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librarimans's review against another edition
5.0
An amazing retelling of Romeo and Juliet filtered through the lens of hip hop culture, urban slang, and samurai movies told from the perspective of Tybalt (the Prince of Cats). Wimberly is nothing short of amazing here both on writing (mixing the aforementioned slang into Shakespearean verse) and the art. This should not be missed.
hanconcan's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
florizona's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The art is Peak Awesomeness- so much action and expression in a very fresh art style. This may be my new favorite Romeo & Juliet adaptation. The focus on Tybalt is also a fresh twist- and the insult-trading at the fair, just brilliant. I love it, I love it. 😻
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Murder
tmeysenburg's review against another edition
5.0
Hip-hop times sword play plus brief nudity to the power of Shakespeare dialog equals brilliance!
krpollard's review against another edition
3.0
A cool modern take on Shakespeare's enduring tale. The drawings were of particular note -- Wimberly makes excellent use of his panels and perspective to draw on the power of storytelling.
droar's review against another edition
5.0
Woooooaaaaahhhhh! This was super amazing and made my head hurt a bit (been a long time since I had to read Shakespeare style). The art styles jump around a bit which was confusing at points, but still amazing. The dialogue, oh man the dialogue is sublime. A perfect mix of Shakespeare words, Shakespeare's style,and modern slang. At one point Juliet tells the wonder woman/batman/invisible man joke in Shakespearean and it's perfect. I want more of this and more of everything Ron Wimberly has worked on.
nglofile's review against another edition
2.0
I'd been forewarned to temper expectations, but the angle had such promise. There are modern retellings of Romeo and Juliet aplenty, even those set amidst urban hip-hop generations, but from the perspective of oft-maligned Tybalt? Anyone willing to play with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-ing an overplayed story has my attention.
What works: Think Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet blended with The Get Down
~ immersive setting and period detail
~ integration of Shakespeare's dialogue without apology
~ kinetic energy of the images and panels to convey youthful recklessness
~ surprisingly, keeping true to swordplay in conflict rather than common substitute of guns
~ impactful moments, such as when a recently deceased character is referenced as a soul "but a little way above our heads" (credit: Will S.) and the next panel zooms out to depict a pair of bloodstained kicks dangling from the telephone wires over the speaker
What's questionable:
~ scrambling the timeline: dramatic license is one thing, significantly altering context and motive is another
~ female characters: I'm all for expanding both number and contributions of the women, but the execution tended toward the stereotypical and gratuitous
~ lack of signposts for the reader to follow jumps in actions and consequences
~ most disappointing? Despite being centralized, Tybalt is only marginally more developed than in Shakespeare's telling.
format note: Reading this digitally was a chore. The movable fuzzy area of magnification was both inadequate and a constant pulling out of the narrative. 'Action view' is a non-option, as I'd discovered with a previous title, because it compromises the creators' vision of how the panelling size, flow, and interplay contributes to the story. Until the tools catch up to the medium, I'll wait for print, no matter the delay.
What works: Think Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet blended with The Get Down
~ immersive setting and period detail
~ integration of Shakespeare's dialogue without apology
~ kinetic energy of the images and panels to convey youthful recklessness
~ surprisingly, keeping true to swordplay in conflict rather than common substitute of guns
~ impactful moments, such as when a recently deceased character is referenced as a soul "but a little way above our heads" (credit: Will S.) and the next panel zooms out to depict a pair of bloodstained kicks dangling from the telephone wires over the speaker
What's questionable:
~ scrambling the timeline: dramatic license is one thing, significantly altering context and motive is another
~ female characters: I'm all for expanding both number and contributions of the women, but the execution tended toward the stereotypical and gratuitous
~ lack of signposts for the reader to follow jumps in actions and consequences
~ most disappointing? Despite being centralized, Tybalt is only marginally more developed than in Shakespeare's telling.
format note: Reading this digitally was a chore. The movable fuzzy area of magnification was both inadequate and a constant pulling out of the narrative. 'Action view' is a non-option, as I'd discovered with a previous title, because it compromises the creators' vision of how the panelling size, flow, and interplay contributes to the story. Until the tools catch up to the medium, I'll wait for print, no matter the delay.
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
greenrain's review against another edition
2.0
The action was difficult to follow. I couldn't keep characters straight. Women's bodies were used just to titillate. Interesting idea, but not executed very well.