Andy and Kagan at Comic-Con!
The pop culture smorgasbord known as the Comic-Con International begins this evening and goes through until Sunday in sunny San Diego. While Conor and I stay behind to take care of some script writing duties, Kill Shakespeare artists Andy Belanger and Kagan McLeod will both be at the Con and representing our series throughout!
Andy will be signing copies of Kill Shakespeare at the IDW Booth (booth #2643) on Saturday (the 23rd) from 10 - 11am and Sunday (the 24th) from 10 11am. Swing by the booth to catch up on the series, get some books signed, and share a laugh with him. (Seeing as how they are morning signings I'm sure Andy will have interesting stories from the previous night.)
Kagan is launching his new graphic novel collection Infinite Kung Fu and will be signing at various times at the Top Shelf booth (booth #1721). We'll profile the book closer to its release date (in early September) but he will be selling advance convention copies at the booth, as well as original art (including some art) at the Drawn & Quarterly booth (#1629). Swing by to
Issue #12 is off to the presses!
Just a couple of hours ago we officially signed off on the twelfth issue of our series. Yes, Issue #12. Our final one. It's off to those magical people in Korea who will now put the issue together for us and ship it out later this month for arrival in comic book stores in the first week in August.
It's an amazing feeling to see the issue complete... yet at the same time a bit of sadness as it's the end of this run. I can't say anything at this point but this won't be the last issue of Kill Shakespeare, potentially, maybe, hopefully...There are so many awesome people to thank for completing this issue, especially Andy Belanger and Ian Herring, who have put together an amazing finale. However, I'd like to take the time to thank Chris Mowry, who went above-and-beyond the call of duty on this issue to get it done. Chris has been the letterer for a majority of the issues in the series and he's really done a great job. I really wish the Harvey Awards voters could have recognized him earlier this week with their nominations. For this issue he practically pulled all-nighters to get it done and we owe him a big thanks for this.And so we wait to see the final product in our hands...
We're nominated for a Harvey Award!
Just released today is the nominees list for the 2011 Harvey Awards, which celebrate outstanding work in comics and sequential art and are voted on by industry professionals. And we are nominated! We are up for BEST NEW SERIES.
Click on the Harvey Awards logo above to see the full list of nominees.The awards will be handed out August 20th at the Baltimore Comic-Con. We have already been making plans to attend the show based solely on how popular the convention is according to people we talk to. This nomination will just add to the Baltimore experience.Thanks to everyone that put our name forward for consideration. Seeing as how this is voted on by industry professionals - and not a small committee of a few people - this is so much more special for us. We will, of course, begin preparing our For Your Consideration campaign for the award...And, of course, thanks to everyone on our team that made this nomination possible - my co-creator Conor, the fantastic artist Andy Belanger (who really deserved a nomination in the Best New Talent or Best Artist category), similarly-deserving colourist Ian Herring, cover artist Kagan McLeod, our published IDW, and every other member of the team. And, most importantly, to every reader of the series - thanks for following us as a new series!
And now he's trying to become writer too!
No only does eight-year-old Miles Chantler desire to become the artist for Kill Shakespeare (as mentioned earlier today), he also wants to write it as well. He came home from school today with this summary of the Hamlet sword scene...
The next artist for Kill Shakespeare!
Though Andy Belanger's work on our series has been fantastic (and the work that he's just finishing off on Issue #12 is perhaps his best ever), there comes a time when an artist must pass on the mantle to another. This is that exact moment. I wish to introduce the world to the future artist for Kill Shakespeare, Mr. Miles Chantler...
For those that don't recognize the name, Miles (second grade) is the offspring of Scott Chantler. (Hopefully Miles will be able to write more personalized inscription than his father does...) More importantly, his art services are repped by the fantastic Shari Chantler so if you'd like to hire him you can go through her...
Kill Shakespeare Profiled on CBC's The National
We just got back yesterday from a fantastic convention in Calgary where we made a ton of new fans and friends and sold out our books by mid-day Saturday! One of the reasons for our sell-out was the profile on us that ran on CBC's The National with Peter Mansbridge. It was a great almost-four-minute segment that featured interviews with us, Bayside Secondary School teacher Kent Allin, Bayside student Catherine Chokly and Soulpepper Theatre's artistic director Albert Schultz.To watch the clip, click on any of the images below (all taken from the segment) 0r here.
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:
Issue #10 Released Today
Just in time for Shakespeare's birth/death anniversary later this week (Saturday, April 23rd), we are releasing the latest chapter in our series. Issue #10 (What's Past is Prologue) is released in comic book stores in North America (and Europe tomorrow).
The summary for Issue #10 is: All that live must die! As a desperate Hamlet struggles to free himself from Lady Macbeth’s magical trap, the hopelessly outnumbered Prodigals confront the brute strength of Richard III in a battle that will find some of its main players exit the stage… forever!You can access a PDF preview of the issue at this link.You can also check out a preview review of the issue at PDX Comic Geek here.
Heading to Boston Comic-Con!
Andy Belanger and I will be heading down to Boston in just under two weeks to take part in the Boston Comic-Con. We haven't attended the event before but have heard good things and they have a very impressive roster of artists. Unlike some Cons, this seems like a strictly comic affairs, which should be great. We look forward to meeting with new readers and fan and if you're in the area, come by and visit us!
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:
Toronto Comic-Con this weekend!
The Kill Shakespeare team will be making another Toronto appearance this upcoming weekend (April 9-10th) at the Toronto Comic-Con Fan Appreciation event. The con will be running on Saturday (11am - 6pm) and Sunday (11am - 5pm) at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre (south building).
Come and visit us - we'll be selling copies of our issues and trade, doing signings, and Andy will be doing sketching.
Another great Aint It Cool News review!
Earlier this week comics reviewer Liz Reblin from Aint It Cool News wrote up a review of Issue #9. Lyz had listed IDW Publishing as her favourite publisher of the year and also stated that she was looking forward to reading through Kill Shakespeare. We were able to make copies available to her - and she liked it!
Perhaps the best quote of the piece: "Do whatever you can to get your hands on these because this is probably one of the strongest series out there, for many reasons."Read the entire review by clicking on the cover art.
Second printing!
We have been contacted by a number of retail stores (comic book stores, independent book stores, specialty theatre shops, etc.) over the last two months, telling us that they are out of stock of our graphic novel and would like to re-order copies for customers that have been looking to buy copies. Their orders were delayed and put on back-order.No more!We have just discovered that IDW has done a second printing our graphic novel and these should be ready to be shipped this week! So wait no more - additional copies are on their way!
And yes, this means that sales for the book are going quite well. Thanks to all of the retailers and buyers who have been patient and we look forward to you getting more copies.
Caption Contest
Below is an image from our recently-released Issue #9 (Is That a Dagger I See Before Me?). It is the grand entrance of Shakespeare, after months of waiting.We are giving away signed copies of Issue #9 to those that come up with the best caption for this image. Please enter a caption below, on our Facebook page, or our Twitter site.And here is the image...
Shakespeare Lives! Issue #9 Released Today!
Issue #9 ("Is That a Dagger I See Before Me?) is released at comic book stores in North America today (U.K. tomorrow)! After a nearly two-month lay-off, Hamlet continues his adventure and finally make the final trek to meet Mr. Shakespeare himself. See what happens by picking up the issue.You can access a small preview of the issue by clicking on the image, and you can find the closest comic book store to you at ComicShopLocator.
CBR: What Are You Reading?
ComicBookResources.com has a segment in their popular Robot 6 column regularly where they ask current comic creators what books and series they are currently reading and/or collecting. On Sunday they posed the question to Johnny Zito and Tony Trov of South Fellini Studios, creators of Zuda Comics' Black Cherry Bombshells and the recent series Carnivale De Robotique.
Johnny Zito says that the series he likes to read is Kill Shakespeare, saying the following:"I read Kill Shakespeare month to month. However, it’s new so it didn’t immediately spring to mind. It fills the void that Fables and X-Men used to, full of drama and romance and fighting. Comics are at their best when they aspire to be Shakespearean. Men and women running around the night, wearing masks, fighting for love or revenge or whatever. Kill Shakespeare has all of that for obvious reasons and capitalizes with clever twists on old standards. The art lends a real gravity to the source material, it feels real. Or better yet it feels like a play, a world built out of set pieces and cardboard trees. It’s a surreal brain treat that I can’t recommend enough."It's always great when other comics creators read your stuff and give you a shout-out and we really appreciate it! We urge everyone to check out Carnivale - it's a fantastic series!
Vote Shakespeare for 'Best New Villain'!
We received an email from Peter at ComicGeekSpeak podcast a few days ago letting us know that they have come out with their nominations for Best New in a number of categories, and they have placed Shakespeare in their "Villain" category. As Peter described to us in an email: "We described it less as a villain and more as Shakespeare's presence over the entire book and how the character effects everyone else in the book."The full nomination list includes:BEST NEW VILLAIN:- White Canary (Birds of Prey)- John Steele (Secret Avengers)- the Absence (Batman and Robin)- Oberon Sexton (Batman and Robin)- Skinner Sweet (American Vampire, Vertigo)- Sir Isaac Newton (S.H.I.E.L.D.)- Shakespeare (Kill Shakespeare)Voting is now on so please get out the vote! To vote for Shakespeare as the Best New Villain simply email Peter at peter@comicgeekspeak.com and tell him where to place the Bard!
To check out the full list of categories and nominations click on the logo above.
"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
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).
