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Classical Comics have launched a new range of classical works in comic form with the publication of Henry V, a graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare's most famous history play.

Having been told by young readers that they were bored by the Bard, Classical Comics set out to make Shakespeare as energetic and colourful as Spider-Man. With its new series of graphic novel adaptations of literary classics, Classical Comics has succeeded in bringing Henry V - arguably Shakespeare's most powerful, popular and compelling history play - to life, with striking full-colour artwork depicting the drama, emotion and action scenes in an exciting, captivating way.

Three Versions

With literacy levels in schools, and amongst school leavers, at an all time low, Classical Comics has devised a revolutionary three-tier dialogue approach as an invaluable classroom teaching tool. Each book is published in three versions: Original Text – the full, unabridged script; Plain Text – a modern English version of the original script; and Quick Text – with reduced, simplified dialogue for easier and faster reading. Clive Bryant, of Classical Comics, explains the thinking behind this: 'We wanted to spread a joy and appreciation of literacy, and particularly to target readers in key stages 2 and 3.

Often children of that age are forced to read Shakespeare, but they struggle to get past the language. The comic book format and three text versions will undoubtedly help with their understanding. By providing these three text versions, which are all on the same artwork, we allow a reader to absorb the story at Quick Text level, proceed onto Plain English, and then onto the Original script. That way, they understand the play and can appreciate the beautiful language that Shakespeare used. We believe that we've created a way for readers to enjoy these fantastic stories regardless of their age or their reading ability'.

Not wanting to patronise its readers, and mindful of the sanctity of the original text, Classical Comics carried out a large amount of research to arrive at the right approach with its books.

The response from teachers, parents and young people themselves has been extremely positive; three schools are currently road testing the books: Olveston Primary School, Gloucestershire, Ingleton Middle School, Lancashire and City of Ely Community College, Cambridgeshire. Teaching resources, in the form of both hard-copy ready-made lesson plans for teachers, and interactive whiteboard toolkits, are available with each book.

"Marvellous"

Here's what some commentators have made of the graphic novel versions of classics from Classical Books so far:

"What a marvellous way to bring Shakespeare to new audiences. Bridging 400 years with a graphic pen is brilliant." - Barbara Romer, founder of The New Globe Theater, New York.

"For those reluctant to tackle the original prose of older books, these adaptations introduce them to the great works of literature." - www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk

"The books bring cinematic excitement to every line to inspire young minds. Simply brilliant." - Robert J Williamson, British Shakespeare Company.

"Now why didn't somebody think of this before? An inspired idea..." - Scott Tingley, Comics in the Classroom, Canada.

"This is a fun way of getting into the stories" - Ian McNeilly, National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE).

Probably most famously known outside the theatre for Laurence Olivier's performance in the 1944 feature film version - a long-time favourite introduction to the play in schools - Henry V is just the first of Classical Comics' range of graphic novel adaptations of well-known book 'standards'. Other great literary novels receiving the same treatment include: Macbeth (due February 2008), Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (due Spring 2008), Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (both due Summer 2008).

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