A Nick Cardy Production of The Taming of the Shrew

A "penfriend" and fellow collector wrote me recently and wondered if perhaps I would want Nick Cardy to contribute to my Shakespeare Project commissions. As Aquaman & Teen Titans were two of the first comic series I collected, I think it is safe to say that Mr. Cardy is very high in the pantheon of artists I admire most. Of course, I said yes.

To date, all of my completed commissions were from the tragedies and I thought it was high time I added a comedy to the collection. For Mr. Cardy, I thought "The Taming of the Shrew" would be perfect.

With characters as broad as Katherine and Petruchio, the casting, as always, would be the trick. A whole slew of romantically linked characters ran through my mind, but after much thought, I chose Black Canary and Green Arrow, as their romance has always had a bit of romantic comedy attached to it. Judging by this photograph, I think I chose wisely.

I also think I should mention the images that I gave Mr. Cardy for inspiration. I have always loved the classic poster to the Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton production (one of their best collaborations) and thought it the perfect pose. I also sent him an image of the Spanish poster for the same movie as I thought it better captured Katherine's feistiness.

My friend, who is an even bigger Cardy fan than me, tells me, "You already know this but for the record... you are so damn lucky." He further adds that the photograph only hints at how good Mr. Cardy's pencils truly look. For his help in setting this up, I cannot begin to thank him enough, and I will have to look for something special to send his way.

Finally, since I live in Japan, I find it difficult to make it to the conventions and therefore rarely get to meet artists like Mr. Cardy that I admire. Since I cannot tell him this in person, let me add it here, "Thank you, Mr. Cardy. Thank you so very much. This is a comic book dream come true."