Tuesday, March 13, 2001

DC COMICS FOR JUNE

    DC Comics has released its solicitation information for June.

    For a complete rundown, including DC Direct, CLICK HERE.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL IN STATIC SHOCK

Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal will be making a guest-voice appearance during the second season of Kids' WB!'s Static Shock.

"He will be playing himself, a truly larger-than-life NBA superstar," Static Shock story editor Chris Simmons told The Continuum.

"He is due to voice his part later on this month.  Should be fun, no doubt."

Static Shock is moving to 8 a.m. (ET) on Saturdays, beginning next season.

O'Neal is a self-professed Superman geek and sports a Man of Steel tattoo. He starred in the 1997 movie Steel, based on the DC Comics character.

While helping the Lakers win the NBA title last season with an MVP performance and having an another All-Star season, O'Neal said he also wants to continue his acting career.

"I think I'm OK," O'Neal told The Continuum. "I'm not like Wesley Snipes or Bruce Willis yet, but anything is possible. Acting is very different than basketball. They're not even close. Acting is very much facial expressions and delivery."

FRANK TIERI TAKES ON DEADPOOL, LEAVES IRON MAN

Writer Frank Tieri confirmed on Monday that he will be the new writer of Marvel Comics' Deadpool.

Here's what Tieri said in a press release from Marvel:

"The good people at Marvel -- editor Mike Marts in particular -- have asked me to come onboard Deadpool for a special storyline that I must say will prove very significant to everybody's favorite Merc-With-A-Mouth.

"I have to admit the plans we have for this four-issue arc (which will follow Jimmy Palmiotti's and Buddy Scalera's run) are fairly big and promise to shake up Deadpool's life quite a bit. I also think it's safe to say that fans who don't normally follow the book will definitely be interested in what we're doing.

"As for how I intend to portray DP, I've always seen him basically as this tragic figure who acts like a human cartoon character most of the time yet also kills people -- so fans of Joe Kelley's over-the-top humor as well as fans of some of the grittier elements the book has seen lately should be pleased.

"Now for the bad news, because of this project, as well as with big things that are going to be happening over in Wolverine and some other projects that I'm not at liberty to talk about yet, something had to give -- and that something is Iron Man. Believe me, I wish there were more hours in the day.

"I'm afraid I wasn't able to give Tom (Brevoort, new Iron Man editor) the commitment that a book of Iron Man's status deserves. and so I've chosen to bow out instead. My departure is not immediate, however -- my last issue will be #48, as I currently finish up a 4-issue arc with Bobbie (Chase) and then follow it up with a 3-issue arc with Tom. I do intend to go out with a bang though -- the arc with Bobbie will introduce the new armor, and the arc with Tom will reveal once and for all why the armor became sentient in the first place. And no, it's not Y2K -- in fact, I sincerely doubt anybody will see the true reason coming."

BRIEFLY