In another play, Hamlet said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Hamlet had clearly never seen the art in this book, which is, in every way, terrible. Graphic novels are a great way to introduce Shakespeare and other classic texts to people who are not quite comfortable with Elizabethan English, but, to work, the art has to be at least moderately appealing and the story board must be laid out well. This attempt was a failure. ( )

Classic take & great artwork! ( )

A graphic novel version of my favorite Shakespeare play would have a fair chance of winning me over, and this one does. The art is very engaging and the characters distinct. There are a few times where I would have directed the characters differently, but I'm sure that any Shakespeare-lover has their own idea of which lines should be said with which emphasis. The artists have done a great job with many of the pivotal scenes and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who wants a somewhat more accessible way of reading The Bard. This edition has the original text, but there are two other versions available as well, one in "Plain Text" which has the same lines but using modern English and one in "Quick Text" which gives the bare minimum to understand the storyline. ( )

Macbeth: the graphic novel by Shakespeare is a famous play accompanied by illustrations. The original text version keeps the inspired quality telling the tragedy of a Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy that he will become King of Scotland. Influenced by his wife and impatient aspiration he murders the current king and takes the throne for himself. While he is king he feels guilty and becomes paranoid. He must continue to murder eventually leading to his own death. This book is also offered in other versions such as quick text which is a simplified version. I found the artistic quality to be amazing full of color and clean lines. Having the pictures to go along with the dialogue made the story a lot easier to follow. The Dramatis Personae page gives a character line up with pictures. Some of the language is a little hard to follow, however this would be a unique and successful way of introducing Shakespeare to a reluctant reader. Grade 9 and up. ( )

You can read Shakespeare better in any edition, which clearly should not be at issue, so the real question is how well the book succeeds in the translation to sequential art. It does not. The quality of the art, the artist's sense of pacing and composition, the use of light, shadow, and color -- every aspect of the medium is at best below average in this adaptation and detracts from the telling of the story. This is the gravest sin in comics. ( )