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My Tragic-Comics are Shakespeare tragedies that I’ve shortened and turned into funny animal comics. They’re for kids and adults alike. My ideal readers are those who love Shakespeare and those who fear Shakespeare. My aim is to find a distributor to place my Tragic-Comics in bookstores, theaters, and Shakespeare festivals all over the U.S. I'd also like to donate copies to high schools that are teaching Shakespeare. Right now my books are being published, distributed, and sold by my imprint, Bunncoco Press.
So far I've composed two Tragic-Comics. "Hamlet:
Prince of Pigs" came first.
Here's how it began. I started drawing “Hamlet: Prince of Pigs,” because I love drawing animals and because I wanted a fun way into Shakespeare for my son, who was then 15 or so and loved comics. I knew Hamlet would be a pig because he’s a Ham-let. I then decided that Hamlet’s whole family would be pigs too. I drew his dead father as a ghost pig with x-eyes; his mother as a pig with lipstick; his guilty uncle as a big fat hog. Ophelia’s family, I figured, would all be cats, because cats don’t do well in water. And the grave-diggers would be dogs, because dogs are great diggers. I soon realized that animal characters bring out the puns in Shakespeare and make for more playful plays. Here's a sample page:
The week after I finished drawing “Hamlet: Prince
of Pigs,” a new idea for a second Tragic-Comic popped into my
head. I started imagining the star of “Julius Caesar'' as an anchovy
(since, as you know, anchovies are the key animal ingredient in a
Caesar Salad). Here is the cover of "Anchovius
Caesar: The Decomposition of a Romaine Salad":
After settling on the lead actor for "Anchovius
Caesar,”I wondered whether the whole play would have to take
place underwater. I also wondered about the rest of the cast.
Immediately I began “auditions” (preliminary sketches), testing out
different creatures for charm and punning potential. After some
scribbling, a Mock Anchovy, a sprat, won the part of Mark Antony.
The Roman citizens, of course, would be played by Romaine leaves (as
in a Caesar salad) and the Countrymen would be Crouton-men.
Next I ruled that all the conspirators of "Anchovius Caesar," would be played by animals that can thrive on both land and water. Brutus would be a weasel, Cassius, a crocodile, Trebonius, a fluorescent pink slug (a Triboniophorus), Casca, a deadly Cascabel rattlesnake. I learned a lot about amphibious species, Latin nomenclature, and also about the animal natures of each character.
I'm delighted to report that readers love my books! The New York
Review of Books Daily excerpted “Hamlet: Prince of Pigs"
before it was even out. Steve Heller, the graphic arts guru of Print
Magazine and the School of Visual Arts, interviewed me in The Daily
Heller and raved: "Sarah Boxer has broken codes and
recast couplets, exposing the great William Shakespeare to the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." And the great
novelist Gish Jen, author of "The Resisters," called my
books "Beyond charming—a labor of love and a complete
pleasure." She added: "May there be many more!"
That's where you come in! I’m just beginning my third Tragic-Comic, "King Steer." (No drawings yet; I haven't even held auditions!) As of now, my imprint, Bunncoco Press, is publishing, distributing, and selling my Tragic-Comics. And I've gotten grants from the D.C. Commission for the Arts and Humanities that will certainly help. But I need you too! Drawing, publishing, and distributing books takes money and time. I would like to hire a distributor and also find a way to give away my comics to any high school where Shakespeare is taught.
So, I’m reaching out to you, my adorable potential funders! Here are a few reasons why you’ll find it rewarding to help my Tragic-Comics. First, they’re fun! Second, as Claude Levi-Straus put it, “animals are good to think with.” Third, it's Shakespeare but with animals! Fourth, my comics are nutritious snacks - small, light, easy to consume. I imagine readers picking up “Hamlet: PoP” or “Anchovius Caesar” and thinking, wow, that was good! Now, where’s the next one?
My books will be sold at SPX, the Small Press Expo, Sept. 17-18. My table is I-12 https://www.smallpressexpo.com/
They are also sold at The Drama Book Shop in New York City https://www.dramabookshop.com/
And Politics & Prose in DC https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624294037 & https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624294020
If you want to learn more about me and my Tragic-Comics, please come
see my website: https://sarahboxer.weebly.com/
Or visit me on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sarah.boxer.0/
Or on
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boxer.sarah/
Thank you so much for your support!
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