Three-Panel Plays, part 13

Another Wednesday, another set of Three-Panel Plays. Today, a tragedy and a... OK, nobody really knows what Pericles is supposed to be. Comedy, romance, problem-play. Take your pick.

I'm not a huge fan of Othello, but Emilia is easily one of my favorite characters in the canon. In every performance that I've seen, Emilia has always been positively electric in the final scene, calling out Othello for being an idiot and Iago for being a total scumbag. "Villainy, villainy, villainy! I think upon it, I think. I smell it. O villainy!" You go, Emilia. 

I was lucky enough to see a production of Pericles at the Stratford Festival, which remains the only time I have see the play. It was a totally confusing mish-mash of melodrama and scene changes, but it was also quite a lot of fun. I'll have to track down the BBC TV production and take another look at it. 

Tune in again on Friday, when we'll have a brace of Richards, with the second and third of that name showing up. 

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Three-Panel Plays, part 12

Up to a full dozen of Three-Panel Plays now, with two more comedies.

I am well aware of my limitations as an artist, but I'm still unfathomably pleased with how Bottom eventually turned out. I went through several stick-figure donkey-head drafts, with most of them looking like a demented rabbit or particularly ill-favored rat. 

I've previously taken issue with Claudio in this strip. I mean, OK, you can't really blame a guy for being a gullible idiot, but that hardly excuses his behavior at the wedding. 

Check back on Wednesday, when I'll be reducing Othello and the ever-popular Pericles, Prince of Tyre to their barest elements!

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Three-Panel Plays, part 11

We're on the downward slope of the Three Panel Plays! Only sixteen left to go!

More on Portia's cross-dressing here and here.

....aah! I just realized I left Nerissa out of that cross-dressing comic. Don't worry, I'll go back and add her in. Poor Nerissa - perennial second banana, and she ends up with that jerk, Gratiano.

Falstaff and the buck basket made a cameo apperance in last year's Christmas cartoon. Because grown men hiding in baskets never ceases to be amusing.

Tune in again on Monday for another pair of comedies: A Midsummer's Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing! Apart from Macbeth, all of the "M" plays are comedies. Well, if you think Measure for Measure is funny, that is...

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Three-Panel Plays, part 10

We've finally reached the halfway point of my Three-Panel Plays series! Gosh, that Shakespeare fellow wasn't half prolific, was he? Anyways, 20 down, 18 to go...

Pictured: grisly corpses of Duncan and Banquo. Not pictured: grisly corpses of everyone else. 

It's a comedy, folks. Honestly. Although I did leave out the bit about the severed head. You can read more on that here.

"M" is a very popular letter in Shakespeare's titles. Join us again on Friday, when we'll be taking a very brief look at The Merchant of Venice and The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

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Three-Panel Plays, part 9

A tragedy and a comedy feature in today's Three Panel Plays. 

I'm always surprised by the body count at the end of Lear. I know it's a tragedy, but for some reason I never instinctively associate it with massive amounts of death, like I do Hamlet and Titus Andronicus. And yet, at the end of the play, there are ten corpses, plus a pair of enfranchised eyeballs. That's some serious tragedy. 

"Guys, let's swear not to have anything to do with women for the next three years."
"Hey look! Women!"
"......"

Coming up on Wednesday: murder and mayhem in Macbeth, followed by sex and corruption in Measure for Measure! It's like an HBO marathon. 

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Three-Panel Plays, part 8

The Three-Panel Plays have finally made it past the Henries! Let's get to work summarizing the rest of the canon now, shall we?

Antony is holding Caesar's bloody robe in that second panel. My "bloody robe" drawing skills need work. 

Just for fun, here is an alliterative summary of King John:

Plantagenet Pisses off Pope.
Pesky Prince Plummets Prematurely.
Plantagenet Poisoned by Priest. 

Stop by again on Monday, when we will be taking a look at King Lear and Love's Labour's Lost! 

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Three-Panel Plays, part 7

More Three-Panel Plays today! These are the last ones to have any Henries in them, I promise you.

OK, so I had to cheat on this one. I just couldn't summarize the enormous political complexities of Henry VI, part 3 in just three panels. So I added two more. That was enough.

Tudor-style hats are hard to draw. I would like everyone to know that. 

On Friday, we go Roman for a moment with Julius Caesar, then switch back to Plantagenets - early Plantagenets, this time - with King John.

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Three-Panel Plays, part 6

The latest installment of my Three-Panel Play series takes a look at two of the three Henry VIs. It turns out they're not really that complicated. Not really. 

White for York. Red for Lancaster. Remember that.

Poor old Henry IV never gets a break. Also, for those of you keeping track, this is the play from which we get the famous quote: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers!"

Next up on Wednesday, the final part of Henry VI and Henry VIII! No more Henries after that, I promise you.

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