Trick or Treat in Guelph!
While Conor attends the Halifax Comic-Con, Andy and I will be taking part in a signing at Dragon Comics in Guelph, Ontario. We're just one of many comic creators that will be at the store that day, including some other top Canadian talents such as Ray Fawkes, Ross Campbell, Dale Keown and Richard Pace. You can find out more about the event at this link.It also gives me an opportunity to visit my sister as she lives in Guelph, so I'm looking forward to that.You have a chance to hang out with us, get signed copies of our series, check out Issue #6 (which is being released October 27th) and, more importantly, find out about Andy's big Halloween party taking place later that night in Toronto. Andy throws perhaps the greatest Halloween parties in the city so be sure to check it out.
Going comic shopping in Van-City
The Kill Shakespeare team had a chance to hit the left coast recently and while the trip had us talking to mobile-ap developers, catching films at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and of course eating at White Spot, we also found time to meet some of the local comics merchants and talk to them about Kill Shakespeare.
First, we stopped off at Gotham Collectibles (2676 W 4th Ave - love those evil Cats!) in the ever trendier Kitsilano neighbourhood. Gotham is run by the "she-looks-way-too-young-to-be-running-her-own-business-Monique".Monique is passionate about bringing more women and girls into comics and has big plans to support Kill Shakespeare when the trade debuts on November 9th.Gotham is a small store but jam packed with comics, toys, collectibles, general goth-y fun and my (Conor's) favourite BEARBRICKS!For those of you who don't know these tiny little Japanese toys are designed by some of the top graf artists in the world and also include cute little bears based on some of the horror worlds most notorious characters. So I decided to pick up one that looked like Gizmo from Gremlins.
Gotham is a new store, but with the passionate staff there and the tons and tons of cool stuff you can tell its going to be a great place to buy your favourite stuff.So if you live in Vancouver make sure you head down to this gem and get to know Monique and support her store.
Then I headed over to downtown Vancouver to check out one of the classic Vancouver shops for comics, Golden Age Collectibles (852 Granville Ave). Golden Age is right in the heart of the theatre district, we actually checked out the store while we were waiting to see an Italian film at VIFF.Golden Age is a big, two-level store that is filled to the brim with comics, graphic novels and indie titles from across B.C. and the country.I chatted with Misty and Hank who both told me they were looking forward to checking out Kill Shakespeare when it becomes a trade and said that they have several customers who have the title as part of their pull list.
For those of you who like an open, airy, clean comics shopping experience then Golden Age is going to be your new favourite shop (if it isn't already). And Hank and Misty really know their stuff so they'll be able to find you your next favourite title - so don't be afraid to ask.
As you can see they also pay proper homage to my fave Canadian comic (aside from perhaps Essex County) with a gigantic Scott Pilgrim mural, so they already had my attention when I walked in the door.So there you have it, two totally different, but equally awesome comic shops that you need to search out if you live in Vancouver or if you are a comics fan who finds yourself visting this world class city.And if you haven't been to Vancouver you really want to get out there - between the mountains, the ocean and the amazing night life you can't do much better.
Sneak Peek at Spider-Man Musical!
One of the highlights of our trip to New York Comic-Con did not actually take place at the Con. On Friday we had the exclusive privilege of meeting Julie Taymor (Broadway's The Lion King, films Frida, Titus and Across the Universe) at the Foxwoods Theatre where she is in the midst of rehearsals for the musical Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. With a book by Ms. Taymor and Glen Berger and music by U2's Bono and The Edge, it's a highly anticipated production years in the making (including a reported inflated budget of $50M, huge compared to even most Broadway musicals) .
Ms. Taymor was gracious enough to give myself, Andy and Conor a walk-through of some of the intentions of the production. We were not able to stick around for the tech rehearsal but the set designs that we were able to see were amazing. Andy immediately declared "Ditko!" when we saw them - they are heavily influenced by Steve Ditko's designs.
The other cool thing is the acrobatic work that they are aiming to do with the production. Spider-Man (to be played by British musician Reeve Carney) will be actually flying with a series of ropes and will actually be able to fly to the balcony. I found it very Cirque du Soleil and really impressed me. If they're able to pull off what they aim to do it'll be quite the spectacle.
As a huge fan of musicals I'm looking forward to the production to see what the final product will be like. In the interim, perhaps I should begin to brainstorm ideas for a Kill Shakespeare musical...
"Comics That You'll Feel Smarter for Reading"
On our Google Alerts earlier today I saw that we were mentioned on a cool blog with a very unique listing: "Comics That You'll Feel Smarter for Reading". It's on a blog called On the Subject of Being Awesome, which apparently is run by Matthew Funk out of Oregon. It lists Kill Shakespeare as #10 on the list, which also includes such great titles as Watchmen, Daytripper and Chew. Wow. Great company to be included in. Click on the graphic to link to the list.
Thanks for enjoying the series, Matthew. We'll keep writing 'em and hopefully we can eventually match the intelligence of our readers...
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...
Conor Speaks at Word on the Street
On Sunday Conor sat on the panel about digital publishing at the Word on the Street panel. Entitled "The Big Issue: Magazines and Comic Books in the Digital Age", it was a lively discussion about the future of journalism, short stories and comic books moving forward. Moderated by Stuart Woods of Quill & Quire Magazine (Canada's top book review and news journal), it featured the editors of online publications TorontoLife.com and Joyland.The most interesting topic/question? Fonts.Thanks to everyone from Word on the Street as well as Sarah from MDG & Associates who made this happen (by 'pulling some strings'...).
Word!
Your fave Bardolaters are taking it to the mean streets of Toronto this weekend.Swing by The Word on the Street Festival on Sunday at 2:00 PM to check out Conor as a panelist on the Digital Drive stage. He'll be chatting with other "literature luminaries" about the future of books, magazines and comics in this the digital age.Plus, his photo on their webpage makes him look so darn professional - like a burly, red-headed Perry Mason!And for more info on the festival a link to the great blog post from which the image above was "borrowed".(Like how I wrote this whole thing in the third person as if you couldn't see I was the one responsible for the post?)
"I just purchased my second comic book in over 25 years..."
We were contacted a week ago by Nathaniel "Q" Quintana, who hosts the show Entertainment for the Rest of Us, which I appeared on recently. It's a radio show that looks at all forms of entertainment - films, television, music, theatre, etc - without the pretension of many other shows. I had a blast on the show back in August and look forward to appearing again.
We received the following email from Nathaniel (or "Q", as he likes to be called), which really made Conor and I smile. It's notes like these that make us really happy that we're doing what we're doing. There are so many difficult spots on the journey that to receive something like this is fantastic. Q's email reads:***Anthony, I just purchased my second comic book in over 25 years. I picked up issue #5 for Kill Shakespeare yesterday and read it right away as soon as I got home. I am really enjoying what you and Conor are doing. It is a wonderful book and I'm hooked. I can't wait to see the film once you guys produce it. On a side note I also purchased my 3rd comic book ever last night. Based on our conversation during the show. You talked a lot about Y The Last Man. So while the Mrs. and I were out last night we went to Borders just to look around, I wanted to pick up book 1 of Walking Dead, but they were out. So I picked up Y and started reading it. When it was time to go I told the wife I have to buy this book, so we did. I just finished it this morning and I am headed back to buy more. Thank you so much for reintroducing me to the world of comics and graphic novels. The work that you, Conor and Andy are doing has brought me back to a place of joy. I forgot how much I enjoyed the art form and the visual story telling of comic. I am not sure I would have found this joy, if it wasn't for you reaching out to us to help promote your fantastic work. Thank you! Ciao,'Q'aka - Nathaniel J. QuintanaCo-hostEntertainment for the Rest of Us
Compared to Sondheim...
Conor and I met with the very talented artist J-Bone to discuss something special (details to be announced in the future) and in the midst of our discussion the topic of composer Stephen Sondheim came up. We debated the merit of his work with one person being a huge fan of his, while another appreciating his body of work but noting some of his faults.
Within the next few hours our first review of Kill Shakespeare #5 was released and what are we compared to? Stephen Sondheim, of course (the exact quote is, "As Sondheim did with the Brothers Grimm when producing the musical Into The Woods, McCreery and Del Col mine and weave the various works of Shakespeare into this ambitious story.")! In his musical Into the Woods, Sonheim mashed up a number of fairy tales to form a new story, which is similar to Kill Shakespeare.The review, by Jason Rosas of BuzzFocus.com, was a very positive one, and can be found by clicking on the image of Sondheim.
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!
Chatting with the boys.
Us, do media? No....Ok, yes... we sat down with the lovely Andrew Ardizzi at FanExpo in Toronto last weekend. Andrew is a general all-around renaissance man and both a senior reporter at Humber college as well as a reporter for COMIC BOOK DAILY!So it was our good fortune to get to sit down with him and chat about FanExpo, drawing horses, and Kill Shakespeare.Listen here! (Yep, that's an order...)
KILL SHAKESPEARE GETS SOME LOVE ON "NATIONAL READ A COMIC IN PUBLIC DAY"
We here on the Kill Shakespeare team are big fans of comics. Not just the super-hero books (tho' we love those too) but the notion that there is a comic for EVERYONE .And one of the ways to show that to people is to read comics -- in public.
I know, I know -- its a scary idea. And, I''ll admit that occasionally the Wednesday books stay in my bag on the TTC in favour of the latest issue of WIRED or a "proper" book -- but the time has come to stand up and unite.Or rather, unknown to me until the day OF, the time ALREADY came.Yes it was National Read A Comic In Public Day on August 28th, and by all accounts it was a screaming success. Some very cool people we have met before in San Francisco were part of the event, and it was spearheaded by Brian Hibbs the accomplished author of Tilting at Windmills (one of the best collections of comic-related essays ever) and owner of the very excellent Comix Experience.So a tip of the hat to Brian, and to everyone AROUND THE GLOBE who went out and read a comic in public, and hopefully inspired someone new to try out this awesome medium of ours.
Scenes from a FanExpo
We had our first full day at FanExpo Canada today. It was a really, really busy day with lots of people stopping by our table - some brought copies for us to sign, some came to buy copies they couldn't find at stores, some found out about us today. We love attending conventions like these that allow us to chat with readers, Shakespeare fans, and everyone else.Conor and I also moderated an interesting panel regarding the current state of comics and where they are going. We had Scott Chandler, Willow Dawson, Ramon Perez, Cameron Stewart and Andy Belanger on the panel, which also saw some interaction with the audience. Thanks to everyone that came out.We look forward to one final day here - hopefully we'll have a chance to get away from the table and check out everything else at the convention. In the meantime, enjoy these photos that we were able to take today...
Graphic Novel Reporter Grills us!
We've always hoped that Kill Shakespeare becomes the sort of comic that people who don't usually read comics can pick up and enjoy. And part of that is getting educators and librarians to see both the value of Kill Shakespeare AND the value of comics as a unique medium that not only spans both literature and art, but also introduces a level of complexity in forcing the reader to work out how those two pieces inform each other.John Hogan is the editor of the very excellent Graphic Novel Reporter who, as part of Bookreporter.com, has an audience that spills nicely into those teachers and librarians.So enjoy our little chat with John, learn about who Anthony DESPERATELY wants to play Hamlet, and watch me use words that I probably don't actually understand ('contextualization?', really Conor?).All the reporter-y goodness can be found here.
Another shameless plug for local cartoonists
Because we like spreading the word about the weird and wonderful things that local T-dot cartoonists are getting up to we bring you s0omething that qualifies on all accounts -- MILLER & MULLET.If you love vaudeville humour mixed with a certain amount of human suffering, terrifying imagery, pratfalls, and are not afraid of clowns then this may be your next fave web-comic.There is also a web-series but I haven't been watching that yet - although I'm gonna guess it'll be kinda surreal.ENJOY - this link will get you started with the comic.
Check us out at FanExpo Canada!
We will be attending FanExpo Canada this upcoming weekend, which coincidentally falls on my birthday weekend! FanExpo is one of the largest comic conventions in North America - either the third or fourth largest, depending upon who you talk to. It's a lot of fun and if you live in the city and have never attended a comic convention before, you should really check it out! I would recommend purchasing your tickets in advance, though - last year I was shut out one day because the line-up was around the corner. It made for quite the sight - a number of costumed people lined up on Front Street!...
Conor, myself, Andy and Ian will be at the convention for most of the weekend as Special Guests. Swing by our table - we're at table P36, right in the midst of artist alley. We'll be stationed with the rest of the Transmission-X folks, which should be fun. Conor and I are also moderating a panel - "Drawing Ahead: The Future of Comics", which will feature Andy B, Ramon Perez, Cameron Stewart, Scott Chantler, Willow Dawson and Max Douglas. We'll be looking at the evolution of comics distribution and trends to look for. Should be a great panel.Check out the FanExpo this weekend - should be fantastic!
Publisher's Weekly Profile
One of the highest profile publications in the publishing industry is Publisher's Weekly, which is read by most people in the industry not only in the U.S. but many other countries. We were very fortunate last July to be profiled by Calvin Reid, which was the kick-off for a great amount of publicity and interest in our project. Most importantly, we were able to use Calvin's title "Why Are Two Canadians Out to Kill Shakespeare" as the subject line for all introductory emails since then - it's such a strong and intriguing way to kick off a discussion!We had a pleasant breakfast conversation with Calvin on the final day of Comic-Con in San Diego late last month. We talked about a number of things beyond Kill Shakespeare - the content and hopes for the Scott Pilgrim film, digital distribution models in publishing, and a number of other topics. Calvin is a true fan of comics and has some great insights into the past and future of the industry.Our profile, with the title of "Killing Shakespeare for Fun and Profit", can be read by clicking on the photo of us with the Publishers Weekly crew (taken at Book Expo America in May of this year).
SDCC Day 1: The next Twilight?
Our first full day has come and gone... We did a signing, chatted with a whole bunch of people, had a couple interviews... and then capped off the night with a group of cool geeks at the Hyatt...The most interesting thing to come out the day is the realization that perhaps our biggest growing fan base are teenage girls. We knew that females gravitate towards Shakespeare more than males do but we've found that so many of them at conventions get excited about our premise - and enjoy not only the emergence of Juliet (and her new interpretation) but also the action and comedy in our series. My dream has come true - perhaps we have the next Twilight in our hands...Some photos:
... And then join us in LA!...
Conor and I are heading to LA the week of July 26th - 30th (more information on that in a future post)... And while in town we're going to be stopping by the largest comic book store in LA, Meltdown Comics, for a signing!We'll be at Meltdown Comics on Wednesday, July 28th from 6-8pm for a signing and to record an interview for their podcast show. Chris and Gaston from Meltdown have been great supporters of the series since it was released and we're excited to meet them in person and further spread the word on Kill Shakespeare!
So if you're in the LA area stop by and visit us - and feel free to make fun of our Canadian accents...