Scenes from a Script Meeting
On Monday, June 14th the Kill Shakespeare team (myself, Conor, Andy and Ian) sat down over breakfast for the first part of the artwork process for every issue: the script meeting. Conor and I presented Andy with the script for Issue #6 ("Lend Me Your Ears"), the conclusion issue of the first half of our series.
The process normally involves reading through the script page-by-page with Andy and answering any immediate questions he may have. We talk about motivations, inspirations and anything else pertinent to the issue. After this initial meeting Andy then goes off to put together the layouts.As for Ian (the colourist), what is his involvement in this meeting, you may ask? Well, he came along for the free breakfast.
Thanks to super-fan Amanda, who took these photos for us.
TCAF Photo of Conor and Anthony
Taken by Jordan Sparks, here is a photo of Conor and I at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival...
Perhaps the most valuable members of our team...
One of the things that came out of our meetings two weeks ago at Book Expo America was how impressed everyone (sales reps, retailers, librarians) was with the media coverage that we've been receiving. Yes, we have a very interesting story that media can quickly pick up on - a unique spin on Shakespeare in a different medium, the story of two Canadian entrepreneurs putting this together, etc. However, we would not have been able to get the amount of PR that we have thus far without the great publicity teams that we're working with.
Representing us in Canada is MDG & Associates, a PR firm based in Toronto that specializes in the publishing industry. Working directly with the super-talented Sarah Stevens and Debby de Groot, we've been able to land national media hits in the National Post, the Globe & Mail and CBC Radio 3 (in addition to some other great radio spots). These two wunderkinds are already planning a major media push for us leading up the release of our first trade in November and we look forward to seeing what rabbits they pull out of their hats.Thanks to Sarah and Deb for their great work thus far - and we look forward to some major media hits in the fall!
Scenes from New York (Part 1)...
Conor and I arrived in New York Monday evening to attend Book Expo America (BEA). It's the largest convention in the publishing industry in North America and we're here to prime people for the release of our trade paperback edition in November. Should be an interesting and educational time for us - we're meeting with sales reps, retail buyers, academics, librarians, media, etc. We also get to finally meet our U.S. publicists (Dan and Lonnie from Smith Publicity) in person for the first time!...We stopped by a number of comic book stores today to see how sales are and all stores sold out their initial orders (and only one has copies of the first issue re-ordered remaining in stock). First off, we stopped by Forbidden Planet to visit Jeff Ayers and the team there. It was a great place to hang out and we were able to get a couple new converts to the series right there while hanging out! Thanks to Jeff and everyone for helping to sell Kill Shakespeare - and for allowing us to hang out on a very busy day!
Throwing up the "B" for Bayside!...
On Friday afternoon Conor, myself and Andy drove to Belleville, Ontario (two hours east of Toronto) to visit Bayside Secondary School. For a group of about 45 students we conducted seminars on writing, drawing and publishing, using Kill Shakespeare as an example. Considering it was the Friday afternoon before the long weekend the students were great and many have contacted us since, asking for help with their projects.Teacher Kent Allin was the maestro behind this day, putting on the event for everyone. Mr. Allin is one of the coolest teachers we've ever met (other than the lack of proper footwear, of course...) and it was a pleasure for us to help out his classes. Mr. Allin teaches one of the few high school English courses that are based on graphic novels, which we think is fantastic!Thanks to everyone at Bayside for the great event!
The question of Shylock...
We had a great time during our interview with NPR earlier today (May 20th). Unlike most interviews in which we conduct them over the phone, today we were brought into the CBC (which STILL reminds me of Ken Finkleman's amazing comedy series The Newsroom). It felt a lot of WKRP in Cincinatti, actually...
It was fun to chat about the project and we found it great as callers dialed in to ask questions. We love to talk to people about the project, I guess! The best was a question posed about Shylock and whether we would put him in our story - and hopefully not as a villain. As I pointed out in the interview the first Shakespeare play I read was The Merchant of Venice and what made it a great piece for me was that there were two sides to Shylock - he's a villain in one moment, and a victim in the next. We had the character in an earlier draft of our story but we had to cut the scene. My hope and dream is to be able to get him into a future version of our tale.You can listen to the entire interview by clicking on the (obviously posed) photo of Conor and I in the studio...
Signing Snaps from the Snail!
As mentioned last night, we had a great signing at the Silver Snail in downtown Toronto yesterday (May 1st) to celebrate Free Comic Book Day. The best part of the day was the fact that most people that picked up copies were new fans that had wandered into the store and were really intrigued by the concept and artwork.Myself, Conor, Kagan, Andy, Ian and Jason Chan all showed up at various points. Here are some of the photos from the event...
- Anthony with a family of new fans
The next generation of artists
We had a great signing at the Silver Snail in Toronto today to celebrate Free Comics Book Day. I'll post more photos from the event in the next day or two (including a sketch that Andy B did of me, commissioned by a (now-former-) friend.One of the highlights was chatting with a number of children at the event, and some that want to get into cartooning. Rather than having us do a sketch for them, we asked THEM for sketches and got some great ones...This is one of the talented next generation of artists, Ava Morris...
This is a sketch of Andy B, done by Ava... Notice that her name is so big - she's already aware of how important it is to build yourself up as a brand...
We also have a sketch by Jesse, who departed before giving us his full name... He created a new superhero, Catman ("pet by day, hero by night")...
Of course, I'd be remiss to not include a photo of myself with the coolest costumes of the day... Notice that the one on the right is already to pounce upon villains...
Photos from The Beguiling Signing (April 23rd)
Thanks to everyone who came out for our signing this past Friday at The Beguiling... It was great to see old friends, make some new ones, and get more people interested in Shakespeare!
Photos from the Paradise Comics Signing (April 14th)
To celebrate the launch of Kill Shakespeare #1 we did a signing at Toronto's Paradise Comics. Thanks to everyone that showed up, and thanks to Doug Simpson and the gang at Paradise. We sold out the books in the first half-hour and then had to dip into our own supply to ensure that nobody left home empty-handed.It was a great time with old friends coming back (some I haven't seen in years) and a legion of new fans (converted on the spot).
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).
Our first radio interview together...
Earlier today Conor and I were interviewed on Toronto's CIUT 89.5FM, talking about Kill Shakespeare as well as the upcoming Toronto Wizard Comic-Con. Take 5, hosted by Dave Peterson, it was a fun twenty minutes of conversation about the Kill Shakespeare concept, the comic book industry in general, anticipated academic reaction to the comic book series, the upcoming Wizard Con, and our panel on Friday afternoon.
Thanks to Dave Peterson, who was a very skilled and polished host (asked us some very good questions that kept the conversation alive). Thanks to Crystal Luxmore, who helped to co-ordinate the interview. And thanks to everyone who listened - my email and Facebook boxes were filled with well-wishes from the interview.It was a great warm-up for future media interviews!
Kudos to Kagan
It was announced this past Thursday that illustrator Kagan McLeod, who is doing the covers for Kill Shakespeare, was an award-winner at the 31st annual Best of Newspaper Design Creative Competition. Kagan has done some great work for Canada's National Post the last few years and this award is a reflection of the great work that he does there.
We will be releasing Kagan's covers for the first two issues shortly, and then Issue #3 after that. Two of the illustrations that brought him the awards are below.
Playoff beards?
Upon entering the studio yesterday I noticed an interesting fact... With the growth of colourist Ian Herring's beard, all of the Kill Shakespeare team except one are now sprouting (playoff) beards...
I'm starting to fell pressure to grow one myself... But... will... resist...
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!
Going Postal...
The past week has been spent sending out our first wave of marketing materials to comic book retailers. Conor and I mailed out letters to 390 U.S. retail stores last week and are sending out more in the next 24 hours.
Will it work? Well, earlier today we received a great email from Ralph DiBernardo of Jetpack Comics (Rochester, N.H.), who stated, "In an age when everyone thinks email marketing is the way, I applaud you for taking the time to create interesting letterhead & envelope... Thanks again for hitting us old school. It absolutely worked." To hear that made our day - and now we're off to stuff some more envelopes and continue our quest to turn this into a successful comic book series...
The Long Road to Retailers...
This week we are prepping our direct marketing campaign to North American comic book retailers. As a new title with upcoming talent it's crucial to spread the word and we've devised a pretty cool campaign to make as many retailers aware of us and Kill Shakespeare as possible.
Two excellent young interns have started to work with us. Mike Klassen, from Sheridan College, and Charlie Jay (above), from Ryerson, have brought theirs skills and talents to the Kill Shakespeare team. They have been spending the last week or two putting together a great deal of data for us and will be helping us out over the next few months. If you are someone who may have the slightest interest in K.S., you'll probably hear from them sometime/some how...
More details on our campaign as we move forward with it.