Thursday, June 7, 2001

ROGER DALTREY IN WITCHBLADE

TNT has released the first image of Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, in conjunction with his guest appearance on the Witchblade television series.

Daltrey will play Father Del Toro in "Legion," the fifth episode of the series.

"Roger Daltrey gives a performance that will blow a lot of people away," Witchblade executive producer Ralph Hemecker said. "People obviously know him as a rock star, but he's actually an incredibly talented and intense actor.

"I'd seen a lot of his other acting work and I was really impressed by it. When this role came up it was an easy decision. We needed somebody with a real intense energy. We needed somebody who was very powerful."

Here's how the episode is described:

"When a respected Catholic priest is brutally murdered by one of his students, Donny Woo appears with the ghost of the dead priest to give Sara direction. The priest reveals that he was murdered to conceal a controversial bargain that suggest the Nazi's and the Vatican were allies during WWII, and that the Witchblade was used to seal the deal."

"Legion" is scheduled to air on July 10.

In other Witchblade news:

* Witchblade #48 contains an on-set interview with Yancy Butler, star of the television series.

X-MEN SEQUEL UPDATE

Hugh Jackman, promoting his new movie Swordfish, said he is starting to get ready to return as Wolverine for X-Men 2.

"I've just started getting back into training for Wolverine," Jackman said Wednesday night on CBS' The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn.

Jackman said that Wolverine has been very important to him.

"That was a huge turning point for me in my career. Well, let's face it, I hadn't really done anything," Jackman said. "Getting cast in that took about 10 months of auditions and a lot of people-convincing. Lauren Shuler-Donner, particularly, who is a very famous producer, championed me for like 10 months before I got the gig.

"Well, I was nobody. I was one of a million - probably people out here in the audience auditioned for it. Everyone auditioned for it

"It did turn around. It was fantastic fun and we're just about to go back and do another one."

In Swordfish, Jackman is reunited with Halle Berry, who played Storm in X-Men.

"She is an amazing woman in every way," Jackman said. "She's incredibly beautiful. She's one of the gamest women you'll ever meet - and a brilliant, brilliant actor."

In other X-Men 2 news:

* An Internet report alleging to contain possible details about the plot for the X-Men sequel is inaccurate, Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige told The Continuum.

"The treatment on Coming Attractions is 100 percent fake," Feige said.

The report mentions Juggernaut as a new character for the sequel. While Feige and his boss at Marvel Studios, Avi Arad, have said there will be new characters in the sequel, which is nicknamed "X2," neither they nor director Bryan Singer has said which characters they will be.

CASEY, LADRONN REUNITE ON HIP FLASK

Active Images, publishers of the Comicraft font catalog, have announced plans to publish a comic-book series featuring their hard-boiled hippopotamime hero, Hip Flask, by Richard Starkings, Joe Casey and Jose Ladronn.

For the past seven years, Flask has appeared in illustrations by the likes of Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell, Dave Gibbons, Tim Sale and Brian Bolland in "The World's Greatest Comic Book Fonts" ad campaign.

"Joe and I started getting to know each other when he was cutting his teeth on Cable," said Starkings, Hip Flask's creator. "I remember thinking Cable was really getting interesting and surprising when Joe threw in the 'Jungle Action' story, but what really made me sit up and pay attention -- don't ask me why -- was the 'Good Coffee' page in the following issue. At Joe's suggestion, we created a lettering style for the book which acknowledged Ladronn's European influences, and worked closely together to ensure that any graphic elements worked very much in harmony with Ladronn's eclectic style."

"After talking back and forth on the phone for a few months," Casey continued, "Richard and I finally went down to see Ladronn at his home outside of San Diego. He showed us paintings, illustrations and designs that completely blew us away. It made us both realize that his work on Cable was showcasing only a fraction of what Ladronn can do as an artist. This is the project that will take his talent worldwide."

"If you're familiar with Ladronn's work on the story 'Of Ashes & Defeat' in Thor 2000, then you'll know what to expect from his work on Hip," Starkings said. "During the course of hundreds of telephone conversations, Joe, Ladronn and I discovered that our interests and influences very much overlapped, despite our having grown up in three completely different cultures. Our story, The Big Here & The Long Now, reflects both our common interests and our cultural differences, and can best be described as Pulp Science Fiction."

The first issue will not be solicited until Ladronn has completed work on the story.

"For me, Hip Flask is not just a comic book, it is a unique opportunity to produce the kind of work that is closest to my heart and clearest in my vision," Ladronn said. "Joe and Richard are two of my best friends and they are giving me the freedom to work at my own pace, and they are challenging me to produce my best work to date."

STAR WARS PRESENTATION AT COMIC-CON

Lucasfilm Ltd. is scheduled to participate at the Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 21-22, with a presentation on next year's Episode II.

"We're very excited," said David Glanzer, representative for Comic-Con International. "We've long had a special relationship with Lucasfilm and we're excited and looking forward to the surprises they have in store for us this year."

According to Comic-Con, attendees "will have a chance to see and hear how Episode II fits into the overall Star Wars saga."

The relationship between Comic-Con International and Lucasfilm began in 1976, a year before the original Star Wars release. In 1997, Comic-Con International celebrated the 20th anniversary of Star Wars by holding a variety of events and panel discussions. The following year, Lucasfilm returned with an advance peek at Episode I -- The Phantom Menace.

Comic-Con International will be held July 19-22.

SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE

This Saturday's episode of Fox Kids' Spider-Man animated series, "Return of the Green Goblin," will feature the Green Goblin and the Punisher.

The episode, written by Mark Hoffmeier, is part eight of the "Partners in Danger" story arc. In the episode, Harry Osborn is haunted by visions of the Green Goblin - who has been trapped in another dimension -- and eventually dons his father's costume.

Meanwhile, The Punisher tries to track down the missing Mary Jane for her Aunt Anna, leading him to Peter Parker.

The Punisher is aided by Microchip, who was eventually killed off in the comics. The episode, which premiered on Sept. 8, 1997, also features an appearance by Liz Allen.

The Saturday, June 16 episode of Spider-Man will be the first part of the three-part "The Alien Costume" story.

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MARVEL'S TALENT SEARCH/PRESS CONFERENCE NOTES

Marvel Comics announced that its first two talent searches under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada will happen at Comic-Con International in San Diego and Wizard World in Chicago.

"This will only be available to people who are physically at the conventions," Quesada said during Marvel's press conference on Wednesday. "We will eventually do talent searches that don't involve showing up for conventions, but these are specifically designed for the conventions.

"Tom Brevoort will be one of the featured editors in San Diego. Marvel will be giving away an issue of Thor. On Marvel.com, we will be putting a sample script or a three-page segment possibly from a Dan Jurgens script for young, budding artists to draw up some sample pages. It will be three pages max.

"What Marvel will do is that we will be getting these submissions during the course of all four days of San Diego. As the submissions come in, at the end of the day, what the fans will be able to see at the Marvel booth is that we will be putting up - Tom will, because Tom will be the ultimate judge on this - the leading pencil submission up of the day. It will go up on the Marvel booth. We'll pin it up somewhere on the Marvel booth.

"The second day, the same thing will happen. If we get something better, it goes up on the display. So fans will be able to see a running tally with respect to the Thor talent search."

The winner of the submission will get to drawn an issue of Thor, the number of which hasn't been determined yet.

Quesada said that in the same issue of Thor there will be an eight-page back-up story from the writing submission winner.

"We will ask writers to submit one, tight-written paragraph, a single page," Quesada said.

Those submissions will be judged when the Marvel editors return to the offices.

At Chicago, the same rules will apply for Wolverine, with editor Mike Marts judging.

"Even if you don't win the issue of Thor or Wolverine, doesn't mean that you don't win," Quesada said. "We may get somebody who is the most brilliant guy on the planet, and the person who is No. 2 may still end up being talented enough to get a book down the road."

Quesada noted that the talent search is limited to "non-professionals."

Asked why Marvel is seeking new talent rather than going with established professionals who are struggling to find work, Quesada said:

"Let's deal with the brutal truth. I've talked about this before. I've never talked about it necessarily in these press conferences. But, look, I know that there comes a day for me, and for every creator where people lose interest in your work. You lose your voice, whatever that may be.

"It happens to everybody. It will happen to me, it will happen to the best of us. Essentially, it's Darwinism. It happens, and you just sort of have to move on. If the comic book industry has sort of passed you by, it passes you by. We need to rely on new, young voices. Because commercially, it's been proven. If we're not hiring people it's because traditionally, their styles are not going to sell.

"We're going through this right now. Check out Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comic. Here we're doing this retro thing, and again, the fans are voting, and they're voting with their feet - they just don't want it.

"I'm the biggest (Jack) Kirby fan on the planet, and I'd love to see the Kirby style be the hottest thing there is, but let's be real. I'd love to be in a position where Marvel was making enough money where we could say to some of our older creators, 'You know what? We're making enough money on the regular publishing end that we could do a few projects that'll be viable to some of our older creators and we can keep some people employed.' But we don't have that kind of flexibility right now. We just got past a bankruptcy, and we're just getting our feet back on solid ground again. Hopefully, as we get down the road, we'll be able to offer more and more books.

"Quite frankly, a lot of the reasons why a lot of the talent finds themselves out of work is basically because of the implosion of the industry. Books went by the wayside. Marvel used to publish over 100 titles. We're down to 35, maybe 40. Somebody is going to be out of work. But for the future of the industry, we have to look forward. We can't look back. So that's why Marvel is looking for fresh young voices.

"Again, it's what a lot of other publishers did in the past, while we were sitting here, relying on assistant editors and interns to write our books while other people were searching for new talent, whether it came from Britain, South America, or wherever it may be. They opened their doors. We've had our doors closed for too long. I understand that there's talent that's out of work, but I don't understand why that has to prohibit us from finding new voices."

In other notes from the press conference:

* Quesada said Stan Lee's name will return to the Marvel books and previous omissions were "unintentional."

* Quesada said Marvel is moving towards a kids imprint, which will likely include a book based on the X-Men: Evolution television series.

* Quesada said Marvel "would love" to publish the Marvelman (aka Miracleman) books. "I've spoken to a number of different parties with respect to Marvelman, including Todd (McFarlane)," Quesada said. "We have made some progress, but it's a little tough for me to say right now. I'm waiting on a call from Neil Gaiman."

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS FOR SEPTEMBER

Following are Fantagraphics Books' solicitations for September, with information provided by the company.

THE COMICS JOURNAL #238

By various.

Highwater Books' alternative publishing magnate Tom Devlin says goodbye to summer with short interviews of Spanish cartoonist/designer Mariscal, English cartoonist/philosopher Glenn Dakin and Japanese cartoonist/scatologist Enomoto. Also in this issue, an overview of the comics of Tove Jansson (Moomin creator), and a look at the comics of John Stanley. Brian Ralph goes to Gary Panter's studio to try on the Pee Wee Herman merchandise, Greg Cook will look at how fine art has influenced comics and why cartoonists get jealous when that influence shows up, Ron Rege will try to track down Mark Beyer and Jef Czekaj (of Hypertruck) will explain how to get a guaranteed grant for your comics project. Finally, Tom Devlin will explain how the deification of EC comics has stunted the growth of comics for over 40 years. With a cover and interior design by Jordan Crane.

HEY, WAIT...

By Jason.

One of Europe's most exciting young cartoonists makes his American debut. This graphic novella by Norwegian cartoonist Jason (his first appearance in the English language) starts off as a melancholy childhood memoir and then, with a shocking twist midway through, becomes the summary of lives lived, wasted, and lost. Like Art Spiegelman did with Maus, Jason utilizes anthropomorphic stylizations to reach deeper, more general truths, and to create minimalist panels whose emotional depth-charge comes as an even greater shock.

64 pages, black and white, $9.95.

LUBA IN AMERICA BOOK ONE

By Gilbert Hernandez.

Luba in America, Hernandez's first collection since the relaunch of Love & Rockets, spotlights the artist's most beloved character. Luba, of course, was the central figure of Hernandez's Palomar, the south of the border town that Gilbert documented for 15 years in the original Love & Rockets series (1981-1996). In this collection, however, readers find Luba has moved to America, starting an entirely fresh new chapter in her life. The book begins with Luba travelling to the big city, supposedly having left Palomar to pave the way for her husband to join her in America. Readers quickly discover, however, that she has a more dire mission. Luba fears that her political history has left a threat to her family from the old country, and she believes that the only way to end this threat lies in America. The resulting action is an awesome blend of political intrigue, sexuality, and Gilbert's characteristically human portrayal of his characters, most notably his women.

224 pages, black and white, $19.95.

PALESTINE

By Joe Sacco, with an introduction by Edward Said.

Prior to Safe Area Gorazde: The War In Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 - Joe Sacco's novel of graphic journalism published last year - the author was best known for Palestine, a two-volume graphic novel that won an American Book Award in 1996. Fantagraphics Books presents, for the first time, a single-volume collection of this 288-page story. Based on several months of research and an extended visit to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the early 1990s (where he conducted over 100 interviews with Palestinians and Jews), Palestine was the first major comics work of political and historical nonfiction by Sacco. This new edition of Palestine also features a new introduction from author, critic, and historian Edward Said (Peace and Its Discontents and The Question of Palestine), an authority on the Middle Eastern conflict.

288 pages, $24.95.

TALES OF SHOCK CITY

By Gilbert and Mario Hernandez.

The long-lost "Tales of Somnopolis" created by Gilbert and Mario Hernandez, which originally appeared in the back of the mid-'80s Mister X comic and have never been reprinted since (they did not appear in the Warner book collection, making them the most sought-after Hernandez items ever, out of print for well over a decade) are finally collected in one package. Not only does this reprint all three original "Somnopolis" stories (slightly re-edited to delete all references to the world of Mister X and integrate them into the world of Love and Rockets), but Gilbert and Mario have added a new cover, back cover, and title page, as well as a brand-new six-page tale -- and the entire book is being presented in a newly executed duotone (black and red) format that shows the work off to far better advantage than the original, somewhat murky coloring.

24 pages, duotone, $3.95.

USAGI YOJIMBO BOOK 4: THE DRAGON BELLOW CONSPIRACY

By Stan Sakai.

This reprint from the Usagi series features the novel length "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy." Packed with lethal sword battles alternating with humor, horror, suspense, and slapstick, this beautifully crafted and exciting volume is both an excellent starting point for new readers, and an absolute necessity for Usagi completists.

180 pages, black and white, $16.95.

FIRST LOOK: JLA: INCARNATIONS #2

JLA: Incarnations #2 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by John Ostrander, with art and cover by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"When the fledgling Justice League of America finally hits its stride, other great heroes finally begin to consider joining the ranks of the World's Greatest Super-team. Neither Batman nor Superman had ever been on a team before this moment in history - yet when one joins, the other does not. In the face of great hardship, why does Batman step into the limelight, while Superman stays away?"

JLA: Incarnations #2 will be 48 pages and will cost $3.50.

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FIRST LOOK: BATMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR #1

Batman: Our Worlds at War #1 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Ed Brubaker, with art by Stefano Gaudiano and a cover by Jae Lee.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"Batman investigates what appears to be a government cover-up regarding a mysterious crash-site in downtown Gotham. Plus, the animosity between President Luthor and Bruce Wayne reaches a fever pitch, setting the stage for an upcoming storyline in the Batman titles."

Batman: Our Worlds at War #1 will be 48 pages and will cost $2.95.

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FIRST LOOK: ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #593

Adventures of Superman #593 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Joe Casey, with art by Mike Wieringo and Jose Marzan, Jr. and a cover by Wieringo and Terry Austin.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"The Elite's Manchester Black (from Action Comics #775) returns leading a new Suicide Squad to face off against the Man of Steel. Why is this extremely dangerous criminal now working for the government, and what is the Squad's true suicide mission?"

Adventures of Superman #593 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

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BRIEFLY