Richard III includes more than the play. At the beginning of the book there is a list of characters with their defining lines and a Royal family tree. This gives the characters context.

The book and its series should appeal to students and Manga fans. It certainly encouraged me, as someone who does not read Shakespeare for leisure at home, to do so. Manga Shakespeare is also an accessible introduction to the study of Shakespeare’s original text"
- Simon Barrett, WriteAway.com (July 2008)

“I AM DETERMINED TO PROVE A VILLAIN,” Richard III vows from the start. He seizes the English Crown by plotting the murders of his brother, his nephew and niece, the sons of his brother King Edward IV and poisoning his own wife. Richard’s defeat at Bosworth in 1485 ended the internecine Wars of the Roses and began the Tudor reign. This epic history play portrays a scheming and seductive rogue in one of the bloodiest chapters of the British monarchy.