ABSTRACT
The lack of blood and gore may be a result of the infamous Comics Code Authority, a censorship mechanism for comics established the year before the Classics Illustrated Macbeth was published, but Gilberton aimed for respectability to such an extent that they might very well have censored themselves anyhow. Classical Comics is also the name of the publisher and it is presumably no coincidence that their name recalls Classics Illustrated. Manga has a mode of visual symbolism distinct from Western comics and perhaps distinct from Western art in general. In the Manga Shakespeare series, there are other configurations that produce more sophisticated and more complex readings of their models; some could be mistaken for original Japanese manga, others are more debatable approximations of the form. Manga, as a form, can be traced back several centuries, but its current shape, popularity, marketability and identity in Japan is to a great extent the result of one man’s work.
