I (heart) Hal-Con.
Well, Hal-Con was a blast!I've had the good fortune to get to attend comic conventions this year in San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Toronto and book events in NY (and soon Miami) and I can't imagine a more lovely group of people than the ones at the Halifax Convention.
Friendly people, passionate about their loves, a good mix of sci-fi, fantasy, comics, gaming and other fun geek-y pastimes and truly interested fans. I had one amazing conversation after another.I also wanted to give a shout out to the organizers of Hal-Con who took on the enromous task of resurrecting a long-dead convention (the last one was 15 years ago). They did it with style, with astonishingly few misteps for their first time out of the gate and with grace, humour and a real enjoyment for all the genres they were featuring.And they also raised over $2,500 for local causes at a chairty auction - including a MIND-blowing $300 for a signed poster of Nathan Fillion (Serenity, Castle). Fillion also called in to the show to help win one of the Geeks vs Nerds debates....
Wait, what IS Geeks vs Nerds you ask? Well I am happy you did.This fantastic live show pits panels of "Geeks" vs "Nerds" against each other, arguing topics like "whose the least effective military force? Stormtroopers, or Star-Trek redshirts?" Or "Who is the best smuggler in the universe? Han Solo or Mal Reynolds?" Or even the more business case orientated -- "Who is the better second in command? Vader or Spock?"I got to argue on behalf of the Stormtroopers arguoing that while yes, they have a tragic targeting issue, they were still way better to have then the redshirts, who after all, spend all their on-screen time dying as soon as they materialze on to whatever planet or ship they've been sent to. I'd call them cannon-fodder, but that'd be an insult to cannon-fodder.I'm trying to get the show out to Fan-Expo next year, so Toronto fans -- you NEED to check this out! I'mhoping for a Donald vs Daffy Duck debate as well as a Man in Black(Dread Pirate Roberts) vs Zorro... but that's just me...There were also some INCREDIBLE fan efforts, from the dozens upon dozens of brilliant costumes to a massive replica of the Alexei Leonov - the main ship from 2010. This was done by Robert LePine and it was crazy-good!
Enjoy these photos from the show -- and make sure you check out the Hal-Con site for more. And if you are looking for an excuse to travel to Canada's Ocean Playground -- this is a good one.I'll post some more on this soon, with a few links to some new talents I met who I hope you might be interested in.
SEE THE VICTORY!
Its finally up!You can now watch Conor and Anthony's award winning Pitch This! presentation. This is what won us the big, fake, novelty cheque!Also, there are several other great pitches on the video, especially The Fringe, Brobots and 50 Proof (which I found really funny, but maybe I was in the minority).So click here to watch the whole thing. Or jump straight ahead to the 32 minute mark to see us do our stuff (use the full screen version, because the pop-up window isn't cropped too well).They also had to edit out a bit where our video didn't run (which is too bad because we had a couple of good awkward one-liners as we waited in growing horror).Anyway tell us what you think, and tell us which PITCH you would have voted for -- aside from us of course...
Kill Shakespeare invades Hal-Con!
Make your Halloween EXTRA spooky by seeing Kill Shakespeare co-creator Conor McCreery in the flesh in Halifax.While Andy and Anthony dazzle'em in Guelph at The Dragon, Conor will be at The Lord Nelson Hotel (1515 South Park Street, Halifax, NS) as part of the Halifax Comic-Con, Canada's largest comics convention East of MontrealConor will be at the show all three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). On Saturday he will host two panels in the Regency Ballroom at 9:00 and 11:30 AM and a special Q&A singing at 3:45 PM in the Georgian Lounge.Conor will also be available throughout Sunday for signings in the Lounge.We hope to see all the East Coast Prodigals out in force!
"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...
M.C. Del Col, Yo!
No, it isn't the latest white-rap superstar (that would actually be Kill Shakespeare's cover artist Kagan McLeod who has won more than his fair share of accolades at Hip-Hop Karaoke), it is the role Anthony Del Col will be taking on this Monday.
Anthony will be serving as the Master of Ceremony's at a book launch in Toronto at the Lula Lounge. Anthony will be leading the launch festivities for the Toronto debut of Chris Benjamin's first novel Drive By Saviours.The book has already garned RAVE reviews and if you are a fan of intelligent literature (and of course you are, you read Kill Shakespeare) and you live in the Toronto area head to the event for a fantastic night of readings, music, performances and DEL COL!(oh and give Chris a hard time -- he's a Habs fan).WHAT: Drive By Saviours Book launchWHEN: October 4th, 2010WHERE: Lula Lounge (1585 Dundas St. W)TIME: 8:00-11:30 PM
Stephen Holt Strikes Again!
Our brand-new best friend Stephen Holt has added to his collection of Kill Shakespeare media. This time its in the form of two videos he has posted on his YouTube channel.
Stephen is a passionate cinephile and blogs foir AwardsDaily.com (the site Anthony uses to get the egde on the competition in his Hollywood movie league). We met him at TIFF and he very kindly (and correctly as it turned out) said he thought we would win PITCH THIS! He also does a popular public access show in NYC and agreed to chat with us!You can surf into his channel (unless you get to see his show nin NYC) to watch the first part of the video here and the second part here!We had a great time and we talked about things in this interview that we have NEVER been asked!
Our newest fan: Stephen Holt!
Two weeks ago at the Pitch This! event at the Toronto Film Festival we met Stephen Holt, a New York journalist and television host who saw our pitch and ran up to us afterwards, raving about the idea and insisting that we would win. Well, Stephen was right and we did indeed win! And we sat down for an interview with him the next day (after bumping into him again at a screening of Black Swan) and chatting about our project, the Oscars, film, and life in general.(On a side note, Stephen is a writer on AwardsDaily.com, which is a site that I frequent a number of times a day between Sept 1st - Oscar night, giving me the inside goods on the Oscar campaigns and races. When I found out that Stephen worked on the site I was blown away!)Stephen has just posted a great article about us on his blog (you can access it by clicking on the photo of us below) and will shortly be posting a video interview with us as well.
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
"Shakespearean action flick wins Pitch This!"
Today was a HUGE day for Kill Shakespeare. Conor and I competed in the Telefilm Canada Pitch This! contest, taking place as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. We were one of six finalists selected to pitch a film project... and WE WON!!!
You can read a great article about us in CBC by clicking on the above photo.
This is a huge vote of confidence in our project and means that we are on the right track in looking to expand the project beyond the comic book medium.We'd like to commend the other team pitching their projects. Though we did not have an opportunity to see their full pitches we've heard good things about them.We'd like to thank Telefilm Canada for supporting this contest - it's a great one. The contest has been running for eleven years now and I've watched about seven of them (including four as a contestant - winner in '06!) and it's a great event. We'd also like to thank Erin Rypstra and Shant Srabian from the TIFF Industry Centre, who oversaw the competition. It was a first-class event and they should be commended. And thanks to the jury, who saw this as a project to be supported. We are doing our most to make this happen and become a very successful alumni of the competition.
Issue #5 - ComicBookResources Review
We haven't been reviewed by CBR since our first issue (one of our negative reviews) so it's great to see that they've covered Issue #5 and given it a very good review! The highlight quote:"Belanger’s art propels the tale into greater territory as he deftly flips between talking heads
, gruesome battle scenes, spectral visitors, and men in frocks. It feels like Belanger never offers us the same page layout. I appreciate his fresh variety of delivery. It keeps the pages of the book dynamic and the story feeling just that bit edgier than old Shakespeare has the right to feel."
Clips from The Lang & O'Leary Exchange
Thanks to everyone who reached out to us since our appearance last night on The Lang & O'Leary Exchange. Not only did my family and friends check out the program but I also heard from long-lost acquaintances - it's great that so many people took the time to reach out to us!
I'm trying to see if I can get a copy of the video directly but in the meantime you should (I haven't verified this yet...) be able to check out the video here (our segment starts at around the 47:00 marker). Hopefully we'll be able to find the code to imbed it directly onto our site as well.
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.
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...)
Visiting a Dragon...
Conor and I have been schedule to appear on CBC News Network's "The Lang and O'Leary Exchange" this upcoming Tuesday, September 7th. We will be discussing Kill Shakespeare in their "back to school" programming for the week. The airtime is 7pm EST.
For those that don't know, Kevin O'Leary is famous for his role on the CBC series Dragon's Den and ABC's version The Shark Tank, in which business people pitch their ideas and look for start-up capital. O'Leary is always the most difficult and blunt one but always entertaining - it's always about the bottom line for him, which I can appreciate. Amanda Lang is a veteran of Business News Network here in Canada and one of the smartest business commentators in the country. It'll be very interesting to see what we talk about on the show.Check us out!
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.
We turn a heretic into a believer!
We've been fortunate to recieve a few pretty decent reviews so far - but this latest one may be one of the most special. It isn't just because the reveiwer gives us 10's across the board, it isn't just because the reviewer sees Kill Shakespeare as complex and intriguing. It's because when this guy first heard about Kill Shakespeare he HATED the idea. He absolutely LOATHED it. He made Kimberly Cox look like our #1 fan!!!So the fact that once he was able to delve into the work we were able to convince him that we really are on to something -- well that's really satisfying!You can read the review here.
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).
"KILL SHAKESPEARE did something that no English teacher ever could"
We have received a LOT of very positive reviews of late (I'm still buzzing from the one that mentioned the term "genius", though not sure if we deserve it...) but it's always great to get another one - this time from AintItCool.com. We received a positive review of the first issue back in April but this time the review is for our fourth issue - and the three leading up to it.Perhaps the best line from the review: "What I do want is writers who know how to dream and artists who brush with their souls. To that end, KILL SHAKESPEARE is a smashing success."
Check out the review by clicking on the image.
"Pick this up and support one of the more creative books out there."
Our first review for Issue #4 is a strong one. Walter Richardson from Multiversity Comics has posted a strong review of our latest issue (now available at stores) and you can read it by clicking on the image.
