Monday, September 17, 2001

MUTANT X'S JOHN SHEA

John Shea, who stars in the upcoming Mutant X syndicated television series, said he was particular about his return to a television series after Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

"After being part of that team that created Lois & Clark and been involved in that creative team for a period of over four years and having seen it go global, and become a global phenomenon, I waited five years," said Shea, who played Lex Luthor in Lois & Clark.

"I retreated into the independent film world, to the New York theater world, and I didn't want to come back into the mainstream television world until I knew that I could come onto something that was equally good and not be embarrassing. I knew I wanted to do something different and that was going to be a hit.

"I read a lot of pilots. I was offered lots of TV series, and I waited until Mutant X came along. It was the perfect place, it was the perfect series at the perfect time in my life."

This time around Shea's the good guy. He plays Adam, the leader of Mutant X whose last name is shrouded in mystery and who just might be the smartest man alive.

"He was a scientist, a 19-year-old prodigy at Stanford University, a bio-geneticist, hired away to go work for a company called Genomex," Shea said. "He started working doing agricultural cross-fertilization using cross-gene work, thinking that this work was going to be for Alberta, for Saskatchewan, for Kansas and Nebraska. Then, of course, it turns out that the things that he was developing agriculturally, maybe even for animals in terms of genetic engineering and cloning, was being secretly being by the darker side of this corporation for human genetic engineering.

"He discovers that the Genomex is actually a cover corporation for a wing of the CIA - the American Industrial Complex - and that they're using the genetic research to develop these powers in human embryos. So, he's disgusted by this, and he downloads everything he can before he can be captured. And then what happens in the course of the series is that the embryos that were experimented upon are now coming into maturity and people are discovering, much to their surprise, that they have these astonishing powers.

"They also find out they are being pursued by this branch of the government called the GSA - or the Genetics Security Agency - which is now trying to track us down, hunt us down, to exploit the powers for their own dark purposes. You can imagine how they could use guys like this in espionage and the military espionage and in mind control. Or they will kill us if we don't play their game.

"What Adam, my character has done, is he's used the money that he has made the money in the Internet - before it all went south, like last December - and invested his many millions in an underground sanctuary."

While Shea said it's fun to be a hero, he considers Adam to be more of an anti-hero.

"It's complex, a very human being, not a one-dimensional super-hero by any stretch," Shea said. "The guy is a scientist, and that's already a weird thing to be, and a complicated thing to be. Secondly, he is on the run, so he's a fugitive scientist. He's being hunted down by the GSA, but actually part of the government, and that's the law, so he's an outlaw scientist. So that becomes complicated for me emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. And it makes him much more interesting to play."

Shea said that Mutant X does differ from X-Men, taking a more realistic look at the possibility of mutants.

"The beauty of the way this show is created is that anybody in the audience could be one of these new mutants. It's not like you look so different from somebody else," Shea said. "There's an episode where a young boy is being kidnapped. And he gets really angry at one point and suddenly fire erupts from his hands and he burns something accidentally. He doesn't even know that he's got the power. It just manifests itself. He looks like a normal kid in seventh or eighth or 10th grade. Suddenly, it just erupts.

"This stuff has been genetically implanted and it all manifests at different points at the maturation of the person, and then the person has to figure out how to deal with it. Oftentimes, they're embarrassed by it. Oftentimes, along with the power, comes a chagrin and a responsibility. They're feeling like outcasts.

"Our job is to try to find them before the other guys find them and try to deal with that kind of power however it's manifesting."

With 44 episodes ordered, Shea said there will be lots of room to explore the Mutant X members and discover other new mutants.

"One of the best things about Lois & Clark is that we tried to make those comic-book characters human and bring to them all kinds of emotions you might not read in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional comic-book style," Shea said. "We're creating a drama here."

Having been involved with a comic-book show before, Shea knows the importance of visuals. He said Mutant X is raising the bar for TV.

"The stuff that we can do on this show couldn't be done on a television show, even when we were shooting Lois & Clark," Shea said. "Because in the last seven years, the technology has allowed us to do astounding things on a weekly basis that seven years ago, you could only do on a feature film. So it looks astonishing."

Mutant X begins in syndication the week of Oct. 1. Look for more from The Continuum's visit to the set in Toronto soon.

KIDS' WB! SCHEDULING

For the second consecutive Saturday, Kids' WB! will use a substitute lineup, delaying its "Big Premiere" day.

With last week's reschedulings, the future of the Batman Beyond episode "Unmasked" is unclear. The only unaired episode of the show, "Unmasked" was pulled from the network's lineup on Friday. No rescheduled date has been announced, and Batman Beyond is headed for Cartoon Network on Monday, Oct. 1.

The episode, written by Hilary J. Bader and directed by Kyung-Won Lim, is told in flashbacks from a conversation between Terry and Max. It involves the Kobra organization.

The following is this Saturday's schedule, with all times ET:

8 a.m. -- Pokemon: Johto League Champions; 8:30 a.m. -- Cubix; 9 a.m.-- Jackie Chan Adventures; 9:30 a.m. -- Jackie Chan Adventures; 10 a.m. -- Pokemon: Johto League Champions; 10:30 a.m. -- Pokemon: Johto League Champions; 11 a.m. -- Cardcaptors; and 11:30 a.m. -- Cardcaptors.

The "Big Premiere" line-up on Saturday, Sept. 29 is as follows (all times ET):

Here's the lineup:

8 a.m. -- Pokemon: Johto League Champions; 8:30 a.m. -- Cubix; 9 a.m. -- Jackie Chan Adventures; 9:30 a.m. -- The Mummy; 10 a.m. -- Pokemon: Johto League Champions; 10:30 a.m. -- X-Men: Evolution; 11 a.m. -- The Nightmare Room; 11:30 a.m. -- Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Also during the "Big Premiere" morning, Kids' WB! will offer kids the chance to win a trip to London for the Harry Potter world premiere event.

COMICS COMMUNITY RESPONDS

The comics community continues to respond to last week's terrorist attacks with charitable projects.

Shannon Denton's Komicwerks has announced A Vision of Hope: The Heroes' Fund and will be staging an art auction for The Red Cross that is already accumulating many talents.

Creators so far include Erik Larsen, Howard Shum, Lee Weeks, Phil Hester, Andy Kuhn, Keith Giffen, Kevin Eastman, Deon Nuckols, Sean Parsons, TidalWave Studios, Will Meugniot, Bernie Wrightson, Mike W. Barr, Danny Miki, Gerry Alanguilan, Sigmund Torre, Lee Ferguson, Matt Broome, Shannon Wheeler, Mike Miller, Scott Reed and Mike Foran.

For more information, go to http://www.komikwerks.com/content/vision_of_hope/index.html.

ANGEL EPISODE

The Sept. 24 episode of Angel on The WB is "Heartthrob."

Here's how The WB describes the episode:

"On a routine patrol, Angel (David Boreanaz) stakes a female vampire he recognizes from his past, but a moment too late. Her grief-stricken lover, Angel's old fighting buddy, is out for revenge for the present killing and a betrayal Angelus committed over 200 years ago."

Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof, J. August Richards and Amy Acker also star.

David Greenwalt wrote and directed "Heartthrob."

Click below for images from the episode.

AIT/PLANET LAR SPOTLIGHTS BRIAN WOOD

Larry Young announced on Sunday night that his publishing house, AiT/Planet Lar, is turning over the company's entire January offerings to the works of Brian Wood.

"I was a fan of Bri Wood's stuff ever since I saw the original solicitation for Channel Zero #1 in Previews three years ago, and it's personally a dream project for me to offer a launching pad for the genius Brian Wood," Young said. "When we were able to offer the collected Channel Zero in September of 2000, I told Bri that this was just the beginning; that he'd be a household name in comics in three years. It looks like even I underestimated the appeal of his work."

"The very idea that there is a 'Brian Wood Month' is probably the coolest thing to happen to my comics career to date. I'm living the comics American dream," Wood said. "I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but only AiT/PlanetLar is this cool, to allow creators absolute freedom to execute their visions and indulge their fetishes the way they see fit."

In January, AiT/Planet Lar is offering the brand-new Public Domain: The Channel Zero Design Book, which collects close to five years of preliminary and post-Channel Zero design and artwork, including close to 60 pages of never-seen comics from Wood's art school years.

Also included are dozens of deleted scenes, rejected pages, posters, sketches, script excerpts, creator's notes and character designs from the original series, as well as the contents of the Channel Zero issue "Dupe", which had remained out of print and unavailable since 1998 and will be included in this volume.

Also offered in January is a special autographed (by writer Wood and artist Brett Weldele) version of the Couscous Express retail poster, another chance to get Channel Zero, the Make Them Listen, Make Them Understand T-shirt seen in Channel Zero, as well as a Couscous Express embroidered patch.

"It's no secret I love Brian Wood's work; I'm just happy I'm in a position to bring it to other folks who love it, too," Young said.

CHAOS! COMICS FOR DECEMBER

Chaos! Comics has released its solicitations for December.

For a rundown, CLICK HERE

FIRST LOOK: JUST IMAGINE STAN LEE WITH JOHN BUSCEMA CREATING SUPERMAN

Just Imagine Stan Lee with John Buscema Creating Superman will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Stan Lee (lead story) with Michael Uslan (backup), with art by John Buscema (lead) with Kyle Baker (backup) and covers by John Buscema and Adam Hughes.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"When an alien policeman chases his most hated foe into the reaches of space, he soon finds himself stranded on Earth. With remarkable powers from the new atmosphere, he becomes a super-hero in hopes of accelerating humanity's progress toward the stars. But Reverend Dominic Darrk has other plans. Plus, an 'On the Street' backup story."

Just Imagine Stan Lee with John Buscema Creating Superman will be 48 pages and will cost $5.95.

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FIRST LOOK: 10TH MUSE #6

The 10th Muse #6 will arrive in stores on Sept. 26 from Image Comics. The issue is written by Marv Wolfman, penciled by Roger Cruz and colored by Paul Mounts.

Here's how Image describes the issue:

"Even as her friends have been turned to stone, The 10th Muse has found herself transported to another dimension. This is the high-fantasy realm of the Image Comic Tellos, and it is filled with dangers unlike any the Muse has ever faced. But, more important to the Muse is that Tellos holds a vital secret to the Muse's hidden past."

The 10th Muse #6 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.95.

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FIRST LOOK: LITTLE WHITE MOUSE: ENTROPY DREAMING #2

Little White Mouse: Entropy Dreaming #2 will arrive in stores this month from Blue Line Pro Comics. The issue is written and drawn by Paul Sizer, with a back cover pin-up by Dave Johnson.

Here's how Blue Line Pro Comics describes the issue:

"Nuts and Bolts. Through her dreams, Loo once again journeys to the past, before her space flight, to relive an ill-fated trip into Bolt Harbor, a dark, decaying, industrial sister city to the gleaming metropolis of Thermopolis. When her aircar breaks down while traveling through Bolt Harbor, Loo comes in conflict with the Boltheads, a violent and bloodthirsty street gang with no love of citizens of Thermopolis, especially rich ones. Alone against the Boltheads, Loo's only hope of assistance is in the form of 'Filthy' Jake Armani. But Loo discovers Jake has a hidden connection to Bolt Harbor, and when it's all over, Jake and Loo's friendship is forever changed.

Little White Mouse: Entropy Dreaming #2 will be 32 black-and-white pages and will cost $2.95.

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FIRST LOOK: MERIDIAN #16

Meridian #16 will arrive in stores on Sept. 26 from CrossGen Comics. The issue is written by Barbara Kesel, penciled by Steve McNiven, inked by Tom Simmons and colored by Morry Hollowell.

Here's how CrossGen describes the issue:

"The line has been drawn. Cadador is blockaded and its trade ships are being conscripted into the growing resistance army. It's war as Sephie's pirates take on Cadadorian ships in an all-out air battle, but the biggest danger is the plans created by the new alliance of Ilahn, Rho, and Reesha."

Meridian #16 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.95.

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BRIEFLY