Thursday, January 31, 2002

MICHAEL ROSENBAUM TALKS JUSTICE LEAGUE

Michael Rosenbaum told The Continuum he had "a blast" doing the voice of the Flash in Cartoon Network's Justice League and hopes to return for a second season.

Justice League continues to pull in strong ratings and a second season seems inevitable.

Rosenbaum, 29, who stars in The WB's Smallville as Lex Luthor, wrapped his work on the first season of Justice League last fall.

"Everybody's so great and we have such a good time," he told The Continuum. "It's unfortunate because a lot of times I don't get with the other actors because we're filming. I have to fly down (from Vancouver, where Smallville is filmed) and I have to do my lines by myself.

"I've only seen the first show and I really loved it."

Rosenbaum had worked with Warner Bros. Animation before Justice League.

"Bruce Timm and Andrea Romano, they gave me a chance," Rosenbaum said of Justice League's producer and voice director. "I was doing a lot of voice work for Batman Beyond and Return of the Joker, and I did Static (Shock) and The Zeta Project. And they said, 'Hey, would you like to read for the Flash?' And I really didn't know too much about him, but I read it and gave my own take on it and trusted my instincts, so I got that and it's really the best of both worlds.

" I'm on an animated series, I'm doing a TV show, I got a feature move (Sorority Boys) coming out. Life can be good sometimes."

Rosenbaum enjoys the lighthearted nature of his fast-talking character and his interaction with the always-serious Green Lantern.

"I like the one where Flash tries to defend the Green Lantern," Rosenbaum said, referring to a courtroom scene from "In Blackest Night." "I thought that was kind of funny with Habeas Corpus and Kappa Sigma Delta.

"I think he's a fun guy. 'So, Hawkgirl, where do you come from?' She's just looking at him, and he's like, 'Seriously I really care.' He's such a fun guy and he tries to make light of the situations. With all these horrible situations and everybody's so serious, you need that guy around. I'm that guy in real life."

Rosenbaum also did the voice of Deadshot in the first part of "The Enemy Below," which will be repeated on Cartoon Network on Monday.

"That was fun," Rosenbaum said. "Sometimes Bruce will call me and say, 'Hey, when you come in can you do a Christopher Walken? You know, a really creepy Christopher Walken. We need one of those.' Sure.

"So then for Deadshot, he goes, 'Can you do your Kevin Spacey?' And you know how Kevin is, (breaking into character), 'So, anyway, here's the deal.' So I did it and sometimes it works. He gives me the freedom to try stuff."

Rosenbaum said he has been approached about doing the lead voice in MTV's new Spider-Man animated series, but he has not auditioned for it.

"If I could be Spider-Man, Flash and Lex, then I would just be a legend," Rosenbaum laughed.

Look for more on Rosenbaum here in The Continuum, as well in Comics Continuum #1, the new magazine launching on May 1.

WITCHBLADE: SEASON TWO

Production is beginning this week on the second season of TNT's Witchblade television series.

The show, based on the Top Cow comic book, is again being shot in Toronto. Yancy Butler returns as Sara Pezzini, the New York police detective who wears the mystical gauntlet known as the Witchblade.

The entire main casts returns, including David Chokachi as Jake McCartey, Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons, Eric Etabari as Ian Nottingham and Will Yun Lee as Danny Woo.

John Hensley, who guest-starred last season as Gabriel Bowman, is now a series regular.

Ralph Hemecker is returning as Witchblade's executive producer.

TNT has announced the second season will begin in June, although a time period has not been scheduled. The network is currently airing reruns of the first season.

DAREDEVIL MOVIE UPDATE

Michael Clarke Duncan has signed to play the Kingpin in the live-action Daredevil movie from 20th Century Fox and New Regency.

Duncan is expected to join a cast that includes Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Jennifer Garner as Elektra and Colin Farrell as Bullseye.

Duncan's credits include The Green Mile, Planet of the Apes and The Whole Nine Yards.

Daredevil, written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, is expected to go before the cameras in March for a tentative Feb. 14, 2003 release.

Still to be cast is the role of Foggy Nelson.

Brian Michael Bendis, who writes the Daredevil comic book and is executive producing MTV's Spider-Man animated series, said that the film's story is "what you want."

"I think the shooting script for the Daredevil movie was about as exciting of a comic-book script as I've ever read," Bendis said. "The latest draft was quite tantalizing and very well written and very (Frank) Miller and pretty much what we want out of a Daredevil movie: Kingpin, Elektra, Daredevil and Bullseye. All the scenes are where they should be and all the beats are where they should be. And Foggy steals the movie from the version I read."

PAUL STORRIE TALKS MUTANT X

Paul Storrie told The Continuum that his story in the Mutant X: Dangeous Discoveries one-shot will feature Shalimar Fox.

Storrie's story is called "Dangerous Games."

"It's set just after her high school graduation -- which, according to the character's age on the show, should be about 7 years ago -- and depicts the events that led her to the role of protector and hero," Storrie told The Continuum.

Storrie is working with artist Stefano Caselli.

"I have to say that I am very excited about the work I've seen from him so far," Storrie said. "Stellar stuff."

Storrie continues to work on the five-issue Gotham Girls mini-series for DC Comics.

"It's kind of strange -- I seem to be drifting towards the TV properties at both Marvel and DC," Storrie said. "First Batman Beyond and Justice League Adventures and now Mutant X."

Mutant X: Dangerous Decisions will be 48 pages and will arrive in stores on April 17. Look for more Mutant X news on Friday here in The Continuum.

CROSSGEN'S COMPENDIA SERIES

CrossGen Comics on Wednesday announced Forge and Edge, the first in its Compendia series of collections.

Based on the proven models of European comics and manga compilations from Japan, Forge and Edge are both monthly, 200-plus-page, full color, book series in standard trade paperback size that feature the same production values as CrossGen's monthly comics, including a quality paper stock similar to that of the monthly comics, all inside a card stock cover.

Forge and Edge will carry an initial price of $9.95. After the first few issues, page count will increase to near 300 pages and this increase will necessitate a price increase of no more than two dollars per issue.

Since Forge and Edge are primarily designed to bring new readers into comic books, the content of both is planned to lag at least 90-120 days behind CrossGen's monthly comics and planned to not contain stories not already seen in the monthly comics.

For the first year, each issue of Forge and Edge will contain at least eight stories covering five series, increasing to six series by the end of 2002. Forge and Edge offer readers something comparable to eight comic books.

Forge #1 will be on sale April 10, Edge #1 will be on sale April 24. Forge and Edge will then continue to ship the second and fourth or fifth weeks of every month.

Forge #1 will contain Crux #1-3, Meridian #15, Negation Prequel, Sojourn Prequel and #1 and a preview of The Path. Edge #1 will contain The First #8-10, Mystic #15-16, Ruse #1, Scion #15 and Sigil #15.

Each "in-process" series begins with the first issue following the second trade paperback collection and Forge and Edge both contain a significantly expanded "story so far" description for new readers.

"CrossGen was founded around a very simple idea," said Mark Alessi, CrossGen's publisher. "We set out to make comics relevant again to a mainstream audience. Part of doing that was telling stories that map to mainstream genres and tastes. Genres like science fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc. -- the kind of stories that make up a large percentage of the fiction categories of the major booksellers. However, this was only part of the overall concept. We also needed to put those comics into a package that makes price performance sense to this mainstream audience. People buy books, so we've serialized our stories in a book format. People expect value for their dollar, so we've put together a package that can be sold at a very competitive price. We call this new product Compendia, and the first two, more specifically -- Forge and Edge."

Further announcements regarding CrossGen's mass-market initiative will be coming in 20-30 days, according to the company.

"It's not about how many comics can we sell, but how many new readers can we bring into the comics industry," said CrossGen vice-president business development, Tony Panaccio. "This mass-market initiative is huge, greater than any thing that's ever been tried in this business. When those new readers come to comic stores looking for a product they understand and can afford, Forge and Edge will be there waiting. And they'll be waiting for them twice a month, every month, when they return again and again."

With the addition of Compendia to it single-issue comics and trade paperbacks, CrossGen now offers readers three completely separate ways to buy and read stories.

"We've been using this analogy around the office when explaining the types of choices we're offering readers," said Ian M. Feller, director of corporate communications for CrossGen. "Consider your favorite soft drink, say cola. That cola is offered in many different forms for purchase. There's the 12 ounce can, 16 ounce bottle, 20 ounce bottle, 32 ounce bottle, 1 liter bottle, 64 ounce bottle, or it is available from a soda fountain, all at different prices. But in the end, it's all the same product. We are taking that formula and applying it to comics. And if you want something other than cola, you can choose one of our different genres the way you would a different soft drink flavor."

POUNDED SOUNDTRACK

Oni Press and Springman Records have announced the bands scheduled to appear on April's Pounded: The Official Comic Book Soundtrack.

The disc is inspired by the upcoming comic by Brian Wood and Steve Rolston and will be featured in an article about the mini-series in an upcoming issue of SPIN Magazine.

"The band response to this project has been amazing," said Springman Records chief Avi Ehrlich. "Determining the final list has been a difficult process. There are just so many groups that wanted to be a part of it. This is seriously going to be one of the best punk rock compilation CDs out there."

Bands scheduled to appear on the CD include: the Bouncing Souls, Bigwig, Dynamite Boy, Amazing Transparent Man, Fury 66, Pain, Big In Japan, Gob, Sloppy Meat Eaters, Strike Anywhere, One Man Army, Ann Beretta, King Monkey, the Eyeliners, Mr. T Experience, Mid Carson July, and the Teen Idols.

In addition to a full-length audio CD, the Pounded disc also includes a multimedia section. Fans can check out full-color Pounded comic strips, visit the creators' websites find a local comic specialty store and access information on the Pounded mini-series.

"I've never seen a comic book tie-in as cool as this," said series editor James Lucas Jones. "Comic fans get the chance to check out a bunch of great new music and comics get exposure in a whole new arena."

Pounded #1 will arrive in stores on April 3 and will cost $2.95. The soundtrack will arrive in stores on April 17 and will cost $7.95.

FIRST LOOK: BATGIRL #25

Batgirl #25 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Kelley Puckett, with art and cover by Damion Scott and Robert Campanella.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"Extra-sized issue! This is it: It's the fight fans have been clamoring for since issue #8. It's the rematch between Batgirl and Lady Shiva -- to the death! In issue #23, Batgirl trained hard for this, but is she ready? Who ends up as the #1 martial artist in the DC Universe? Let's put it this way: How bad is Cassandra's death wish?"

Batgirl #25 will be 40 pages and will cost $3.25.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

FIRST LOOK: S.C.I.-SPY #1

S.C.I.-Spy #1 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Doug Moench, with art by Paul Gulacy and Jimmy Palmiotti and a cover by Gulacy.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"Sebastian Starchild, like all great secret agents, is a stubborn lone wolf with a penchant for the ladies and a knack for saving the world - or in his case, the universe. He's got a flashy ray gun, a floating cyber sidekick, and a galaxy-hopping starship. In short, he's a new kind of secret agent for a new era of comics readers. In the genre-bending first issue, Starchild is off to battle space pirates."

S.C.I.-Spy #1 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.50.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

FIRST LOOK: SUPERMAN #179

Superman #179 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Geoff Johns and Jeph Loeb, with art by Ariel Olivetti and a cover by Ed McGuinness and Cam Smith.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"A new African-American hero emerges in New York as Superman deals with a crime in Harlem. The Man of Steel is forced to reconsider what makes a hero."

Superman #179 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

FIRST LOOK: GREEN LANTERN #147

Green Lantern #147 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by Judd Winick, with art and cover by Dale Eaglesham and Rodney Ramos.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"Wheelchair-bound former Green Lantern John Stewart confronts his deepest, darkest secrets - a twisted journey through the psyche of a man who has had it all and lost it all. Meanwhile, the current Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, spreads his newfound wings into near-godhood."

Green Lantern #147 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

FIRST LOOK: DOOM PATROL #5

Doom Patrol #5 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from DC Comics. The issue is written by John Arcudi, with art and cover by Tan Eng Huat.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"Forget the Doom Patrol - this is where the Doom Force takes its place in the super-hero-team pantheon. But even though Robotman and the gang are still out there fighting crime, it'll take the combined might of both the Force and the new new Doom Patrol (Metamorpho, Elongated Man, Dr. Light, and Beast Boy) to even challenge the might of Master Chinese demon Nao Yut and his six demon pals."

Doom Patrol #5 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.50.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

BRIEFLY