Comic superhero muscles in on Macbeth

Published on Saturday 24 May 2008 20:17

IS THIS a samurai sword which I see before me?

The Scottish play has been given a bizarre makeover in a bid to bring the Bard to the Bebo generation.

Macbeth has been transported to a futuristic Tokyo in a comic book version of Shakespeare's masterwork.

In Manga Macbeth the action has been switched from medieval Moray to a "post-nuclear Japan" which is full of grotesque mutants.

In the new, illustrated book, the eponymous monarch is a muscle-bound samurai sword-wielding superhero – while the three witches are shown as hideous mutant lizards.

Similarly, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a scheming geisha in thigh-high boots – while Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a tattooed, blue-skinned warrior with four arms.

The introduction to the tome shows a landscape dominated by bomb-scarred skyscrapers and states: "Macbeth, a great warlord, desires to rule as king in a future world of post-nuclear mutation.

"Spurred on by Lady Macbeth, his wife, he embarks on a killing spree of former friends and rivals until he realises too late that he has been deceived. In this version of Shakespeare's tale of murder and the supernatural, samurai warriors have reclaimed a future world of mutants."

In a move that will rile traditionalists, the snake-faced spellcasters inspect the crashed wreckage of a fighter plane and say: "Here I have a pilot's thumb, wrecked as homeward he did come."

In another scene which is light years away from the original, the bare-chested Macbeth is seen addressing his wife by way of a video link-up.

The beautiful but treacherous spouse is shown unleashing the spirit of an evil Chinese-style dragon, while Banquo is depicted as a cigar-chomping pirate and Macbeth's son is ambushed by a group of star-throwing ninjas.

Despite all this, the majority of the play's most famous lines are presented in their original form including: "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" and "Out damned spot! Out, I say!"

Shakespeare expert Dr Andrew Murphy gave his support to the 21st century revamp of Macbeth. The St Andrews University academic, who co-wrote a book which highlighted the Bard's links to Scotland, said the latest version was following a precedent.

"In the past the story has been moved to medieval Japan for the film Throne Of Blood by the acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa.

"The Manga Macbeth retains a reasonable chunk of the original text while simplifying the story.

"My personal feeling is that anything that would be likely to get kids interested in Shakespeare is a good thing and should be encouraged.

"I certainly don't think it demeans the text in any way.

"It's an interesting project and certainly won't stop people from reading the original text. In fact, it might actually turn people on to it."

The book is set to be translated into several languages and is expected to be distributed across Europe, North America and parts of Asia.

Manga Shakespeare Macbeth will be published by SelfMadeHero next month.