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.

The characters you’ve chosen to use so far are all very different from one another. Do you find it difficult to manage such a large and diverse cast?

Anthony: It’s actually refreshing to have such a large cast to draw from. There are so many scenes that we write that could have any of the main characters be involved in and they would be such a great addition.

Conor: I think we have done a good job at giving each character their own “quest” so that makes it easier. We know what they want, and that helps keep ’em in line.

While it’s not exactly rare to see a comic with two writers in the byline, it is rare for said comic to be so cohesive in voice and vision. Can you talk a little bit about the way you work together and split writing duties?

Conor: Usually one of us “writes” and the other guy story edits. And then we switch.

Anthony: It’s a great back-and-forth between Conor and I. We both have strengths and weaknesses that the other complements well and allows us to come up with a strong story in each issue. At the end of the day, we really think that we’re able to get an end product with a higher value than the sum of its parts.

Conor: Weaknesses? What weaknesses???

How do you find it to work with artist Andy Belanger, and how do you feel his art complements your story? Has anything about his work on the book ended up influencing you?

Anthony: It’s been a great collaboration with Andy. He has definitely left his mark on our story and brought it to new heights. We also find ourselves writing to suit his style as well – we will put together some sequences that we know he will get really excited about and hit it out of the park. For instance, the four-page horror scene with Hamlet’s father’s ghost in Issue 5 was something that we added after we were finished the script because we realized it would be something that Andy would excel at.

Conor: Andy is a true professional. He adds interesting story elements to every issue – hell, every page – and he really improves the book. We’re blessed to get to work with such a talented and committed storyteller.

You have a trade paperback of the first six issues of Kill Shakespeare that was released on November 16th. What can you tell us about this collection, and any extras that might be included?

Conor: It has an exclusive bonus story illustrated by J. Bone, pin-up art, and all the covers in an awesome gallery.

Anthony: We also have a foreword by Darwyn Cooke, who has been a mentor to artist Andy Belanger for years. We were honoured to have him make a contribution to the book and he put a lot of time composing his thoughts for our book.

What made you choose Hamlet as the story’s protagonist? Clearly he’s one of the most well-known of Shakespeare’s characters, but were there other factors involved in his selection?

Anthony: Hamlet was the obvious main character. He’s not only the Bard’s best-known character (and one that actors dream about playing) but he has such an interesting arc that we could improve upon – the ultimate “hero” entering an “extraordinary world”.

Conor: And, originally Hamlet wasn’t in the story. His role was played by a character called Josh Chance. Josh was someone from OUR world who falls into this Shakespearean land. But that took away from the reality of the world. It made it “fake”. And, as it turned out, Chance shared a lot of character traits with Hamlet – he’d lost someone close to him, and he blamed himself for making the wrong choice and so was afraid to make another choice. So why use a Hamlet facsimile when we could use the real deal?

Purely self-indulgent question because Iago is one of my favorite characters of all time: how is it writing someone like him, and what can readers expect to see from him in the next five issues?

Conor: Iago is a ton of fun. He’s tricky, though, as sometimes he hides his motives even from us. I’m still not sure exactly why he takes some opportunities and lets others slip by. But I think our Iago definitely stays true to his humanist roots – in the play Iago hides his feelings very well – but to us it’s clear he was an emotional cauldron. Here I think we let him bubble over a bit.

Anthony: As for the next five issues… Well, we can’t give away spoilers but he will definitely be the source of a lot of conflict and tension as the story moves forward.

Were either of you particular fans of Shakespeare and/or his stories while you were in school?

Anthony: I really enjoyed studying Shakespeare in high school because I realized that, even beyond the language, his stories and characters were so amazing. I’ve been to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival here in Canada every year since high school but I really started to appreciate his work a few years after school when I started to really watch all of his plays and continually be dazzled by them.

Conor: I loved The Tempest. It’s just such a great mixture of horror, action, humour and humanity.

As of now, you’ve got five more issues left to go before the end of this series. Is there any possibility of a spin-off or continuation, and can you tell us about any future projects you have in the works?

Conor: We have mapped out two more arcs that would perhaps bring us to the end of Hamlet’s role in the world. And we’re working on using other mediums to tell more stories….

Anthony: We’re really excited about the chance to expand the “Kill Shakespeare Universe.” We’ve received a lot of interest from Hollywood and that is something that we will explore once we’re completed our first twelve issues. We’re looking at some gaming opportunities – both mobile and console. And we’ve also been approached about merchandise, which would be a lot of fun to put together.

Anything else you’d like to tell our readers, or that you’d like them to know?

Anthony: If you’re afraid of Shakespeare (and many people are because of the language) don’t be afraid of our series. We’ve put together a story that’s full of adventure, comedy, violence, drama and romance – all the elements of a fantastic story!

Conor: Just that we think Shakespeare fans are going to realize how many interesting things can be done in the humble comic, and that comic fans are going to realize what a hell of a lot of fun the Bard really is…