Comic #2159: 2011-04-12

Description

Title: Shakespeare's Hamlet Comic Description

Panel 1: Text at the top: "Shakespeare's Hamlet is based on an older Danish legend about a prince named Amleth." Image: A thick, dark book with the title "GESTA DANORUM" prominently displayed.

Panel 2: Text: "The stories are extremely similar, the major difference being the ending." A checklist appears with the following items:

Main character’s uncle kills his father and marries his mother.
Main character acts weird to avoid suspicion.
King tries to kill main character by sending him away with two men.
Main character returns to kill king.

Panel 3: Text: "Hamlet suffers a tragic death on Laertes’ poison sword after a long period of indecision and mental anguish." Quote bubble from a character: "If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity a while, and in this harsh world… draw thy breath… in pain… to tell my story."

Panel 4: Text: "Amleth nets his enemies in giant wall hangings, lights them on fire, and becomes king." Quote bubble from a character: "Burn bitches burn! Nobody expects nets! Nobody! Hahaha."

Panel 5: Text: "I like to imagine a hybrid where we get the best of both worlds." Character image: A man, in a contemplative pose, says: "To be or not to be… that is the… oh wait. Wait a minute, I'll just net these fuckers."

The comic humorously contrasts the tragic themes of Hamlet with the absurdity of Amleth's method of dealing with his enemies.