The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0419 Friday, 29 June 2007
From: Dan Venning <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Wednesday, 27 Jun 2007 22:13:28 -0400
Subject: 18.0413 Classical Comics
Comment: Re: SHK 18.0413 Classical Comics
Graphic novels and comic strips have become quite literary in the last
decade or so--by literary, here, I mean conscious of and referencing
classics in literature.
Graphic novels and comic books are themselves often written like film
scripts; for an example, here are a few pages from a 1997 script for the
kids' comic THE TICK:
http://homepage.mac.com/dmcduffie/site/Tick_vs._Auld_Lang_Syne_Sc.html.
My colleague at the Graduate Center (we're in the Theatre Department)
recently presented a paper on the theatricality of a particular graphic
novel--I haven't yet read her paper, but it won a major graduate student
prize.
Neil Gaiman in particular has made a lot of use of Shakespeare and
Renaissance history and literature in his works. His epic SANDMAN (a
complete series in 10 graphic novels, the main themes are dreaming and
storytelling), one of the best comics ever, in my opinion, has several
sections on Shakespeare and on Renaissance history and characters. At
one point, we see W.S. and the first performance of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S
DREAM, and the final episode closing the comic is W.S. paying a special
debt to the Sandman.
SANDMAN was written for DC Comics, but recently Gaiman published a novel
with Marvel called 1602, in which he imagines the central Marvel
superheroes (X-men, Daredevil, Spidey, etc.) in the year 1602, in
England. I haven't fully read this one, but browsing it was fascinating.
Dan Venning
_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>
DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them.
