Adding value to the package, the graphic novel includes short articles on Shakespeare, the historical background to the play, and the Globe theatre.

Whether you’re looking for support materials to help English Lit students studying the play, or you want to acquaint yourself with one of the classics in a painless way, this graphic novel is highly recommended. Five stars.
Rating: 5 / 5

Jon Haward’s art offers the reader a wonderful array of images that jump from the page and truly enhance the story telling – his “witches” are of particular note. This is supported by the vibrant colour pallet of Nigel Dobbyn who has captured both the dark depths of the play while also bringing the action to life.

The book is rounded out with an excellent research/notes section.

This is a fine addition to any bookshelf whether you are a comic reader, Shakespeare buff or are studying the text. I look forward to further additions to the Classical Comics line.
Rating: 5 / 5

Rating: 5 / 5

I thought that the short introductory sections (a few words at the beginning of each scene) helped summarise and make sense of the action, and were particularly useful for a first experience of Shakespeare, which can be rather dry to read.

My son liked Macbeth, but he did say if I bought any more of these books, could I buy the “ordinary english” version.

I would still recommend it for those coming to Shakespeare for the first time, provided they are keen on graphic novels, particularly as a precursor to seeing a production.
Rating: 4 / 5

It is in a different league from all the other ‘how to make comics’ texts out there, which are usually really just ‘how to draw in a manga/superhero/my style’.

Instead he merges theory with practice in a very accessible and engaging way, covering panels, text/image, facial expression, body language, environment, process, technique, genre and style, with a very useful bibliography.

If this book had existed when I was at art college I would have saved myself literally months of time figuring all of this out for myself, but even now I found it incredibly informative and useful.

An absolute must for all aspiring comics artists.
Rating: 5 / 5

But building a story around the illustrations, that seems like a trip to the planet Neptune to me. I was very pleased to find that Scott McCloud is very good at explaining (and illustrating) the creative and production processes he uses. I was delighted when I realized that he had also described how an individual could make a few comics to share with friends.

With computer art getting to be easier to do, I can see that there’s even hope for those of us who couldn’t draw out way out of a paper bag.

Mr. McCloud has the kind of mind that sees everything in perspective, in this case as facets of an overall story-telling task. He always has the goal of engaging the reader in mind and relates his points well to that purpose.

The work is impressive at another level . . . it’s a masterpiece of providing instruction. The book shows more than tells, as a book about comics should do.

If Mr. McCloud ever tires of making comic books and graphic novels, he should go into explaining non-fiction subjects. He would make a fortune!
Rating: 5 / 5

Is.

Great.

Now let me explain why:

I remember picking up this book ages ago, taking one look at the cartoony interior and putting it back on the shelf. I was very much unimpressed with the drawing style inside and it was far beneath my discerning tastes.

Of course…I was an idiot back then.

Now being a little bit older and a lot wiser, I’ve finally cottoned on to what exactly this book is about.

It’s not there to teach you how to draw, there are a gazillion other ways to learn how to do THAT, this is here to teach you how to ‘draw words and write pictures’ and it delivers on that promise and then some.

You can take this book in two ways. You can either; a) dip in here and there and extract the bits of information that you need (though i would recommend reading it all once through at least once) or b) take it as it was intended and work through it as you would any other course. Each chapter is similarly laid out to a tutor’s lecture and it followed up with a set of ‘homework’ assignments.

Sounds boring and a lot of hard work but -hey- if you’re doing comics, hard work is the way to go. The effort is worth it. Nearly everything in this book is just the sense your mother raised you with but you will find yourself reading it and saying “oh, RIIIIIGHT…”. It makes sense of things that can otherwise be undefinable and helps you learn things that you might otherwise have dismissed as being purely instinctive and impossible to learn.

I could go on like this for quite some time, but i do beleive there is a word limit, so i shall finish with this:

If you’re serious about getting into comics and learning the art for what it is -seemlessly combining good writing with good art- then you need this book.

BUY IT!
Rating: 5 / 5