Romeo And/Or Juliet

Back when Ryan North launched his Kickstarter to publish To Be Or Not To Be, a chooseable-path version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, he made the promise that if it was successful enough, he'd work on a similarly interactive version of Romeo & Juliet. Now, it's happening, and while we've known for a while that it's set to hit shelves this summer, today we have a brand new cover by Noelle Stevenson to go along with it. And considering that it involves Romeo and Juliet battling a giant robot with buzzsaw hands and laser eyes, I think it's fair to say that once again, North has drastically improved on his source material. Plus, I think there's a distinct possibility that Romeo might become a Batman.

Ryan North's To Be Or Not To Be is one of my all-time favorite books, and just to give you an idea of how serious that is, keep in mind that I also own a novel where Batman fights a car that's possessed by a ghost. The Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style take on Hamlet, built around that simple joke of the title, has an incredible sense of humor, an incredible roster of illustrators, and a brilliant use of the form that involves changing lead characters, a second choosable path adventure hidden within the first, and even a game of chess played against Queen Gertrude, and it's been one of my go-to recommendations ever since it came out. But if you were a Kickstarter backer for that original campaign, then you might remember that North promised a second Shakespeare-inspired game book. Now, we've finally got an announcement, and it looks like Romeo And/Or Juliet is set for release next June.