Kill Shakespeare is a thrilling, daring new series crossing the path of several of William Shakespeare's most beloved literary characters in a new adventure that embraces their tradition while reigniting your imagination, striking a new appreciation for the work that Shakespeare left behind for us all those years ago.

The story follows Hamlet upon his departure from Denmark following the death of Polonius — anyone who has read and appreciated the play will recall his exile, and the fateful voyage by sea that crossed his path with pirates. In Kill Shakespeare, Hamlet finds himself saved by the eminent Richard III, and charged with the task of finding a reclusive wizard in exchange for the promise to raise his beloved father from the grave.

Along the way, Hamlet immediately finds himself entangled in danger and drama with more beloved characters from Shakespeare's works — Falstaff, Iago, Juliet, Othello, Puck and more. For Hamlet, the question remains: who can be trusted? What new adventures and horrors await him on his quest? And who, exactly, is this mysterious wizard he's been charged to find, this William Shakespeare?

Creators Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col enlisted the help of a notable team of Canadian artists to tell their exciting new story — artist Andy Belanger, colourist Ian Herring, and distinctive cover artist Kagan McLeod, all based out of Toronto. The first issue of Kill Shakespeare hit comic shops in April 2010, and has been gaining in popularity and notoriety ever since.

Issue 6 of the series was released on October 27, and to celebrate, the creators have prepared a trade paperback edition of the series — collecting the first six issues of the series with new special material — to be released this coming Tuesday, November 9 in comic stores everywhere.

“We did most of the work on the trade in the summer,” said McCreery, indicating that there will be very little turnaround for the release of the book. “So the trade actually comes out on November 9, it's only a couple of weeks' gap. And then a couple of weeks after the trade comes out, Issue 7 comes out.”

McCreery cited his time working in a comic shop when younger as a reason for the rapid release — the frustration involved in waiting for trades to be released traditionally, coupled with the inconsistency of the release schedule of single issues surrounding a trade's appearance. As a result, readers can expect Issue 7 to be released late in November, with Issue 8 following just before the new year.

According to McCreery, it was literary fascination and wonder that led to the story taking shape. “I'd always been interested that in Hamlet, this guy Claudius — Hamlet's uncle — kills Hamlet's father ... so he must be a bad guy, right? But in the play, there's not a heck of a lot of discussion about him being a bad king; there's a little bit about how maybe some of the people would vote for Hamlet if they had an opportunity, but it isn't really written large in the play that this guy Claudius should be a bad guy, which I guess interested us for two reasons.”

“One, because it shows how Shakespeare is a little more subtle than just saying, ‘Here's the bad guy,' but also it made us ask the question, ‘Well, what if Hamlet's dad wasn't all that good a guy himself?' And that kind of twists the whole play on its head a little bit, if Hamlet's trying to avenge his father, a father who maybe doesn't deserve to be avenged. That was interesting to us, the idea that from a family perspective you feel like you have to avenge your father, but what if deep down you know that maybe he got what he deserved?”

The idea that there is more to the story and characters than meets the eye is evident in the story as Hamlet is pulled in all directions on his path to find William Shakespeare himself, and the tumult he faces over the first six issues has boiled over into a tense cliffhanger that you have to read to appreciate fully.

The good news is that Kill Shakespeare is available here in London in many of our comic shops, such as Heroes on Dundas, L.A. Mood on Richmond, and more. The bad news? The series sells quickly, so you'll have to move fast to get in on this brilliant comic adventure, and take advantage of the trade paperback collecting Issues 1 to 6 hitting stores on November 9.