Fuzzy Photos from Montreal

We got back in from Montreal late last night after a really great weekend.  The Comic-Con there was really good for us (we sold out of books!) but the Con overall is becoming a really strong one.  The numbers increased dramatically from last year, there was a lot of excitement, and I think it's a Con that will continue to grow over the next few years.  We definitely would love to attend next year and meet up again with our new fans and readers.Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth - our existing fans (the peeps from Hal-Con, Adam from Kingston, our biggest fan Julie, etc.), those that swung by because they had heard of us, those that checked out our book for the first time (hopefully you're enjoying the read) and those that are only now checking out our website (welcome!).  Also, thanks to those who attended our two workshops (the Creation of Comics, the Business and Comics).  And finally, thanks to Oscar at the show for inviting us as guests - it was a great experience.I just went through the photos and, unfortunately, a lot of them are out-of-focus.  Not sure why.  But here are a few shots from the weekend...

Pics from Toronto's FanExpo

We had an absolute blast at FanExpo this past weekend.  We enjoyed taking part in the WGC adaptation panel on Thursday evening, I enjoyed talking to the packed-crowd for our How to Create and Market Your Indy Comic on Friday, and, of course, we had a great time talking to fans, readers, geeks and everyone else that came by our poorly-placed booth.A few photographic highlights of the weekend...

How to Create and Market Indie Comics

This past Friday we put together a workshop on how to create and market your own independent comic book.  The one-hour session went extremely well - it was packed and standing room only! - and we're now looking to do this at a number of other conventions and events moving forward.

We have received a couple of glowing media reactions to it.  ComicBookDaily put together an in-depth summary of the workshop, which can be read by clicking on the image.  Dan Brown from the London Free Press also listed it as one of the highlights of the entire FanExpo (article link is here).

Thanks to the Toronto Comics Workshop for allowing us the opportunity to speak and we will hopefully be able to put together a session near you sometime soon!

Baltimore Pics!

Things have been extremely busy here over the last two weeks with a lot of screenwriting, FanExpo and other work to be done.  I've only recently been able to go through the photos taken from our trip to the Baltimore Comic-Con and prepped them.  They are here below.Again, thanks to everyone associated with the Baltimore Con for a fantastic show. We really enjoyed our time there and met some great people over the two days.

Art Show for Kill Shakespeare!

Last night the Toronto Comics Workshop hosted an industry night with a gallery showing of Andy Belanger's art from Kill Shakespeare and J.Bone's Retroactive 1970's Wonder Woman #1.  It was a fun time with a good turnout.  Thanks to the Toronto Comics Workshop for hosting the event and Kevin Boyd for organizing it.A couple of photos:

Ve are big in Chermany!

(Deborah forgive me for my teasing...)So, one of the best things about Kill Shakespeare, to me at least, is knowing that teachers and educators are finding it interesting.So it was with GREAT excitement that I saw this e-mail in my inbox the other day. It was from Deborah Altenbeck a German graduate student who is a BIG fan of Kill Shakespeare. She had been hoping to do a paper on us and wrote to me to provide an update.The e-mail started off a LITTLE depressingly:I apologize for not keeping in touch. I was very busy doing my final exams and my final paper for the university. But I'm through with everything now. Unfortunately I couldn't write one of my research papers on Kill Shakespeare as I've originally planned, but I was forced to write it on a different topic. Crap.So much for our inaugural German language paper. But as I read the e-mail I realized what Deborah HAD done was way, WAY, cooler.However, I am still working for the Institution for gifted children and still teach the Shakespeare course and I thought I should let you know what we're doing... ...A few lessons ago we finally started on the Comics Section. I assigned the various main characters from Kill Shakespeare to individual students and they made posters, researching information on:1. which play they are from2. their alignment (good ----- bad)3. a description4. a strength5. a weakness6. 5 adjectives to describe the character7. family tree8. a famous quotation9. pictures from the internetand I provided them with character artwork that I found on your website.When we were all finished, posters were presented to the group so that everyone knew each character. I attached some photos of the results. So I wanted to share with you, our fans, some of those photos so you can see how Kill Shakespeare is being used to help kids get into the Bard in a whole different way.As you can imagine this makes Anthony, Andy and I enormously proud of our work and it is something special to think that our little comic has made it across the sea.Going forward Deborah says she plans to read the whole series to her class and hope to put together a teaching guide for Kill Shakespeare.So a big Danke to Deborah. You have made our week.Conor

PS: The second coolest thing about her Shakespeare unit besides the fact it used Kill Shakespeare? The fact that she had the students do in-character job interviews. Can you imagine Hamlethaving to try to land a gig as an air-traffic controller?Interviewer: "So, Mr. Hamlet. Can you provide me some examples of times when you were under a great deal of pressure and we're able to make snap decisions?"Hamlet: ....Interviewer: Mr. Hamlet?Hamlet:...Interviewer: Mr. Hamlet, are you awake?Hamlet:...Interviewer: Mr. Hamlet!Hamlet ... yes.Interviewer: Well then, can you answer me the question, please. Can you think of an example of when you successfully made a quick decision?Hamlet: ...Hamlet:...Hamlet:....  Maybe?

Pics from Calgary Expo

We had a simply amazing time in Calgary last year.  We've been to many Cons over the last two years and Calgary is definitely, if not the best, then right up there.  We organizers were absolutely fantastic, the crowds amazing, and people were super-excited to see us there.  So much so, in fact, that sold out of trade paperbacks by Saturday at 2pm and after that only had artwork and individual issues to sign (the latter of which sold out Sunday at 1pm).Thanks to everyone associated with the event for a great time.  Thanks to the organizers, to the fellow artists and creators, to the organizers of the Joe Shuster Awards (which I missed as I was at our table but Conor attended), to the CBC for running our profile that very weekend, and for everyone who stopped by to chat with us.  I've said it many time already but I'll say it again - one of the best parts of our time with Kill Shakespeare thus far has been being able to chat with fans and readers at conventions.  We look forward to our next one - Baltimore in August!Here are various photos taken over the weekend.

Congrats to the RMSS class of 2011!

I was given the honour earlier today of speaking to my high school alma mater's 2011 graduating class.  It was great visiting my old high school, Roland Michener Secondary School in South Porcupine, ON.  For those outside of Canada, it's about a nine hour drive north of Toronto - and also the birthplace of Shania Twain as well!

I prepared a five-minute speech filled with as many cliched words of advice and inspiration as possible - all did in a rapid-fire manner that took only about one minute.  I then encouraged the grads to follow one piece of advice: travel.  Travel as much as possible to garner inspiration and education from different people, cultures and customs.Thanks to Miss Drummond and Mr. Mulroney for inviting me to take part in the event and best of luck to all graduates of RMSS - and all high schools everywhere!(The Timmins Daily Press front page story of the ceremony can be found here.)

Heroes of Heroes Con!

Heroes Con this past weekend in Charlotte was amazing!  A great time where we met a lot of new friends, old ones, made new fans, and had a fun time (Andy is only now catching up on his sleep...).  Thanks to everyone that stopped by our table during the weekend and we hope to keep in touch with all of you!Over the weekend we snapped a number of pictures and here are some of the highlights...

Images from Conor's Sun TV Interview

Conor had a ten-minute segment on Sun TV's Charles Adler Show this evening and it went amazingly well.  Charles was quite interested in not only Kill Shakespeare but our successful attempts to introduce the Bard to a new audience as well as the relevance of comics today.The actual interview is not available online at this point but you can check out some of the following images:

Photos from Boston Comic Con

This past weekend Andy Belanger and I traveled to Boston to attend the Boston Comic Con.  It was our first trip there (both to the Con and the city) and it was a blast.  We met some great people, had some good food, and followed in the footsteps of Mark Zuckerberg (watch out, Conor...).Thanks to everyone who swung by our booth to meet us - the fans, the new readers, the media, the retailers, the costumed superheroes.  The greatest thing about working in the comic book industry is having the opportunity to meet directly with the people who are reading your series and hearing what they like and don't like (thankfully, it's been much more of the former instead of the latter...).Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Toronto Fan Appreciation Comic-Con

This past weekend we took part in the Toronto Fan Appreciation Comic-Con.  It was a two-day affair at the Metro Convention Centre and, though not as big as some other cons in the city, was a great event for us.  We had a number of fans and readers visit us, sold a number of books, and made some new friends and readers.Thanks to everyone who stopped by our tables to chat, to the organizers (Kevin and the gang), to Ben O'Brian, our marketing assistant who is now our #1 salesperson, and to those who picked up the book!Here are some photos from the weekend:

Our first cover profile!

Conor and I were interviewed back in November for the Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni magazine.  As proud alumni of WLU (based in Waterloo, Canada) we were pleased to not only receive a glowing profile but also... our first magazine cover profile!The excellent article by Mallory O'Brien can be found at this link.  The photo shoot was done by Dean Palmer (based in Guelph) and the layout by Erin Steed.  We will (hopefully) have other photos from our photo shoot (done at Toronto's Silver Snail) on our site in the next week or so.

SPOTLIGHT - KAGAN MCLEOD

While most of the Kill Shakespeare team are money-grubbing, attention seeking whores gentlemen, one member of our team toils away quietly alone in a tiny little room -  he comes up neither for food nor water and is suckled only by the milk of his own artistic merits...Yes, Kagan Mcelod is one odd dude...But he is one oddly talented dude as well - having a resume that would fill this post and beyond. Suffice it to say if Kagan is not THE most in demand commercial illustrator for newspapers, magazines and the web in North America he is on the very short list  of those who are.So, it was a pleasant surprise when Kagan sent a carrier pigeon my way. In the little beast's claws were a lock of Kagan's hair (his usual way of communicating to the outside world that he still lives) and a CD.Overcome with curiosity I plunged the CD into my computer and was amazed to see the contents.This most secretive of artists was giving us, the hoi polloi, an unvarnished glimpse into his creative process.WARNING, SPOILER ALERT, WARNING!The images below will give you a pretty damn good idea of what the cover for issue #12 is going to look like. So DON'T go any farther if you want to be left completely surprised and dazzled by the incredible journey into the illustrative arts that Mr. Mcleod has planned for you.(Now that we've got rid of those pansies we can continue).Now, of course this is just the TIP of the issue #12 iceberg. Kagan has a lot more in store for this design, and because I don't want to TOTALLY be the Grinch I'm going to stop this here... but we'll go more in depth once the cover is a LITTLE closer to being released for real.Now if you'll excuse me I have to go clean Kagan's cage...

Happy Birthday to our Bill Murray!

March 30th marks an important day in art history.  Yes, Vincent Van Gogh was born on this date but so is the next biggest artist in the comic book industry - Andy Belanger!  Today is his birthday so if you know him make sure to send him a HUGE birthday greeting.

Conor and I are extremely lucky to have been able to work with Andy on this project.  Not only is his art fantastic but he's a great guy to hang out with, travel with, laugh with, pull pranks on, drink with, and work with.  Andy is a true professional and really knows what it takes to succeed in this industry.  I look forward to continuing to work with him for years and years.And yes, he also looks a bit like Bill Murray.  Though I personally think he looks more like Joe Pesci...

Images from Toronto Wizard Comic-Con

Andy, Conor and I had a great time this past weekend at the Toronto Wizard Comic-Con.  Much smaller than the FanExpo that appears in August in the city, it nonetheless was a big success for us.  We had a LOT of people stop by our booth and sold a lot of books and issues.  What's even better is that a lot of people had already heard of us, which means that our marketing campaigns have been working!Thanks to Doug and Peter at Paradise Comics who were able to arrange for us to have a booth at the show.  We were actually positioned right across from the Delorean from Back to the Future, so it was great to see that machine still chugging away.  (I'm not sure where the plutonium was coming from this - I have a feeling it's probably tough to do business with Libyans these days...).Here are some images from the show...

Photos from Our Folger Talk

As mentioned in earlier posts, Conor and I gave a talk at the Folger Shakespeare Library this past Tuesday, February 15th.  We were invited by the Library to talk about our interpretation of the Bard's characters and stories on our comic book series.The Folger contains the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works and contains an immense amount of resources and artifacts from Shakespeare's time.  It was a treat to visit the location - I myself found it really inspiring that so much effort was put together to catalogue his works.Our talk went very well - you can access a review of the evening by writer comicsgirl.com's Eden Miller at this link. It was great to talk to a crowd of comic and Shakespeare fans, evenly split.  We then signed a number of books and sold out everything that evening.Thanks to Joe Ross for serving as our moderator, to Garland Scott and Teri Cross Davis for helping to coordinate the event, and everyone at the Folger for making it a great event.  In addition, thanks to Vanessa King, Lesley Pike and Pietro Filipponi for taking the photos below.  We hope to have some video footage up sometime soon.

Photos from our Toronto Launch Party

Here are some photos from our Toronto Launch Party from last week (Nov 16th)... We have hundreds of them so these are some and we'll post more in the next day or two...Thanks to my good friend Kuntal Variya for serving as our photographer for the evening - she did a fantastic job!

CommandN loves them some Kill Shakespeare AND Hal-Con

As many of you have read Kill Shakespeare had a GREAT time at Hal-Con:

The people were amazing, and the event was as much fun as I have had at any convention in my life.In fact I bet a lot of you are thinking "man, I'm sorry I missed that".Well... the people at CommandN thought so too, so they have put together a FANTASTIC special on the event -- which you can check out right here!We're scattered throughout the special -- but the whole thing is well worth your watching while.And, if you haven't had your fill of Kill Shakespeare, Halifax and Conor -- then check out Haligonian.ca where Conor was interviewed by a gentlemen who had an English accent - for no discernable reason...Click on interview #27.

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.