FIRST LOOK: AVENGELYNE/DEMONSLAYER CROSSOVER

Avengelyne/Demonslayer #1 will ship in August from Awesome Comics. The issue is written by Robert Lugibihl, with art by Marat Mychaels.

Here's how Awesome describes the book:

"Awesome's avenging angel crosses swords with the slayer of demons in a tale that shakes the very pillars of Hell. Avengelyne is determined to destroy Jaclyn's demon lover, Michael, but things go from bad to worse with the arrival of Irkalla, Queen of the Damned. The former ruler of Hell, Irkalla seeks to obtain the powers of both angels and demons so that she may reclaim her throne and lead an all-out assault on the Earth."

"This crossover is a natural," Lugibihl said. "Although each character has a very different motivation, both Jaclyn Hayes - the Demonslayer -- and Avengelyne are committed to destroying the demons that run rampant on Earth. Their conflict arises, however, when Jaclyn is searching desperately for a way to cure her fiancé Michael of his demonic affliction and Avengelyne decides that a much more lethal solution is in order!

"Into this mess walks Irkalla -- a powerful villainess who will be a recurring character in the Demonslayer saga. According to ancient Sumerian mythology, Irkalla was the 'Queen of the Damned' and the original ruler of the Underworld. She was beaten, dethroned and -- in some versions of the myth -- raped by Nergal, whom later cultures have identified with Satan. And now -- after ten thousand years of waiting -- Irkalla intends to absorb the powers of angels and demons alike in her bid to reclaim the throne of Hell and take over the Earth. Needless to say, Jaclyn and Avengelyne decide that it would be best to set aside their differences and join forces to stop Irkalla's nefarious plans."

The book, which will have four variant covers, will cost $2.95.

WILDSTORM ANNUALS

Eric DeSantis told The Continuum that WildStorm's annuals in October will fall under the story umbrella of "Devil's Night."

"Each of the annuals work really well on their own, but as a whole serve to introduce the new character Magique and her nemesis Ghoulgotha," said DeSantis, whose last day as an editor at WildStorm was Friday. "It's a much more mystical and supernatural storyline than what normally comes from WS, so it's cool to crank the 'spook' factor up a notch with some of our favorite characters."

The creative teams include Ben Raab and Kaare Andrews on Gen13, Joe Casey and Lee Bermejo on Wildcats, Casey and Cully Hamner on The Authority and Raab and Jeff Moy on Magique.

Raab told The Continuum that in the Gen13 annual the team performs a fake séance and accidentally unleashes Ghoulgotha from a 300-year stint in a netherworld prison.

"Ghoulgotha then traps them in this netherworld, while he goes about the Wildstorm Universe, raising the dead and stealing souls for power," Raab said. "Meanwhile, the kids have a Dungeons & Dragons-esque adventure until the battlemage known as Magique comes to rescue them."

"Gen13's annual is more fun than spooky, but that's usually the intention with them," DeSantis said. "Kaare Andrews is doing some really amazing stuff; he's got these spreads of the netherworld that will just blow you away.

"Things get really freaky with Wildcats, and Lee Bermejo is the perfect match for that book-- keep the lights on. The Authority's annual takes the 'Devil's Night' fallout to such an insane level, well... I wouldn't even know where to start."

The Magique annual wraps up the story and leads into a new series by Raab and artist Steve Ellis.

"This climax to the series pits Magique against Ghoulgotha with the fate of all the souls on earth hanging in the balance," Raab said. "Luckily she's got a couple of Wildstorm universe hard cases back from the dead to help her kick some demon ass: Team 7's Deathblow and Divine Right's Christie Blaze."

"It's very cool to see Jeff Moy doing all this magic and guns and sorcery after seeing him on sci-fi for so long," DeSantis said.

JENKINS SOLO ON WITCHBLADE

Witchblade #42 will mark Paul Jenkins' debut as sole writer of the series, one month earlier than originally planned.

"It was difficult having to wait," Jenkins said. "I have had three issues completed for the longest time, which I obviously am dying to have brought to life. I'm extremely happy with the fans reaction to me and just hope they like what I have in store for them."

"Paul writes a lot of books and won't commit to a project unless he feels he can do top-notch work. When we hired him to write Witchblade, he needed extra time to clear up some of his schedule, so he agreed to work with fellow scribe Rick Veitch on a few issues," said Matt Hawkins, editor-in-chief and president of Top Cow Productions. "When his schedule cleared up, we were obviously eager to get him going as soon as possible. Since we've also been very happy with Rick Veitch's work we look forward to having him do more with us in the future."

Witchblade #42 is a $2.50 comic book, shipping this month.

BRIEFLY