Quesada’s Amazing Comics unveils Undiscover’d Shakespeare line

Last year, Joe Quesada revealed Amazing Comics, a new imprint at Mad Cave Studios and Dupuis. The first title to be announced was Disciple, a new take on William Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, written with art by Quesada, co-written by Charles Dorfman, inked by Wade von Grawbadger, colored by Richard Isanove, and lettered by Joe Caramagna. Now, to mark Shakespeare Day (which falls on his presumed birthday of April 23, 1564), Amazing has revealed Disciple will be the first title from Undiscover’d, an entire line of comics based on the Bard’s works.

Quesada will oversee each title with Dorfman, a British filmmaker and newcomer to comics, whose credits include directing Barbarians, and producing The Lost Daughter. The latter says, “Some of Amazing Comics’ Undiscover’d titles will draw direct inspiration from Shakespeare’s original plays, while others will take more unexpected paths — always staying true to the core themes that made them timeless. Our launch title, Disciple, sets the tone for the entire slate. It begins with Hamlet as a young boy and serves as a prequel to the classic tragedy, offering a fresh entry point into the world. All Undiscover’d stories take place in our reality — recognizable but reimagined through different genres and eras.”

Quesada comments, “Shakespeare’s themes are as relevant today as they were when he first put quill to paper, and by reimagining his work through a modern lens, we get to explore those truths in thrilling, unexpected, and emotionally real ways. At its heart, Undiscover’d is about rediscovery — of classic stories, of ourselves, and of the strange magic hiding in plain sight. We’re not building a new universe — we’re revealing fantastical layers of the one we already live in. These are tales of discovery and rediscovery, of fantastical imagination grounded in the familiar.”

Disciple #1

He adds, “Upcoming Undiscover’d stories will span genres like sci-fi, horror, hard-boiled crime fiction, war, and fantasy. These stories may jump across genres, centuries, and — who knows — even planets, but they’re all grounded in the same world: ours. We’ve got an AMAZING slate of talents already on board, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll be announcing even more creators joining the fold — and soon, the projects they’ll be bringing to life.”

The writer/artist concludes saying, “Shakespeare was the original master of spectacle and soul — he was blood, betrayal, lust, and ambition and, of course, heroics. His plays are timeless because they’re universally relatable and packed with emotional and narrative twists. We’re not doing straightforward adaptations or Classics Illustrated. We’re creating bold high-octane comics with heart — stories designed to introduce an entirely new generation to the Bard.”

A release date for Disciple #1 remains unscheduled at the time of writing. The press release touts some of the creators we can expect to see on Amazing’s comics, although it is unclear which ones will be on the Undiscover’d books: they include artists Esad Ribic, Ryan Stegman, and Ronan Toulhoat (Daemon, Doghead), and writers Derek Kolstad, J. Michael Straczynski, Christopher Priest, Garth Ennis, Ethan Sacks, and Steven Paul Judd (Dark Winds, Echo). Stay tuned to find out whether Ennis and Ribic will co-create a sci-fi version of King Lear (or something like that) in the coming months.