The Shakespeare Project Commissions Act I

Back in the 1980's, I took this course at UNCC called Shakespeare in Performance and I was lucky to have two whacked-out professors who really knew how to teach it as both English subject and performance art. They also managed to get us some face time with members of the Royal Shakespeare Co., including Leela (Louise Jameson) of Dr. Who fame (geek name dropping). Anyway, the class got one hour's credit from the English Dept. and one from the Drama Dept. I needed another hour for my schedule and so I talked with Anne and Roland (my whacked-out professors) and worked out an extra-hour's credit in return for an extensive research paper. After a bit of thought, I decided to research how Shakespeare was handled in the comics. Then I got another idea to get some commissions of comic book characters as Shakespearian characters from the comic pros that came to town for conventions and book signings. Mike Zeck, Paul Smith and Butch Guice and my friend Tom Poston, all added some wonderful eye-candy to the project (and, if you're wondering, I got an "A.") At the time, I would have liked to have commissioned more art for the project, but time constraints made it impossible. Now, however, after looking at all the wonderful themed commissions on CAF, I've decided to restart The Shakespeare Project. It may be a tad esoteric, but to paraphrase those Monty Python boys, "Well, this theme, that I have, that is to say, which is mine,... is mine."