Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000

WITCHBLADE BECOMES TV SERIES

TNT announced on Thursday that it has ordered 11 episodes of Witchblade as a "limited series" which will premiere next summer.

The announcement follows a two-hour pilot movie, based on the Top Cow comic-book character, that aired in August.

In the series, Yancy Butler returns as Sara Pezzini, a New York police detective who acquires the mystical gauntlet known as the Witchblade. Also returning are David Chokachi as Sara's partner Jake McCartey;, Eric Etebari as Ian Nottingham; Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons; and Will Yun Lee as Danny Woo, Sara's murdered partner.

Witchblade was the top cable movie for the week of Aug. 21-27, earning a 4.5 rating (3,491,000 households) for the 8 p.m. (ET/PT) premiere performance. Witchblade also was the top movie among the key adult demographic 18-49 (3,157,000) and the most-watched program among adults 25-54 (3,631,000). Witchblade is currently the number-one original movie among adults 18-49 and 25-54 for the year to date.

"TNT's commitment to the Witchblade series is a response to the strong performance of our two-hour Witchblade original film," said Robert DeBitetto, president of original programming, TNT. "We are thrilled to be able to offer viewers additional hours of a franchise they clearly enjoy, while continuing our successful partnership with our sister company, Warner Bros. Television."

"We are delighted that Witchblade has received this well-deserved order for production," said Peter Roth, president, Warner Bros. Television. "We truly appreciate the support of Bob DeBitetto and his terrific team at TNT."

Ralph Hemecker, who directed the pilot, is returning to the series. This summer he speculated what the show would be like in an interview with The Continuum.

"We'd be using elements of the comic books, as well as other stories, and we'd probably inter-mingle the episodes," Hemecker said. "There's a lot of great ideas in the comic book.

"There are a lot of places we can go. The nature of the comic book itself lends itself to an episodic mode of story-telling."

Witchblade is produced by Top Cow Productions, Inc. and Halsted Pictures in association with Warner Bros. Television. Dan Halsted and Top Cow's Marc Silvestri are executive producing.

Look for more on the Witchblade series soon here in The Continuum.

X-MEN PREEMPTED FOR ONE WEEK

Fox Kids is preempting the X-Men animated series for the week of Oct. 23 as it builds toward the second-season premiere of NASCAR Racers.

Reruns of NASCAR Racers will air in X-Men's 4 p.m. (ET) time period on Monday through Thursday that week. This marks the first time since Fox Kids brought back X-Men on July 17 that the show has not aired Monday-Thursday.

X-Men will return the following week, according to Fox Kids.

The season premiere of NASCAR Racers will be on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. as the show replaces Escaflowne in Fox Kids' Saturday lineup.

Here is Fox Kids' new Saturday lineup, which takes effect on Oct. 28 and includes new time periods for Action Man and Cybersix (all times ET):

8 a.m.: Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue

8:30 a.m.: Action Man.

9 a.m.: Digimon: Digital Monsters.

9:30 a.m.: Digimon: Digital Monsters.

10 a.m.: Beast Machines.

10:30 a.m.: Digimon: Digital Monsters.

11 a.m.: NASCAR Racers.

11:30 a.m.: Cybersix.

SUPERMAN IN JANUARY

DC Comics has revealed its Superman plans for January, including a Collector's Edition for Superman #166.

That issue, which DC says "features the startling true origin" of Superman, will have a holographic foil background enhancement on the cover of an exploding Krypton. The issue ships on Jan. 3 and is by the regular team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness.

The month also marks Joe Casey's debut with Adventures of Superman #588 (shipping on Jan. 10) as a soulless Man of Steel tries to end Satanus' threat in Metropolis.

In Superman: The Man of Steel #110 (shipping on Jan.17), the daughter/stepfather duo of Star-Spangled Kid and S.T.R.I.P.E joins Superman and Steel to face the all-new metahuman called Earthquake. The issue is written by Mark Schultz with art by Dough Mahnke and Tom Nguyen.

Action Comics #775 (shipping on Jan. 31) written by by Joe Kelly with guest-artists Mahnke and Lee Bermejo, is a 48-page issue with a cover by Timothy Bradstreet. The issue poses the question: Has Superman become outdated in our modern world? A new aggressive team of metahumans called the Elite thinks so, and they're about to wreck the Man of Steel's truth, justice and American way.

ELTINGVILLE CLUB ANIMATION UPDATE

Evan Dorkin provided The Continuum with an update on the animated pilot for Eltingville Club for Cartoon Network.

"I'm doing clean up work on the (story) board to give Stephen DeStefano some extra time on revisions and his clean ups," Dorkin said.

"We are close to signing someone to do the voice casting for us and should start that in about two weeks, so between that and a hopefully quick approval of the finished board, we just might be in production by the end of the month. Of course that could change."

Dorkin, the creator/writer of the project, has also written Superman & Batman: World's Funnest, a 64-page one-shot which ships on from DC Comics on Nov. 1.

FANBOY TO PUBLISH ASAMIYA'S MOBIUS KLEIN

Fanboy Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it will begin publishing Kia Asamiya's Mobius Klein, the prequel to the manga and anime series Silent Mobius, in January.

The release of Mobius Klein also marks the launch of Fanboy Entertainment's new translated manga line.

"As a big fan of the Kia Asamiya's Silent Mobius manga and anime series, I feel blessed that we were able to acquire the rights to publish its prequel, Mobius Klein," Fanboy Entertainment's C.B. Cebulski said. "Our partnership with Mr. Asamiya's Studio Tron continues to strengthen and grow and I think Mr. Asamiya's decision to bring Mobius Klein to Fanboy is a sign of his faith and belief in us."

Said Asamiya: "Over the years, as the Silent Mobius story and world expanded, fans always had questions about the pasts of certain characters, settings and plot points. With each issue, the mysteries grew and I knew I had to one day go back and explain some of the back story to make the present storyline coherent. With the Silent Mobius manga continuing monthly from Viz and the anime series now being released in English from Bandai, I felt now was the perfect time to have Mobius Klein, the Silent Mobius prequel, translated and published in English.

In order to avoid common reprinted manga problems such as moray patterns, dark reproduction, and blurred screentones and to help insure near perfect print quality, Asamiya will be allowing Fanboy access to his original Mobius Klein artwork.

"This is a great step in the right direction for manga reproduction in my opinion," Cebulski said. "I have complained endlessly in the past about poor print quality due to the fact that inadequate source material is usually never provided. We're honored Mr. Asamiya is allowing us to use his original artwork to create the English language versions of Mobius Klein. We will now be able to reproduce his detailed lines and intricate screentone work exactly as it was seen in the original Japanese versions. No more muddy panels and blurred lines like some of his past works have suffered here. I think the fans will be happy with what they see."

Mobius Klein will be an eight-issue mini-series. Each issue will 32 black-and-white pages and will cost $2.95.

FIRST LOOK: JLA #47

JLA #47 will ship on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Mark Waid, with art and cover by Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"The Authority's Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary join Mark Waid to form the new JLA creative team. As the Leaguers struggle to adjust to the changes caused by kicking out a core member of the team last issue, they find themselves facing the haunting menace of the immortal Queen of Fables. Will the pared-down JLA be able to stand against her and her nightmarish influence?"

JLA #47 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

YOU GOTTA CLICK'EM!

FIRST LOOK: JSA #17

JSA #17 will ships on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns, with art by Stephen Sadowski and Michael Bair and a cover by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"The all-new Injustice Society wreaks havoc on the JSA and its headquarters in Part 2 of 'Injustice be Done.' Johnny Sorrow's plan to free the King of Tears continues to unfold as the JSA squares off against its counterparts, resulting in a startling transformation for Hawkgirl, the Flash Jay Garrick trapped on the far side of the Speed Force, and Doctor Mid-Nite making a fateful mistake."

JSA #17 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.50.

YOU GOTTA CLICK'EM!

FIRST LOOK: THE AUTHORITY ANNUAL 2000 #1

The Authority Annual 2000 #1 will ship on Wednesday from WildStorm Productions and DC Comics. The issue is written by Joe Casey with art by Cully Hamner and Ray Snyder and a cover by Lee Bermejo.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"Part 2 of 'Devil's Night,' the storyline running through all the WildStorm Annuals this month. All over the world, the dead are rising from their graves. Can the Authority stop them before somebody starts WW III?"

The Authority Annual 2000 #1 will be 40 pages and will cost $3.50.

YOU GOTTA CLICK'EM!

BRIEFLY