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:

SDCC Day 0.5: Reunions with two mentors

Today was Preview Night at Comic-Con in San Diego... Andy, Conor and I had a chance to pick up our passes (after cutting in the line... shhh!...), check out some of the early sights.  The biggest items being pushed this year - thus far, at least - are Scott Pilgrim, Thor and The Walking Dead.  I'm sure that more will be discovered tomorrow, which will be the first full day... (And we will also provide a whole whack of photos as well!)...We were able to run into two individuals who both helped us out at a very early stage of the project.  That is what's proving to be a great part of attending these conventions - running into old friends along the way.Ku Liang from Diamond Comics Distributors was one of the first people who gave us advice as we moved forward.  He has been a great advocate of our project, talking to everyone at Diamond, librarians, retailers, sales reps, etc.  He has given us sales and marketing advice, and become a real brand evangelist for Kill Shakespeare.  For this assistance, much thanks!Arvid Nelson was one of the first creators that we met (back at the New York Comic-Con in February, 2009 while we were pitching the project).  Both Conor and I (especially Conor!) were fans of his Rex Mundi series and in the next few months he gave us advice about the industry, read through our first script to give us notes, and generally become a friend.  He's working on some really cool projects at the moment, including one with Radical Publishing.Thanks to both Ku and Arvid for everything they've done for us thus far - and will continue to do!

... 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...

Kill Shakespeare in San Diego!

Conor, Andy and I are heading out tomorrow (Tuesday) to head to San Diego for the annual pop culture smorgasbord, San Diego International Comic-Con!  We're excited as this year we'll be there to further promote our series and get people excited about it.

If you're in San Diego feel free to stop by our booth to say hello - we'd love to hear from you.If you can't be in San Diego please let us know if there's anything you'd like us to capture for you.  We'll be taking plenty of photos and video while there so please send us your request(s)!

The newest member of the Kill Shakespeare team

One of the things that I love to do when watching a film created by Pixar (Toy Story 3, Up!, Ratatouille) is to watch the entire closing credits.  Pixar creates such a cool, friendly environment for everyone to work in and this extends to the actual credits of each film.  They list every member of the team - from the director to the programmers to the janitors and secretaries.  What they also do is list the names of any babies that have been born to members of the team during the course of production for each film.So in that vein, I'd like to introduce the latest member of the Kill Shakespeare team... Lucie Elspeth Carmen Fleming!Lucie's parents, Sharon and Ted Fleming (aka "Shed") are key members of our financial team and good friends.  I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon yesterday with them - and Lucie - and she is so cute and adorable!Welcome to the Kill Shakespeare team, Lucie!

The Canadian Nerd Card!

Conor did an interview with the League of Ordinary Gentlemen earlier this week, which was just posted today.  It's a pretty entertaining interview with some jokes about Canadians, Mel Gibson and wrestling.  The guys had reviewed our first two issues earlier this summer.  You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link.

"Guilty Pleasure"!

We are mentioned in a column this week on Good Comics for Kids, which also placed us on the 2010 Summer Reading List.  Kate Dacey, who is quickly becoming one of our top fans, mentioned us on a list of what she's currently reading.  The highlight?  Her quote is that we are, "rapidly becoming one of my great guilty pleasures of the summer."  Guilty pleasure?  I love it!Click on the cover image to access the article.

The future of comics and digital storytelling

Conor, Andy and I recorded a podcast this past weekend with Dimitrios and Thor from Midtown Comics, which features two great stores in the Manhattan area.  What's fantastic is that, in a time in which many small comic book stores are closing down, Midtown is expanding and opening up a third location this fall.The podcast explored the topics of Kill Shakespeare, our trade paperback in November, Zuda Comics and the future of digital comics.  Click on the photo of Anthony and Thor (from this past May) to listen.

Getting the humour of Issue #3

Greg Burgas from ComicBookResources gives a breakdown of the comics that he purchased this past week, and says some smart things about Kill Shakespeare #3... "His Puck is creepy, slightly terrifying, but also radiant, and the final few pages, when Macbeth realizes he's in a bad situation, is scary, as Belanger shows his fate from his perspective, which adds to the terror."

Shakespeare, Ontario

Conor and I were invited to attend the opening night of "The Tempest" at the Stratford Festival two weeks ago.  The show, directed by Des McAnuff and starring Christopher Plummer, was quite good (a very unique interpretation of Ariel with great casting).Along the way we stopped in a small town called Shakespeare, Ontario, and couldn't resist taking a photo by the sign...

"One of the most striking books I’ve looked at in a long, long time"

And for the third - and final - review post of the day we turn to SoldierHawk at Weekly Comic Book Review...After a very positive review for the first two issues, they have given us an even higher grade this month!  My favourite comments were with respect to Andy and Ian's artwork, in which she mentions: "The expression “feast for the eyes” is rather cliché, but there are very, very few pages in this book that don’t fit that description... The rich colors back up the pencils perfectly, and the result is just beautiful."

You can read the review by clicking on the link.

"McCreery and Del Col are placing their heart and soul into this work"

Another review... Another positive review of Issue #3!...Our next review today was Comic Book Revolution, a site that normally discusses and reviews top titles of D.C. and Marvel.  As the reviewer himself, Rokk, points out, he is starting to stray away from the mainstream stuff and check out new indie titles.  And he suggests that Kill Shakespeare should be one of those!

What I really enjoyed about Rokk's interview, other than the complete nature of his review, is that he compares us directly to major titles and says that, "if you are interested in reading something outside of the standard fare offered up by Marvel and DC then I would certainly recommend giving Kill Shakespeare a chance."

"You can mark this one in the genius column"

With the release of Issue #3 earlier today, a couple reviews have started to be posted online.  The first one up today was from Ryan at WeeklyCrisis.com, a well-constructed website that does regular reviews of new titles.  This is one of the most positive reviews we've received thus far, which is what we've been hoping for (we always thought that our story starts to hit its stride in the third issue, as it not only picks up the pace but also adds a lot of comedy).

Ryan's verdict?  "Must Read. I’ll put it this way, remember the last time you probably heard the premise behind a comic that was this bizarre? Chances are, it was probably Chew, which was one of the most critically acclaimed comics to debut in 2009. At its halfway point, Kill Shakespeare is the Chew of 2010. It’s seriously that good and you seriously shouldn’t miss it under any circumstances."You can click on the image to read the review.

Issue #3 is released today!

Get thee to a comic book store today... Kill Shakespeare #3 is released today (July 7th) across North America - and tomorrow (July 8th) in the U.K. and Europe.  We're really pleased with this issue - it's the introduction of Falstaff, who has already become a fan favourite of readers!  You'll enjoy his antics.  Andy certainly did - he couldn't stop laughing while drawing the issue...

Celebrate the Release of Issue #3 with Falstaff!...

We will be celebrating the release of Kill Shakespeare #3 this Wednesday with a signing at Paradise Comics in Toronto, Canada.  Signing from 4 - 7 pm will be myself, Conor McCreery and Andy Belanger.  We did a signing with Doug, Pete, Jason and everyone else from Paradise back in April so it's great to be able to return.If you're in town stop by and visit us!

Happy Birthday to our own Adam Savage!

Today is not only Canada Day here in our home and native land, it's also Kill Shakespeare co-creator Conor McCreery's birthday!  Being the discreet individual that he is, he annually fails to acknowledge that some of the fireworks that people throw shoot off into the sky every year is the celebration of his birth...If you've never met Conor, he looks like... well, he looks like Adam Savage, the host from the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters.  Eerily so.  In fact, he is stopped every now and then and asked if this is the case.  When Conor and I attended Comic-Con in San Diego last year four people stopped him over the course of the convention to ask for a photo.  He told two of the people (quite politely) that he wasn't him, the third person he pretended that he was, and the fourth he said that he was a stunt double for Savage.  The third stunt double over the course of the show, mind you("Did you really think that he would do his own stunts?...").  The photo below is of a woman taking a photo of Conor, believing him to be the stunt double...In all seriousness, happy birthday, Adam Savage - er, I mean Conor.  You are a great friend and a great business partner and I hope that we'll be able to track down Adam Savage this year at Comic-Con and have the two of you meet.  Worlds will collide.

Thou art a Shakespearean insult!...

Two weeks ago we ran a Shakespearean Insult contest, in which anyone could submit an original Shakespearean-esque insult and the winners would receive signed copies of issues 1 and 2 of the series.  We had a lot of entries via this website, Facebook and Twitter.  After a deliberation amongst our team we were able to settle on the following winners:

If you are one of the winners please email us and give us your mailing address and we will send you the copies ASAP!

Comic Shopping in Philly? Hit Atomic City!

So two weeks ago I had the great pleasure of seeing one of the really cool comic shops in the North Eastern U.S.Myself and three buddies were in Philly to catch some baseball, eat some cheesesteaks and perhaps drink a wee bit too much at one of the many fine bars on South Street and the Old Towne.Now while I knew there were likely fine comic-shops in Philly I did not expect to find Atomic City -- one of the coolest temples to sequential art this side of San Francisco.Atomic City is run by the appropriately named Good Guy Joe and has one of the best organized set-ups I have ever seen. Plus the store has oodles of personality -- all springing forward from Joe and the staff who are crazy passionate about comics and all sorts of Geek Culture. Joe actually used to be a customer of the store and is now living out the dream of so many of us comic-kids -- running his "home" store. It's not all Beer and Skittles though, but even with Philly being hit by the economic downturn the same way the rest of us were Joe has managed to guide the store to a new and bigger location.Joe is an interesting cat in his own right. We had a great conversation about everything from "Elephantmen", to  "Blacksad" to Alternative Energy -stopping in to chat Kung-Fu movies and urban planning as we went.They have a great collection of comics, trades, fright-masks(!) and even some awesome old school arcade machines that hide away along the aisles.I like my comic stores to be open and feel inviting and Atomic City totally manages to do that. So, if you are ever in Philly and looking for some comic action to wash down that Ishkabible cheesesteak then make sure you drop in on Joe and his Atomic City team!

Anthony is breaking hearts!

As many of you know our poor Mr. Del Col is somewhat bashful (somewhat coquettishly so) about his clean-cut good looks. We here at the Kill Shakespeare team take a great deal of joy in teasing him about being "the best-looking man in comics". But it seems we aren't the only ones who've noticed him...Click through for a rather... visceral account of Del Col and his hotness (make sure you e-mail him about it to tease him --- just a little).NOTE:  some of the descriptive language in this post MAY not be suitable for the younger members of our audience...DOUBLE NOTE: I think it's really nice that someone digs Anthony so much. So "sheeplikeme" PLEASE come and visit us. We'll be at FanExpo in August. Come up and say hi and get a picture with Anthony, he's super sweet and poses expertly for pictures...

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.