Kill Shakespeare is a twelve-issue comic book limited series released by IDW Publishing. It was produced by Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery, who also served as co-writers, with Andy Belanger as artist, Ian Herring as colourist, and Kagan McLeod as cover artist. The first issue was published on April 14, 2010. A second series, the five-issue The Tide of Blood, was released in 2013. A third series, The Mask of Night, was released in 2015. The latest series, Past is Prologue: Juliet, which serves as a prequel to the main series, was released in October 2017. Publication history The idea first came to Del Col and McCreery in 2005; however due to other commitments, the project was put on hiatus. The creators considered several mediums for Kill Shakespeare, including video game or movie, but ultimately decided on a comic. In 2009, the pair attended the New York Comic-Con and sparked interest in publishing companies, from whom they eventually chose IDW. Kill Shakespeare #1 was released on April 14, 2010, and began the series' first story arc. The first story arc ran for a total of 12 issues, and concluded on August 24, 2011. On November 9, 2010 IDW released a collected edition of issues #1–6 called, Kill Shakespeare Volume 1: A Sea of Troubles. The second collected edition of the Kill Shakespeare series, Kill Shakespeare Volume 2: The Blast of War, was released on November 22, 2011. On October 11, 2012 IDW announced Kill Shakespeare's return in a new, five-issue, limited series titled, The Tide of Blood, which continued the story of the first series. The first issue of The Tide of Blood, was released on February 20, 2013. On February 10, 2014 IDW revealed that a third series of Kill Shakespeare would be released. The Mask of Night was a four-issue limited series that picked up almost immediately after the end of the previous series, The Tide of Blood. The first issue of The Mask of Night was released on June 25, 2014. On May 26, 2015, IDW announced that the first two books in the Kill Shakespeare collection would be collected as a deluxe hardcover. The Backstage Edition would also be fully annotated with contributions from Shakespearean scholars across North America and Europe. After a two-year hiatus, IDW announced that Kill Shakespeare was returning to comic-stores in 2017. Past is Prologue: Juliet would be a four-issue mini-series