Reading Shakespeare in class is drearily routine. The teacher picks on some students, they monotone through it, class is over, the students retain nothing and go read Sparknotes.
In translating Shakespeare to comic book form Ian Pollock must interpet stage direction and consider character development as a director might. To read Shakespeare is to miss both the aural experience and the visual, and necessaraly each players interpretation of his/her role.
I must have come into possession of this graphic novel version of King Lear well over twenty years ago--before graphic novels were "in vogue" and before, much to my dismay, manga was translated into English. Even before then, I was deeply drawn to the story of King Lear and over the years, I find myself returning to it, often during dark times.
