Behind The Curtain Of Kill Shakespeare

It is an adventure of Shakespearean proportions.

Kill Shakespeare: The Tide of Blood starts the second series of IDW Publishing's critically acclaimed comic that features numerous characters from William Shakespeare's famous plays.

PREVIEWSworld talked with Co-Creator and Writer Anthony Del Col and Artist Andy Belanger about The Tide of Blood and how Kill Shakespeare is being used in classrooms and as a live stage performance.

The Tide of Blood has Hamlet, Juliet, Othello and Romeo facing an even greater danger-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 they aren't beaten to the chase by one of Hamlet's allies.

"This one is set on the magical, mysterious Prospero's island," explained Anthony Del Col. "There's all kinds of cannibals and mystical creatures that we have to deal with."

"This is my favorite play by Shakespeare that we're basing a lot of stuff off here. Caliban is one of my favorite characters in Shakespeare," said Andy Belanger. "Drawing monsters all day. That's what I do, I wake up and draw monsters. It's a tough life."

Kill Shakespeare has also started to be incorporated into a number of university classrooms with Shakespeare adaptations.

"Conor (McCreery, Co-Creator and Writer) and I attended the Shakespeare Association of America annual conference in Boston where it turns out we were rock stars there," said Del Col. "We were featured in at least three papers that were presented over the course of the weekend."

And with William Shakespeare being a playwright it's not a stretch that Kill Shakespeare would be adapted to a live stage performance.

"Conor and I were approached by Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto. They were huge fans of Kill Shakespeare and they wanted to see if we could work on something together," said Del Col. "Instead of just doing something that would bring new actors out there, we really wanted to work Andy's artwork into it because it is so cool and so visual."

"It's the funniest thing of all time," said Belanger about seeing his artwork blown up from a small panel to a size that fills a stage screen. "I can see all my mistakes. I brought my fiance and parents to the last couple shows and we were howling, laughing it was so good."

Watch the PREVIEWSworld video interview with writer Anthony Del Col and artist Andy Belanger as they talk all about Kill Shakespeare:
 

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Kill Shakespeare: The Tide of Blood #1 is available on Wednesday, February 20th at your local comic shop!