Assassin's Creed #6 Released This Week!
Sorry I've been so silent on this end. Things are really busy with a LOT of projects on the go, and some really cool developments and announcements coming in the near future.But let's not get ahead of myself... I'm here to talk about Assassin's Creed, as our title suggest.ASSASSIN'S CREED #6 is released in comic shops (and online) this week - Wednesday, March 16th. It's the beginning of our second arc, which means we keep some characters (our modern-day tale with Charlotte de la Cruz and her teammates) and introduce new ones. For the latter, it means that we talk Charlotte to the Last Days of the Inca Empire, circa 1536. It's an amazing time in history - and an incredible society - and we focus on a new historical character called Quila, who is a "Chasqui" (a messenger) who is responsible for bringing messages back and forth between locales. The Inca society was quite developed and had created their own form of composed communication, and it's one of these messages that Quila must deliver when she discovers it features dangerous information.You can access a preview of the pages here.The great artist Paul Pope does our A cover for this issue: it's a great one:
So pick up your copy this week!
Mask of Night #3 is out next week (Aug 27th)!
Yes, the headline is correct... After a slate of very positive reviews for Issue #2, our third (and penultimate) issue of THE MASK OF NIGHT is out next Wednesday (the 27th)!(And yes, it's also an exciting day as it's my birthday... But I digress...)Here are the two covers for the issue... Which one do you like best?
Cover B of THE MASK OF NIGHT #2 Revealed!
Yesterday I posted the first cover THE MASK OF NIGHT #2. Today I'm posting the special sub-variant cover (aka really rare), created by artist J.K. Woodward for our upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game.Guilty or innocent? What says you?
Cover #2 for The Mask of Night!
Two days ago I previewed Cover A of the first issue of our new upcoming mini-series THE MASK OF NIGHT. The reaction online was really positive - people got excited about the art (by Andy Belanger) and the series.Today I'd like to post a preview of our second cover (Cover B), this time by renowned artist J.K. Woodward. J.K. was brought on by IDW Games to create the art for our upcoming board game Kill Shakespeare: The Board Game, and the art was so good that we decided to include it on the covers for the new series (which is a tie-in to the game). Here is the cover designed by him:
The Mask of Night revolves around Viola, the heroine from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In our take she has become a bloody pirate and her discovery of Hamlet, Juliet, Othello and Shakespeare leads to a series of events that challenges her, her love, and her devotion to the sea.J.K.'s done a great job here of capturing Viola in action and I think will become a very popular piece of art in the Kill Shakespeare canon.Look for The Mask of Night #1 at comic shops on Wednesday, June 18th!
Tide of Blood #5 Cover!
Though we've been a little more silent than usual with our blogging and updates this summer, the entire Kill Shakespeare team has been pretty busy with a number of cool things that we'll hopefully be able to share at some point in the near future. One of those things, though, we're quite happy to announce - the release of the final issue (#5) of The Tide of Blood!We haven't received an official release date from our publisher IDW yet but we expect that it will be either Wed, Aug 14th or 21st - which is great as it'll be just in time for Toronto's FanExpo (the biggest show for us every year). Once the official release date is confirmed we will announce it here.And in anticipation of this release, here is the official cover for Issue #5, done by British artist Simon Davis (who did our wildly-popular The Tide of Blood #1 cover).
Yes, the cover hints at a number of things that will take place in the issue - books, blood and... Prospero (I couldn't think of something else that starts with a "b"...). So keep coming back and checking for more information and sneak peeks of the issue!
Cover for Issue #4 (sneak peek)!
We've received word from IDW that the fourth issue of The Tide of Blood is being released next week - Wednesday, May 29th. We're pretty happy with the fourth issue - it takes the story in some new and cool directions. And, of course, the artwork by Andy Belanger is amazing.We'll be posting previews of the artwork from the next issue all of this week. Today we'll start by posting the cover of the issue.For this cover we brought in uber-talented Canadian illustrator Nimit Malavia to design a cover of Juliet and Romeo. It's a bit of a variation from earlier covers but I think adds a really nice flourish to the series. For those unfamiliar with Nimit's work check out his website here and Twitter page here.
And don't forget to pick up The Tide of Blood #4 in comic book shops next week!
Mirrors galore! Galore Mirrors! (Issue #2 Cover)
On Friday (the Ides of March) I posted the first page of Issue #2 of The Tide of Blood. Allow me to take a step back and feature another piece of art from the issue - the cover image!Created by Andy Belanger, it's a cover that nicely hints at the peril that the characters will undertake on Prospero's Island in this issue. And it also gives the reader a clue of the story point in the reflection created throughout.
Props to Andy for this awesome cover, and for the team at IDW (namely Chris Mowry) for also adding to the mirror effect with the logo and blurb.Look for Issue #2 at comic book shops next week - Wed, Mar 27th!And here is the original art piece.
A preview of our Cover for Issue #1 of The Tide of Blood
We are now one month away from the release of our first issue of The Tide of Blood mini-series and we're getting excited to get it into the hands of our fans as well as new readers. We're quite happy with the story - and the numerous twists and turns that it takes throughout. Just as great for us is the artwork for the series. Andy Belanger has gotten even better in the two years since the last series ended - some of his layouts and characters designs are amazing in this series.Over the next couple of weeks we'll be previewing a number of pages of artwork for the series to pique your interest.
Today we start off with the lead cover for the first issue. It's a great piece of art created by British artist Simon Davis. Simon is a fantastic comic and visual artist who we were introduced to through Richard Starkings (who has been a great mentor to us over the last couple of years). His work on this cover is amazing and really sets the tone for the entire run.
Cover Art for Issue #12
Our twelfth (and final for our current run) issue will be released in just over a week-and-a-half, August 17th. In anticipation of this, we will be releasing artwork from the issue leading up to it.Today we feature the two covers for Issue #12. Cover A is a fantastic image of Shakespeare wielding the magical quill. It's quite simple and effective, and designed by cover artist Kagan McLeod.
The second cover (Cover B) is created by KS artist Andy Belanger. Andy spent a week working on it and it was inspired by James Bond posters, namely Live and Let Die. It features all of the main characters and is a really cool concept. Andy has also released a limited edition print of this poster - if you'd like one please contact us and we can arrange for it.
Issue #11 Covers
Our Issue #11 is being released next week (Wednesday, May 25th) and in anticipation of this, we will be releasing images from the issue over the next week...First off, let's take a look at the two covers for this issue. The first is another fantastic cover by our artist Kagan McLeod, who had fun working with the concept of theatrical masks.
Earlier this year we held a Cover Contest, encouraging new comic artists their first opportunity to get their art in this issue. The eventual winner was Alex Perkins, a Toronto-based artist who put together a great cover with a very cool mood to it.
Issue #10 Cover
Issue #10 is being released next week (Wed, Apr 20th) to commemorate the birth/death anniversary of Mr. Shakespeare. He died on his birthday, April 23rd... Amazing, isn't it?This issue is a riveting one with lots of drama, epic battles and the death of a major character. The cover, created by Kagan McLeod, reflects this. It's one of the series' best!
SPOTLIGHT - KAGAN MCLEOD
While most of the Kill Shakespeare team are money-grubbing, attention seeking whores gentlemen, one member of our team toils away quietly alone in a tiny little room - he comes up neither for food nor water and is suckled only by the milk of his own artistic merits...Yes, Kagan Mcelod is one odd dude...
But he is one oddly talented dude as well - having a resume that would fill this post and beyond. Suffice it to say if Kagan is not THE most in demand commercial illustrator for newspapers, magazines and the web in North America he is on the very short list of those who are.So, it was a pleasant surprise when Kagan sent a carrier pigeon my way. In the little beast's claws were a lock of Kagan's hair (his usual way of communicating to the outside world that he still lives) and a CD.Overcome with curiosity I plunged the CD into my computer and was amazed to see the contents.This most secretive of artists was giving us, the hoi polloi, an unvarnished glimpse into his creative process.WARNING, SPOILER ALERT, WARNING!The images below will give you a pretty damn good idea of what the cover for issue #12 is going to look like. So DON'T go any farther if you want to be left completely surprised and dazzled by the incredible journey into the illustrative arts that Mr. Mcleod has planned for you.(Now that we've got rid of those pansies we can continue).
Now, of course this is just the TIP of the issue #12 iceberg. Kagan has a lot more in store for this design, and because I don't want to TOTALLY be the Grinch I'm going to stop this here... but we'll go more in depth once the cover is a LITTLE closer to being released for real.Now if you'll excuse me I have to go clean Kagan's cage...
Issue 1 - Cover Art
Here is the cover art for Issue #1 (without preview blurbs). Cover A (Kagan McLeod):
Cover B (Andy Belanger):
Retailer Incentive Cover (Kagan McLeod):
