Kill Shakespeare Creators Appear at Boston Comic Con 2011
Andy Belanger and I are driving down to Boston tomorrow (along with friend and entrepreneur Clement Wan) to take part in this weekend's Boston Comic Con. We're really looking forward to the event and meeting some of our readers, making new fans, and trying some New England Clam Chowder (a MUST for Andy). If you're in the Boston area and would like to check out the Con, swing by the Hynes Convention Centre and visit us at our booth. We'd love to meet and chat with everyone.
Here is the official press release that went out earlier today:
Canadians Extend Shakespeare’s Birth/Death Celebrations in Boston!
Fresh from celebrating the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth and death with the first-ever theatrical presentation of their story, the creators of the IDW Publishing Kill Shakespeare comic book series appear at the 2011 Boston Comic Con this weekend to introduce details of their upcoming issues, recently-secured film development financing, and an exclusive digital promotion. Co-creators Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery worked with Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre to present the first-ever live reading of Kill Shakespeare this past Saturday, April 23rd. Soulpepper, one of the top classic theatre companies in North America, elected to present the work on the 23rd as that day serves as the anniversary of both Shakespeare’s birth and death. “It was incredible to see Kill Shakespeare come alive through the performance of Soulpepper’s exceptional actors,” says co-creator Anthony Del Col. “We have had numerous theatres in the U.S. express interest in doing a stage production of our epic tale and we were glad that it could happen on the Bard’s birth/death day.” In addition, co-creators Del Col and McCreery also received notice late last week that they have received script development funding from The Harold Greenberg Fund. The Fund, which assists Canadian writers in the development of screenplays, is a very prestigious organization that has provided support to filmmakers such as David Cronenberg (The Fly, A History of Violence), Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and Vincenzo Natali (Splice) in past rounds. The project has received a great deal of interest from American and international film companies since the debut of its first issue last April. The first ten issues of the series, described by the New York Times as “gripping, violent and dark fun”, have been released to much acclaim and attention. The first trade paperback, released last November, is now in its second printing and Issue #10 was released April 20th. Co-created and co-written by McCreery and Del Col, the artwork is overseen by Andy Belanger. “It’s an exciting time for our series and I’m excited to appear at the Boston Comic Con this weekend,” says Del Col. “With the theatrical and film initiatives, our story is expanding into new mediums and more people are getting excited about our take on Shakespeare.” Del Col will be at the Comic Con all weekend along with series artist Andy Belanger.About the series: Kill Shakespeare is an adventure story that pits all of Shakespeare’s greatest heroes (including Hamlet, Juliet, Falstaff, Othello, Puck) against the Bard’s most menacing villains (including Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Iago) in a quest to track down and kill – or save – a reclusive wizard by the name of William Shakespeare. Called by Aint it Cool News as, “A great read”, the series has been profiled by The New York Times, NPR, BBC, Wired.com, The Globe and Mail and The Washington Post. It also created controversy last year when Shakespearean scholar (and girlfriend of comics legend Frank Miller) Kimberly Cox railed against the title on popular U.K. comic blog BleedingCool.com, while others – such as Des McAnuff (Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Jersey Boys) are fans of it. Both Del Col and Belanger will be available for interviews during Boston Comic Con. More information about the series can be found at www.killshakespeare.com.