From the Folcher Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited. I'm Michael Whitmore,

the Folcher's director. One thing we keep an eye out for with Shakespeare Unlimited is the original

and even eye-popping ways that Shakespeare and his works show up in popular culture. We've looked

at Shakespeare on film. We've talked with an author who rewrote the Star Wars trilogy in the style of a Shakespearean drama, and now we look at comic books.

Since 2010, Connor McCreary and Anthony Del Cole have been publishing a comic book series under the title, Kill Shakespeare.

As you'll hear, they've taken Shakespeare's most popular characters and teamed

them up in rival warring camps bent on seizing control of the kingdom that is the world of Shakespeare's

plays. We had this conversation while Connor and Anthony were at Comic Con in New York in 2015

for the release of their new book, a volume that combines

all the Kill Shakespeare Comics in a single book complete with annotations by leading Shakespeare

scholars.

We call this podcast, I have o'er heard a plot of death upon him.

Connor and Anthony are interviewed by Barbara Bogave. When I first heard of your title, I thought of Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino's movies,

and I thought that's just too perfect. And then I heard that that was part of your inspiration.

So how did this whole project come together? And what's the Kill Bill connection?

That is actually how it did come together.

Connor and I were sitting around brainstorming ideas for video games of all things almost 11 years ago.

And the title Kill Bill came up in our conversation.

And we thought, hey, that would make an amazing video game, but I'm sure it's already been done.

So then we started to play on that name, like, what if it was another bill?

And eventually came to Kill Bill Shakespeare.

And all of a sudden, those lightballs, bing, the light bulbs went off.

...