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).
"It's going to be a great read" - AICN
I remember when we first started to work on Kill Shakespeare and I started to do research into the comic industry and become familiar with what other titles are out there, one of the resources I always turned to was Aint It Cool News.Similarly, I've been reading Aint It Cool News for years and years now for film news, back at the turn of the century, I imagine. I don't always agree with their opinions, and some of the sneak peeks seem to be plants from studios, but it's always a great place to do some film browsing.
So this week was a BIG one for us when we got a very positive review on AICN. We were ecstatic and our publisher even forwarded it onto us. This made our day and our week!Click on the image to go to the review.
"Get Thee to a Comic Shop!"
We're huge in the Philly suburbs!...We had a fun interview with Andy Vineberg earlier this week and the result is a good article with a great layout.Page one...
And page 2...
"A book that makes me feel that I’m not smart enough."
One of the comic book reviewers that we really like - and respect his opinion - is Graeme McMillan, who has written for a number of publications and knows story quite well. On the weekend Graeme posted a review of Kill Shakespeare #1 that is quite balanced and raises some good points and some things to watch out for (which we feel we address as the series moves on). Click on the link for the review...
"Who knows, all the world may one day be their stage..."
A someone who has read Canada's Globe & Mail for years and years (I remember waiting until they were delivered to the corner store in Timmins, Ontario everyday at 4pm, a full 10 hours after people in the rest of the country would get it), I'm quite excited to see a profile of Kill Shakespeare in today's paper (click on the image to link to the article)...
Profiled by John Barber, the article features an interview with Conor and I, but more importantly features the artwork of Andy B, including his character designs. We've also had some great comments on the page, ranging from people who think that this is a blasphemy and that we're driven by greed (?), while others think that it sounds pretty cool.Please forward on this article to everyone you know - let's spread the word and get people talking!
We're famous (in the subway)...
This past Thursday (the 15th) Conor and I were profiled in the Toronto 24 Metro newspaper. A great profile (on page 4, ahead of the Middle East story 'cause, as Conor points out, there's a better chance of us turning Kill Shakespeare into a huge franchise than the Middle East crisis being solved...), I think that it's great because a woman in my building stopped me and said that she read it and now understands what I do... I guess she had no idea before?...Click on the link to read the article in JPEG format.
Two Reviews - One Good, One Bad
The reviews continue to pile in... We have two noteworthy reviews this morning - one a really positive one, one a really negative one.
I think that some people would prefer to hide bad reviews but I'm of the opinion that it gets people talking, allows us to re-examine some aspects of our story, and also gives perspective. We would feel as though something was wrong if EVERYONE loved our stuff!The positive review is by Noel Bartocci from Broken Frontier (a really cool comic website). He really enjoyed the first issue and he says:"Kill Shakespeare #1 is a fun and thoughtful romp through the landscape of one of history's greatest storytellers. I for one cannot wait for the story to unfold... Within these pages is a genuine crossover appeal that many of us look for when trying to show nonbelievers the joy of comics."The negative review is from Tim Callahan at ComicBookResources (a top comic book website). Although he enjoyed Andy B's art, he believes that our interpretations of Hamlet and the other characters are wrong, stating that the characters, "don't act like themselves, and they speak like second-rate Stan Lee Asgardians."
"A perfect comic book"!
Yesterday a review was posted that may be, as Conor mentioned, the "best review we'll ever get in our lives." A really cool website, Panels on Pages, which takes a look at one comic book every week, reviewed Kill Shakespeare. The review was amazing (click on the image to read the full review) and my favourite line is this:
"The first issue of Kill Shakespeare not only makes me want to keep reading, it makes me want to read other things... This is the sort of comic we need more of - a book that dares to push the boundaries of the medium and of the reader alike, almost daring us to broaden our horizons and truly engage ourselves in what we read; bold, imaginative storytelling paying homage to the great works which made it possible."
Controversy!
It appears as though a Shakespearean scholar has not taken kindly to Kill Shakespeare and our concept... Kimberly Cox, a New York-based scholar (and coincidentally enough the girlfriend of artist/writer Frank Miller) has blasted our concept. She has posted a long letter on BleedingCool.com, which you can check out by clicking on the link.
Random quotes:
"And now a BAD comic book?"
"I just threw up in my mouth."
"Oh, they think they are so clever. They must, because otherwise, this comic book would not exist. IDW would never have even considered the proposal. But no one at IDW knew a thing about Shakespeare, that much is clear, because I doubt that they want to publish a giant stinking turd of a comic book on purpose."
Also of note is that two other scholars are interviewed and their opinions differ from that of Ms. Cox. They call the project "enjoyable", "hard to fault" and "it's a great idea."We've been asked quite a bit in the last few hours what we think of it and we're okay with the criticism - in fact, we welcome a nice, healthy debate. That's one of the goals of our project - to get people talking about Shakespeare and interpretations of his works. It just proves that he - who we believe is the greatest entertainer of all-time - is still relevant in today's world.
Celebrate The Anniversary of Shakespeare's Birth/Death With Us!
To celebrate and recognize the birth/death of William Shakespeare (and the release of the first issue of Kill Shakespeare, of course...) we are doing a signing at Toronto's The Beguiling). If you're in the Toronto area you can stop by the store and meet our team - myself, Conor, Andy Belanger and Kagan McLeod.
We'll be at the store from 5-8pm that evening so stop by and chat Shakespeare, comics, film, etc. We'd love to see you!
Rave Review for Kill Shakespeare #1!
It's always fun to start a week with a rave review...CraveOnline is a really cool entertainment website that serves as a portal for a lot of entertainment sites dealing with film, game, comics, sports and video. We did a fun chat interview with Joey Esposito yesterday and he has posted the interview as well as the review on the site.
The review is quite nice and features some really great thoughts on the first issue, including..."Be it sonnets, tragedies, comedies or anything in between, The Bard will forever be worshiped as perhaps the greatest storyteller of all time. That's why, when some two-bit comic book creators want to come along and shake things up, thespians and literature geeks might cringe at first mention. Except they shouldn't.""The writers have struck a nice balance to satisfy both Shakespeare junkies and those just looking to read the next big thing.""What really stands out in issue #1 of Kill Shakespeare is Belanger's visceral layouts. Every page feels different and dynamic, drawing the eye wherever it needs to go regardless of the panel layout. Belanger is sure to be a staple of the industry in the next decade, and Kill Shakespeare just might be the book to get him there."
All Things Fangirl Interview!
While at the IDW booth at WonderCon last Sunday we were accosted by some females looking to kill Shakespeare... They asked us impromptu questions about the series and recorded the interview on their exception Flip camera. The quality is pretty good... and so now we're looking to purchase one for ourselves.
The interview was a lot of fun, as you can see...Check out their site by clicking on their logo - it's a great site full of really great analysis of pop culture. I'm going to make sure that I visit their site regularly!
The Geek Girls Will Love Us...
One of the best interviews we had at WonderCon was with Kate Kotler from Geek Girl on the Street, a really fun and informative website skewed towards, of course, females. Kate (and her team) were a lot of fun to hang out with and exchange jokes and barbs. There's gotta be a way we can design a character in our story after her...
Click on the photo for the second part of our interview (you can read the first part here).
WonderCon Interview with Cammy's Comic-Con Corner
Our first interview at WonderCon was with Cam from Cammy's Comic Corner. It was a lot of fun and got everything off to a great start! Take a look at how we started to get our stories to jive...
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!...
Kill Shakespeare #1 - The First Six Pages
With excellent artwork by Andy Belanger, colouring by Ian Herring and lettering by Robbie Robbins, we are happy to release the first six pages of Kill Shakespeare #1! All artwork is copyright Kill Shakespeare Entertainment, Inc.
A Preview on aintitcool.com!
As someone who reads up as much information about film and television (non-reality, of course), aintitcool.com has been a big source for me over the years. Since starting the project I have started to rely on the site more for comic news and previews - they always run a preview page on Mondays and then do reviews / critiques on Thursdays. They also put together a pretty good "Best of the Decade" section in December/January, with some titles I have subsequently read because of it.
Kill Shakespeare received a preview posting yesterday (Monday), which is a BIG thing for us! Especially for our artist Andy, who has wanted to have one of his titles on the site for years. So we're all pretty happy with this preview!
"Bard in a Blender"
Conor and I are both HUGE fans of Wired magazine so we were quite pleased this past weekend at WonderCon when a profile on us was posted on Wired.com. Written by Scott Thill, it's an excellent piece that discusses the project, our views on pop culture, and everything in-between. Click on the Wired logo to read the article.
My favourite quote of the article is this:"It’s the type of compelling, character-driven convergence you find in acclaimed television series like Lost. Which is no accident, if you ask McCreery. 'If Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be J.J. Abrams,' he said."
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).
Very interesting comments!
We are currently in San Francisco to attend the WonderCon this weekend. We've reached out to some media and one who picked up the story was Topless Robot, a great site discussing pop culture. Click on the logo to go to the site.
Entitled "The Justice League of Stratford-upon-Avon, it's a great article. But what's even better are the comments posted with the article! A small sampling:
"I was completely sold on the mention of Falstaff."
"This sounds just ludicrous enough to be excellent."
"A plague on the houses of those that didn't call this KILL WILL!!!"
"Well played, IDW. Well played."