Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
By Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal
Paperback with flaps, 128 pp, £12.99
"I realised I was leading a double life..."
Robert Louis Stevenson liked to tell the story of how The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) came to him one night in a dream, while staying, for the sake of his health, in the provincial English seaside town of Bournemouth. He wrote the first draft in three days – then burned it when his wife suggested some changes. The second version was finished by the end of the week, and has scarcely been out of print since.
The 'double life' that the book's hero (the respectable doctor Henry Jekyll) finds himself leading was something that Stevenson himself knew all about: the confined invalid who pioneered the art of travel writing; the clergyman's grandson who decadently slummed it in Edinburgh's fleshpots; the Scottish writer spuriously known by a French middle name... Well, we all have something to hide – though few of our secrets are as dreadful as Dr. Jekyll's. This dynamic graphic novel adaptation by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal stays eerily faithful to the creeping chill of the London streets where Stevenson's story was originally set.
Robert Louis Stevenson liked to tell the story of how The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) came to him one night in a dream, while staying, for the sake of his health, in the provincial English seaside town of Bournemouth. He wrote the first draft in three days – then burned it when his wife suggested some changes. The second version was finished by the end of the week, and has scarcely been out of print since.
The 'double life' that the book's hero (the respectable doctor Henry Jekyll) finds himself leading was something that Stevenson himself knew all about: the confined invalid who pioneered the art of travel writing; the clergyman's grandson who decadently slummed it in Edinburgh's fleshpots; the Scottish writer spuriously known by a French middle name... Well, we all have something to hide – though few of our secrets are as dreadful as Dr. Jekyll's. This dynamic graphic novel adaptation by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal stays eerily faithful to the creeping chill of the London streets where Stevenson's story was originally set.
Andrzej Klimowski
Andrzej Klimowski studied at St Martin's School of Art in London and at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. He has designed posters for theatres and film distributors in Poland, and book covers and illustrations for publishers in the UK. He is the author (with Danusia Schejbal) of Behind the Curtain, The Master and Margarita, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Robot. His own graphic novels include The Depository, The Secret and Horace Dorlan. Klimowski is Emeritus Professor at the Royal College of Art.
Danusia Schejbal
Danusia Schejbal was born in London. After studying fashion and textiles at the Ealing School of Art, she gained a postgraduate degree in stage design at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. She worked for major theatres in Poland before returning to the UK and designing for The Cherub Company. Since then, she has worked as a painter, exhibiting in the UK and Europe. She has collaborated with Andrzej Klimowski on the graphic novels Robot, The Master and Margarita, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Behind the Curtain.
Reviews
"The monochromatic art helps to evoke the feeling of the period. Even the use of black and white and the mix of greys is highly appropriate to the subject, while the art depicts a suitable mix of elegance and the more horrific."
— Forbidden Planet International
"Iconic Polish illustrator Andrzej Klimowski here re-teams with Danusia Schejbal to strong, deeply dark effect."
— Metro