Lovable Badass - Ian Herring!

Many of you probably have no idea that on the Kill Shakespeare team there are several passionate basketball fans (though we're die-often being Raps fans). Perhaps the most passionate is our colourist Ian Herring.Ian is an exceptional artist in his own right (fans have seen his work in the bonus gallery of the trade paperback -- his is the awesome King Richard/Hamlet mash-up), and he was recently invited to be part of a phenomenal event organized by another Kill Shakespeare friend, Steve Manale.The event, "Lovable Badass, Artists on Artest" was a multi-media ode to Ron Artest one of the most unusual and candid athletes of our generation.Ian's piece looks into the future; showing Artest relaxing during his post-playing days and eating his favourite cereal (Froot Loops). Apparently Ron-Ron is interested in buying Ian's work -- so huge kudos to one of the oft under-appreciated members of Kill Shakespeare.We love ya Ian!POSTSCRIPT: The event was a huge success -- you can read one of the MANY pieces of coverage here. And to me, what was even more interesting is that many of the artists who took place had no idea who Ron Artest was before they were invited to join the project.But "Tru Warrier" is such an interesting figure that after a few minutes of Googling him everybody wanted in. So, for those of you who are saying "Ron, who?" look him up, he's fascinating. OR for a primer check out Manale's work here. (it's the last of 23 photos from the event, so scroll left to see the rest).And the sharp eyed readers will notice another member of the Kill Shakespeare team featured in one of those links. I offer as a bounty  a signed copy of #8 for the first person who tells us who it is, and what they made for the exhibition!Keep taking those open jumpers everyone!

Issue #8 Artwork Samples

Issue #8 (Journeys End in Lover Meetings) cranks up the momentum of our story and features some great artwork by Andy Belanger and colours by Ian Herring.  The description of the Issue is:As word of the Prodigals' victory spreads a rebel army masses in Shrewsbury. Against this backdrop Othello and Iago cross swords, Richard and Lady Macbeth lock horns and Hamlet and Juliet's love blossoms. But will the Dane live long enough to enjoy Cupid's fruit?  Not if a ghost from Juliet's past has anything to say about it.Check out the art (click on the image for the hi-res image):

Sneek Peak at some art from Issue #8

With issue #8 now less than a week away we thought some of you might like to see a little snippet of what is in store.So without further ado a quick look "behind the curtain" of what is in store for you in Issue #8!So first we'll give you a little look at how the process for issue #8 unfolded.On the left we have the pencils for the first page of the issue. You can see here that Andy will add more shading to some elements of the page right from the get go.On the right we have the inks. Here you can see how a lot of what is penciled ends up actually being shadows (the group of refugees at the back of the panel).And then below... we see what it looks like in all of its coloured and inked glory!On Page 5 we were in the middle of something very different. We wanted to juxtapose Othello's past with Iago with his current relationship. We also wanted to set the stage for Othello to do some soul-searching about his erstwhile commrade-at-arms as well as his own role in the death of his love Desdemona.But Anthony really wanted to avoid using any dialogue in the flashbacks? So how could we make what was happening clear?It took canny panel design by Andy to make the past scenes "pop" subtly (after issue #7 we wanted to tone down some of the visual work - to give this issue its own identity), and GREAT colour design by Andy and our colourist Ian Herring (who rarely gets enough credit for his work in the book).You can judge for yourself how well we did. Even without text you can tell which story is which (present and past) and what is happening in each story as well. A really masterful job is done by our art team and we are lucky to have them. The neat thing is while this is a variation of a theme (we did a similar flashback in issue #1 and again in issue #7) this manages to be wholly its own animal. This allows each issue to really have its own personality.

Issue #8 Cover Art

Cover artist Kagan McLeod has again worked wonders on our series with the cover art for Issue #8.  Due in stores December 22nd, it's a great cover and really captures the mood of the piece with Hamlet staring down from a balcony, unsure of what is below...Click on the image to access the hi-res version of the file.

Issue #7 Artwork

I would normally throw laudatory remarks about the artwork that Andy does on the series, but instead I will quote Ryan K. Lindsay's review of this issue, which does the summary much more justice:"Belanger has been a showcase of this series throughout. He puts everything into each page to make the characters jump out at you and this issue is a great opportunity for him to show true emotion in his players. He has also always worked hard to create dynamic pages but here he truly expresses something different. He frames scenes with the velvet curtain of the stage and he adds so many layers to the imagery that you feel a sensory overload that weighs you down. He has stepped up his already incredible game here and elevated this issue into a modern classic."

Issue #7 Cover

Issue #7 hits the comic stands this week (a week earlier than we thought, so it was a surprise to us...).  We'll be posting some of the early reviews in the next day or two but they are very, very strong!  I'll be posting some of the artwork from the issue later today but wanted to get the ball rolling by posting a hi-res version of the excellent cover art by Kagan McLeod.  This is probably the best cover he's done for us yet!

More Photos from the Gallery

For those of you who couldn't make it we continue our photo essay from the gallery show we had here in NY at the Chair and the Maiden gallery.

These photos were taken by the lovely and talented George Goss, a local photo-journalist who just so happened to be covering another event down the road.

It's always rewarding when we get to meet new people through this adventure and George was a fantastic example of that. I mean how many people would just poke their head in, say hi, and start snapping pics for us?

All in all this is just another example of why we have been having SO much fun with this project and why we are looking forward to our Toronto Book Launch where we can rub elbows with family and fans from the T-dot (and also friends who hate what we are up to but are too polite to say so....).

So see you all on the 16th at 918 Bathurst - doors open at 6:00 PM and the fun and food will last until 8:30 or so.

Kill Shakespeare fan art!

The supremely talented Jibola Fagbamiye is a Nigerian-Canadian artist who blends traditional art from his childhood in Africa with iconic hip-hop and 70's soul images.He also loves comics and, fortunately for us, is a Kill Shakespeare fan. So that led Jibola to whip up the AMAZING fan art that you can see below.For more of his work, and a chance to find out about his next Toronto shows swing by his web-site.Thanks Jibola, we here at Kill Shakespeare salute you (and will soon be fighting it out for the right to hang this on our walls!).We always love seeing fan art, so please send it off to us at lendmeyourears@killshakespeare.com

Issue #6 Artwork - Preview Pages

Issue #6 is being released next week - October 27th - so in anticipation of this we are releasing artwork for the issue today for people to take a look at.  This was an issue that took Andy a lot of time to complete mainly because of the large number of crowd scenes - but in the end it was definitely worth it!  It's an issue that features stirring speeches (very Shakespearean), violence (Shakespearean), some friendship (Shakespearean) and a very, very interesting ending...

Issue #6 Cover Released!

Issue #6 of our series, "Lend Me Your Ears", is released later this month (Wed, Oct 27th).  In anticipation of this, we are releasing the official cover image for the issue done by, of course, Kagan McLeod.  Kagan's put together some great covers but I personally think that this is one of the best, if not the best.  The image captures the spirit of rebellion that permeates the entire issue and thrusts our story forward.Click on the image for a larger version.

TIGHTS ALERT! TIGHTS ALERT!

Alright, this is a TOTAL look "behind the curtain", but here is a sneak peek at the Cover for issue #8.The only reason I put this out there is because HAMLET IS WEARING TIGHTS! This breaks EVERY rule Anthony has set down. I have it on good authority thast Anthony and his "anti-tight" squad of loose pants wearing Ninjas are going to stage a dawn raid at Casa Mcleod and force Hamlet into a pair of breeches and boots. But I wanted you, the loving Kill Shakespeare public to have a chance to see this rare occurance.(oh, and this may be the only time you see those cool pennants and spears in the background in the clouds. Do you like'em? Should they stay? Let us know!)UPDATE: Uh, yeah well sure you can't actually SEE the pennants ans spears because this is just a thumbnail, but if you COULD would you want them to stay or go, you know, conceptually speaking...

Issue 5 Preview Pages

With the release of Issue #5 this week we wanted to reveal a number of the pages found in this issue.  Although Andy B's artwork for the series has been very, very strong he really hits some high notes with this issue - as you can see below.  We had a four page scene in which Hamlet faces ghosts of his past that we gave him carte blanche on - and he delivered in spades!  Ian Herring's colouring work is also quite strong in this issue - and versatile.  He goes from moonlit moments to fireside talks to the inside of a traveling cart.The images are below.

STICK FIGURE HAMLET

Yes, this site has the ENTIRE tragedy drawn entirely in stick figures.Now we ask, can you really have ANY more fun with the Bard than a stick-ginger Hamlet? (yes, correct the answer WAS Kill Shakespeare, but this is a close second).ENJOY!

WHAT? Another shameless plug for a talented guy we know?

As you know, we here at the Kill Shakespeare team are shameless self-promoters, but as you are hopefully starting to learn we are also working at shamelessly promoting other SUPER-DUPER talented people that we get to meet in this wonderful world of comics.Enter Nimit Malavia. A good friend of our cover artist Kagan Mcleod, and in some ways a kindrid creative spirit.Nimit is one of the most talented illustrators we have had the privielege of meeting and he's also an A-1 guy. I mean, who else would take oodles of photos of US (although, lets face it, we are pretty handsome).You've seen a few examples of his work in the post but to get more check out his website here or his flicker account here.And next show you're at make sure you stop by and see him, say the Kill Shakespeare boys say "hello". It probably won't get you a discount on that print of his you love, but hey, it can't hurt...

Issue #5 - Page 1 process

A week prior to the release of Issue #5, attached is the process behind the creation of Page #1 of the issue.  One day soon we will tape Andy as he goes through the thumbnail process (where he designs the pages) - the process is hilarious as he describes the action to us while reviewing.

Issue #5 Cover - Hamlet is Lost!

With Issue #4 successfully in comic book stores at the moment, we'd like to take a look ahead at our upcoming issue.  Kill Shakespeare 5: O Coward Conscience is a great issue with some fantastic artwork (which we will be profiling in the coming two weeks).  For the moment, here is the cover of Issue #5, done with precision by Kagan McLeod.For fun, try to spot all of the characters Kagan has put into the trees.

Issue #4 - Selected Artwork Previews

Released this Wednesday, August 4th, here is a selection of artwork from the issue.  Artist Andy B had a blast introducing two of the most important characters to our story, Othello and Juliet.  Artwork is by Andy Belanger and colouring by Ian Herring.  For a full-size version of the images click on each.

Issue #4 - Preview of first two pages

As we finish off our week o' meetings in LA, Conor and I have begun to prep for the release of Issue #4 next week (August 4th).  We're really happy with this issue as it introduces Juliet and Othello and is an issue full of action with some great artwork by Andy B.  As we move towards the release date we'll be putting more images on the website so continue to look for that.Here are the first two pages of Issue #4...

Issue #4 Cover Art - Enter Juliet. Enter Othello.

We are a week away from the release of Kill Shakespeare #4 (release date is Wednesday, August 4th) and we are excited to see what the reaction of readers will be to our interpretation of Juliet.  She makes a great appearance in this issue - as does Othello.  This issue is filled to the brim with action, action, action.Here is the great cover art by Kagan McLeod.

Issue #3 Cover Artwork

Here is the cover art for the third issue of Kill Shakespeare, scheduled for release July 7, 2010.The issue is a fun one that puts the fool Falstaff front-and-centre... and so it's only deserving that he is our cover-boy for the issue.  Kagan McLeod did a great job on this page and really captured both the playfulness of the issue - as well as the danger...