King Lear: A Graphic Novel

Graphic Classics

by Gareth Hinds

A taut adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterwork by Gareth Hinds — the standard-bearer of graphic-novel retellings of literary classics.

In a graceful adaptation, Gareth Hinds transforms Shakespeare’s timeless tale of pride and defiance, loyalty and ambition, betrayal and revenge into graphic-novel format, packing it with visual drama and providing accessible notes. This artful edition — like an extraordinary stage performance — offers a striking new perspective on one of the most powerful and beloved tragedies in the English language. Incorporating excerpts from the bard’s own language, Gareth Hinds’s inventive format opens the experience of  King Lear  to students and fans of graphic literature.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Classics, Shakespeare, Fiction, Plays, Comics, Drama

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2007

About the author

Gareth Hinds is the creator of critically-acclaimed graphic novels based on literary classics, including Beowulf (which Publisher’s Weekly called a “mixed-media gem”), King Lear (which Booklist named one of the top 10 graphic novels for teens), The Merchant of Venice (which Kirkus called “the standard that all others will strive to meet” for Shakespeare adaptation), The Odyssey (which garnered four starred reviews and a spot on ten “best of 2010” lists), Romeo and Juliet (which Kirkus called “spellbinding”), and Macbeth (which the New York Times called “stellar” and “a remarkably faithful rendering”). Gareth is a recipient of the Boston Public Library’s “Literary Lights for Children” award. His books can be found in bookstores and English classrooms across the country, and his illustrations have appeared in such diverse venues as the Society of Illustrators, the New York Historical Society, and over a dozen published video games.

Gareth lives in the Washington DC area.

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really not very good. I like the negative and sketchy effects he used to depict the Lear's madness, but the art was overall confusing. If you need to put a dotted line on the page so that readers will know which panels to read when, you need to rethink your layouts. Going in, I knew very little about King Lear, and I don't feel like this take enlightened me at all, especially since it's rather heavily abridged.

[Anoop Pai B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should be discussed with a group and not read in isolation.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this. The art felt more like an attempt at storyboarding the play than a serious attempt at an adaptation.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was beautiful especially the storm scene but I do feel he left out some important bits AND the way the dialogue was written was confusing

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forget how difficult it is to read Shakespeare! This is a slightly abridged version but it doesn't feel that way. The author does give extensive notes on changes in the end that I appreciate. I'm not overly familiar with King Lear, which I think made it more difficult to follow at times. But it was well done in graphic form. My main complaint is the flow of the panels, or lack thereof. There's faint lines to indicate what goes when, but the characters can be in more than one place in one picture, to indicate movement. I did find it kind of funny when there were dotted lines with the word exit on a character.
The artwork was OK and interestingly sometimes changed style.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading a graphic novel is usually rather basic reading from panel to panel, but this one was setup in a more artistic way. A guide to follow the dialog was explained at the beginning of the book, but they hardly followed their own instructions.
If I had not read King Lear previously, I would have been totally lost. The pictures were lovely, but the setup was a mess. This could have been amazing if it was not so hard to follow.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to catch up on last year's book club picks. Read the graphic novel instead of the classic since I struggle with Shakespeare.

Spoiler alert. Everyone dies.

And still hard to follow even with the pictures.

[Jill Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fine during and extraordinary artwork give this Shakespearean Tragedy a new freshness and brings a new level of enjoyment

[ashes ➷ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would've been a 3 but given that the rating is so high on GR I'm dropping it a little lower. Honestly, it's not a great adaptation. It has none of the hallmarks of good Shakespeare-to-graphic-novel adaptations-- transitions and panel layouts are confusing, the art style (even proportions and faces of characters) was not consistent, and rather than feeling like a graphic novel it feels as though the original text has been dropped on top of art and just... left there. There is no connection between the speech bubbles and the art. They don't blend like I am so used to with Manga Shakespeare adaptations-- though, yes, I skipped this one from them because it was overtly racist.

But 'not being overtly racist' is a low bar. The costume designs were alright, but when you get to adapt Shakespeare why not shoot for the stars? After reading a furry cyberpunk interpretation of Othello, I'm a little let down by just color-coding characters and putting Edmund in a Pied Piper of Hamelin cosplay. Goneril had great design, in my opinion, but everyone else was quite lacking in terms of thought and recognizability (not helped by the inconsistency of proportions.)

I had to skim the text because it was written in a horrifically unreadable font, which does not help Shakespearean English one bit. I definitely was not understanding anything-- and that's not something that has to be the case. I've been introduced to multiple plays through Manga Shakespeare, like I said, so I'm not going to give 5 stars because 'well this one is the best of the three existing graphic novel adaptations.' That does not a good book make.

Augh. Can you tell I'm frustrated? I find it very difficult to read Shakespeare, so I WANTED to like this, trust me; I love manga and graphic novel Shakespeare because it gives you the visual aids of the play (gesture, body language, facial expression) without needing to break from books entirely. It's my favorite way to experience the plays, actually. And that's why my review is so harsh-- because I know things can be better.

That said, the art was often beautiful; it just wasn't consistent. I really wish more time and drafts had been spent on this, because it's a lovely idea. A professional graphic novelist (not someone who does adaptations) might also have been helpful, or an editor more familiar with conventions-- I don't claim to be an expert, but the paneling was really off sometimes. Oh my God I started this paragraph being so positive and I spiraled again.

I struggle to say a lot of positive things because, well, Hinds didn't write the story; he only committed it to this format, and I don't think he did a wonderful job. A lot of important lines were missing, and I needed the help of a friend to understand the play. Hinds has a complimentary "plain english" script available on his site, but I'm not on his site; I'm reading a book!

So I will say that I gave him two stars for his art. It's wonderful in a larger sense; I'm sure his finished pieces are great. Many panels would have been nice on their own, outside of this. It's just not really something I'd look for in a graphic novel-- more in standalone finished pieces.

I'd still read another book by Gareth Hinds, and I'm not tragically disappointed in my loss of ~$4 at a used book site. Just not the best thing I've ever read; I was glad to be done. I do have faith other books from him will be better.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most successful adaptation of Shakespeare to the graphic medium that I have read. Wisely, Hinds keeps large parts of the original dialog so the poetry and the passion of the play are undiluted. In supplementary notes at the end of the text he explains his choices.

To the text he has added superlative composition. Dialog is presented in a script typeface of his own design that’s clear to read and complementary to the composition. For most of the work he either adapts or abandons the traditional comic panels. He uses line—sometimes a dotted line to indicate the path of a character across the page—to move readers’ eyes through the story. So the most emotionally charged scenes brilliantly swirl and hurl across the page. Towards the end of the book watercolor washed illustrations contrast with adjacent sharply inked lines to highlight the King and Cordelia, at first in his joy at being found by her and reconciled and then in his overwhelming grief at her death.

Hinds also uses the graphic medium to produce an effect that would not be possible in a stage production, a panorama. The first use is static. Lear’s castle is shown in the dark and from a distance on page 11 to close the first scene. More action is introduced on page 23 the reader sees Edmund at first conferring with Curan on the center left of the page and then below laying in wait to deceive his brother who is approaching from a dark path on the right side of the page, all this done in a single dark blue and green full page panel. But the more engaging use of the effect begins on page 32 Gloucester is pleading with Cornwall not to put Kent in the stocks in a panel on the upper left, immediately to the right in a circular panel Cornwall proceeds to do so anyhow. This panel is outlined in a large red circled connected to the same action in smaller scale in the large, more than half page panel below as Edgar emerges from the hole high in the tree in which he has been hiding and views the scene from afar. In the following full page to the right he strips himself down against a plain white background to transform himself into mad Tom. On the next page (again a full-page panel) he slips over the wall to escape as Lear and his company approach in the background. On page 38 the swirling winds of the upcoming storm dominate the page as Edgar creeps away and Cornwall and Regan approach to confront the enraged Lear. Nine pages later, tiny white outlines of Lear, Kent and the Fool stand beneath the lighting flash and a great “KRAKOOOM!” of thunder. A dramatic double page spread of the clash of the British and French armies sweep across pages 94-95, a scene that necessarily happens off stage in the play.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shakespeare is, of course, the backbone of many literary studies. But is there a way to add something fresh and new to the works of the ancient bard? Gareth Hinds has created the graphic novel interpretation of one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, KING LEAR.

Although the presentation may be unique, the story holds true. The great king is dividing his realm. Three daughters will receive three portions, but each must prove herself worthy.

Lear's sanity is in question as he makes his demands known. The raging king could very well destroy his kingdom as he tests his descendants' loyalties.

The talent of Gareth Hinds is clearly evident in this graphic-style depiction of KING LEAR. The plot comes through loud and clear as each drawing captures both characters and emotion that words alone on the page often miss. Readers who find Shakespeare a difficult read might want to give this creative presentation a try.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A while back, I was elated to find a copy of King Lear by Gareth Hinds at Hyde Brother's Booksellers

If you aren't familiar with Gareth Hinds, he is the creator of several acclaimed graphic novels based on classics, and in 2008, Booklist named King Lear one of the 10 best graphic novels for youth.

King Lear, derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre- Roman Celtic king, was one of William Shakespeare most famous tragedies.

This dismal story is about a king who descends into madness when his life transforms from good to bad fortune due to his own misjudgment and we largely see how betrayal and revenge ensue throughout the kingdom.

The story begins with King Lear deciding to divide up his realm amongst his three daughters. His two oldest daughters Goneril and Regan flatter him and are given their portion while the youngest daughter Cordelia does not resort to conniving and is disinherited and her portion split amongst the other two.

To make a lengthy play much briefer I'll only hint at some of the scenes.

After the defeat of the invading French army, Cordelia and Lear are taken, prisoner, meanwhile, sister's Regan and Goneril act in a cruel and capricious manner and eventually, they tussle over the evil Edmund. In a rage, the Duke of Albany ( Goneril's husband) demands that Edmund and Goneril be arrested for treason.

Before Edmund is arrested, Edgar shows up and stabs his evil brother, and Goneril poisons Regan prior to committing suicide. Edgar reveals his identity to Gloucester who dies shortly thereafter. Albany and a dying Edmund try to prevent Lear and Cordelia being hanged but are too late for Cordelia. After Cordelia's death, a visibly shaken Lear carries her corpse in his arms.

If you are familiar with Shakespeare plays you will know that he uses figurative language and metaphoric reflections.

The storm on the heath is a reflection of King Lear's state of mind and also the kingdoms downward spiral of wickedness and despair.

I truly appreciate that Hinds creates his imagery for this classic using a medium of technical pen and watercolor as it helps fuse a sense of anarchy.

The ink and watercolor appear to be applied initially with lighter value and much of the heavy dialog is intact and included in a myriad of speech balloons. Additional washes are added to show an intensification of color or to strengthen shadows with loose marks.

I thought the page where waterdrops are staining the cheeks clever as the speech balloon cascades down and across the page much like a waterfall or tear would. And I found the mixture of lead gray to vibrant red easing into a heavenly blue, tarnishing to a page where we see the wash of dull gray to be crafty.

These colors emerge and contribute to our sensing Lear's state of disorder. His anger and torment at the turmoil of what transpired is clearly visible and eventually, we see his acceptance of grief.

We know that the deep sorrow of what Lear ensued overwhelmed him for so long - he eventually dies and the kingdom is left to the Duke of Albany and Edgar to preside over.

[Secora Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like tragedy, deaths, broken hearts, and forgiveness then this is the play for you! During the time of the early 1600’s, Shakespeare's dramatic play King Lear was well loved. This wonderful piece of writing is still loved after over 400 years by students and adults. This play is fantastic for all readers because of the descriptive writing and the tragedy that you can imagine.
Descriptive writing make it amazing and amusing play for students to read. First and foremost, readers love to imagine the bloody and gory scene. For example, in act 3, scene 7 Gloucester screams to the gods before Cornwall plucks out his first eye, “‘O cruel! O you gods!”’ Additionally, Edgar takes his father Gloucester to go and break his depression. Edgar brings Gloucester to flat ground but says he is on a steep bourn. Edgar has to fake it so his father doesn’t commit suicide. Most importantly, Edgar and Edmund get into a fight. Edgar comes after the battle and starts a fight with Edmund. Guess who wins? Edgar! Edmund was stabbed and is on the way to death, but before he dies he tells the others to go and save Cordelia and King Lear. With descriptive writing and impressive vocabulary, the play lets you imagine different scenes.
Tragedy is rare for students to read, which makes it even better. The first instance of death is unexpected. The character, Gloucester dies in a very weird way. He dies of astonishment. This part of the play is very unexpected because this kind of death is unusual today. Consider this, if Regan and Goneril would have been nice to their father, King Lear, there would have not been any issues. The first example of betrayal of Regan and Goneril is when they lied to Lear about who loves him the most, when really Cordelia was the one who loved him the most. They also told the King he could not have any of his knights, and they threw him out in the storm. Worst daughters ever. Most heart- wrenching, is when students read the brutal death of Cordelia. King Lear and Cordelia were both taken by prison guards, but the one who died was poor Cordelia. She was hung by the guards who took them to the prison. King Lear was too slow to save her. It states in act 5, scene 3, “‘ She’s gone forever! I know when one is dead and when one lives.”’ Reading this tragedy it is very lively and entertaining.
Descriptive writing and the tragedy of this play will keep students interested in what comes next. The vicious deaths hook students to read more. It is enjoyable to read this play because you never assume what different plot twists are going to appear.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit of a mess.
I enjoyed the art style to a point but from page to page there was so inconsistent that the only character I could keep straight was King Lear in between them all but the other bothersome thing I found was the use of the dotted lines on every page to direct the reader as to where to read next because Hinds uses the entire page as a large panel. This use of direction works on the pages with little to no dialogue or the tense emotional moments but when there's multiple characters or lots of dialogue, the dotted lines get lost and it's hard to tell where you're supposed to read next.

I haven't read King Lear since high school so my memory is vague about the story so reading this was supposed to be a sort of re-read which in getting to the end, I can see that Hinds did give by keeping the larger aspects of the bard's original story and adding in some additional context in his adaptation.

Reading challenge met: 2021 Popsugar #35 (A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels))

[BookChampions · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a big fan of King Lear, I did really enjoy this graphic novel adaptation. I love Hinds because he tries so valiantly to stay true the original text. There are omissions here in the narrative as any Shakespearean retelling or reenactment, but he *does* justice to the play. For sure.

For newbies to Lear, this text could easily confuse. The lack of clean frames and the use of the dotted line were both hard to follow, even with the knowledge I have of the story. I also wasn't crazy about the drawing of Edmund. He seemed more than a year younger than Edgar--almost a squire. Hardly a figure who could catch Goneril and Regan's attention.

All in all, I'll have fun with this text as I continue to teach it over the next few years.

[_.Elhamn._ · Rating 4 out of 5]

روند داستان جذاب بود چون آدم رو کنجکاو می کنه. شخصیت ها خیلی پیچیده نبودن و راحت میشد قصد و نیتشون رو فهمید. صفت هایی که برای اشخاص به کار برده میشد خیلی زیاد بودن و به نظرم از یه جایی به بعد مبالغه حساب میشد که هم به نظرم خوب بود و هم نه. و به نظرم شخصیت های خیلی راحت وقتی پی به اشتباه خودشون میبردن تغییر میکردن. توی پایانم هم آدم بدا و هم آدم خوبا مردن، و پایانی نبود که انتظارشو داشتم. شایدم میشه این معنی رو ازش برداشت کرد که چه بد و چه خوب در نهایت همه قراره بمیرن؟! نمیدونم. پایانش چیزی نبود که خوشم بیاد. اما در نهایت دوسش داشتم.

[Josiah Smallwood]

DNF'd around page 60. Not really what I was hoping for.

While the art had some beautiful moments, a lot of it was messy and had a confusing layout to the point where the artist had to write a line to let readers know what text boxes to read. That, combined with it using the original language made it hard to get through.

I own a copy of the original play side-by-side with a modern translation, so I'll definitely revisit this tale, but I wouldn't recommend this adaptation except to people who are really into Shakespeare and who don't mind the confusing layout.

Edit: Grammar.

[Tandava Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art was very interesting here, being varied and creative without losing its coherence. The sgraffito storm scene was particularly effective. The story seems difficult to follow, in spite of the graphical assistance and the fact that I’ve read and seen the original before, so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes over with middle schoolers, but I got it for our classroom library anyway, along with Hinds’s other works.

[Jack Challis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench’d our steeples, drown’d the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o’ the world!
Crack nature’s moulds, all germens spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!

[Dana Cordelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually arresting (particularly the storm and the final scene), this did as much justice as possible to a play which must be performed rather than read. Hinds's notes at the end of the graphic provided additional insight, particularly for any cuts or changes. A happy by-chance find at the Tudor Guild shop at OSF, fall 2017.

[max theodore · Rating 3 out of 5]

i do have some gripes about the presentation of this; a lot of cool lines were cut, the art style was a little inconsistent, and the font was unnecessarily hard to read?? that said this was a pretty fun read. i greatly enjoyed Twink Edmund and Hot Lesbian-Fashion Goneril in particular and those design choices make me forgive the amount of times i had to look at king lear's bare feet <3

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay adaptation of King Lear. While reading I was thinking I would have preferred to have listened to an audio version (might still do that!). The artwork shifts between pages which is quite jarring.

There's not really panels and Hinds has lines going from one word balloon to the next to help guide the reader through the page. It's an alright way of doing it, but it did make me think that perhaps comics aren't the best way to read Shakespeare.

Maybe an illustrated book would be better?

[Collin Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's King Lear, which is classic Shakespeare seen in many forms. However I expected something more accessible so that a broader audience could enjoy the play. This is really the story in outline form, in Shakespeare's words, as though a courtroom artist were drawing a local repertory production.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the creativity, but its the format. I love reading classics in graphic novel forms. I think there priceless. I like seeing and collecting these. This one though, not doing it. Its a little much. Love the story as always though.

[Edy Gies · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I took on reading King Lear earlier this year, I absolutly fell in love with the story. It was dark, deep, and timeless. I bought this graphic novel so I could share it with students and others, but found this retelling lacking the original vibrancy and cohesive story line.

[Theresa Ratti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t enjoy Shakespeare because I find the language hard to follow and I had similar problem with this book. However, I did finish the book and was able to get the basic plot lines. The illustrations helped.

[PawlusIV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przyznam się, że oczekiwałam trochę więcej.

Mam wrażenie, że wypowiedzi bohaterów nie oddawały całego nakładu emocjonalnego scen, pewnie wystawiane jest bardziej poruszające, niż jak się po prostu go czyta.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done. Such a tragedy, this one, and hurrah for a telling that leaves out some of the misogyny.

[Kristin Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant adaptation! I might consider switching from the traditional text to this text for my juniors in the next year. Well done, well adapted, well illustrated!

[Steven Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Big hype for no reason though.