Thursday, April 5, 2012

Kill Shakespeare, Volume 2: The Blast of War

Much happens in this second (and final?) collection of the popularly received mini-series where the Bard's characters all exist in one world. Hamlet finally meets his maker, and this meeting with Shakespeare does not go quite as planned. Also, the grand struggle between the forces of Richard III and Lady MacBeth and those of Juliet and Othello comes to a head in a huge battle that costs many participants their lives. By the end of the book the narrative comes to a close, but there are still enough loose ends left to suggest the possibility of a sequel.

This book is created by the same team as volume 1. Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery created the concept and wrote the series. Andy Belanger provided the art, which was energetic, expressive, and packed with Easter eggs. More information about these creators can be found at the book's official site.

Reviews of this collection have been relatively positive. David Norman wrote, "Kill Shakespeare is an excellent comic book series that rewards re-reading and which also makes you want to know more about Shakespeare plays." Gary Makries explained, "If you haven’t read the first one, I would recommend it. But truthfully, you can jump right in and catch up pretty well. I don’t often jump at dropping twenty bucks on a graphic novel but as I said before, this one rocks." The reviewer at Publishers Weekly offered a less favorable review, commenting that this book suffers from comparison to Shakespeare's works and that "the number of characters included goes beyond the book’s ability to comfortably fit them all in."

A preview of this volume can be found at Amazon.com. More information about the series, including additional previews and a trailer, is available here from the book's publisher IDW.

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