KILL BILL (SHAKESPEARE)

[thehefner]

Via bleedingcool.com

KILL SHAKESPEARE is a new comic series from IDW by Anthony Del Col, Conor McCreery and Andy Belanger that’s kind of like a cross between FABLES and LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. And Shakespeare. In which Hamlet, Romeo, Juliet, Othello and Falstaff have to team up to beat Richard III, Iago and Lady Macbeth.

...

Y'know, I'd be wayyyy more behind this if the choices weren't so frickin' obvious. And I love Hamlet, I do, but he'll be terrible on a team. The only character who really intrigues me is Falstaff. I just get the distinct impression this will be written by people with only a casual knowledge of Shakespeare, or that it'll just do like FABLES and make the characters unrecognizable while trying to seem clever (Cinderella's now a lethal spy. Sure, why not?).

If I had my way, I'd have Edgar and Edmund on the respective good/evil sides, Benedick as the dashingly snarky Han Solo type (with Beatrice as his Leia), Sir Toby and Sir Andrew as the drunken "Blue Beetle and Booster Gold" pair always cooking of crazy doomed schemes, Tullus Aulfidius as the badass tactician/warrior, Rosalind and Viola as the spies/masters of disguise, and Aaron the Moor as the resident "Scorpius/Lex Luthor/Benjamin Linus" character.

What about you, Shakespeare fans? If you could choose your own take on this premise, which characters would you include?

Comments

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

I always wanted to do a teenage prequel to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, set in the school they attended with Hamlet, in which the duo briefly stage a triumphant play within a play. The final lines would be, "With time, their fame faded, but for that short time, everyone knew the names of Rosencrantz and Guioldenstern."

WAY TO MISS THE POINT OF THE ORIGINAL, SELF.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

hahaha

Of course, if we keep this up, we risk ending up with SHAKESPEARE BABIES. Then again, I know I'd pay to see Li'l Titus Andronicus.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Actually, my idea was inspired by the fact that a) I loved Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and b) I had a sophomore English teacher, Leonard DeSimone, who explained Hamlet in a way that always stuck with me.

When one of the kids commented on the perhaps less-than-realistic degree to which Hamlet was losing his shit (yes, even when you discounted his "playing at madness" deal), Mr. DeSimone said, "The mistake you're mistaking is the same that a lot of people make who present this play. You can't judge him by ADULT standards. Remember, life expectancies were a lot shorter in those days, so when it's said that Hamlet is going to 'university,' that's probably a lot closer to high school than college now. Hamlet was probably not that far off from your age. Imagine that YOU just came home from school, and your mom is married to your uncle, whom you're pretty sure killed your dad. How well would YOU handle it?"

Thus, my conception of Hamlet as an emo teen was born.

[the-mithril-man.livejournal.com]

I figure they cast on name recognition, most people only have a passing knowledge of Billy and his work. More people know these characters then any of the ones you listed. Personally I'd like to see the series titled "After Bill" in which the survivors of the plays are the main characters. Horatio from Hamlet leading the team, the Friar from R&J who's a hopeless drunk and lost his faith after what happened. You could use Fortinbras and make him a spy no one remembers meeting, mostly cause I didn't even know he was in the play until I saw it the 4th time. He kept getting his part cut. little theater joke there. etc etc. The main villain? I'm stuck. Maybe Laertes who was smarter than we all thought and only faked his death.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course, I get the logic behind it entirely. I'm just so bored with people only referencing the most popular Shakespeare works when there's just so much else. Eh, I should be grateful there's not anything from MIDSUMMER in there.

That said, I would *totally* be behind AFTER BILL. That could have real potential. Of course, it would be harder for the tragedies like OTHELLO, LEAR, and TITUS, what with most of the characters dead.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

And between this, Fables, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the fact that every movie from before 1989 is being remade, Steven Grant was right - we really are living in the Golden Age of Fanfic.

[pure-doxyk.livejournal.com]

Thank you; you are right and I shall add this to my List of Reasons to Shake My Fist At The Sky And Scream, "WHYYYY?"

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it's necessarily a bad thing if it weren't the DOMINATING thing.

[pure-doxyk.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted to see Viola beat the crap out of Juliette, and Othello would make a great mid-level ringleader type; but other than that, I like your choices!

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

Everyone in "Measure for Measure". Actually, my take on this premise would be a straight-up comic adaptation of "Measure for Measure". Team Lucio OMG.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Can it be set among space pirates at least?

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

I don't know man, it's weird enough as it is, set in some alternate-world Vienna where everyone has Italian names.

Okay, Ragozine can be a space pirate. From the future. Just for you.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

I'm so with you on Benedick and Beatrice, though I would add Kate and Petruchio somewhere. Puck as the morally-ambiguous guide/oracle thinger.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Totally! Man, we're just going to have a lot of banter in this story, aren't we? I'm sure not complaining!

Yes, but only if Puck can be voiced by Brent Spiner, just like in GARGOYLES! Assuming this goes to animation, I mean. I can assume a lot for something that won't happen.

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

Better than Kirk and Spock teaming up with Abraham Lincoln. That would be stupid.

[bitemetechie.livejournal.com]

If by 'stupid' you mean 'awesome', then yes.

(Oh, season three, why do I feel the compulsion to defend you so?)

[heykidzcomix.livejournal.com]

Hamlet, Action Hero: OH HEY GUYS I CAN'T TAKE OUT THESE HENCHMEN THEY MIGHT HAVE PRAYED

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That's brilliant.