Kill Shakespeare in San Diego!
Conor, Andy and I are heading out tomorrow (Tuesday) to head to San Diego for the annual pop culture smorgasbord, San Diego International Comic-Con! We're excited as this year we'll be there to further promote our series and get people excited about it.
If you're in San Diego feel free to stop by our booth to say hello - we'd love to hear from you.If you can't be in San Diego please let us know if there's anything you'd like us to capture for you. We'll be taking plenty of photos and video while there so please send us your request(s)!
The future of comics and digital storytelling
Conor, Andy and I recorded a podcast this past weekend with Dimitrios and Thor from Midtown Comics, which features two great stores in the Manhattan area. What's fantastic is that, in a time in which many small comic book stores are closing down, Midtown is expanding and opening up a third location this fall.The podcast explored the topics of Kill Shakespeare, our trade paperback in November, Zuda Comics and the future of digital comics. Click on the photo of Anthony and Thor (from this past May) to listen.
Issue #3 is released today!
Get thee to a comic book store today... Kill Shakespeare #3 is released today (July 7th) across North America - and tomorrow (July 8th) in the U.K. and Europe. We're really pleased with this issue - it's the introduction of Falstaff, who has already become a fan favourite of readers! You'll enjoy his antics. Andy certainly did - he couldn't stop laughing while drawing the issue...
Celebrate the Release of Issue #3 with Falstaff!...
We will be celebrating the release of Kill Shakespeare #3 this Wednesday with a signing at Paradise Comics in Toronto, Canada. Signing from 4 - 7 pm will be myself, Conor McCreery and Andy Belanger. We did a signing with Doug, Pete, Jason and everyone else from Paradise back in April so it's great to be able to return.If you're in town stop by and visit us!
Comic Shopping in Philly? Hit Atomic City!
So two weeks ago I had the great pleasure of seeing one of the really cool comic shops in the North Eastern U.S.Myself and three buddies were in Philly to catch some baseball, eat some cheesesteaks and perhaps drink a wee bit too much at one of the many fine bars on South Street and the Old Towne.
Now while I knew there were likely fine comic-shops in Philly I did not expect to find Atomic City -- one of the coolest temples to sequential art this side of San Francisco.
Atomic City is run by the appropriately named Good Guy Joe and has one of the best organized set-ups I have ever seen. Plus the store has oodles of personality -- all springing forward from Joe and the staff who are crazy passionate about comics and all sorts of Geek Culture. Joe actually used to be a customer of the store and is now living out the dream of so many of us comic-kids -- running his "home" store. It's not all Beer and Skittles though, but even with Philly being hit by the economic downturn the same way the rest of us were Joe has managed to guide the store to a new and bigger location.
Joe is an interesting cat in his own right. We had a great conversation about everything from "Elephantmen", to "Blacksad" to Alternative Energy -stopping in to chat Kung-Fu movies and urban planning as we went.They have a great collection of comics, trades, fright-masks(!) and even some awesome old school arcade machines that hide away along the aisles.I like my comic stores to be open and feel inviting and Atomic City totally manages to do that. So, if you are ever in Philly and looking for some comic action to wash down that Ishkabible cheesesteak then make sure you drop in on Joe and his Atomic City team!
Fan Apprecation - Toronto this weekend!
We will be appearing at the Toronto Comic-Con Fan Appreciation event this weekend. Open both Saturday and Sunday, we will be set up with our own table and will be selling some copies of Kill Shakespeare and look forward to chatting with people about the project!
Paradise Comics (Toronto) Signing!
We will be visiting Paradise Comics (3278 Yonge Street just north of Lawrence) on Wednesday, April 14th to celebrate the release of the Kill Shakespeare #1! If you're in the area come out to visit us (myself, Conor, Andy B) and raise a toast to the release of the first issue earlier that day!
We are now less than a week away from the release and we're getting excited!...
Toronto Comic-Con Panel
On Friday, March 26th we hosted a panel at the Toronto Wizard Comic-Con that talked about comics and Shakespeare. It was a very lively debate, with a great crowd and insightful panelists. The panel, moderated by Kill Shakespeare co-creator Conor McCreery, featured myself, artist Andy Belanger, comic book artist Cameron Stewart, Shakespeare academic Ted McGee, and actors Kate Hewlett (Stargate Atlantis) and Carlos Diaz (Cra$h and Burn).
Thanks to everyone who showed up and to Crystal Luxmore for taking the photos (you can see all photos at this link).
Kill Shakespeare in San Francisco!
Conor, Andy B and I are heading off to San Francisco tomorrow (Wednesday) to take part in this year's WonderCon. At the show we will be officially launching the series and doing some signings. We are also overseeing a panel discussion on Sunday, with the following information:What Would Shakespeare Do?With both epic and personal tales of adventure, violence, romance, lust, and drama, today's comic book stories bear many similarities to the tales of William Shakespeare. The creators of IDW Publishing's Kill Shakespeare debut their new series and debate—with other creators and academics—how relevant Shakespeare still is in today's comic book world. Would the Bard be rolling over in his grave at the thought of Hamlet rubbing shoulders with Batman and Buffy, or would he be working alongside Stan Lee creating a new flock of "true believers"? Room 220 - 2:30 - 3:30
If you're at WonderCon stop by the IDW booth to chat and find out more about Kill Shakespeare!
Wizard Con Winners!
We attended the Toronto Wizard Comic-Con this past weekend and we were very fortunate to have 20 copies of Kill Shakespeare #1 with us. IDW Publishing had give us a limited number of preview copies to hand out to lucky contest winners over the span of the three days. Every hour or so an announcement would be made and contestants would answer a trivia question revolving around Shakespeare or comics (IDW-centric). Samples questions were:1. Name three Shakespeare characters that start with the letter "H".2. What G.I. Joe character does not speak?3. How many witches are in the play Macbeth? (This seems like an obvious answer but it's not...)4. What Shakespeare character has the most lines in a play that is NOT named after him/her?Photos of some of the winners are below. Thanks to all of the contestants, Wizard, and AnnaMaria from IDW!
Preview Issue #1 at the Toronto Wizard Comic-Con!
The Kill Shakespeare team will be appearing at the Toronto Wizard Comic-Con from March 26-28th. On Friday, March 26th at 2pm we will be overseeing a panel discussion entitled "The Comic's The Thing?", in which we will discuss comics, Shakespeare, and give a preview of Issue #1.
Conor and I will be sitting on the panel along with artist Andy Belanger, Shakespearean scholar Ted McGee (University of Waterloo) and artist Cameron Stewart. For more information, check out the website here.
Conor at the Silver Snail
Last November we took a stroll by the Silver Snail in downtown Toronto, Canada, to film a clip for our website. In this clip Conor talks about his love of comic books and the influences behind the Kill Shakespeare series.Conor used to work at the Silver Snail a number of years ago and it was during that time that we really began to realize how many great stories are being told in comics. That triggered the idea of putting Kill Shakespeare together as a comic book series... and here are, a few weeks away from the release of the first issue!
All hail Andy B!
There is some glorious news on the Kill Shakespeare front. Artist Andy Belanger (Andy B. to his friends and enemies) has been nominated for a Joe Shuster Award.For those of you who are unaware the Shuster awards are the top level of recognition for Canadian comic talent. Andy is in the running for "Best Webcomic" for his incredible strips "Bottle of Awesome" and "Raising Hell".We also want to give a shout out to K.S. friends Cameron Stewart (up for "Best Artist"), Francis Manapul (also "Best Artist"), Ty Templeton (nominated as "Best Writer") and Karl Kerschel ("Best Webcomic").The Shuster awards are given out June 5th in Toronto. Next year we'll be there to grab a few of our own!
Congrats to IDW!
It was officially announced today - our publisher, IDW, has gained "premier" status with Diamond Comic Distributors. As the IDW press release states, they are, "the first company to do so since the system was established in 1996." This will mean increased visibility for the company, better placement in Previews magazine, and an even stronger market share moving forward.
Congrats to everyone at IDW, including - but not limited to - Ted, Greg, Chris, Alan, AnnaMaria, Tom, Marci, Robbie and Jeff. We look forward to becoming one of the flagship brands under this new arrangement!
Retailer Profile: Librairie Astro (Montreal)
One of the retailers that really showed a fantastic level of enthusiasm for Kill Shakespeare has been Librairie Astro in Montreal, Quebec. Ray, one of the great employees there, immediately sent out an email to all of his customers, urging them to pre-order the first issue - and nearly sold out everything with that one email! Who says that Shakespeare isn't well-known in La Belle Province!
Thanks to Ray and everyone at Librairie Astro and we look forward to stopping by the visiting the next time we are in Montreal!
Retailer Profile: Friendly Neighborhood Comics (Bellingham, MA)
As we've been talking to comic book retailers in the last two months we've started to realize how devoted a lot of them are to their customers and the comic art form. We've gotten very positive reaction from a lot of them and look forward to working with them closely over the next year to entertain and excite their customers!
One retailer that stood out was Friendly Neighborhood Comics, based in Bellingham, MA. They were one of the most excited retailers for Kill Shakespeare and owner Ernie sent out an email posting to customers (which helped to spur additional presales of the first issue). Ernie has been putting together some interesting events for customers, including a really fun Ladies Night they use to bring in new audiences (and their big promos for the new Twilight graphic novel should do wonders for that!...).Thanks to Ernie and everyone at Friendly Neighborhood Comics - we look forward to doing whatever we can to help you out!
Happy Birthday to colourist Ian
Yesterday (March 5th) was the birthday of our colourist, Ian Herring. It also doubled as the beginning of work on Issue #4 ("So Wise So Young Never Do Live Long") so Conor and I were able to head to the studio and visit them, bring some cupcakes, go over and make any final revisions to Issue #3, and begin the work on Issue #4.
(Please note in the photo above that, with his beard, Ian is trying to channel the look of Kenneth Branagh - and even the way he holds the cupcake is how Sir Kenneth would hold a skull...)Thanks to Ian for all of his work on Kill Shakespeare thus far - we've seen some great colouring work from him thus far and the new issues he's working on are even better!
One of our first (and biggest) international fans
Conor and I received a fantastic email earlier this week from Deborah Altenbeck, a current English and Art student from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. Deborah had found out about Kill Shakespeare through an online search and wanted to find out more about the project. Deborah is currently working on a paper about the rise of graphic novels and may use Kill Shakespeare as a case study.
More importantly, she has helped us out by referring us to some comic book stores in Germany and is starting to spread the word.
It's these sorts of interactions that make the hours and hours of work and effort worthwhile. Thank you very much for your enthusiasm, Deborah - we love to hear from people like you.
I just called... to say...
Conor, myself and our interns have been hunkered down by their phones (or computers via Skype) the last few days calling as many retailers in North America as possible. Most retailers are placing their orders for April issues in the next week or so and we're calling to introduce ourselves, Kill Shakespeare, and to see if they've received any of our correspondence (emails, letters, etc.).
Thus far the reaction has been quite positive - those that have heard of Kill Shakespeare are quite excited about it. It's been a lot of fun, as well - we've chatted with some really interesting people and gotten great ideas on how we can help them sell more books.
If you are a retailer and are reading this, I hope you've already received a call... If not, please let us know - we'd love to chat with you!
We're not only a good read, we might make you some ducats!
Bleedingcool.com tells everyone that "Kill Shakespeare" #1 is more than just an "unfailable" concept, it also might be a great book to buy if you're hoping for a title that will increase in value as it sits in its mylar jacket.
A very nice vote of confidence if we do say so ourselves (and we do....)
Read all about our "speculative value" here.