By William Shakespeare, adapted by K. Briggs (Avery Hill Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-910395-73-8 (HB)
Depending on how you liken it, William Shakespeare may be one of the most prolific comic scripters in the business. His mighty works have been staged and adapted as graphic narratives for decades in every language you might consider, and frequently allow contemporary artistic collaborators opportunity to be bold, experimental and vibrantly daring.
This is certainly the case with the lovingly crafted vision of American illustrator, performer and educator K. Briggs (Resistance, The New Chapter Tarot) who opts for colour-blind and gender-balanced casting to recount a visually striking and vivid interpretation which makes Scotland itself a player in the mix. Combining the full text with an abundance of mixed media including collage, paints, markers and pure linework, in a procession of nature-informed, magically-motif-ed page designs referencing ancient charts and maps, Illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, Tarot iconography, medical grimoires, nigh-abstract mood-enhancing tableaux and found historical artworks. These function as a moving backdrop to the actors unfolding the tale before your eyes.
What you already know: valiant general Macbeth meets three witches after saving the kingdom of his liege lord Duncan, and comes away with the notion that he will be King instead. Egged on by greed, ambition and his wife, the Thane of Cawdor personally kills the King whilst the monarch graces them with a visit. The red trail includes framing the guards and heirs and then progressively removing all threats to his reign.
However, both he and his Lady cannot escape their own consciences and the witches’ prophecy leads to delusion, disaster, derangement and death, but never glory…
As far as we can tell, Macbeth was first performed in 1606, written for Shakespeare’s patron King James I of England/VI of Scotland. It is an epic tragedy of ill-starred political ambition, the psychological costs of guilt, the consequences of betrayal and inevitability of tyranny, all wrapped up in veneer of supernatural horror.
The story is one of the greatest in world literature, but also a studied hatchet job, with the Bard shamelessly currying favour by ignoring facts and bigging up James’ distant ancestor and antecedent Macduff. The text first appeared in print in the Folio of 1623, but there have been plenty of editions since then.
The immortal story has frequently made it into comics form. If you’re one of the precious few people unfamiliar with the tale in its intended format (firstly, shame on you and secondly, go watch it right now; there are many excellent filmed versions in every possible language), this imaginatively welcoming rendition is extremely enthralling and powerful…
Moreover, the plot lends itself to many eras and milieux. You may even have already enjoyed it in epics as varied as Joe MacBeth (UK 1951), Throne of Blood (Japan 1957), Teenage Gang Debs (USA 1966), Men of Respect (USA 1991), and Mandaar (India 2021), amongst so many more interpretations – or even thematically as Blackadder Season 1…
Maybe you have seen it all before, but this is better….
Or if you will permit, “By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Wicked your way comes…”
© K. Briggs, 2023. All rights reserved.
Macbeth will be published on 23rd July 2023 and is available for pre-order now.