‘Tragic Volume 1’ by Dana Mele with art by Valentina Pinti is a graphic novel that reimagines Shakespeare's Hamlet through a contemporary lens.

Harper’s dad has died and Harper suspects it’s murder. Harper is now seeing his father as a ghost, and the ghost confirms this. Now, hanging out in his father’s old theater, The Elsinore, it’s up to Harper to figure it out. If you are familiar with Hamlet, you will know the typical suspects.

It’s a fun spin on a classic with some interesting characters. The art works, and I enjoyed it.

I actually hated the art style in this, which was a personal problem! I ended up not finishing it. Two stars because I think if you like the art style you will enjoy the book.

A little too much for me and my students. I recommend this one for high school and above. The Teen rating fits this one.

4 stars for an interesting and different graphic novel series~

This wasn't particularly my cup of tea, but it was different. This was definitely better as a graphic novel than it would have been as maybe a middle grade book or a novel, but there were parts that were not so captivating. It fell flat at times.

I was not able to finish reading my ARC copy however due to the limitations of viewing with Adobe.* However, from the portion that I had been able to view, this was definitely worth the read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Legendary Comics for providing a digital ARC for review!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

I went into this with little knowledge on the graphic novel or author but enjoyed it more than I thought. Although the story felt a little rushed and sometimes confusing in places. I found it left me wanting to pick up and read the next edition after ending on a cliffs hanger. I found the characters, enjoyable but not loveable. I also enjoyed the tone and style of the graphic novel. 

I read afterwards this is supposed to be a queer retelling of Hamlet which does infact help it make a bit more sense. Looking forward to seeing what's next in the series.

I didn't particularly enjoy this book. I was really excited about the concept, a modern take on Hamlet, but it didn't feel quite as I expected. The pacing is way too fast and I couldn't really feel like the characters were growing on me because of that. I appreciated the LGBTQ+ representation and I did feel like that made it more interesting. That being said, and having read Hamlet, I wish there had been more of an inspiration on Hamlet's character too, I would have liked to see a more philosophical main character, reflecting more on her choices.

I enjoyed the artwork but I couldn’t see how this retold Hamlet. I think I got a little confused with all the different characters. It was ok but not a huge favourite for me.

This was so moving and fast paced. I didn’t really know what to expect but it kept me fully hooked and I really loved how it kicked straight in.

A new dark retelling of Hamlet, I am sure that there are many who would truly enjoy this graphic novel.

Unfortunately I am not one of those people.

I received a complimentary copy from Legendary Comics and all opinions expressed are entirely my own

This is a retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet and follows Harper and a baffling murder case. Harper's dad is dead
and because it's unsolved ,he comes back as a ghost to help Harper with the investigation. Imaginative, fast-paced , engrossing and wonderfully written. This book is perfect for Hamlet fans. Recommend it!

This haunted murder mystery graphic novel is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Harper Hayes' father has died, and she is suspicious of her mother, uncle, and her dad's business partner. When the ghost of Harper's father visits her, dressed as he was in his Shakespearian actor days, she is convinced he was murdered. Through discussions with her father's ghost, and the help of her friends, Holden, Talia, and Liam, Harper begins to piece together clues and her memories of her last conversation with her father. At the end of the first volume, she knows the murder weapon, but not the identity of the murderer, and another clue may have just been destroyed.

This is an engaging tale with lovely art and interesting twists. The characters are all equally suspicious, including her friends and maybe Harper herself, and I'm curious to see how the rest of the story will differ from the original Hamlet tale.

This comic was interesting and I really like the idea of it! A gender flipped, contemporary Hamlet retelling with queer characters! The murder was also intriguing as I thought I knew who the killer was throughout but the ending completely through me off! However, there was something about the comic where I couldn’t get fully engrossed in it. Unfortunately I couldn’t find myself connecting with the characters and I found it difficult to read on because of that. Nevertheless I do want to find out who the murderer is so I might pick up later volumes!
Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a digital arc of this book!

3.5 stars 🌟

My life is a Shakespearean tragedy.

Oh same Harper, same.

Harper's dad winds up dead and due to his unresolved murder,he comes back as a ghost to help Harper with the investigation. Harper has to team up with her ex girlfriend T, her friend (with a few benefits) and T's brother to solve this case. Someone is lying and they need to figure out why.

For a book with a plot this grim, this book was actually hilarious. The characters had these one liners that had me cracking up.

Okay, the illustrations were gorgeous! We also got a main character who was clearly a member of the LGBTQIA so yay!! 🎉🎉
And I liked the cliffhanger ending.

However, this story was a little too convoluted for me.I found out it was a Hamlet or Hamilton retelling which I haven't explored so maybe the confusion was also on me, but I feel like this story could have been simplified further( since it's a YA comic).

With that cliffhanger, I'm eager for the next volume.

I didn’t know what to expect when starting this book. I don’t often read graphic novels but I would like to read more.
This was a nice graphic novel, I was interested in the story. It is a mystery, they try to find the killer(s) of their fathers. The art style is great and made it fun and easy to get through.
I was intrigued and would like to know how the story develops further.

I was curious about this retelling and the representation but just couldn’t get into it. It felt like a chore to get through it.

I have seen some positive reviews though so it’s clearly just not my thing.

Tragic is a retelling of Hamlet, set in the modern day, which pretty much follows the original story as closely as possible. In all, I liked this one, but not much more. While it didn’t try to do anything at all revolutionary with the plot or characters, reading it was a good way to pass the time. But as I said: I only ever really liked this one. Perhaps it was the format, perhaps because it didn’t do much new with the story. Either way, a decent enough read, but nothing really special.

Thank you, Legendary Comics, for allowing me to read TRAGIC early!

It's an interesting plot, but the art-style put me off. I'd like to know how it continues, especially, after that ending, though.

An imaginative and clever retelling of Hamlet. I liked the touches of humor and the modernization of the story, but I wish there was a stronger ending.

A super fun and imaginative queer retelling of Hamlet! The art here really shines-- Valentina Pinti's art and Chiara di Francia's coloring are both distinctive and eye-catching-- and effectively supports the clever, often hilarious, writing. I can't wait to see where this goes!

This was entertaining enough, but I wasn't super into it either. I love Hamlet and it was really fun to see it brought into our modern world and gender flipped. I wish it wasn't volumes and that it had been a longer graphic novel to cover the full story, because we land on a real cliffhanger. I'm not sure yet if I'll pick up vol 2 or not.