“Kill Shakespeare: The Mask Of Night” #1 returns with a brand new story arc and it’s just as awesome as ever. More of the classic Shakespearean characters take the comic book page with raw energy. The “Kill Shakespeare” series continues to get better while adding more sex, action, and girl-on-girl catfights to the mix.
Written By: Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col
Art By: Andy Belanger
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $3.99
Release: June 18, 2014
Reviewed by Jorge Solis
In Vol. 3: Tide of Blood, Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello barely got out of the island alive. While on the monster island, Prospero infected Othello and Hamlet with his sick mind-games. Hamlet feels betrayed by Juliet, who may be carrying Romeo’s child. While they were lost at sea, the three were discovered and held captive by the pirates Cesario and Viola. Will Cesario continue to hold the three wanted fugitives chained-up on his ship, The Boreas? Or will he sell his prisoners to the highest bidder, especially to Titus?
After looking up information on the new characters, I believe writers Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col have done an interesting re-imagination of Cesario and Viola. In the play, “Twelfth Night,” Viola pretends to be a man named Cesario. McCreery and Del Col split the character into two different people and make it work as a swashbuckling adventure. Viola is indeed captain of the ship but would any man really serve under her command? She needs someone else, a fighter, to pretend to be Cesario. You’ll notice how Viola is really manipulating the situation through her dialogue.
McCreery and Del Col do something fresh and original with the female Shakespearean characters. Juliet is not a lovelorn teenager; instead she is a fierce warrior who practically went through Hell to save Hamlet. I just loved the scene between Viola’s first confrontation with Juliet. The two may not like each other but they share the same warrior spirit, making them evenly matched.
Andy Belanger’s artwork is completely amazing. Readers will be thrilled by Cesario’s bloody swordfight in the opening pages. In the two-pager, we see Cesario stab his way through other pirates just to get his bulked-up opponent. To defeat his enemy, Cesario digs his fingers into his bloody guts and rips out his intestines. I swear to you, this scene alone is worth the cover charge.
I really like the little details Belanger has added to Cesario’s helmet-like mask. Shaped into a skull, the mask is divided in half, to represent the theme’s split personality. Remember Viola is in charge, not the man behind the mask. The mask has two facial expressions, one smiling and the other angry. In his character design, Cesario has a braided wig on the back of his head and his wardrobe is composed of brown leather.
“Kill Shakespeare: The Mask of Night” #1 is an impressive start to a riveting swashbuckling adventure. Del Col, McCreery, and Belanger have turned Shakespeare’s characters into mean and gritty pirates, who you don’t want to mess with.