Comics
Review: “Kill Shakespeare: The Mask of Night” #1
“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.
Comics
‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics
Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.
Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.
In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”
The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”
Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”
“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.
Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”
Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.
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Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover
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Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)
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Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)
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Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)
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Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)
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Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)
Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
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