representation of Othello, but hated the designs of Cassio and Iago. I thought some of the panel frames weren’t the best breaks in dialogue.

[Elizabeth]

DNF p.142. I think if I had been familiar with the play and plot before this would have been okay. I like graphic novels but for Shakespeare it doesn't work for me. I do hope other people benefit from this format especially as a means of exposure to Shakespeare.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Matthew Noe]

Reviewed for Diamond BookShelf (see the September column)

[Natalí · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Art!

[Horatio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe like 3.5? I like this play but it fits the manga format a lot less than Romeo and Juliet did given the subject matter

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never read Othello… Until now? Ka westion mark.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended: YES!!
For fans of the original, for classes looking for an accessible yet faithful adaptation, for a really dope story and art that enhances it so much

Thoughts:
OH MAN. I have been so in love with the Manga Classics line since I started in on it, and when I heard Othello was happening, I was pumped. It absolutely did not disappoint! It's the original full text, so none of the brilliance of the language is lost. Iago is always and forever my favorite villain, with his shameless, remorseless lying. He delights in it so frequently throughout the story, and so embraces his lawful evil selfishness.

Othello is fascinating to watch as a character. His clear, self-sabotaging slide into jealous insanity is drawn to life by the art within. There's one scene, where he and Iago are discussing Desdemona's apparent betrayal -- it's the scene where Othello officially crosses the line -- and as I was reading, I was marveling at the detail and the clever integration of light and shadow to convey Othello's state of mind. Then in the notes at the end of the book, the adaptor and artist specifically call that scene out as one they were proud of. With good reason! The book is filled with excellent portrayals of the emotion and action that can be difficult to read when relying only on the text of the play.

I don't know if it's just Othello or what, but there are a TON of metaphors and similes and otherwise lengthy comparisons and allegories. The visual medium helps connect the dots between what the characters are saying, and what they're really saying. Iago is a huge fan of euphemisms to drive Othello insane. It's fabulous for any reader, but I can see it being especially helpful for students and those unfamiliar with the language style.

In short, amazing adaptation of one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, topped only by the Manga Classics adaptation of Macbeth that I now read at least yearly to savor it all over again.

Thanks to Manga Classics and Edelweiss for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!