Kill Shakespeare #12 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: The (other) epic saga of Hamlet, Richard III, Lady The Scottish Play, Othello, Juliet, Iago and Shakespeare comes to a conclusion in an epic, no-holds-barred battle to determine the fate of their world.

What’s Good and SPOILER WARNING: What an amazing journey it’s been to follow Hamlet from where he fell out of his ship–and out of his own story–to this final battle and conclusion. He’s changed and grown so much over the last year that it makes me wonder what Shakespeare’s Hamlet (for this Hamlet now bears little resemblance to the fearful and indecisive prince of the play) would have done, if forced to grow up and take responsibility in this fashion. The answer to that will never be known of course, but I will quite happily accept McCreery and Del Col’s take on the question as a very worthy substitute. Watching these characters–so familiar to me and yet so different from the ones I know–come into their own over the course of this story has been an absolute joy, and the conclusion that our fair authors bring them too is fitting, satisfying, and contains just enough surprises to keep things fresh and interesting.

Kill Shakespeare #10 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: Juliet and Othello lead their ragtag band of Prodigals against Richard’s army, with predictably dire results. Things explode, people die, and Lady Macbeth uses her dark magic to ensure that the Prodigals remain on the defensive. Meanwhile, Hamlet must figure out how to deal with the oddly listless Shakespeare, who refuses to surrender or make use of his quill.

What’s Good: This is the closest that Kill Shakespeare has come to an all-out action issue, and boy do they make up for lost time! The battle scenes strike an excellent balance between the epic, Helm’s Deep style clash, and the more intimate (at times downright claustrophobic) nature of the forest setting. It also serves to put our heroes in the middle of the biggest and most immediacy crisis they’ve yet faced–victory, it seems, is nearly unattainable for them without some sort of divine intervention. (Which I assume–or at least, hope–will come next issue, in the form of Shakespeare joining the battle and riding to the rescue in a Crowning Moment of Awesome.)

Andy Belanger unleashed on these scene of chaos, war and evil magic is a sight to behold. I’ve been critical of specific elements of his work in this past, but this is clearly the sort of material he was born to bring to life. The battle scenes are equal parts beautifully fantastical, and all too tragically realistic. Belanger has always seemed at his best when given a lot of room to stretch his pencils, and he gets plenty of it here–double splash pages, unique horizontal panel layouts, half-page panels, all used to excellent effect. Ian Herring deserves a great deal of credit as well, for helping bring the pencils to life with his vibrant, and occasionally downright violent, coloring.

Kill Shakespeare #9 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors), Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: This is the issue that all dedicated Kill Shakespeare readers have been waiting for since the very beginning…Hamlet finally comes face to face with the wizard Shakespeare. Will they fight? Ally? Betray each other? Not say anything at all? We’ll see. (Also: IAGO! *insert fangirl grin.*)

What’s Good: Kill Shakespeare has been a good, smart comic since issue one. The writing has been solid, the Shakespeare-geek in-jokes appropriate and not overwhelming, the art has been very nice (if not always entirely consistent), and the story has been intriguing and very well paced. (Information is dolled out maddeningly slowly from a pure “what’s gonna happen next month dammit!” point of view, but from an overall storytelling perspective, especially once all the issues are collected, I think it’s brilliantly done.)

I told you all that to tell you this: THIS is the issue of Kill Shakespeare I have been waiting to read. Not just because we’re at the point in the story I have most anticipated–we are–but because here, in this issue, I think this book has finally started reaching its true potential and is starting to soar. McCreery and Del Col’s writing continues to be extremely strong (no shock there), but the fine line they walk when writing Shakespeare (the comic character’s) voice deserves special praise: he’s threatening, crazy, mystical and scary as hell–sometimes all at once. That’s no small feat to pull off effectively (and it works particularly well when contrasted with Hamlet’s much more stoic character.) The intercutting between Hamlet’s conversation/confrontation with Shakespeare, and the rest of the Prodigals desperately trying to beat what they need to know out of Iago, is another similarly fantastic contrast and foreshadows the bloodshed and violence–on a much larger scale–that is inevitable to come.

Now: the art. I’ve been hot and cold on Andy Belanger’s work on this series, and pretty harshly critical of a few issues. While I stand by those critiques, this issue acts as an absolute showcase for what he (and colorist Ian Herring) can do, and the results are absolutely beautiful. My absolute favorite moment has to be the two double page-spreads (with panel inserts) in the Globe Woods. More like that, please! Lots and lots more! Herring also gets a specific tip of my hat for the lovely coloring, not only in the Globe Woods scene, but in the interior of Shakespeare’s shack. It straddles a very fine line between warm and inviting, and sickly pale. It’s a deeply unsettling combination, and perfectly hits the nail on the head for the mood of the scene. Well done!

An Interview With IDW’s Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col

As readers of my reviews know, Kill Shakespeare is one of my favorite books on the stand right now. As an English major (and teacher) the combination of comics and Shakespeare’s characters is absolutely irresistible. The series has hit a pair of benchmarks recently–the release of issue #7 last month (which marks the past-halfway mark for this 12-part series), and the first trade paperback of he book has been published, collecting issues 1-6. Both to acknowledge these milestones and just because I’m a huge fan myself, I was able to conduct an interview with the writers and creators of Kill Shakespeare, Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col.

Tell us a little bit about yourselves, and your history with comics (both as creators and as fans).

Conor: Well I used to work at the Silver Snail in Toronto, arguably one of the top two or three comic stores in the country. Getting that job really gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in comics and I haven’t looked back. There are just so many excellent stories at play in the medium – I think anyone who loves to read will find a comic they’d love.

Anthony: I’m coming into this project with experience in producing films, developing television shows and help to manage musicians. My first real exposure to comics was when Conor worked at the Snail. I had always perceived comics just to be stories of superheroes but Conor introduced me to titles like Blankets, Y: The Last Man and 100 Bullets, those made me realize how interesting a medium it is.

What was the genesis of the idea for the Kill Shakespeare project?

Anthony: Conor and I were sitting around brainstorming ideas for video games and the title Kill Bill was mentioned. We thought it would make a great game but then figured that someone else was probably developing it. We then riffed on the name Bill and thought that it would be great if there was a project in which the “Bill” was Billy Shakespeare. Something like that would be a HUGE hit with anyone who hated sitting through boring English high school classes…

Conor: So really, it’s all David Carradine’s fault.

How have you found the reception of the book so far, from critics and from regular readers?

Conor: Across the board the reception has been excellent. It’s satisfying to get letters from Shakespeare fans who are now looking at comics in a new way, as well as comic fans who are now reading, or re-reading Shakespearean plays they thought they’d never care about.

Anthony: We were slightly worried at the outset that we would get some flak from Shakespeare scholars about the project but for the most part (with one or two exceptions) they’ve loved the series. The series has given them a chance to “geek out” on these great characters.

Do you find it difficult or intimidating to be writing such well known and beloved characters?

Anthony: We found it actually helped the creative process, as we already had such great characters to throw into our sandbox. I’ve seen so many takes and interpretations on different Shakespeare characters that I think people are used to different variations – and our tale is unique in that we put these characters into a completely new scenario.

Conor: Maybe at the start, but now they really do feel like “our” characters. Sure we still have constraints of what they will and won’t do – but that comes to all characters.

It’s obvious from the first seven issues that you work very hard to stay true to Shakespeare’s vision of the characters, and it’s equally evident that certain liberties and tweaks sometimes need to be made for the sake of the overall story. What character would you say you have had to change the most, and why did you feel those changes were necessary?

Conor: Hmmm…. Juliet is the obvious one that comes to mind in that unlike Othello (who we also kept alive) she’s ten years older than she was at the end of Romeo and Juliet. We did that because we wanted to give her a chance to have had to live with the knowledge that she caused Romeo’s death, and we thought it would be much more intriguing to see her as a young woman set in her ways (after that event) then to follow her while she was in the throes of that guilt.

Anthony: We also relish the opportunity to make Juliet more than a “whiny teenage girl”, which is how some of my friends and colleagues have described her in the play. She’s now a very strong woman dealing with her past.

Kill Shakespeare #7 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: Lady Macbeth and Iago discuss their (still tenuous) alliance, while Hamlet and Juliet continue to grow closer together. Feste, an oddly self-aware Fool, shows up for the big Twelfth Night celebration, and puts on a show eerily reminiscent of Hamlet’s past.

What’s Good: So I’ve complained about the inconsistency of Andy Belanger’s artwork more than once over the course of reviewing this series, so I feel obligated to start this review off with a huge kudos to him for this issue. While I’m still not wild about the way some of the facial features on the characters’ close ups look, the look and especially the design of this book as a whole is absolutely gorgeous. The panels within panels—many of them beautifully outlined by theatre curtains or ornate picture frames—are great fun not just to read, but to sit back and take in as a whole. They serve not only as possible commentary on the potential reality (or fiction) of a scene, but also to unite a page of disparate panels into a single cohesive piece of artwork. This is not the first time this sort of design strategy has been implemented of course, but it does work particularly well here, and drives home the refractive “fiction within a fiction” quality that the Kill Shakespeare universe has.

McCreery and Del Col’s writing is fortunately up to the challenge of dealing with the increasingly large cast of characters. The focus is well balanced between the heroes, the antagonists, and the more peripheral characters who seem to be biding their time. I also like the fact that Juliet is finally able to address her past and, although I still have a hard time buying her as the best choice for a rebel leader, it does go a long way towards explaining her motivation for taking up the fight against Richard.

Kill Shakespeare #6 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: Juliet continues to rally the troops for the rebellion, while Lady Macbeth works her dark magic on Richard’s (and her own) behalf. Hamlet must choose his destiny once again, and Othello contends with Iago’s—changed?—nature.

What’s Good: This issue marks the halfway point of the Kill Shakespeare storyline, and it also marks a significant shift in focus. Although Hamlet is still the undeniable star of the story, the focus is less on him and his personal quest and decisions, and more on the meta-conflict brewing between the Prodigals’ rebellion and Richard’s army. This is actually a good thing, and mitigates the problem of having a protagonist who (to this point) has refused to commit to either side of the conflict that surrounds him.

The idea of Juliet as a military leader is still odd, but I do think it’s starting to grow on me. I still think that, say, Henry V would have been a better choice—especially given the cover of this issue, which I assume is a reference to one of his most famous speeches—or perhaps Viola or Portia if they wanted to keep the rebel leader female. Still, although it seems strange that Juliet is the only one acting wholly unlike her theatrical counterpart, I do like this Juliet as a character in her own right.

Kill Shakespeare #5 – Review

By Connor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: After some soul searching (and some prompting from his bestest buddy evar, Iago), Hamlet decides to leave the Prodigals and set off on his own. Naturally this doesn’t end well as he immediately falls victim to a series of terrifying visions, and is nearly run down by Richard’s henchmen. Hamlet does manage to escape however, and throws his lot in with a small band of (semi) neutral travelers—including two gentlemen named Lysander and Demetrius.

What’s Good: After a small hiccup last issue, things seem to be firing on all cylinders once again. I’m glad to see Hamlet taking matters into his own hands and separating himself from both factions—that seems like a very natural reaction given all he’s been through, and further cements him as an independently minded man who does not belong to this world he has been magically thrust into. The fact that he doesn’t want to be involved with either side lends him a lot of credibility, both as a character and as the “everyman” guide who acts as the reader’s eyes and ears in this strange new place.

I’m also happy to say that the artwork in this issue is much better than it was in the last. There’s still an awkward facial expression or two, but it feels much improved, and for that I’m very grateful. When Belanger is on his game, his work is fantastic. His depiction of Hamlet’s nightmare is vivid and not soon forgettable.

I’m on the fence about Iago. He’s easily my favorite character in the book, but I have yet to figure out exactly what his motivations are and just how much he’s playing everyone for a fool. He’s supposed to be working for Richard, of course, but he’s also acting—genuinely, it seems—like a real friend to Hamlet. Now, I know my Othello, so I know there is an approximately 0% chance that Iago is being sincere…and yet I find myself wondering as I read if maybe…just maybe…this Iago is different. Maybe he really is Hamlet’s friend, and maybe he is genuinely sorry for the evil things he’s done to Othello. That’s absurd of course, but it’s also fantastic writing. It is one thing, after all, for a character to fool another character with false sincerity; it’s another thing entirely to suck a reader (especially one who should know better) into the same ruse. Well played, Messrs. McCreery and Del Col. Well played.

Kill Shakespeare #4 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: Hamlet and Falstaff complete their escape, and arrive at The Bottom’s Up, a tavern in which Juliet Capulet and Othello are busy recruiting fighters for the resistance against Richard and Macbeth. Of course, Richard’s men—led by Don John, one of his trusted lieutenants—are close on their heels. Much cursing and fighting ensues, and Hamlet is very nearly killed in the pandemonium and confusion. Luckily for the would-be Shadow King, his good and oh so honest friend Iago appears just in time to save his life. This ends up sending the Prince from the frying pan and into the fire, though, when Othello catches sight of his old nemesis.

What’s Good: The storytelling in this book has been at a solid ten on the story amplification scale since #2. This issue successfully pulls a Spinal Tap and cranks that up to 11. The pieces are in place, the setup and exposition is over and done with and—with the exception of some nice character introductions—this issue is pure, 100% story through and through. On a purely visceral level, it’s a very exciting set of events to watch unfold. (Full disclosure: the fact that my #1 anticipated event for this series—the meeting between Iago and Othello—happened here helped up the dramatic tension at the end a great deal, too.)

The introduction of Othello and Juliet is very well handled. As the apparent brawn and brains (respectively) of the resistance movement, they complement each other very well. I especially enjoy the way the writers capture Othello’s high speech, and contrast it with the animalistic ferocity he displays in battle. That’s an element of the character that even professional theatre companies don’t always successfully convey.

Kill Shakespeare #3 – Advance Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: Hamlet meets a new friend in a gentleman named Fallstaff—and also gains a bit of purpose and guidance from a “Prodigal” forest spirit called Robin Goodfellow. Elsewhere, Richard III and Macbeth negotiate between themselves and jockey for superiority. They are not alone, though, as Macbeth’s famous wife may prove to be a powerful ally.

What’s Good: The jump in quality between the first issue and the second issue of this series was quite large, and I’m thrilled to report that this trend continues into issue three. The first thing you’ll notice about the book when you leaf through it is that the entire thing is drop-dead gorgeous from the title page to the back cover. The improvement (not in the overall art style of course, which has remained nicely consistent, but in the detailing) is quite incredible, and a joy to watch develop. 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. Maybe the new settings have allowed Belanger and Herring room to blossom or maybe they’ve both decided to kick it up a notch, but either way the result is one of the most striking books I’ve looked at in a long, long time. The large panels with smaller panels inset reminds me quite a bit of J.H. Williams III—and if you know my feelings about him (and specifically his work on Detective Comics) you’ll know that that’s just about the highest compliment I could give. The rich colors back up the pencils perfectly, and the result is just beautiful.

Thankfully, the lovely visuals are enhanced by an excellent script by McCreery and Del Col. The cast is spectacular (no shock given their origin of course), and each is written in a way that lets their best—and often most fun—characteristics shine through. Fallstaff especially lends himself to humorous lines and antics, and this serves to lighten the tone of this issue considerably. This indicates not only that the authors have a good sense of pacing within each issue, but that they have solid control of the story’s pacing as a whole; the first two issues were so heavy and dark that the story was becoming bogged down under its own weight. In this issue we feel the weight lift a bit, without losing any of the momentum or impetus that has already been established. Well done, sirs, and extra points for the rhyming poetry of Puck’s dialog as well. (Catalectic trochaic tetrameter ftw!) Once again: just beautiful.

Kill Shakespeare #2 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Richard fights to keep control of Macbeth’s forces while Hamlet uses his newfound powers as the Shadow King of prophesy to lead Richard’s army closer to Shakespeare. Although they encounter some unexpected opposition, Hamlet manages to escape and continue his mission led by his new confidante and best friend: the honest, honest Iago.

What’s Good: I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You know how comic book geeks (myself naturally included) can talk for hours about “who would win in a fight?” Well, Shakespeare geeks (myself included again) do much the same thing; I remember one particular instance in which an upper division literature class I was a part of nearly came to blows over the issue of whether Richard III or Iago from Othello was the greatest villain/manipulator. (Iago is the correct answer, for those keeping score at home.) I say this so you understand that I’m in a doubly unique position to love and appreciate this book: both as a comic book fan who loves a great story, and as a Shakespeare fan for whom this concept is the literary equivalent of watching the Avengers come together for the first time. In other words, this book was almost literally made for me.

You’ll recall that I gave issue #1 a less than glowing review, and expressed some reservations about the quality of the writing. Thankfully, nearly all of the problems that seemed to be present in the first issue are absent from this one; the characters and their motivations are much more clear, the plot is more focused, and the action (and blood) has much more narrative weight. Also, in addition to simply being better characterized as a whole, these characters feel much more like the ones Shakespeare wrote than they did in the first issue. This is very gratifying to see, and makes the whole book much more enjoyable. After all, what good is it to tell a story about Shakespeare’s characters run amok if they don’t act at least a little bit like the characters they’re supposed to be?

Kill Shakespeare #1 – Review

By Connor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Prince Hamlet of Denmark finds himself pulled off a ship and into a magical portal (created by Macbeth’s witches) that transports him into another realm. After nearly drowning at sea, he is found and rescued by a lord who introduces himself as Richard the Third. Although he seems reasonable enough to begin with, we soon learn that Richard has brought Hamlet into his world for a specific purpose: recruiting the young prince to steal the quill—and power source—of a great “wizard” named William Shakespeare.

The Good: Watching a writer pull classic characters like Hamlet and Richard III off the shelf to play with is like watching someone trying to juggle fine china: it’s exciting when it works, but even the slightest mistake can cause one hell of a mess. Stray too far from the classic, revered source material and the writer loses all connection to it. Stick too close, and they become a mere parrot of greatness. So as much as I adore the concept of this book (and believe me, as an English-majoring literature nerd it makes me very happy indeed) I would not want to be the one tasked to write it.

Fortunately, McCreery and Del Col handle themselves quite well in this first issue, and give the series a solid place to progress from. Both major characters introduced here are fairly recognizable, and nothing about them seems terribly out of place—Hamlet is as gloomy and father-obsessed as ever, and Richard is still two-faced and conniving. (I love the fact that it is Richard engineering this whole ‘killing Shakespeare’ plot; after the Weird sisters showed up I was convinced we’d be meeting Macbeth, but no, it turns out they’re working with Richard instead. Perfect.) There are a few details that seem off—Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern being true and loyal friends, for example—but they make me more curious than upset. The authors don’t seem sloppy or unaware of the source material, so I can only conjecture that changing a small (but significant) detail like that will have relevance in the future.