First Folio Brings Kill Shakespeare Back, and Anthony Del Col is Just Getting Started
Anthony Del Col, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and co-creator of Kill Shakespeare, is about to make his mark—again. With the release of Kill Shakespeare: First Folio set for September 18, 2024, Del Col sat down with August Tales to talk about revisiting the series that put him in the elite club of just five comic book creators to ever win a Pulitzer. Yeah, he’s in that kind of company.
Comic creators rarely get that kind of mainstream nod, Del Col’s work transcends capes and tights, diving deep into the dark, dramatic worlds of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters—and blending it all with some seriously ambitious storytelling.
“People think comics are just superheroes and action,” Del Col says. “But when you look at what a medium like comics can do with Shakespeare, it opens up a whole new level of visual storytelling.”
Kill Shakespeare isn’t just another rehash of old Shakespearean plots. It’s a twisted, multi-dimensional take on what happens after those stories end. What if Juliet didn’t die? What if Hamlet kept spiraling into self-doubt? And what if Richard III wasn’t just a villain—but the villain you actually root for?
A Childhood of Stories: Northern Canada and Early Inspirations
Del Col’s passion for storytelling began in the quiet and remote town of Porcupine, Northern Canada, where long winters and small-town life pushed him to seek entertainment in books, radio dramas, and eventually, Shakespeare. But, surprisingly, comics weren’t initially a part of his literary diet.
“I grew up in a small town called Porcupine, which is a suburb of Timmins, famous for being Shania Twain’s hometown,” Del Col shares with a laugh. “I wasn’t a huge comic fan growing up. I read GI Joe and some Batman, but I didn’t dive deep into the world of comics until my early 20s, when a friend introduced me to series like Fables and The Walking Dead. That’s when I realized that comics could be so much more than just superheroes in tights.”
While his love for comics came later, storytelling had always been a cornerstone of Del Col’s life. He recalls the moment his interest in Shakespeare was sparked in ninth grade, when an overwhelmed teacher, Miss White, struggled to introduce her students to The Merchant of Venice. Despite the chaotic classroom environment, Del Col’s curiosity about the Bard grew.
“She wasn’t able to get through to us, but I knew Shakespeare had stuck around for 400 years for a reason. So, I went out and bought Cliffs Notes to really understand it. That’s when I started to see why Shakespeare was so revered.”
From that point on, Shakespeare became a lasting influence. “I had some really great teachers in high school who introduced me to Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, King Lear, and more. I just got hooked on these timeless stories.”
The Birth of Kill Shakespeare
Despite his academic appreciation for Shakespeare, Del Col never envisioned blending the Bard with comics until much later in life. After completing a business degree, he dabbled in film and music management but always found himself drawn back to storytelling. It wasn’t until he and longtime collaborator Conor McCreery brainstormed the idea for Kill Shakespeare that everything clicked.
“We were talking about Shakespeare’s characters, and I thought, ‘What if these characters lived in the same universe? What would happen if they survived their stories?’ Juliet would no doubt become a leader of a rebellion, and Hamlet’s internal struggles would make him question his place in the world.”
This idea of reimagining Shakespeare’s characters as part of a larger epic was the foundation of Kill Shakespeare. But Del Col was careful to stay true to the essence of these iconic figures.
“With every character, whether it’s Hamlet, Juliet, or Richard III, we asked ourselves, ‘What defines them? What are their core traits?’ Then we projected them into new situations. For example, Juliet survived her tragic ending in Romeo and Juliet. What would she be like two years later? Well, she’s young, passionate, and fiercely loyal to causes, so it made sense for her to lead a rebellion.”
Del Col credits the visual storytelling of comics for allowing him to breathe new life into Shakespeare’s works. “Comics opened my eyes to the great possibilities of blending literature with visual storytelling. Kill Shakespeare gave us the freedom to create something entirely new while still honoring the Bard’s legacy.”
Revisiting First Folio and the Rebirth of a Classic
Now, Kill Shakespeare returns in First Folio, a beautifully remastered edition of the first arc. “First Folio is the perfect introduction for readers who are new to the series,” Del Col explains. “We’re re-releasing it in a new format with a different publisher, and it’s exciting to see it repackaged for a fresh audience.”
For those who haven’t experienced the series before, Kill Shakespeare is an ambitious mash-up of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, thrown into a world where rebellion brews against the despotic rule of Richard III and Lady Macbeth. The stakes are high, and the action unfolds in a way that’s rarely seen in traditional adaptations of Shakespeare.
“The magic of Kill Shakespeare is that it’s not just a retelling of Shakespeare’s plays,” Del Col says. “It’s an entirely new adventure where these characters exist beyond their original stories. We’ve taken Hamlet, Juliet, and others, and placed them in a world where they have to face not just each other, but also their inner demons.”
With First Folio set to release on October 01, 2024, Del Col is excited to invite new readers into the Kill Shakespeare universe. Whether you’re a Shakespeare fan or someone who loves a good adventure, Kill Shakespeare: First Folio is a must-read. You can order it now on Amazon here.
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