King Richard III goes manga

By John Freeman on February 16, 2013

With the discovery of his body in Leicester last year, interest in the often-much maligned King Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England, is at something of a fever pitch.

The latest temporary exhibition at the Bosworth Heritage Centre in Nuneaton, Richard III: The Making of the Myth, opened to the public on 8th February and offers a stunning manga-styled re-telling of the king’s life and death, drawn by John Aggs.

John created the art for the Leicestershire County Council display and the free exhibition is expected to run until the end of December 2013.

The art is based on both fact and legend and includes Richard’s coronation and his possible connection to the princes in the tower, the art on both fact and legend.

Earlier this month, after months of speculation, Leicester University’s researchers revealed to the world that the skeletal remains discovered beneath a car park in the centre of town, at the old Greyfriars site, were “beyond reasonable doubt” those of King Richard III, last of the Plantagenets.

Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton sees the display as another unique twist on the Richard III story.

He said: “The illustrations are very striking and it is an original look at one of the most famous battles in English history as well as attempting to debunk some of the myths surrounding Richard III.”

The exhibition compliments the main exhibition at Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, where real finds are on display from the 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard met his end.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of expert-talks and events over the coming months. This includes the ever-popular Bosworth Anniversary re-enactment event which this year will be the 528th since the battle and takes place on 17th-18th August.

• The BBC have a gallery of all the images in the exhibition here.

• Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and Country Park is at Sutton Cheney, near Market Bosworth, Nuneaton Leicestershire. Web: www.bosworthbattlefield.com

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.