Lady Macbeth's Breasts (SFW - honest!)
Lady Macbeth gets the academic treatment thanks to WPI Prof: Michelle Ephraim
We're a week away from the release of the new JULIET trade to bookstores, and to help celebrate that we have something cool for you Shakespeare academics.Michelle Ephraim, who was one of the scholars who helped to put together our Backstage Edition has thoughtfully provided us with a copy of a Kill Shakespeare inspired essay, entitled, rather provocatively: Lady Macbeth's BreastsMichelle talks in her piece about the role that sexuality plays in the depictions of Lady M, both in our comic, and in culture as a whole. It's a funny, thought-provoking and insightful take on one of my favourite characters in the canon, as well as one that gives us a pat on the back for having Lady M transcend her "femme fatale" tropes (yay, us!).It's a short and enjoyable read - and you can go here to get in on the fun!Or if you'd rather just read the whole thing now i'ts here below: Lady Macbeth’s Breasts Before venturing into the influential (and notoriously censorious) Texas library market, the Kill Shakespeare team took some professional advice and gave Lady Macbeth’s ample breasts a bit of a nip/tuck. Especially to the “side boob” swelling out from the periphery of her metal tank top. Even with this strategic augmentation, Lady Macbeth’s breasts are a formidable presence in KS. And even more than her signature props—daggers, poison, wine—the breasts are Lady Macbeth’s most defining accessory. At the end of Issue #6 (also the concluding chapter of Kill Shakespeare: Volume 1), Lady Macbeth is serving up plenty of wine and cleavage to her obsequious paramour, Iago. (You can practically hear him panting.) Issue #7, with which Kill Shakespeare: Volume 2 begins, picks up with the same tableau of booze and breasts, establishing the latter as a key visual and symbolic theme in KS’s grand design. These prominent breasts seem appropriate given Kill Shakespeare’s literary context. In Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth’s most famous speech, her furious response to Macbeth when he tries to renege on their plan to murder King Duncan, concerns this part of her anatomy: I have given suck, and knowHow tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.I would, while it was smiling in my face,Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gumsAnd dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as youHave done to this. (1.7) The speech has launched many an academic publication on Lady Macbeth’s maternal history. Did she give birth? What happened to the kid? Regardless of the true story of little Macbeth, her anecdote is meant as a testimony to her toughness, her refusal to wuss out of any promise. Ultimately and ironically in Act I of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth cites the female breast to articulate her strong masculine attributes and, by contrast, her husband’s weak, feminine nature. We hear her plea to be rid of any and all nurturing attributes: “Come you spirits/Unsex me now, and take my milk for gall.” Just in the highly unlikely case there’s a residual drop of motherly compassion. But her real concern lies with her husband who’s “too full of the milk of human kindness.” Whereas she’s manned-up to the task of killing the king and usurping the throne, Macbeth has not; she must bully him into it. To this end, Lady Macbeth shames her husband: if he refuses the chance to kill Duncan he is unmanly, but if he takes this opportunity he will be “so much more the man.” Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth demonstrates her feminine side by the end of the play, but it’s not a pretty sight. Senseless, sleepwalking, and suicidal, she embodies what contemporary medical discourse would have identified as textbook female hysteria. Modern American psychiatrist Isador Henry Coriat in his 1912 book The Hysteria of Lady Macbeth goes to town with this interpretative tradition: “Lady Macbeth is a typical case of hysteria; her ambition is merely a sublimation of a repressed sexual impulse, the desire for a child based upon the memory of a child long since dead” (28-9). KS, however, clears Lady Macbeth of any trace of maternal trauma or desire. She’s homicidal, not hysterical. She’s characterized by malevolence, not madness.[1] In gaining and maintaining the Scottish throne, she also succeeds where her Shakespearean prototype fails, but this is hardly enough for her. And unlike Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, she doesn’t rely on her husband to get what she wants; she simply rids herself of Macbeth, a nuisance of a husband and an obstacle to her own political ambitions. In fact, KS’s Scottish Queen doesn’t give her husband much thought at all. It’s Iago who comments on their inverted gender roles: “[Lady Macbeth] has none of the soft parts of her husband.” No soft parts, indeed. Those impressively pneumatic breasts are definitely not filled with milk, not even a drop of it. Instead of milk, she’s full of the sinister liquids of liquor and poison, which she administers without a trace of human kindness. Lady Macbeth’s breasts in KS might be seen as inflated, metaphorically, with her voracious ambition. Appropriately, they are also her most formidable weapon, insuring her husband’s lusty oblivion as she straddles him in bed . . . and murders him. Instead of drinking the “nectar” between her legs as he happily expects, he gets poison thrust down his throat. As Lady Macbeth forces her liquid into him with her phallic vial, she is so much more the man. Like the stage and film productions that have depicted Lady Macbeth erotically, KS emphasizes a connection between a woman’s verbal and sexual aggressiveness. In the Renaissance, the oft-open mouth of a woman who talked excessively or forcefully was thought to have an analogous “openness” in her nether regions as well. In KS, Lady Macbeth’s skill at verbal manipulation hooks not only her husband, but Iago and King Richard II. In bed, she and Richard spar with “wit”--a word that for Shakespeare’s audience would have a double entendre as genitalia. Like their battle of wits, their competition for Shakespeare’s quill, an object with clear phallic symbolism throughout KS, is ultimately a fight for sexual and political domination. The most audacious adaptation of Lady Macbeth’s character in KS, more than her inspired cup size, is her new identity as a bona fide witch. Her magical cred supersedes that of the incanting Weird Sisters who submissively mumble their toil and troubles in her shadow.No matter how many Shakespearean scholars have argued for their similarities in Macbeth, there is no evidence that Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth knows the three Weird Sisters, save for Macbeth’s mention of them. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, all four ladies may take gratification in controlling Macbeth, but only the witches have true agency; as she discovers, Lady Macbeth is just a poor player strutting and fretting her way to a really crappy fate. By promoting Lady Macbeth to witch status, KS ups the ante of the threat she poses to Macbeth, to Shakespeare, and, if we think about King James’ influential 1597 treatise on witchcraft, Demonologie, to the world of men in general. Richard is warned that she is “bewitching” and to “stay safe from her spells,” but he counters that she is merely his “possession, nothing more.” Nothing more, Richard? Are you sure about that? Shakespeare’s witches are sexual deviants who gets their kicks from screwing with men. Maybe from literally screwing them, too. They brag about removing a sailor’s thumb, a castration narrative KS evokes in Lady Macbeth’s fantasy of snatching the quill from Shakespeare. A well-endowed caricature of a Sexy Woman, Lady Macbeth would evoke a grotesque and subversive (and transgendered?) figure should she gain possession of the phallic quill, that penile appendage. With the quill, she would, as she declares to Richard, be “crowned king of this infinite space.” In Demonologie, King James’ deep paranoia about his subjects’ loyalty is on full display. He writes that women are susceptible to becoming “entrapped” by the “gross snares of the Devil” because they are weak, frail, disloyal creatures by nature. Once they become witches, the devil’s servants, they will launch a sexual and thus, political assault on every man they can get their hands on. Witches, he argues, have the power to:“[weaken] the nature of some men, to make them unable for women.” Unlike the bearded ugly witches in Shakespeare’s play, the extreme sexuality and physical beauty of KS’s Lady Macbeth only underscores, by contrast, the potentially sterilizing, castrating, and generally emasculating effects she has on men. What would King James make of her controlling the dagger that flies around trying to stab Hamlet and Shakespeare? Like the phallic vial of poison, the dagger is a weapon that is both physically and ideologically threatening in its symbolic usurpation of phallic power. It’s easy (and pleasurable) to imagine King James quaking with anger and pointing a shaky finger at this comic book Lady Macbeth. “See?,” he would mutter through clenched teeth, “I told you so!” At the end of Issue #12, after the big fight scene, Lady Macbeth disappears in a puff of magic smoke. It’s her own version of “I’ll be BAAACK.” Suddenly, that visually arresting eye candy of a body is gone, and we are left with . . . well, with eyes. Her eyes, staring out at us from the page. There is no body here, no breasts. Yet their gapingly absent presence is as much of a threat as they are, in all their gloriously visible cleavage, to the horny Iago. Shakespeare’s suicidal Scottish Queen becomes undone by her physicality—she just can’t seem to get that damn spot off her little hand. Not to mention the trauma of that lost child, the pet theory of Coriat and other psychoanalytic critics. There’s nothing little about Lady Macbeth’s character in Kill Shakespeare, but her enormous breasts, and perhaps her entire body itself, is a ruse. As the disembodied eyes suggest, she maintains a purely utilitarian relationship with her own body. Her real power isn’t her well-endowed physique but rather her ability to deploy it and collapse it. In this sense, her magic allows her to transcend the physical body, freeing her from the matters of flesh and blood—such as the prophecy of Banquo’s children who will succeed the childless Macbeths—that sunk her sixteenth-century prototype. Michelle EphraimAssociate Professor of EnglishWorcester Polytechnic Institute
In Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth betrays a soft spot early on: she says she won’t kill King Duncan because he resembles her father. On the other hand, a reader could imagine
KS
’s Lady Macbeth nonchalantly offing a family member should she get the chance.
WHAT A RIDE!
Finally....Wow. What a ride that was. The path to get Juliet from our brain to your eyes has been a far crazier and more rewarding one than I could ever have imagined.We sent off the final issue to the Printer's this Friday -- almost a full year after the first pages were drawn. If you had told me it was going to take us a YEAR to get four issues done -- I would have laughed in your face. No WAY. The book was totally written by November, this thing was going to go off without a hitch.
Ha. What was that they say about "best laid plans....?"Somehow, in-between that first page and last Friday, there's been numerous family illnesses, two floods, one team member who had to leave, a busted up car, more trips to Cons than I can count, and 100 pages (And counting - don't worry, we have a bad-ass back-up story for the trade) of the best work we've done on Kill Shakespeare so far.I want to thank Corin Howell, our incredible inker and penciler who had to juggle the family illness, the busted up car and one of the floods alongside the on-going work she's been doing for BOOM! and IDW AND the incredible stuff she's done for us. Corin, you're ability to nail all the biggest emotional moments, the beautiful backgrounds you've littered the book with, and your good nature and amazing laugh have made this journey a pleasure. KS will ALWAYS miss Andy Belanger, but you've proven to be more than worthy of being his successor.
Alex Lillie and Shari Chankahamma -- what a tag team. We'd worked with Shari before on Tide and Mask, and so I was SO excited when we got her back for Juliet, and then SO devastated when we lost her half-way through to a dream opportunity that she HAD to say yes too.
Into the void stepped Alex. You can't possibly believe this, but this is ALEX'S FIRST MAJOR COLOURING JOB IN COMICS!!! To be thrown into a series that has the depth of mythology as KS, and halfway into a book, is incredibly hard, yet Alex was amazing. I think you'll agree that hers was an incredible rookie season.
I also have to thank Simon David and Adam Gorham, our exceptional cover-artists. Simon did work for us on Tide of Blood (the iconic Skull, and, perhaps my fave of all time, the bloody Prospero emerging from a book), and being able to hand him all four covers was a dream. He churned out four more brilliant covers -- including what be my NEW favourite, his chilling take on Issue #4...
Adam is also SORT of new to the KS family. Those with keen eyes will have spotted his work here and there before, but this was the first time we could get him for a full run, and he did not disappoint. His issue #1 cover is one of the best things I think he's ever done. It kills me that we can only have one cover for the trade... because there is so much good stuff in here.
Toby Malone has a credit you don't see a ton in comics -- Story Editor, but he was invaluable in shaping the tale. His knowledge of Shakespeare is peerless, and there is more than one reference to the Bard that originated in his nimble brain. He also constantly had me thinking about how to best deliver the story concisely and with maximum emotion. He's a real talent - and any writer would do well to work with him.I also HAVE to thank the team at IDW -- Tom Waltz our fearless editor, who helped keep us on track story-wise, and was there when I was freaking out when we lost Shari, Corin had to go to be by her Father's side, and the roof of my house threatened to collapse. When I found out we weren't getting Chris Mowry, the letterer for the first four KS volumes, I'll admit, I was nervous. Shawn Lee took those nerves, made them a cup of tea, and tucked'em in with a good book. Shawn's lettering is instinctive, insightful, and never ever obscures the artist's work. That's the true mark of a great letterer -- knowing that the "image is the thing." Shawn, I'm a believer.
Last, but not least, I need to thank my partner in crime - Anthony Del Col. We started committing Bardicde way back in 2008, and now almost a decade later we're still going strong (or at least WE think so). I'm so grateful that Anthony was willing to give me a chance to take KS in this direction. It would have been easy for him to have felt threatened, or wanted to control things, but that's not the kind of guy he is. All he cares about is good story, and once we figured out what THIS ONE was, he supported me whole-heartedly (The "Cassio" twist is a direct result of Anthony challenging me to take the story to a better place.)Thanks Anthony. I'm blessed to get to tell stories with you.
Actually, the REAL last but not list are you, the readers. When we first dreamed-up Kill Shakespeare we had no idea if we could find an audience or not, and then you came into our lives. We're on the seventh printing of Volume 1, we've been able to take our little baby from the page to the stage, to the board (game), and now to TV. Without you folks reading, commenting, challenging us, we would never have come even half this far. I hope you find Juliet an excellent addition to the canon. At the end of the day we're here to serve you.
Lots of love,Conor
Issue #3 is FINALLY here -- it got a little Shakespearean there for a second.
Hey everyone,Today is a bittersweet day for the Kill Shakespeare team. On one hand we're thrilled that issue #3 of Juliet is out. We think it's the best issue of the series - a giant sized 28 pages of story that we hope feels as Shakespearean as anything we've ever done. Corin Howell's art has hit another level for this one, and I think it's one of the best issues I've ever written.
You may have noticed, however, that there's been a delay in getting this issue out -- originally #3 was supposed to be out LAST month and #4 was supposed to hit stores now.That's the bittersweet part. You see, it's been fairly Shakespearean behind the scenes here in the ol' KS world. Corin's Dad got sick early this year. He had to go into the hospital for surgery a couple of times. Thankfully he's going to be o.k., and we're so happy about that, but as you can imagine helping to take care of her family was Corin's top priority, and so that meant the book had to come second. Which is the right choice.For those of you who have the book you MAY have noticed that the colours seem a bit different. Well, that's part of the drama too...The OTHER bittersweet moment came because we had to say adieu to long-time colourist Shari Chankahamma. Shari whose been with us since Book 3 was offered an amazing opportunity to pencil and ink a project and there was no way we were going to stand in her way. That DID result in a delay though as we found a new colourist who could fit into Shari's style.Enter Alex Lille, our saviour (and big thanks to Keith Morris for helping us find her!)
This is Alex's first crack at a regular series, and she's still finishing up her degree in SoCal, so we decided that rather than rush her, it was best to take our time and make this book look as good as possible. All that add's up to a longer production cycle than we were hoping for, and it means that issue #4 is also going to be delayed -- with it looking to come out in August (it's almost finished on our end.)So, our apologies for the delay, but I hope you'll all understand the reasons behind it.Thanks to all of you.C
Conor hits the airwaves!
A couple of days before Juliet #1 was released I had the privilege of going on the radio in NYC to make an appearance on the Stuph File - an eclectic radio program hosted by Peter Anthony Holder. We talked about Kill Shakespeare, the new series Juliet, the hidden city of my birth, and EXACTLY how arrogant we were in deciding to rewrite this little known literary hack called Shakespeare...I'm on with a doctor who invented a "Hangover Heaven Bus" to help the, uh, overly enthusiastic denizens of Las Vegas, and a super talented writer/producer of the web-series 'Riley' - about a child star's life gone horribly, hilariously wrong as an adult.Go here to check out the episode -- we're #0398 if it's no longer at the top of the page.But if you're not interested in one of the most bizarre news summaries you'll ever hear, the Doctor to the Drunk, the fate of a child star all- grown up, and The Idiot of The Day, you can just listen to my segment here.Enjoy!
An Afternoon (and early evening) in Paradise!
Just wanted to write a quick thanks to everyone who took the time to come out to our signing for JULIET #1 at the AMAZING Paradise Comics.I had a great time seeing some old friends (Keith WTS Morris, yes! Doug and Peter), and making LOTS of new ones (including Peter's terminally cute little girl, Violet.) Below are pictures of super fans, Rachel, Dominic (aka the Kiwi Kid), The Voltron Sisters, the Big A and Terran - whose also the winner of out Twitter picture contest and will now win a copy of Juliet #1 when it comes out in trade.Can't wait to do it all again for issue #2!
CAPTION CONTEST
It's contest time!With Kill Shakespeare - Past is Prologue: Juliet #1 just a week away (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5th), it's time to do some fun things to get us all ready for the latest chapter in our tale. Below is a panel from issue #1 of Juliet.Send us your best caption for it and the winner will receive a Kill Shakespeare prize-pack including books, t-shirts and more! 
For those of you not familiar with Juliet it takes place roughly five months after the end of Romeo & Juliet, where our heroine, still mourning the death of her beloved Romeo again comes face to face with death. This time the victim is her mother, and this time Juliet has reason to suspect it was not suicide, but a murder most foul. Now the headstrong and passionate young woman will be plunged into a world of rebels, mercenaries, and wise fools as she tries to bring her Mother's killer -- before Juliet herself is the next victim.It's the perfect place for a new reader to jump into the Kill Shakespeare Universe, and for you, our dedicated fans, it answers some of the questions we get the most: how did a girl, best known for being a star-cross'd lover come to lead a rebellion?As the Bard himself wrote "...be not afraid of greatness."All the best,Conor
Our Threadless Artist Shop is NOW OPEN!
One of the greatest frustrations we've had on the convention scene is having to tell customers, especially our American ones, that while our SHAKESGEARE line of shirts is available, that shipping out of Canada starts to get crazy expensive.Well, we're happy to announce that won't be a problem anymore.We now have a THREADLESS ARTIST SHOP. For those of you who don't know Threadless is THE place to buy awesome t-shirts on the wen, and now our cool designs are there too. Being with them means much better shipping options across the USA as well as making it easy to offer new products like long-sleeve shirts, hoodies, and customizable colours for the shirts.
We're also SUPER EXCITED to offer some NEW DESIGNS. We've had so many people ask to get the Tide of Blood cover on a T that we just HAD to listen -- that'll be up soon -- but here are a couple of the new goodies available RIGHT NOW!
The only trick is that if you search their site for 'Kill Shakespeare' you won't find our artist shop - you need to cruise right in to the URL which you can find at this link. Put it in your bookmarks and you'll never go wanting for Kill Shakespeare clothing!
Sneak Peek at NEW PAGES!
As some of you have seen, Kill Shakespeare is coming back to the page.We're working on our fifth book, "Juliet" which is going to take a step back from the main story to show you how Juliet started on the path towards becoming Prodigal leader. Set just a a few months after the end of Romeo and Juliet, we pick up our heroine as an angry young woman, who still feels guilt over Romeo's death, and isn't sure that she deserved to have survived. A horrific murder will give Juliet a cause, bloody vengeance, and pit her against one of Shakespeare's nastiest villains, Cornwall from King Lear. Can Juliet get revenge? And will she lose herself in the process?Unfortunately for us, the uber-talented Andy Belanger can't join us this time out, so instead we have tapped the ALSO uber-talented Corin Howell! She's best known for her work with BOOM! (Power Rangers), Viz Media (Bravest Warriors), Oni (The Mighty Zodiac) and IDW (Transformers), and now we've got her doing pencils and inks for our baby!Vaneda Vireak, whose work featured in the back-up story for The Mask Of Night is on-board to colour the book and we could not be happier with their work.Ah heck, why don't we stop gushing and SHOW you?Below are some pencils from the first chapter of the series - we'd love to hear your thoughts on this new comic-adventure!
Help boost the Kill Shakespeare Game's Rating!
Hey Bardolaters and Holmesians!We're back beating the gaming drum again and hoping you can help us get a bit more love for our board game baby 
Board Game Geek is a very influential corner of the internet when it comes to talking games. Right now Kill Shakespeare's rating is lower than we think the game deserves. We're asking you to go out there and rate the board game (obviously with what you feel it deserves), the more votes and comments we get, the more attention we can bring to the game -- and the more "frenemies" you can find to play with you!You'll need to register for a BGG account first, but if you like board games you'll want one of these anyway.Once you are a member rating a game is a bit tricky so let us walk you through it:a) At the top left of the screen, beside your log-in name, there are a series of drop-down menus. Click "My Geek"b) Choose "Collection"c) On the top left is a button "Add Games'. Click that.d) Type the name of the game you want to add in the dialogue box and click it when it comes up.e) Once the game title is listed in your collection you can click on the N/A button below the heading Your Rating to add a rating and then click on the empty space below "Comments" to add a comment. Be honest. If you're frustrated with the game let us know, if you think it's great, let us know.Thanks again for being the best group of fans in comicdom! (and gamedom now too!)C&A
Helpful files for the Kill Shakespeare Game HERE
Happy New Year (again) everyone!
Many of you have been reaching out to us on social media to let us know you received a copy of the Kill Shakespeare Board Game for the holidays. Thank you so much for supporting us. We want to hear everything we can about how you are liking the game, what you think can be improved, and what you'd want to see in expansion packs for the game.For those of you who didn't realize we had a game out you can go here for a great review and discussion of how it came to be (And if you have the game? Ah, go ahead. Click anyway!)This was the first time making a game for us and for IDW who spearheaded the project. While we're VERY proud of the game that Wolf and Tomas designed for us, it's incredibly thought-out and meticulously play-tested and put together, we know that some of the peripherals are a bit lacking.But IDW isn't the kind of partner to shrug their shoulders and say "oh, we'll get'em next time!" They've been working their butts off with a few different folks around the internet - including David Minken of ConnectMore - who posts amazing play-throughs of tons of great games. Together they have made a collection of bonus materials, rules, a turn description, a summary sheet of how each round works, etc... to make your game playing (or giving) experience easier - and we want to share those with you.To access the folder with all these goodies click here.Now go, play and have fun!All the best,Conor & Anthony
Game Launch? Check! Beer Drank? Check! Good times had? Check!
In the immortal words of the Bard: "that was a hell of a night."
Thanks to EVERYONE who came down to Snakes & Lagers last night to be part of the official game launch. Beer was drank, dice were rolled, backstabbing commenced (for the table I was at it came on the very first turn from a particularly feisty Juliet), and all in all it was very Shakespearean.Thanks also for the feedback you gave us. We really appreciated hearing what you loved about the game (the depth, the replayability, the awesome design) and what you thought could be improved (a rulebook that was easier to understand).We're happy to say that IDW is busy working on a new version of that slightly wonky rulebook. For those of you at the event you got to work off of some of the new cheat sheets they created(created by the amazing David Minken at Connect-More.ca, thanks David!) you could see how much they helped - we'll have a full set of those ready to go to Kickstarter backers soon.But if you have the game through non Kickstarter means, or are going to order it, give us a shout at muchado@killshakespeare.com and I can get you those files ASAP. While the game itself works amazingly well there are a FEW confusing bits in the rulebook that make the first turns a bit longer than they need to be.
But even with that minor challenge, I was amazed at how people tackled the game and kicked some Ricardian ass!Now if you're sad you missed the event, have no fear, TONIGHT (December 10th) at 6PM on SPACE's news journal show, Innerspace, you can see the whole thing and geek out as if you were right there WITH US!
Now of course I need to say a HUGE thank you to Aaron, Ben and Kayla at Snakes & Lagers. You guys were fantastic hosts and we couldn't have asked for a better venue to unveil the game. I also want to say thanks to Barry and the MacAuslan team for putting together the beer prize packs. And of course a big thank you to Doug and Matt from Paradise Comics who shocked everyone by DEBUTING VOLUME 4 of Kill Shakespeare at the event.
(I also want to nod towards John at 401 Games and George at the Silver Snail who generously allowed us to grab their stock to make sure we had enough games to meet demand.)
If you missed the event but NEED some Kill Shakespeare in your games cupboard and you don't see it at your local game or comic shop the Snakes folks can help you there too -- they send more games around Canada than anyone else. So you can buy your copy here: http://www.snakesandlattes.com/shop/What a great night -- we can't wait to do it all again!
Snakes & Lagers Clue #2
We're just under a week away from the big KILL SHAKESPEARE BOARD GAME launch at Snakes & Lagers and we wan two of you to win seats at the head table to play Kill Shakespeare with SPACE's Ajay Fry (the Lord of all that is Geek), and me.We released the first clue two days ago -- which I'll put down below here, but since we only have one winner (and he can't make it to Toronto) the table is still open.So, to help out, since Andy took some artistic liberties with the traditional shapes of the pieces of the game, is a photo of the "traditional" game.If you think you know the answer send us an email at lendusyourears@killshakespeare.com
And a reminder of the launch details:WHAT: Kill Shakespeare: The Board Game launchWHERE: Snakes & Lagers, 488 College St. W, ToronoWHEN: Tuesday December, 9th, 5 pm until you get tired of gaming.WHY: Because gaming with friends is awesome!
You're Invited!
Alright you guys, it's time to come out and celebrate with us!
The K.S. Board Game is FINALLY out and has been delivered to almost all of our Kickstarter supporters as well as to game shops across North America. We're patting ourselves on the back and throwing a launch party with the help of the amazing people at Snakes & Lagers - 488 College St.
The whole thing goes down next Tuesday, December 9th from 5 PM until your brains explode from awesome gaming.
AND we want two of you, are dedicated fans to win the chance to play at the head table against Conor and our special MYSTERY GUEST (shhhh, it might be Ajay).
To do that you need to tell me WHAT GAME IS FESTE playing here in Issue #3 of The Tide of Blood?
This is a tough one, so keep an eye on our social media, twitter, Facebook and tumblr for more clues.
For all the details on the launch read on below!
Kill Shakespeare and Snakes & Lagers team up to launch KILL SHAKESPEARE BOARD GAME
Lucky fans will get chance to beat Kill Shakespeare co-creator Conor McCreery at his own game and meet SPACE TV’s Ajay Fry.
Toronto: Fans of both ‘Bardicide’ and brews will get a chance to combine their passions as Toronto’s #1 gaming bar, Snakes & Lagers hosts the official release party for Kill Shakespeare: The Board Game— based on the award winning Kill Shakespeare comic series.SPACE TV’s Ajay Fry will host the evening, and portions of the event will be shown on Hyperspace, SPACE’s flagship news program for all things in Geek culture. Kill Shakespeare co-creator Conor McCreery will also be at Snakes and two fans will get a chance to beat him (and Fry) at his own game by winning seats at the head table with Conor and Ajay.The evening begins at 5 p.m. on Tuesday December 9th at 488 College St. West. To help celebrate the launch Snakes & Lagers will offer special deals to gamers on a host of their craft beers.Kill Shakespeare: The Board Game is the first release from IDW Games. Designed by Tomas Vande Giste and Wolf Plancke, the creators of the cult classic strategy game Yedo, Kill Shakespeare is a semi-co-operative game in which you and up to three friends each play as one of Shakespeare’s legendary heroes: Hamlet, Juliet Falstaff, Othello or Viola. Together you must overthrow the oppressive duo of Richard III and Lady Macbeth.But, as in real life—only one of you can be the hero of the revolution—and the ultimate winner of the game. This forces each player to constantly balance their actions between what’s good for the rebellion, with their own desire to be crowned the new King or Queen of Illyria.“I’m looking forward to teaming up with two passionate gamers to take down Richard and Lady Macbeth, but of course I’m going to be forced to backstab them in the end,” says McCreery. “What else would you expect from a guy who always plays as Falstaff?”To get your chance to play at the head table follow @KillShakespeare and @SnakesandLagers and “like” the Kill Shakespeare and Snakes Facebook pages for contest information.For more information contact:Kill Shakespeare Snakes & LagersConor McCreery Aaron Zack416.844.4122 647.748.4004Muchado@killshakespeare.com aaron@snakesandlattes.com Kill Shakespeare (IDW Publishing) is an award-winning comic book series created by Conor McCreery & Anthony Del Col. The original series has spawned two sequels, a live stage show that has played everywhere from New York to Dubai, a board game, and is currently being developed for television and other mediums.Snakes & Lagers is the late-night playground for Toronto’s gaming aficionados. Located in the heart of Little Italy, Snakes & Lagers offers 19 craft beer taps, an internationally inspired menu and hundreds of games for your eating, drinking and playing pleasure.
The Gameplay's the thing and it's FINALLY here!
The Board Games are FINALLY arriving.
It's been a LONG process (much longer than we ever expected and we're sorry about that), but we are starting to receive tweets and emails that you, our supporters, are receiving your copies of Kill Shakespeare: The Board Game.
Anthony and I had the privilege to see the game in Edmonton and New York, and we can tell you that it drew a LOT of attention from passer-by's. We even had one guy offer to buy the display copy for $200!
But we didn't want to leave it to total strangers to get a look at our new baby, so below are some pics of the game. I hope you'll agree that while it has taken some time to get ready, it looks like time well spent.
Also, the amazing folks at IDW want you to have the best game-playing experience possible. Once you get your game if you have ANY questions about how a rule works simply tweet @IDWGames or email Nate Murray: Nate@idwpublishing.com with that question and within 72 hours Nate will post a short video that will show you exactly how that part of the game works.
Yes, that's right, personalized rule explanations! That's pretty Bard-ass if I do say so myself.
(oh Conor, you're such a wit)
Now go swoon over some awesome game pictures!
We Did It!
Well the dust has settled and the final numbers have been tallied and people, we ROCKED this little thing called Kickstarter!
We ended up raising $38,585 dollars -- that's 154% MORE than our original goal. Because of you guys and your support, both in pledging, but just as importantly in spreading the word, we ended up hitting a stretch goal as well. The game now has a better board than it would have without you.And, I hear rumours, and these are JUST rumours that because we came so close to the SECOND stretch goal -- that we may end up seeing that happen anyway! Plus IDW has mentioned their might be some other surprises kicking about for those of you who pledged.Now I have been hearing a few common questions so let me answer them as best I can:
Q: Conor, I totally MEANT to support the kickstarter but I was kidnapped by Bolivian revolutionaries and just got back from Sucre... What do I do? Can I still get the Game?A: Yes. Yes, you can. The game is going to be distributed widely. IDW wants Kill Shakespeare and all the other games coming out to be easy to get. Your local comic shop can order them, as can any store that specializes in board games. We're told that most of these stores will be able to stock Kill Shakespeare starting in June. And of course, Anthony and I will probably bring a few copies to sell to most conventions.(Oh, and I hope you had a chance to say "hi" to Evo Morales when you were in Bolivia...)Q: When will I get my game if I supported the Kickstarter? Before those "Hamlet-come-lately" store buyers?A: We're told end of May is the likely time for that. The game has been thoroughly play-tested, we were just waiting to see what kickstarter goals we hit before sending the game to printers.Q: So, IS the game going to be even more awesome than I am currently thinking it will be?A: Yes! Definitely! I can't tell you what it's going to be but IDW and Pandasaurus have already GUARANTEED that there will be bonus content shipping with your game.
Q: When can I play you and Anthony?A: Why, we're glad you asked that! We're planning a couple of events, including one here in Toronto, that will give you a chance to play the game against us, see what all the fuss is about, and get copies for yourself.And right here, right now, I'm saying if you can manage to beat me I will.... uh... sign your comic books for free!(what can I say? I suck at games...)Q: Is there anything else I can do to help the game out?A: Yes, for sure. Once you have the game set up some nights for your friends, and then encourage them to go to their local store and get them to order it. The more we can pull games through the retail channels the more IDW is going to want to do expansion sets and then some of those other stretch goals we just missed out on may become a reality (Meeples anyone?)Again, you guys are amazing. We're the luckiest creators in the world to have friends and a fan-base like you.Much thanks,Conor & Anthony.
Uncertain Life and Sure Death
As the Ides of March approaches I’m kind of pondering that whole: “my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth” dilemma that Hamlet wrestles with. I mean, on one hand, murder is awful, bad, and often really messy – even if you’ve already covered the bathroom floor with a tarp and have the hack-saw and bag of quicklime on the go.On the OTHER hand – when Shakespeare does it, murder is pretty awesome. I mean, heads get chopped off, poison is consumed, there is not one, but TWO mass stabbings, people, Shakespeare once offed two kids by BAKING THEM IN A PIE and then SERVING THAT PIE TO THEIR MOM (“Mmm, this is good! Is this veal?” “No, it’s your kids, BOOM!”).So that got me to thinking about OTHER people who love Shakespeare like we do, and especially love the peculiar joy that comes with snuffing out some punk’s all too brief candle.This led us to David Malki ! and Ryan North – two of the creative engines behind the most excellent Machine of Death series of books and games. (PLUG ALERT: You may also know Ryan from his Blockbuster To Be or Not To Be: That Is The Adventure Kickstarter campaign.)Since Machine was such a HUGE success we thought it likely that it’s blend of wit, wordplay and cold-bloodedly hilarious focus on mass murder might be popular with you guys too, so David ! kindly let us design a BONUS SET OF CARDS for Machine of Death that has an all-Shakespeare flavour. You can download the card set here – these print and play beauties are ready to seamlessly fit into any Machine of Death game.
DOWNLOAD THE CARDS HERE: http://alice.idwpublishing.com/_7NERTM4cugLoZRBonus points (and prizes!) go to the first five people to correctly post in the comment section what play each card represents (or tweet us @IDWGAMES or @KillShakespeare). And if you know anyone who plays Machine, send’em over here – the more crossover between fans of Bardicide and fans of murder in general, the better.(plus, it means more credible suspects to throw the cops off your trail).Murderously yours,Conor
Kickstarter Update: Day 1
Wow!What a first day.You guys and gals are AMAZING! We’re already more than 50% of the way to our goal and that’s because of your incredible support. I’m more excited than that time Falstaff and I went on a bender and TOTALLY spilled beer all over Richard III’s gimpy hand!Thank you SO much for getting this campaign off to a great start. This is the first Kickstarter that Anthony and I have been involved in and it’s been a great success so far.Please keep supporting our campaign, with your help we can reach more and more people and start to unlock some of the UNBELIEVABLE stretch goals – yes these goals are so mind-blowing you will literally find your brain short-circuit until you start saying things like: “I simply cannot believe they are offering me this – they must be mad, as mad as that rascally King Lear!”As a little bonus for you awesome-sauce folks we want to share with you an EXCLUSIVE piece of art from the game that NOBODY else in the world has seen (and those that have we’ll kill – just to make this even more special for you).
Take a bow, you magnificent bastards, you!
So please, keep sharing this with your friends, harass the tastemasters of the internet to talk about this, tell your Grandmother to finally get on the interwebs – because we want to make the Kill Shakespeare Board Game the best Shakespearean thing EVER!Oh, and for future sneak peeks – vote down in the comments if you want to see more exclusive game art or get a glimpse at ANOTHER awesome Kill Shakespeare project we’ve got on the boil (and bubble).The Game Play’s the thing! Conor McCreeryBardicidal maniacToronto, February 2014
We took our talents to South Beach! Errrr, Miami-Dade College Campus
As we move into the chill of December here in Toronto I thought I'd share some photos from our time in the sun this past month when I was able to represent Kill Shakespeare at the Miami Bookfair.
Miami is a special place for K.S. as, as a Bookfair, it represents a very different audience for us. When we first went down to the show four years ago we had one book and no sense of how "real" readers would respond. In addition we were sharing a booth with another comic creator and there were only four of us with tables at the show.Would anyone notice us? (Yes) Would people be offended by our title? (Yes!) Would Conor get a crazy sunburn (Yes!!)Now, four years later, we've seen our sales climb at each show and we've been invited to be part of an outreach program that sees the K.S. team go into schools across Miami-Dade and talk about art, writing and creative entrepreneurship.Those school visits are always a highlight and this year Miami upped the ante by having me deliver one of the Fair's "school keynotes" which saw me talk to 500 kids AT ONE TIME!
I was a little nervous to be facing that many students, but after getting them to chant "thank you Toronto" (for Chris Bosh, natch), and then sing the Canadian National Anthem (refreshingly they knew the tune and did not sing it to "O, Tannenbaum" as so many of my other American friends do), we got along fine.Aside from all that this year was extra special for two reasons:1) As many of you know we're passionate about expanding the reach of comics to those who, right now, ignore the medium. We've been working with Miami to expand the comic footprint at the show. Lissette Mendez, who runs the author track at Miami, is a MASSIVE comic fan and has long wanted to create a "mini con" in Miami. Lissette and the incomparable Eric Hitchcock at Diamond helped to spearhead a program that would bring comic publishers into the show.And lo'. Destination: Comics was born!Oni, Dark Horse, Zenescope and NBM/Papercuts were some of the flagship publishers who supported this pilot program - we also saw tons of big name comic creators including Gene Yang, Nate Powell and Paul Pope come out and sign in the Comics Courtyard -- which drew TONS of attention. 
A huge thanks to them and also to the amazing Joan Hilty - comic editor, creator and consultant extraordinaire who helped organize the entire event.And if that wasn't enough...2) We got to talk to an ENTIRE CLASS that was STUDYING Kill Shakespeare.Words cannot express how amazing it was to face 40 students who has all READ THE BOOK! The kids were super-engaged and asked some incredibly perceptive questions (we got hammered again on the good girl/bad girl dynamic of Juliet and Lady M., but they all seemed super intrigued to see what we do with Lady M. in Tide of Blood), and generally had an amazing time. I spent about 20 minutes after the class just hanging out and posing for photos.Below are a few more snaps from the trip -- you can see the rest here.-Conor
Pictures from that most latin of North American cities. The one that never sleeps - the one that starts with an "M"
... Montreal. I know, I know that I just got back from Miami and you want photos of Manatees and Martinis, but some of you have been bugging me for awhile about La Belle Province."Conor," you say, "Where are all those photos you promised from Montreal? You took like a dozen of you and the belly dancer alone!"And I had to confess that because I am technologically dumb I had somehow managed to save my Montreal photos in a strange directory that I could not find to upload them.But lo and behold! While taking photos for my time at the Miami Book Fair, I managed to save THOSE photos in the same place and this time, sitting along in my hotel room with nothing but tap water and angst, I managed to CRACK THE CODE.So here we go -- a small sample of the VERY delayed Montreal photos are here, as well as a video from the show of a hoarse-voiced me trying to pitch a girl on the merits of Kill Shakespeare, but all she's REALLY interested in is my celebrity look-alike...For all the photos cruise over to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152150232089131.1073741855.132288909130&type=3The Miami photos and stories will be along in a day or so.Hugs,Conor
And now the video!
The Kill Shakespeare boys want to help you get cheap Geek gifts, Toronto!
Next Wednesaday, November 27th, Anthony and Conor are going to be part of a great even at the Silver Snail in Toronto that could get you 25% off on almost ANYTHING in the store.
It's all part of a special Kill Shakespeare Black Friday sale starting on Wednesday the 27th!I know, I know, it's crazy, but it's true. George, Nicole., Kody and the rest of the Snail team have invented a special Shakespearean time machine that will let you get an extra special discount on Wednesday TWO DAYS BEFORE Friday.I'm frightened too.But if we all band together at the Snail ( 329 Yonge Street, just North of Dundas Square) from 5-9pm on Wednesday then I think we can overcome this blatant disregard for the rules of time and space.So WHAT HAPPENS ON WEDNESDAY? I'm glad you asked - even in that loud voice.From 5pm to 9pm Conor and Anthony will be signing copies of the NEWEST Kill Shakespeare book - The Tide of Blood! We'll also have copies of Volumes 1 and 2 for sale as well as all our ShakesGeare. AND, as a SPECIAL BONUS, you can help playtest a prototype of our mobile game ADD INSULT TO INJURY!That's right, get down with your bad Shakespearean self and face Othello, Hamlet, Falstaff and Richard 3 in a battle of wits that is sure to end with blood on the floor.AND if you buy ANY Kill Shakespeare merch the Snail will give you a 25% discount on pretty much ANYTHING in the store!How can you lose? Plus with the Black Canary cafe on site you can sip some coffee, or hot chocolate and grab a tasty treat as well.Or just come and say hello, we love that too!Hugs,The guys.