Canadian Creators of KILL SHAKESPEARE Accepted into Prestigious Sundance Story Lab

Toronto, Canada: The Canadian-based creative team of the acclaimed Kill Shakespeare comic book series will descend upon the 2011 New York Comic-Con this weekend to not only release an exclusive sneak peek of their second trade but also announce their invitation to take part in the first-ever Sundance Institute New Frontier Story Lab.

Co-creators Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery are one of six creative teams to be selected from around the globe to take part in the Sundance initiative, taking place in Park City, UT from Oct 23 – 28th. During their time at the Lab, Del Col and McCreery will work with award-winning creative advisors to bring Kill Shakespeare – an adventure story that places the Bard’s greatest heroes and villains into the same world and story – to film and other formats through individualized story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues, and case study presentations.

“We are really excited about becoming ‘Sundance kids’,” says Del Col. “If Shakespeare was alive today he would be creating not only stage plays but films, video games, comic books and digital media. We relish the opportunity to work with Sundance to further mash-up our take on the Bard with access to top screenwriters, video game designers and transmedia gurus.”

The creative team will also be unveiling Kill Shakespeare Volume 2: The Blast of War, which collects issues 7 – 12 of the Harvey-nominated series, at the show. To be released in early November, the creators – along with series artist Andy Belanger – will be selling and signing a limited number of copies out of their booth (#2844), as well as copies of Volume 1 and their new line of ShakesGeare merchandise.

They are also happy to announce that the acclaimed Kill Shakespeare Volume 1: A Sea of Troubles is going into a third-printing this week due to growing demand for the series.

Del Col, McCreery and Belanger will be available for interviews during the New York Comic-Con.

About the series:

Kill 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) in a quest to track down and kill – or save – a reclusive wizard by the name of William Shakespeare. Described by the New York Times as “gripping, violent and dark fun,” the series was nominated for a 2011 Harvey Award for Best New Comic Series and received profiles from NPR, BBC, The Washington Post, CBC and Publisher’s Weekly. It also created controversy in 2010 when Shakespearean scholar (and girlfriend of comics legend Frank Miller) Kimberly Cox railed against the title, while others – such as Des McAnuff (Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Jersey Boys) – are fans of it.

More information about the series can be found at www.killshakespeare.com.