Teaching Shakespeare Manga Style

Well, I think that teaching Shakespeare Manga has many benefits. Like all comics/ graphic novels, there are visuals that are able to assist in student's comprehension. (This is along the lines of what Rosenblatt and Wilhelm's views are for visualization in the classroom, and I agree with them. I think visuals are so helpful to a wide variety of students)...These links specifically focuses on students with autism; however, visual aids are helpful for a plethora of students who learn with this type of assistance (ELLs, ELS, etc), as well as those who have no "issue" of learning without visuals. There is some pretty interesting stuff, including a lot of theory pertaining to education, in both of these links... http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17687028 ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJt5pWeX6E4
Along with the visual benefits, I like how Manga editions incorporate contemporary ideas. This definitely allows for an easier connection from the reader to the text. When I signed up to take Shakespearean lit, I about had a panic attack. Shakespeare freaked me out and intimidated me soooo much. Only reading a few meager sections of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, I did not have a tremendous background from high school, pertaining to this author. I think the entire aura around Shakespeare was like "oh crap! Shakespeare is so old, the dialog is ridiculously incomprehensible, and we should only glimpse over his work because of the difficulty of it." Hmmm, dang it! Now after being in Shakespearean lit (I have it currently!) I do not feel the same way. I understand his work, and therefore I can appreciate Shakespeare's literature! This is possible because of the way I am being taught it. It kinda sucks that my teachers did not allow me to engage in this literature as much as they could have in the past though. Also, I think that my attitude towards Shakespeare (including me being intimidated) could have been lessened if my teachers would not have treated his work this way.
This is also where Manga comes in. The graphic novel we read gives off a less intimidating, more fun aura than the original text. It also does not make me think, "Oh great, now I have to read Shakespeare..." But rather, it makes me think, "hmmm, I wonder what this is going to be like." The latter is a much better thought, and I think that our students may have a similar response. Also, the Manga edition stays true to the dialect, which I found to be very interesting.
However, the Manga editions of a text do leave out certain scenes, and only depict the main ones that the team who creates the novels feel are important. I think that this limits the students to what they are experiencing. Perhaps one of the "insignificant" scenes within Romeo and Juliet could be the moment where a reader connects to a character, time period, etc. This is really the only negative aspect in using Manga, in my opinion (based solely upon having only one experience with Manga) .
So, I think that using Manga could be very beneficial, especially when introducing Shakespearean literature. There are many aspects of Manga that allow students to ease into Shakespeare. The graphics are able to assist in understanding for a large groups of students and students are able to relate better to the contemporary aspects added into the graphic novel (the motorcycle, watches, the fact that it's placed in Japan, etc). Manga also creates a much less intimidating atmosphere than the original text, without lacking the beauty of Shakespeare's work. I believe that Manga could be used more frequently than just easing into Shakespeare also. Perhaps in addition to original texts, or even by themselves (if there are sections or scenes that are missing in the Manga addition, you could talk about those scenes or find an interesting way of representing the scenes--like setting some sort of perimeter and having your students act our the scenes that are not included in the Manga edition).