Kill Shakespeare is one of those comics that I keep meaning to check out, but never got around to. Finally, I grabbed the first volume and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. It’s kind of like Fables, only with Shakespearean characters. Now, I’m not as up on my Shakespeare as I should be, so I know there are some inside jokes that just went over my head. But it’s an interestingly strange story, so let’s check it out.

Things go off the rails for Hamlet after he kills Polonius and is exiled to Britain with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He’s supposed to survive the pirate attack and make it back to Denmark, but instead he wakes up in the house of Richard the Third. Richard shows him all the good things he’s doing (building schools, hospitals, etc.) and then comes to Hamlet with a proposition: help him steal the quill of the mad god Shakespeare in exchange for Hamlet’s father being brought back to life. Hamlet has a power to create a path in the woods and is believed to be the “Shadow King” who can find (and possibly kill) Shakespeare. During an attack by the “Prodigals”, Falstaff kidnaps Hamlet and leads him to the Rebellion, led by Juliet and Othello. Meanwhile, Richard has sent Iago out to find Hamlet while he barters a treaty with MacBeth. Lady MacBeth then kills her husband as a betrayal since she’s in with Richard. Hamlet is being fought over by the rebellion and Richard. The book goes on from there.

Overall, as I mentioned above, I believe I’m missing some subtext since I’m not that familiar with all of Shakespeare’s work. And, while I enjoyed the comic, it was a little wordy and confusing at times. I’m still not sure where the story is heading (which is a good and a bad thing), but it’s and interesting (and very different story). The characters are thrown out and you’re assumed to know their back story. Anything that changes from the play (such as how Juliet came to lead a rebellion) is mentioned in passing, The art by Andy Belanger is good and creepy, but Ian Herring’s color  are too dark at times and make things a little muddier than I’d like.

Overall it was a decent first half of the story (there are 12 issue planned in total) and it’s an interesting premise. The lack of some Shakespearean knowledge does hamper my reading and I do feel like I’m missing some inside jokes and subtext. But it’s a good story with an interesting premise. Recommended.