Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Kill Shakespeare - Comic Book (Anthony Tournis)


While I was walking through Barnes and Noble two weeks ago, I saw Harrison Ford and Ashton Kutcher shopping for Christmas. They were walking by the graphic novel section. Indiana Jones eagerly ran and picked up a copy of the trade paperback Kill Shakespeare.


“What is that, Han Solo?” Ashton Kutcher asked.

“It’s a great comic book, dickhead! It’s Kill Shakespeare! Trade Paperback! ” replied Deckerd.

“Shakespeare? What’s it about?” a confused Ashton mused.

Kill Shakespeare is a fictitious look at the world of the Bard. The story is about Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, who is set to meet his demise at the hands of the King of England. His ship is destroyed by pirates and Hamlet is thrown overboard. He is saved by Richard the Third who, along with the witches from MacBeth, tell Hamlet that he has to kill a man named William Shakespeare and bring Richard his quill. His quill is very powerful and Richard wants to exploit this power. He tricks Hamlet into doing his dirty work for him, and Hamlet sets off to dispatch Shakespeare. Along the way he runs into a myriad of characters from Big Willy’s plays. Falstaff, Iago, Tamora, MacBeth, Lady MacBeth, Puck, Othello, Romeo, Juliet, and a cacophony of other characters take part in either deceiving or helping Hamlet in his quest. The characters are amazingly rich and the world is both drawn beautifully and written amazingly. Co-writers Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery have found an amazingly creative way to breathe life into characters that have been around for four centuries. These characters are not you great grandparents Shakespearean characters. These characters are masterfully updated but still timeless. I really would like to thank the writers for not making the characters in Kill Shakespeare one dimensional sketches of their former selves. The dialogue is really easy to follow so you don’t have to be an English major to read it. However, if you do have an extensive Shakespearian background there are plenty of inside jokes that you will appreciate immensely. Andy B.’s art is absolutely stunning, and is heightened perfectly by Ian Herring’s colors. This trade paper back consists of issues 1-6, but issue 7 is right over there. I give it my highest recommendation. It’s an absolutely brilliant mash-up of literature and comic books. “ said Dr. Richard Kimble with an childlike exuberance.

“Did you see me in Killers? I shot at people. Pew, pew, pewpew, pew, pew.” Exclaimed the child-like Kutcher.

Suddenly, Jack Ryan whipped a choke hold on the bewildered Ashton. Punch after punch landed on his simple, simple head. Then a fist reached down the throat of the now-even-more-brain-dead Kutcher, and pulled out his heart which then burst into flames while Ashton gurgled his last breath.

“ You’ve been Firewalled!” screamed President James Marshall. “Now…GET OFF MY PLANE!!!”

It was over.

Can you believe that? I mean, who shops at Barnes and Noble?

Seriously, pick up Kill Shakespeare!



A+ Kill Shakespeare

F- Ashton Kutcher

4 Stars Firewall



-Anthony Tournis

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