Shakespeare’s latest collaborator and the birth of a new creative genre

Be seeing you, Lennon and McCartney.

Step aside, Morecombe and Wise. 

Move over, Spielberg and Williams.  

Pipe down, Dickens and Phiz. 

There’s a new creative double act on the scene which threatens to achieve top listing in the league table of collaborative icons, and it’s the daring duo of...

William Shakespeare and Kev F Sutherland.

I’m sure the pairing needs little introduction.  One was the illustrious Bard, born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, master wordsmith and storyteller - and peerless genius behind 39 plays and 154 sonnets.  The other is the Scottish comedian and comic strip creator who has appeared regularly at the Edinburgh fringe and whose artistic versatility has earned him gigs with Marvel Comics, Viz, the Beano and many other publishers.

The sharp-witted might have realised that, given their different eras, our heroes probably haven’t had the opportunity to team up in person.  To which I say: never let such pedantic constructs as the time-space continuum get in the way of artistic brilliance.  

After all, for all his undoubted strengths, there’s no evidence that William S was able to turn his pen to illustration.  The Bard’s potential will never be fully realised without a collaborator able to translate his stories into visual form. And since Michelangelo is way too slow (four year to complete a single ceiling, for goodness sake!), who better to enter the fray that the ever-prolific, ever-ingenious Kev F Sutherland.

Together they’ve given birth to a new artform – a genre which, I predict, will be universally termed graphic drama.

And within less than twelve months of the launch of their partnership, the team of Shakespeare and Sutherland have already been responsible for three masterpieces set to become timeless classics:

• Findlay Macbeth: the riveting saga of a small Scottish firm called Alba Industries. Findlay Macbeth has just been awarded the cherished accolade of Salesman of the Year, but when he’s overlooked for promotion his wife takes umbrage, and things take an ugly turn.
• The Prince Of Denmark Street: Hamlet and the Danes are London’s hottest, most notorious new punk band.  They seem set for stardom until tragedy befalls Hamlet’s father. Can things ever again be the same?
• The Midsummer Night’s Dream Team: A heist movie in which strange things kick off with the marriage of Theo the Greek and Hippolyta at the Athens restaurant. But how many weddings take place while shenanigans are underway in the nearby Woods nightclub, while Quince is reforming his gang for a last spectacular haul, and while a performance of Pyramus and Thisbe is being staged.  Did I say strange things? More like, absolute chaos!

You might have surmised by now that the three graphic novels don’t dutifully follow ever detail of the Shakespearean originals. In retelling the stories in a modern day setting, Kev takes one or two (alright, a bucket-load) of liberties to build the suspense and deliver literal page-turners. 

In each of the three, the twists come thick and fast – and can be enjoyed by culture-lovers able to flawlessly recite every word of the entire plays, those who vaguely remember the storylines from GCSE days, and those who are more familiar with the alternative rock band Shakespears Sister.  Best news of all: Kev doesn’t intend to out away his trusty pens just yet. He’s already plotting out the fourth in the series. Time will tell whether he manages to put his own inimical spin on all 39 Shakespearean plays.

I’ve been friends with Kev for over a decade and have had the pleasure of working with him on a number of projects – most recently, a corporate gig in Leeds and an eye-popping Christmas poster. He’s always been high energy, but over the past year he’s taken it to a whole new level (three Shredded Wheat every breakfast), and I couldn’t be more excited! 

I heartily recommend all three publications – either for your own enjoyment; as birthday gifts to family members; as a way to celebrate national Shakespeare Day on 23 April; to pile high in the window to impress and intrigue passers-by.  Or, better still, stock up so you can use them for all three purposes and more!

Findlay Macbeth, The Prince Of Denmark Street, and The Midsummer Night’s Dream Team are all available from amazon.  And you can see plenty of examples of Kev’s quirky and wild imagination at work on his Comic Festival website – details in the comments below.