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Classical Comics

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Classical Comics Enterprises
Founded2007
FounderClive Bryant
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters locationBirmingham
DistributionCombined Book Services (UK)
Publishers Group West (US)
Cengage (Australia)
Key peopleGary Bryant
Publication typesGraphic novels
Fiction genresliterary adaptations
No. of employees240
Official websiteOfficial website

Classical Comics is a British publisher of graphic novel adaptations of the great works of literature, including Shakespeare, Charlotte Brontë and Dickens.

Overview

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All of the volumes will be published as graphic novels. Art is being provided by British artists, most of whom have a long history of working in British comics. Some of the releases, in particular the Shakespeare, will come in three different versions: the original text, plain text and quick text, designed to allow readers with different needs to pick the version that bests suits them.[1]

Classical Comics chairman, Clive Bryant has stated "We want to make Shakespeare as energetic and colourful as Spider-man"[2] The aim is not just to aid in English literature classes but also in other areas: Karen Wenborn, the managing director, has said "We, and the teachers we’ve consulted, can visualize huge benefits within the education process using the books, not only for literacy and literature, but also drama, art and history."[3]

In April 2008 Classical Comics signed a distribution deal with book&volume to cover Australia and New Zealand. In June 2008 they announced two further distributions deals. Publishers Group West will be releasing British English and American English versions of Classical Comics' titles in the US and Canada[4] and Ittosha are going to be translating the books into Japanese.[5]

Classical Comics are also adapting their comics into other media and have turned their Macbeth graphic novel into an interactive motion comic with actors like Derek Jacobi and Juliet Stevenson voicing the roles.[6] Jon Haward, the artist on Macbeth and The Tempest, moved into the role of art direction for the Hamlet adaptation, providing character designs and rough page outlines for pencilled David Lorenzo to work with.[7]

Reception

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The National Association for the Teaching of English is supporting the project. "This is a fun way of getting into the stories", the director Ian McNeilly said. "Plays are not meant to be read, but to be seen. The illustrations in these books are an easy way of following what is going on".[8] Wenborn has also reported that focus groups were "incredibly enthusiastic"[9] and The Guardian, who examined the version of MacBeth, has suggested that "it will also, surely, suck some more young readers into the brilliant darkness of this play."[10]

Titles

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Awards

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  • 2008:
    • Won the Silver Medal "Graphic Novel/Drawn Book – Drama/Documentary" Independent Publisher Book Award, for Henry V.[24]
  • 2009:
    • Won the Bronze Medal "Graphic Novel/Drawn Book – Drama/Documentary" Independent Publisher Book Award, for Macbeth.[25]
    • Association of Educational Publishers 2009 Winner - Distinguished Achievement Award in grades 9-12 'Frankenstein'
  • 2010
    • Romeo & Juliet graphic novels win "Distinguished Achievement Award" for Curriculum, Reading and Language Arts, grades 9-12.
  • 2012:
    • 'Wuthering Heights' by Scottish writer Sean Michael Wilson,[26] and hand painted by comic book veteran artist John M Burns, received a nomination for the Stan Lee Excelsior Awards, 2012 voted for by pupils from 170 schools across the UK.
    • Finalist in the Education Resources Awards 2012 for Best Secondary Resource or Equipment - involving ICT Macbeth Interactive Motion Comic[27]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Clive Bryant on Classical Comics Archived 2009-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, November 8, 2007
  2. ^ Then lend the eye an easy aspect Archived 2007-12-09 at the Wayback Machine, Times Educational Supplement, August 17, 2007
  3. ^ Classics as graphic novels? Have your say! Archived 2007-08-02 at the Wayback Machine, National Association for the Teaching of English, June 29, 2007
  4. ^ Classical Comics To Launch In The USA And Canada With Pgw Archived 2008-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, Booktrade.info, June 11, 2008
  5. ^ Classical Comics Reverses The Flow! Graphic Novels To Be Published In Japanese Archived 2008-06-27 at the Wayback Machine, Booktrade.info, June 23, 2008
  6. ^ Flood, Alison (1 March 2010). "Schools test 'interactive graphic novel' version of Macbeth". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  7. ^ Jordan, Melanie C. "Jon Haward". Imagine Daily. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  8. ^ To be or not to be dumb, The Sunday Tribune, September 2, 2007
  9. ^ Shakespeare gets comic treatment, BBC, May 11, 2007
  10. ^ Something wicked this way comes, The Guardian, February 25, 2008
  11. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  12. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  13. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  14. ^ Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life
  16. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  17. ^ Talking Classical Comics with Declan Shalvey Archived 2008-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Comics Bulletin, November 20, 2008
  18. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  19. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  20. ^ "Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life". Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  21. ^ "Dracula - Graphic Novel (Paperback)".
  22. ^ "An Inspector Calls - Graphic Novel (Paperback)".
  23. ^ "The Importance of Being Earnest - Graphic Novel (Paperback)".
  24. ^ Announcing 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results
  25. ^ Announcing 2009 IPPY Awards National and Regional Results
  26. ^ Sean Michael Wilson
  27. ^ http://www.besa.org.uk/library/press-release-education-resources-awards-2012-shortlist[permanent dead link]

References

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