Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Jane Austen in Manga and Comics
Please welcome Kai from Fiction State of Mind!
Austen Illustrated
Hello Everyone! Happy August! Austen In August has become one of my favorite events over the year. I love reading all the posts and book reviews from fellow bloggers. Today I’m going to talk about a version of Austen’s classics in a way you may not have experienced before: Manga & Comics.
Udon’s Manga Classics
Udon has released two adaptations of Austen’s work so far: Pride & Prejudice and Emma. Pride & Prejudice was an interesting adaptation. The creators transformed the story into traditional manga style, so you see lots of starry eyes and blushing cheeks. Darcy especially is given the long, lean Hero look though his face is often in a dark scowl. The manga version does a great job at revealing when Darcy first notices his attraction to Elizabeth. Despite that scene I felt some of the passion from the novel was lacking in the manga but overall it was very enjoyable.
Emma however adapts beautifully to the manga format. Emma’s whimsical personality and matchmaking dramas play well with the manga look. The writer of this adaptation also does a great job adapting the mental condition of Emma’s Father. It is very obvious in the Manga adaptation that he has a nervous condition and worries excessively. The care that Knightly takes to make him at ease is very sweet.
Marvel Adaptations
In 2010 & 2011 Marvel did some stellar adaptations on some of Austen’s stories.
Sense & Sensibility
The artist on this series really captures the angst and longing of Elinor & Marianne’s individual stories. The romance is wonderfully expressed as well as the resolution.
Northanger Abbey
Another Marvel adaptation that captures the essence of the main character very well Catherine’s innocence and imaginations show up very well on the comic page.
The Emma manga by Udon Entertainment was recently available on Netgalley and can also be found on most digital devices and in bookstores as well as the Pride & Prejudice adaptation. The Marvel adaptations came out about five years ago and should be available at your local library or from Marvel.com. I hope you give one of these versions a try.
Happy Reading and Happy Austen in August!
Roof Beam Reader 
Thanks for this interesting post! I would love the Northanger Abbey Marvel edition! I’ll be looking out for that one.
Happy Austen in August to you!!
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Whaaaaat Emma is also on Netgalley?! REQUESTING NOW.
I’ll have to also give the Marvel copies a try at some point!
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Kind of reminds me of the M*A*S*H episode where a young soldier is reading the ‘classic comics’ version of Moby Dick. I think it has possibilities for introducing the new generations to classic literature.
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I love manga and Austen, and seeing them coincide is exciting. I can almost envision how well Darcy translated to manga illustration. Also the Marvel illustration for S&S is so wonderfully spot on. I laughed at how “gothic” Marianne’s background is. Elinor’s on the other hand reminds me of that phrase “still waters run deep”. Lots of thought put into that one.
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I loved the Manga Classics versions! The art was great and besides it was fun to see Mrs. Bennet with stars and sparkling eyes every time she is watching a future son-in-law. There is a Marvel adaptation of Pride and Prejudice 🙂
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This is great! I’ve read P&P&Zombies, but that’s the only graphic adaptation I have read. I thought it was meh and have been skeptical about trying any others. You’ve convinced me to give the Marvel ones a chance.
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