The Massacre at Paris

It’s the 426th anniversary of Christopher Marlowe getting stabbed rather fatally in the face in a tavern in Deptford, aged 29. He wrote seven plays, possibly collaborated on more, and heavily influenced Shakespeare. Let’s pour one out for Kit as we take a look at The Massacre at Paris. (Good title…)

That’s it for Marlowe May! Hope you’ve had fun with all the hideous death and drama. Now, go out there and bombast out a blank verse in Kit’s memory!

Upcoming Appearance

Next month I’m returning to my first and favorite comics event, the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! I’m super-excited to be joining A2CAF for their 10th year anniversary. Stop by, say hi, and maybe pick up the free A2CAF 10th anniversary anthology, featuring an exclusive comic by yours truly!

• WHO: Me! In person!

• WHAT: Exhibiting in Artist’s Alley!

• WHERE: Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown

• WHEN: Saturday, June 15, 12:00pm-6:00pm, and Sunday, June 16, 12:30pm-5:30pm

• WHY: Because it’ll be fun, and I’d love to see you there!

Edward II (in 3 Panels)

It’s still MARLOWE MAY and here today we have the ONLY Marlowe play I’ve actually seen so far! I’m a sucker for history plays, and Marlowe’s Edward II is basically the prequel to Edward III, and, by extension, all the rest of Shakespeare’s histories. Let’s get (haha) stuck in!

Poor Eddie 2. Objectively he was a TERRIBLE king but still… seems harsh.

Upcoming Appearance

Next month I’m returning to my first and favorite comics event, the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! I’m super-excited to be joining A2CAF for their 10th year anniversary. Stop by, say hi, and maybe pick up the free A2CAF 10th anniversary anthology, featuring an exclusive comic by yours truly!

• WHO: Me! In person!

• WHAT: Exhibiting in Artist’s Alley!

• WHERE: Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown

• WHEN: Saturday, June 15, 12:00pm-6:00pm, and Sunday, June 16, 12:30pm-5:30pm

• WHY: Because it’ll be fun, and I’d love to see you there!

Dr. Faustus (in 3 Panels)

Marlowe May rolls on, with what is probably the most famous line ever penned by Christopher Marlowe. All together now…

WAS THIS THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS, AND BURNT THE TOPLESS TOWERS OF ILIUM?

As ever, thanks to my pocket dramaturg Kate Pitt for making sure I, a Marlowe neophyte, did justice to the play. Or at least as much justice as can be done in three panels.

Tune in next week for a look at the final two Marlowe masterpieces!

Upcoming Appearance

Next month I’m returning to my first and favorite comics event, the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! I’m super-excited to be joining A2CAF for their 10th year anniversary. Stop by, say hi, and maybe pick up the free A2CAF 10th anniversary anthology, featuring an exclusive comic by yours truly!

• WHO: Me! In person!

• WHAT: Exhibiting in Artist’s Alley!

• WHERE: Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown

• WHEN: Saturday, June 15, 12:00pm-6:00pm, and Sunday, June 16, 12:30pm-5:30pm

• WHY: Because it’ll be fun, and I’d love to see you there!

The Jew of Malta (in 3 Panels)

It’s Marlowe May! Everyone is familiar with Shakespeare’s Problematic Potentially Anti-Semitic Jewish Play, right? But did you know it’s a comparatively warm and fuzzy affair compared to Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, written around six years earlier?

There’s… there’s just so much to unpack here…

Upcoming Appearance

Next month I’m returning to my first and favorite comics event, the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! I’m super-excited to be joining A2CAF for their 10th year anniversary. Stop by, say hi, and maybe pick up the free A2CAF 10th anniversary anthology, featuring an exclusive comic by yours truly!

• WHO: Me! In person!

• WHAT: Exhibiting in Artist’s Alley!

• WHERE: Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown

• WHEN: Saturday, June 15, 12:00pm-6:00pm, and Sunday, June 16, 12:30pm-5:30pm

• WHY: Because it’ll be fun, and I’d love to see you there!

Tamburlaine the Great, parts 1 & 2 (in 3 Panels)

Marlowe May continues with the most bombastic of bombasts, TAMBURLAINE! A single play couldn’t confine him, so here are parts 1 and 2:

Shout-out again to my pocket dramaturg, Kate Pitt, for consulting with me on this comic. She also told me about a fantastic production of Tamburlaine that she saw (the Michael Boyd one) and now I desperately want to see these plays.

Upcoming Appearance

Next month I’m returning to my first and favorite comics event, the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! I’m super-excited to be joining A2CAF for their 10th year anniversary. Stop by, say hi, and maybe pick up the free A2CAF 10th anniversary anthology, featuring an exclusive comic by yours truly!

• WHO: Me! In person!

• WHAT: Exhibiting in Artist’s Alley!

• WHERE: Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown

• WHEN: Saturday, June 15, 12:00pm-6:00pm, and Sunday, June 16, 12:30pm-5:30pm

• WHY: Because it’ll be fun, and I’d love to see you there!

Dido, Queen of Carthage (in 3 Panels)

It’s MARLOWE MAY! Every Tuesday and Thursday of this month we’ll be taking an extremely quick look at one of Christopher Marlowe’s plays, starting with Dido, Queen of Carthage!

Some more people die at the end too, but I didn’t have enough space to include them after drawing that pyre.

Shout-out to my pocket dramaturg, Kate Pitt, for consulting with me on this comic!

Stick Figure Iconography: Christopher Marlowe

One final installment in the latest run of Iconography comics, and, it’s Shakespeare’s contemporary Christopher Marlowe! Everyone knows what Marlowe looks like, right?

Incidentally, I’m taking next week off to recover from a long trip, but the rest of the month will be MARLOWE MAY, featuring 3-panel overviews of all of his plays! Don’t worry, we’ll be back to good ol’ Shakespeare next month, but for now, buckle on your boots and brush up on your bombast. KIT’S COMING.

Stick Figure Iconography: King James I & VI

Everyone thinks of Shakespeare as an Elizabethan playwright, but actually he was just as much a Jacobean playwright, doing much of his work under the reign (and patronage) of Elizabeth’s successor, the numerically confusing King James I & VI.

Maybe James didn’t portrait well, but he always looks amazingly blank in all his depictions. Or maybe I’m just projecting…