PRINCE OF CATS is the B side to Shakespeare's Romeo andJuliet,played at an eighties block party in a NY where underground sworddueling blossomed alongside hip-hop,punk,disco,and no wave. It's adeconstruction of Romeo and Juliet's romantic meta narrative focussing on theminor players with Tybalt at the center.RONALD WIMBERLY's critically-acclaimedfirst work,returns with a new cover.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Image ComicsISBN: 9781534312074
MEDIA REVIEWS
BOOK RIOT - This book is gorgeous and textural andincredible. Set in the'80s with a neon color palette to match,Wimberly's work,according to Professor John Jennings who wrote the introduction to the collectededition,"...isn't just a mishmash of things he digs. Yes,it's Romeoand Juliet meets Kurosawa meets The Warriors meets PlanetRock. However,what makes Prince of Cats so innovative is the factthat it acts as a reified index of that Hip Hop culture would manifest itself asvisually...deals with notions of class,race,and gender through this unlikelycourtship of comics,Hip Hop,and the works of Shakespeare...a black speculativespace that explores the construction of black masculinity,notions of good andevil,and the nuanced storytelling methods that are totally part of theaffordances of the comics medium."Thecharacters are almost as kinetic as living actors,with almost impossiblynuanced facial expressions and movement. The language is pure Shakespeare andpure Brooklyn,the connection of past to present,of sonnets to hip-hopflawless.In case you've ever wondered aboutthe book's title: Tybalt shares a name with the character Tybalt/Tibalt,Princeof Cats,from the medieval Reynardthe Fox tales. In them,Tybalt is oftenoutsmarted,and falls prey to,the clever fox. Mercutio uses the sobriquet as aninsult when he hurls it at Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet,foretellingTybalt's rather inglorious end.
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