Glimpses of Windsor
This past Thursday and Friday I have the pleasure of visiting Windsor, ON to take part in BookFest Windsor. Conor and I attended last year and enjoyed it so much that we were quite happy to be able to return. Unfortunately, Conor was in Halifax for Hal-Con but I was able to visit - and brought along illustrator (and Windsor native) Kagan McLeod.We had a great talk on Thursday afternoon, moderated by Rogues Gallery Comics owner Shawn Cousineau, and then on Friday did a presentation at Walkerville Collegiate, Kagan's alma mater.Thanks to everyone involved - everyone that attended our talks, the organizers of BookFest, Shawn, Kagan (for coming along - and giving me a ride when my Thursday flight was cancelled), his daughter Ruby (who entertained us during the trip), and everyone else in Windsor.Here are some photos from my time there:
Photos from New York Comic-Con
As mentioned in an earlier post, our trip to New York for the Comic-Con there was an amazing time for us. We had some great meetings, finally(!) went to see the memorable Sleep No More, and, of course, had a great Comic-Con. We sold out of all of our books and almost all t-shirts, the Live Stage Reading on the Saturday was a success, and he met up with a lot of old and new friends.Here are some photos from the weekend:
Kill Shakespeare is coming to HalCon and the stage!
Halifax has ALWAYS been one of our, if not our absolute, favourite shows on the schedule.
The combination of excellent organizers, a lively and interested crowd, and the hospitality Atlantic Canada is famous for makes it a winner in our books.This year we're going to be doing even more at HalCon than usual -- we're bringing the Kill Shakespeare stageshow!On Saturday at 3:45 PM Kill Shakespeare will be presented by the amazing Lion's Den Theatre in association with Vile Passeist. The two groups have banded together and have been rehearsing the show for almost a month.
Yes, a MONTH. And it isn't JUST because they'll be putting the show on at HalCon.Nope.No siree.You see THIS time around, Kill Shakespeare is going to step beyond the convention scene for THE FIRST TIME EVER.That's right, Kill Shakespeare is hitting the stage in downtown Halifax.
Kill Shakespeare at Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen Street, Halifax):
Tickets $20, $15 for students and anyone with their HalCon pass.
October 30th - 8 PM. Opening Night: stay for drinks and snacks with the cast, director and co-writer!October 31st - 8 PM Halloween Madness: Costumed guests pay student rate. Free lootbags! November 1st - 8 PMNovember 2nd - 8 PMNovember 3rd – 8 PMNovember 4th – 2 PM Matinee, 8 PM Closing Night/Trivia: Free K.S. swag for winners!We hope all of our East Coast friends will be at HalCon and can catch the free show. We'd also love it if you tweet and post about the Bus Stop theatre run.Better yet, come out with your HalCon pass and get a $5 discount and bring a friend who missed HalCon to the show.This is our chance to prove that comic culture and Shakespeare mix like chocolate and peanut butter!See you soon!Conor
Anthony and Kagan appear at BookFest Windsor this Thursday
Conor and I attended last year's BookFest Windsor event and quite enjoyed it and we were thrilled to be asked to return again this year. Conor will be in Halifax for Hal-Con and a one-week engagement of our stage show but I will be able to return to Windsor this year to take part.
And this year I'm bringing with me a new traveling mate - Kagan McLeod!
Kagan and I are speaking this Thursday from 4-5pm at the Joy Family Theatre, moderated by Shawn Cousineau of the local comic book shop Rogues Gallery Comics. It should be a great talk about comics, graphic novels, illustration, Kill Shakespeare and everything else. If you're in the Windsor area come and check it out. I may even try to get Kagan to talk about his love of hip-hop (he sat on a panel at New York Comic-Con last weekend with members of Run DMC).We are also doing a talk on Friday at Kagan's alma mater, Walkerville Collegiate.You can find out more about our session at Bookfest Windsor here.
Making Oscar predictions
One of our most loyal - and most fun - journalists that we've done interviews with is Stephen Holt, the New York-based Oscar pundist. I always try to do an interview or two with Stephen in the midst of the Toronto Film Festival and Stephen has now become a regular at the New York Comic-Con.Stephen has been billed as "The Oscar Messenger" and, as a follower of the Oscar season, I always enjoy chatting with him about his predictions and thoughts on the Oscar race. Here is a video taken during Comic-Con last weekend, and you can also check out an interview that Stephen does with both myself and Conor here.
Kill Shakespeare in New York Times twice in one week!
I'm still busy catching up on things after our week in New York for the Comic-Con and wanted to post that we have been mentioned twice in the past five days in the New York Times.
On Friday writer George Gustines mentioned our Saturday Live Stage Reading as one of the things to look for at the convention.Today we were profiled by Ayun Holliday in a piece about books with educational value that were featured at the show!
New York Comic Con was a blast!
I just arrived back in Toronto late this afternoon and have been in front of the computer doing creative work since arriving but I wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone for a fantastic New York Comic Con! It was a great weekend for us - an entertaining Live Stage Reading by Gideon Productions on the Saturday, we sold out of books and most t-shirts on Sunday, we met up with friends old and new, and had a great time. Thanks to everyone who bought a book or a shirt, said hello, came to learn more about the series, came to chat, etc. I can't wait for next year!
Official IDW Announcement of new Kill Shakespeare Series!
Hot off the Presses!
Award-winning comic Mash-up Kill Shakespeare Returns to IDW with New Limited Series
Thursday, Oct 11th, 2012
San Diego, CA (October 11, 2012) – IDW Publishing is proud to announce the return of the acclaimed comic series Kill Shakespeare to comic shelves! The first issue of the new five-issue limited series, entitled The Tide of Blood, will hit comic shops across North America and Europe in February of 2013.Series co-creators Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery returned to pen the five issues and original artist Andy Belanger is back as the series artist (and also adds cover artist duties). All three are at this week’s New York Comic Con to officially launch the new arc as well as present a special live stage reading based on the first twelve issues of the series that The New York Times called: “gripping, violent, dark, fun.”The five-issue series – a continuation from the first two books – will follow Hamlet, Juliet, Othello and Romeo as they face their biggest threat – Prospero, a rogue wizard who plans to destroy all of creation. Hamlet must embark on a perilous journey to a remote island whose inhabitants have gone mad and want the Dane’s blood – if a love triangle and Cupid’s poisoned bow doesn’t kill Hamlet first.“It is a dream come true for us to be back at the New York Comic-Con, where we first pitched Kill Shakespeare to IDW almost four years ago,” says Del Col. “We are incredibly happy that our fans and readers have been asking for more and have put together a new story that takes our characters in an exciting new direction.”To date, Kill Shakespeare has been collected into two trades: A Sea of Troubles and The Blast of War. Both were nominated for numerous awards and lists and Volume 1 is entering a fifth printing.“I had an awesome time working on the first two volumes of Kill Shakespeare,” said series editor Tom Waltz. “Tickling both my literary and action-adventure fancies, Conor, Anthony, and Andy have most definitely given me one of the most satisfying and unique experiences I've had as an editor at IDW Publishing. And, just as the first go round proved it's hard to kill Shakespeare, well, it's hard to kill a fantastic story concept, too, and I truly believe the best is yet to come from the Kill Shakespeare crew!”The series has also been brought to the stage with the creation of the Kill Shakespeare: Live Stage Reading theatrical show. It has been produced in various cities across North America and will be presented at the New York Comic-Con on Saturday October 13th at 11:00 AM on the Variant Stage. Special Kill Shakespeare and IDW prize packs will be given away to lucky attendees at this free show!Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books. IDW can also be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/idwpublishing and http://tumblr.idwpublishing.com/ and on Twitter at @idwpublishing.About the seriesKill Shakespeare is an adventure story that pits all of Shakespeare’s greatest heroes (including Hamlet, Juliet, Falstaff, Othello, Puck) against the Bard’s most menacing villains (including Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Iago, Prospero) in a quest to track down and kill – or save – a reclusive wizard by the name of William Shakespeare. The series was nominated for a 2011 Harvey Award for Best New Comic Series the 2011 and 2012 Joe Shuster Awards for Comic Writing and has been selected to the YALSA and Maverick lists for top graphic novels for teens. The series has been covered by NPR, BBC, The Washington Post, CBC and The New York Times. In October 2011, Kill Shakespeare was chosen by the Sundance Institute as one of six projects for the inaugural New Frontiers Story Lab.“Gripping, violent, dark, fun…” – The New York Times“Bravo! Kill Shakespeare is a tale woven with the wit, magic and myth, worthy of Will himself.” – Des McAnuff (Stratford Festival, Jersey Boys)“Fresh and conceptually inventive… Easily one of the more exciting new projects bouncing around.” – Publisher’s Weekly“It’s a rare thing, indeed, to see such brilliant new talent deliver a series that immediately feels so fully formed and realized.” – The Washington PostAbout IDW PublishingIDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Toho’s Godzilla; Wizards of the Coasts Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons; and the Eisner-Award winning Locke & Key series, created by best-selling author Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints, and Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio.IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot, while Michael Bay‘s Platinum Dunes and Sony are bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film.
NYCC begins today!
And the madness begins this afternoon...
We're at Booth #2280 all weekend!
Rehearsals for this Saturday's NYCC show
Conor and I arrived in New York earlier today and immediately brought all of our stock and supplies for the show to the Javits Centre. Afterwards, though, we were treated to an invite to visit a rehearsal of our Live Stage Reading which will be performed this Saturday at the New York Comic-Con.
Produced by Gideon Productions, it's a really talented cast and I'm excited to see what they do in front of a comic-con crowd. It should be fantastic - the actors were really sinking their teeth into the roles and Conor and I laughed quite a bit. They've got great foley work and two (!) musicians accompanying the action throughout.The show is on Sat, Oct 13th at 11am on the Variant Stage. If you're at the show check out the hour-long presentation for a great time!
Happy Birthday to our Marketing Guru Keith Morris!
Today (Mon, Oct 8th) is the birthday of Keith Morris, our (newly-titled) marketing manager. Happy birthday, Keith!Keith has done an amazing job working with Conor and I over the last six months, helping us out with a wide range of marketing endeavours, ranging from design work through to assisting us with the production of our Live Stage Reading in Montreal last month.
So you can have a moment send Keith some birthday wishes on Twitter - you can access his page here.
KS art in offices!
Fan David Peterson from the Burbank Public Library, who won an auction at the American Library Association Annual Conference back in June in Anaheim, emailed me recently to show me that he has proudly placed Andy's piece of artwork up on his office wall. As he writes:"I wonder what effect upon my work productivity that I face from having Richard III looking directly at me all day long?"
Thanks for sending us the photo, David!
Andy Belanger gets the Star Treatment
Comic journalism, like comics themselves, sometimes doesn't get the credit it deserves.It also can see a sharp divide. Bloggers talk about the latest "capes" book while the "serious" journalists focus more on the sort of work you might see Adrian Tomine or Alison Bechdel put out.
So it was an extra pleasant surprise to read Keith Silva's amazing piece on our own Andy Belanger (with a nice helping of Andy's sweetheart Becky Cloonan) in the e-pages of Comics Bulletin. The story really embraces Andy's love of genre as well as personal storytelling.The feature length article takes a look at Andy's whole career - starting with the fact that Andy's Dad was Batman... no, seriously...
Keith has put together a wonderfully written piece that is a real credit to journalism and also surprised me by teaching me a few new things about our fave artist and partner.Enjoy the read!Conor
Photos from Montreal Comic-Con
I'm a little late in posting these but here are some photos from the Montreal Comic-Con (Sept 14-16). It was a great weekend where we sold a lot of books, put on a standing-room only workshop (How to Create and Market Your Indie Comic), had an amazing Live Stage Reading (packed crowd), ate some good food, sang some great songs, and had a blast.Thanks to Keith Morris and Paola Paulino for coming to help out at the booth, Chris Cater for hanging out at the booth, singing and taking photos, La Dolce Vito Balenzano for giving me a place to stay whilst in the city, and everyone else who came by the booth!
Taking our act to New York next month!
Currently in the midst of a very busy September with stage shows, conventions, signings, and lots of work, we are currently prepping for our trip to New York next month to take part in this year's New York Comic-Con (Oct 11-14, Javits Centre, New York)!We will be at the show for the fourth year in a row, but only the second at our own table. We will be at BOOTH #2280 the entire weekend selling books, our ShakesGeare merchandise, signing books, and...... MAKING A VERY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. Sorry, I can't reveal what it is quite yet.In addition, we are excited that we will be bringing a condensed version of our KILL SHAKESPEARE: LIVE STAGE READING to this year's convention! After very successful shows in Tucson and Montreal earlier this month, we will be making our American comic-con debut with the show. Produced by Gideon Productions and directed by Jordana Williams, the hour-long version will be take place:
Saturday, October 13/11, 11am, Variant Stage
Watch some of New York's top up-and-coming actors bring Kill Shakespeare to life with using the images of Andy Belanger, recreate the dialogue as well as sound effects and music.
Montreal Comic-Con - and Live Stage Reading - was amazing!
I got back from Montreal yesterday evening and am still catching up on emails and correspondence but wanted to post a quick update from this past weekend. The entire weekend was a success for us and it's our second consecutive great show in Montreal. Lots of new readers, lots of returning readers, and lots of new friends!What made this weekend memorable, though, was our very successful Live Stage Reading on Saturday night. Playing to a packed crowd of about 300 or so the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company put on an amazing production of the Reading on Saturday night. The crowd laughed, they gasped, they thoroughly enjoyed it. Numerous people that night and the next day told us it was the highlight of the weekend for them.
I will be posting more photos in the next couple of days but here is an image from the show. The photo was taken by Chris Cater of Flux Fox Photography. And just wait until you see a video of he and I performing at our booth earlier in the day...
Rehearsal Photo
I've now been in Montreal for 48 hours and have been enjoying the city. The highlight, though, has been attending the two rehearsals with the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company as they prepare to present our Kill Shakespeare: Live Stage Reading this Saturday at the Montreal Comic-Con.Here is a photo of the cast during one of the rehearsals:
More photos in the next day or two...
Anthony and Andy will be at Montreal Comic-Con this weekend!
In addition to putting on our Live Stage Reading at the Montreal Comic-Con this weekend, Anthony and Andy will be at the show the entire weekend selling books and ShakesGeare, signing books and hanging out. Make sure to come and visit us!
Anthony and the Kill Shakespeare brand will be at Table 1616. Andy Belanger will be just down the aisle at Table 1602. You can access a map of the convention at this link.Anthony will also be leading his How to Create and Market Your Indie Comic workshop on Sunday afternoon (the 16th) at 1pm in Room 511C. Last year's workshop was a huge success and this one should be even better.Of course, don't forget that we will also be mounting our Live Stage Reading on Saturday night at 7:45pm!I'll see everyone at the show!
See our Live Stage Reading in Montreal this Weekend!
Fresh off the enormous success of the presentation of Kill Shakespeare: The Live Stage Reading this past weekend in Tucson, AZ, we are back at it again! This Saturday will see us present our show at the Montreal Comic-Con. This is going to be our comic-con debut and we're excited about it!We are presenting our show this Saturday (the 15th) evening at 7:45pm in Room 510AC at the Palais des Congres (1001, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle).It will be open to anyone that attends the Comic-Con that day and also, I believe open to anyone that would like to come. So yes, it's a free show! The convention ends at 7pm on Saturday so this is the perfect way to finish off the show that day!
We are really excited to be working with the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company on this production. They are a great company that does Shakespeare productions in various schools in Quebec and are really jumping on this show. They also put together a really cool production of Cobra: The Musical a few years ago (and a number of 'sequels') and Ace and Aaron, the two heads of the company, are raring to make this their best production yet.So spread the word - it's going to be a great show on Saturday!
Terrific Turnout in Tucson!
I have to head out to the airport shortly to fly back to Toronto but wanted to post an image from last night's performance at the Arizona Theatre Company in Tucson. The show was amazing! Standing-room only (the most the Cafe Bohemia series has ever had in its short history!), the actors did an incredible job and the crowd really loved it!I'll write more about it in the next day or two - and include more photos - but in the meantime I wanted to post this photo.Thanks, Tucson!
