Interview — Talking ‘Kill Shakespeare: Romeo vs. Juliet’ With Anthony Del Col And Stefan Tosheff

Welcome to the table,

When I was a much younger man who required little more than a handful of chicken nuggets and an hour of sleep to survive, I would often finish up my classes for the week early. Then I’d hop into my friend’s beat-up Ford Taurus (I think that was what it was I am honestly horrible at cars), toss on a burned CD of film scores and anime soundtracks and cruise up and down the East Coast to various comic conventions and signings.

This was an attempt to keep a finger on the pulse of what was happening in the comic and pop culture space. In those days, we fancied ourselves guerilla journalists who were the grassroots reporters of the “scene,” like some keyboard documentarians who were going to capture the life and times of indie comics and the culture that loved them.

We were honestly two goofballs who loved to eat at random restaurants, talk to strangers, and talk about creative processes. For some reason, amazingly talented people were willing to answer our emails and direct messages and say “Sure, I will talk to you about the stuff I am making because you seem really hyper and everyone is amused by a sonic boom with dirt on it.”

Two of those amazingly kind people who showed us grace and did not tell us to get lost were the wildly talented writers, Anthony Del Col and Conner McCreery. At a Heroes Convention in North Carolina that we drove to with zero sleep and way too many shots of espresso, I found myself across the table from two people who loved the work of The Bard and worldbuilding in a way I had never seen before.

The book at their table was Kill Shakespeare. Kill Shakespeare is a fantastic blending of all the characters, works, and worlds found in William Shakespeare‘s stories in a way that makes them seem seamless and intentionally devised to be one cohesive reality. What’s more, there were meta elements that also came into play and the whole thing felt (to a kid who loved theater, Dungeons & Dragons, and high fantasy) like a perfectly blended tale destined to be a comic classic.

The series has seen multiple new stories added over the years, the most recent of them being Romeo vs. Juliet: A Kill Shakespeare Adventure.

This current offering sees the world’s most famous star-crossed lovers, now turned sworn enemies clashing in a most spectacular way. I recently had a chance to sit down with Anthony Del Col and series artist Stefan Tosheff to talk about the newest chapter in this sprawling adventure.

Anton: Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me about this epic new adventure in the Kill Shakespeare saga. While I’m incredibly familiar with your work can you catch our readers up on exactly who you are and where they may know you from?

Anthony Del Col: First off, it’s great to do another interview with you, Anton! I remember meeting you at HeroesCon in… I wanna say, 2011?… and it’s great to see how well you’re doing now. This can be a tough industry, especially for those that write about comics, so I’m so happy to see you thriving!

For those that didn’t meet me over a decade ago… I’m the co-creator of the Kill Shakespeare series and the writer of the upcoming Romeo vs. Juliet. Kill Shakespeare was the first work I had done in comics and since that time I’ve written books for various publishers (Luke Cage for Marvel, Assassin’s Creed for Ubisoft/Titan, The Death of Nancy Drew for Dynamite) and for four years I did a series of non-fiction digital comics for Business Insider, which led to me being one of the first comic writers to ever win the Pulitzer Prize.

I also work in podcasts and my latest, Don’t Listen to This, is a psychological thriller set in the world esports, produced by BBC.

Stefan Tosheff: Hi! Should I also list my accomplishments? Cause I certainly can’t outdo Anthony! I’ve been drawing comics full time for about five years now. I’ve worked on such books as Miramar, broken social scene: you forgot in people and Minerva’s map.

Anton: When I heard this outing in the Kill Shakespeare Universe would have a Western feel, I was excited but really curious about how you were going to weave the yarn to fit into such a specific landscape. What made you lean in this genre direction?

Anthony: Like some of my other comic series, the concept for Romeo vs. Juliet came from a central image: Juliet and Romeo in a high noon-style showdown, both prepared to kill the other and rid themselves of their pasts. I was just noodling around one day and when the image came to me, I realized I wanted to create an entire story around it.

If you look back at the earlier Kill Shakespeare books (and for those haven’t read those, don’t worry: you can read Romeo vs. Juliet without having read the earlier ones) each major arc has leaned into a specific genre. Volumes 1 and 2 (our first arc) was a fantasy tale, Volume 3 was a horror and Volume 4 was a pirate adventure. So it seemed natural to make this new entry a Western genre tale.

Anton: I have read the sorted story and have to say firsthand that your mashup was incredibly successful. Even more so than I was expecting and as a fan the bar was already high. I’m a big fan of Westerns and the hallmarks that they contain, horses, gunfights, duels, tragedy, and adventure, were there specific narrative or visual elements from each world you were most excited to combine?

Anthony: I’m glad you liked it! For me, it was important to lean into those genre elements in our story. The central premise (a solo warrior must protect a border town nunnery) is pure Western, and everything else we added (rallying old allies, duels, etc.) were there from the very beginning. In many ways, it’s a pure Shakespearean story as the Bard himself would lean into the various elements of tragedy or comedy in each of his original stories.

Stefan: I was very excited about creating the mood. Nothing hits quite like a sunset backlit character. High noon? Love it, give me that spaghetti western cinematography, really tried to capture that energy.

Anton: Juliet takes center stage in this story as a warrior-for-hire, with a high-stakes mission to defend a small town’s nunnery. Did the story come before deciding who would be the star or did you decide you wanted to spin a story around Juliet and the story evolved from there? It feels like a “chicken or the egg” question but I’m so curious about what spark started this whole story and why it was the next chapter in the Kill Shakespeare saga.

Anthony: As you know, it’s been a few years since we’ve put out a Kill Shakespeare story. So one of my goals with this was to create a story that could appeal to everyone – fans of the earlier books but more importantly those who have never heard of the story. And who is more universal than our two titular characters, Juliet and Romeo?

I know a lot of people disregard Juliet as a character (too young! A follower! Just a whiny, horny teenager!) but I would argue she’s a fascinating character and one of the more interesting (and poetic) characters the Bard created. So it’s great to add additional layers in this story – including (spoiler alert!) a pregnancy.

Stefan: Anthony!! Shhhhh!

Anton: Stefan, this story has an incredible visual throughline that really captures this classic theatrical vibe while also being entirely Western, and yet all the while staying very unique Kill Shakespeare with the magical elements and iconic characters, what were your creative processes in crafting the visuals of this story? Were there any influences print, film, or otherwise you pulled on as you put the whole thing together?

Stefan: I immediately decided I wanted to change my style a bit, and use lots of shadows for this story, so I looked at a bunch of old western and some modern ones aswell. I also wanted to make something fresh, so I decided that I would use a lot of black on the page, but colour it with a hyper saturated palate. Kind of going for Mignola meets Django Unchained.

Anton: Anthony, you have assembled this incredible “Magnificent Shakespeare Seven” style cast with major players like Hamlet, Tamora, Puck, Sir Henry “Hotspur” Percy, and Othello joining Juliet. How did you land on these being the members of this ragtag team because they are one wild ride of a lineup when you look at them all together? Were there others considered who did not make the cut?

Anthony: There are SO many more I wish I could have added to this – but then the book would have been twice as long (and Stefan would have killed me for that…)! As it currently stands, I wish we had more storytelling space for the supporting characters here (especially Hotspur, Puck and Tamora) but again, we had only a certain number of pages…

It was obvious that Hamlet and Othello would be in this. They’re fan favorites (both of the Bard as well as Kill Shakespeare) but also highlight different dimensions of Juliet. Puck was the next obvious choice and to include him we made some (physical) changes to the character. And beyond that, each of the others brings a certain skill to the group, as well as personality / emotion.

Again, I wish I had a LOT more room in this canvas. Each of these characters could be a leading one in their own story. Which, again, is why Shakespeare is the greatest creator ever.

Anton: I don’t want to spoil too much because there are plenty of fun twists and turns as the acts run their course, is there anything non-spoiler of course, that you are excited for the readers to discover in this story that you may be able to hint at?

Anthony: Well, like any good Shakespearean tale we will meet someone who is hiding something big from us, and someone dies at the end. Have I said too much?

Stefan: Anthony! Shhhh!

Anton: The end of this tale felt like a rollercoaster ride and then, as the curtain was drawing to a close, there was more! I know this may sound greedy but can we expect to see another story in the Kill Shakespeare universe soon?

Anthony: As mentioned earlier, Kill Shakespeare was the first comic I (co-)created and it was like coming home when I sat down to write the scripts. I absolutely love the versions of the characters that me and the entire team have created here and would be thrilled to tell more stories. And have Stefan on board as well – he’s added so much to our world.

Stefan: I would love to return and continue to make a mark on this universe.

Anton: Before we wrap up, I want to thank you both for taking the time to talk to me. Can you please let our readers know where they can keep up with you in the digital and physical spaces?

Anthony: In the physical world, I can be found outside all major subway stops yelling out “To be or not to be???!!!”… No, seriously, many of my books can be found at comic shops or bookstores, and online anthonydelcol.com will lead you to my work and socials.

Stefan: If you google “Stefan Tosheff” I am the one and only, so please follow me on all the socials.

Anton: Thanks again guys, this story is an absolute delight and I for one think fans, newcomers, and those who have been around as long as I have, will absolutely love this adventure in the Kill Shakespeare universe.

Until next time, I really can’t say enough good things about Kill Shakespeare it was really one of the first chance meetings that made me want to work, and what’s more feel welcomed, in the pop culture space and to this day holds a really big place in my heart. I think I still have a white “God Save The Queen” Kill Shakespeare style band shirt that fit me in my younger university days kicking around in the bottom of my sock drawer if it has not gotten lost in the last 10+ years.