Classical Comics - Bringing classics to life

Classical Comics News Archive 2009 News archives for other years are available here: 2008 2007 Click here for the current news page
20th October 2009	Sir Derek Jacobi recommends Classical Comics for any student of Shakespeare This is what the fabulous Sir Derek Jacobi said about our books (and in particular, Macbeth: "The concept of Classical Comics is truly inspirational. The stage and page are brought vividly to life. The artwork of Jon Haward is both dramatically compelling and beautifully illustrative. His pictures illuminate the words to perfection and bring these great works leaping to mind and eye. This format is immediate, vital, energetic and engaging. Highly recommended for any student of Shakespeare!"

28th September 2009	The Tempest also ready to ship! Hot on the heels of Romeo & Juliet just a couple of weeks ago, The Tempest is the latest one of our offspring to grow up and leave the production nest. Orders and review copies going out today. The Tempest

10th September 2009	Romeo & Juliet ready to ship! At long last, Romeo and Juliet is finally ready to ship. Orders and review copies will go out over the next 10 days. Romeo & Juliet

7th September 2009	The Tempest goes to print Hot on the heels of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest is now printed and is sitting at the printer, awaiting binding. Again, sorry for the slight delay on this title – but (trust me) it's well worth the wait! The Tempest

18th August 2009	Romeo & Juliet goes to print After years of hard toil, blood, sweat and tears (OK, maybe just toil), the UK edtions of Romeo and Juliet began to roll off the presses on Monday. Thank you to all those patient customers who have waited for this title - it will soon be here. Romeo & Juliet

20th July 2009	Turkish (Blood) Bath Our first foreign language translation - Macbeth in Turkish! Published by the media arm of the Turkish TV Channel NTV, this is the first book in a series of translations from our titles. Ah... Turkish Delight! (If anyone is interested in getting a copy, the ISBN is 978-605-5813-24-6)

16th June 2009	First Award for Frankenstein Frankenstein received its first award, given by the Association of Educational Publishers in America, for Distinguished Achievement in grades 9-12 (see list of winners here). Every notable educational publisher enters these awards, so to win on our first attempt is a great accomplishment; and is a demonstration that what we're doing is worthwhile, after all!

29th May 2009	Bronze IPPY award for Macbeth We chalked up another award for Macbeth in the 2009 Independent Publishers Awards ("IPPY" Awards) on Friday 29th May, at a ceremony held in New York. Along with the British Design and Production Award last year, this marks the second award for Macbeth. (incidentally, the only thing I "picked up" that night was the award......honest!)

9th May 2009	Et tu, Brute? Where better to sign a contract than the Bristol Comic Show? Sean O'Connor (on the left, in case you don't know what I look like by now!) is to pencil Julius Caesar for publication in 2010. And, what an artist! Take a look at some of his wonderful work here: Julius Caesar.

9th May 2009	A Midsummer Night's Dream The Midsummer Night's Dream project has finally begun! Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson have wanted to work on this title for over two years now. I took the opportunity for a photo to mark the occasion while at the Bristol Comics Show - and if you look closely on the table, you can see a sample page. A better view of that page can be seen here: A Midsummer Night's Dream.

28th March 2009	Congratulations to Lindy Newns! Lindy (on the right) was the lucky winner of our "one of everything" prize at the Education Show 2009. Here she presents the books to Rosemarie Taylor (on the left), the librarian at Lea Manor High School, Luton. I'm sure the books will be hugely popular with the pupils there.

13th February 2009	Pip? Pip? Hooray!!!! Great Expectations Goes to Print Finally, the labour of love that has been Great Expectations has passed proofing stage and is ready to print. This is our largest book to date - 140 pages of stunning, detailed artwork by the masterful John Stokes, and colour finished by the ever talented Jason Cardy. Together, from Jen Green's script, they've created a masterpiece. See for yourself! Previews are available here: Original Text Preview (12 pages, 5.5Mb) Quick Text Preview (12 pages, 4.5Mb)

30th January 2009	See us at the Education Show (NEC, 26-28 March 2009) Once again, we'll be at the Education Show at the NEC, located in the Publishing Zone. Come along to stand PZ-G60 and see copies of our new release, Great Expectations - plus we'll have some special show offers for visitors to the stand.

16th January 2009	Frankenstein Quick Text to go into 2nd edition. Only three months since it was first printed, sales have exceeded our estimates and we're having to reprint the Quick Text version of Frankenstein! The title is proving to be hugely popular, which is hardly surprising when you see the wonderful artwork from Declan Shalvey, Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson....which is why we're bringing the "Dream Team" back together for Sweeney Todd (you can take a look at that title here).