Wednesday, March 27, 2002

MARVEL COMICS FOR JUNE

Marvel Comics has released its solicitation information for June.

For a complete rundown, CLICK HERE.

SPIDER-MAN MOVIE UPDATE

E! News Live and Access Hollywood offered brief glimpses of the new Spider-Man trailer on Tuesday night.

The new trailer will premiere on the official Spider-Man site, www.sony.com/spiderman, at noon (ET) on Wednesday. The trailer will precede The Panic Room, which opens on Friday.

The short preview of the trailer showed Green Goblin launching explosives and Spider-Man saving a plummeting Mary Jane.

In addition to the brief clip, E! showed an interview segment from Willem Dafoe, who plays Green Goblin. The clip was from the press conference before the film began production last year.

"There are actually two aspects of the same person, that's the way I'm looking at it," Dafoe said. "There is a real transformation. There's always a little Norman Osborn in the Green Goblin, and there's always a little Green Goblin in Norman Osborn."

In other Spider-Man movie news, Toys 'R Us is now carrying the Toy Biz action figures, including the 12-inch Green Goblin.

STAN LEE TALKS SPIDER-MAN MOVIE

Stan Lee said his cameo in the Spider-Man film has been cut, but he will still appear in the film.

"I had this great cameo, and the movie ran long and they had to cut the cameo because they didn't have time," Lee said. "But, if you look closely and don't blink, you'll see my face in a crowd scene somewhere in the movie. And if you buy the movie or rent it, hopefully you'll see the scene where I have some dialogue with Peter Parker."

Lee's comments were made during an online chat on Tuesday. For more comments on Spider-Man, the Daredevil movie and his new company, CLICK HERE.

LEONOR VARELA TALKS BLADE II

Leonor Varela, who plays Nyssa in Blade II, said she enjoyed the physical nature of the role.

"This thing was a lot of fun," she said during an appearance on CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn on Tuesday. "In a movie that's action-based, you mainly have to just be physical and enjoy yourself. There's not a lot of, like, major searching into the soul deepness of the character. It was a lot of fun."

Varela said she was trained for the film by Lucia Ryker.

"She is the best female boxer out there. She's led a major revolution in female boxing," Varela said. "She trained me in boxing and kickboxing, and really inspired me for the character, as well. She's very strong and just takes her power."

Varela is on the cover of the current Maxim magazine as a "Blade Stunner."

In other Blade II news, the film's official weekend take was $32.5 million. slightly below the original $33.1 million estimate.

WITCHBLADE #54 SPECIAL COVER

Celebrating the launch of a new era for Top Cow's preeminent title, Witchblade #54 sports a special black cover with gold foil at no additional charge to fans or retailers.

The original cover, penciled by new series artist Francis Manapul will be a second cover stapled beneath the all black cover, which is not a variant.

"We wanted to do something other than just another variant cover to draw attention to the new creative team launch for Witchblade and came up with the idea for this cover," said Top Cow president Matt Hawkins. "It's an experiment and, as always, we'd love to get feedback on it from fans and retailers."

Original Witchblade writer and co-creator David Wohl takes over writing the title with this issue and Manipul will be penciling the book on an ongoing basis. The new story arc remains faithful to previous storylines, but does not require anyone to have read any Witchblade issues prior to this one.

"With the television series, we've seen a tremendous upswing in the sales of our trade paperbacks in the book stores," said Top Cow marketing director Frank Mastromauro. "This new storyline gives some of those fans that have watched the TV series an opportunity to start reading the monthly book without having to dig through 53 back issues.

"The seconnd season of Witchblade kicks off in June and we're coordinating several massive joint marketing efforts with TNT to draw attention to comic stores and specifically the Witchblade comic book. We'll be making an announcement about our joint TNT efforts in a few weeks."

IDW'S 30 DAYS OF NIGHT

30 Days of Night, a three-issue, mini-series written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith, is set to begin in June from IDW Publishing.

Here's how the book is described:

"Have you imagined living in total darkness? They have.

"In the sleepy, secluded Alaska town of Barrow, the sun sets and doesn't rise for over thirty consecutive days and nights. From the darkness, across the frozen wasteland, an evil will come that will bring the residents of Barrow to their knees. The only hope for the town is the Sheriff and Deputy, a husband and wife who are torn between their own survival and saving the town they love."

"Ben's art is dark and yet so inviting. He's willing to try anything and he likes to push boundaries which suits 30 Days of Night perfectly," Niles said. "It's a story about true love, extreme terror and violence. There's no room for wishy-washy art or storytelling. I think Ben pulls the whole thing together perfectly. I haven't felt this way since those early Clive Barker books and horror anthologies."

"Steve's worked with some of the masters of horror," said Ted Adams, IDW's publisher. "With this mini-series, he has the chance to show everyone what he's learned."

Covers are by Ashley Wood.

30 Days of Night #1 will be 32 color pages and will cost $3.99.

NEW JEREMIAH EPISODE

A new episode of Jeremiah, "To Sail Beyond the Stars," is scheduled to air this Friday on Showtime at 10:45 p.m.

Here's how the episode is described:

"Jeremiah faces a deadly renegade group called the 'Burners' while falling in love with Claire, a woman who dreams of sailing across the ocean. Meanwhile, Kurdy befriends a pregnant woman and delivers her baby."

The episode was written by J. Michael Straczynski and directed by Neill Fearnley.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

JUSTICE LEAGUE NOVELS

Justice League of America: Batman - The Stone King is the first of six adult prose paperback novels starring the DC Comics characters from Pocket Books.

The Stone King, which reaches comic book stores this month, is written by Batman veteran Alan Grant and features a painted cover by Alex Ross, who contributes iconic covers to the entire series. Each book in the series is told from the point of view of a specific Justice League member, with the exception of the sixth book, which will feature each hero equally.

The second Justice League novel release from Pocket Books will be Justice League of America: Wonder Woman - Mythos, written by Carol Lay, which is scheduled for September release.

Future books in the series include: Justice League of America: The Flash written by Mark Schultz; Justice League of America: Green Lantern - Hero's Quest written by Dennis O'Neil; Justice League of America: Superman written by Kyle Baker; Justice League of America written by Christopher Golden.

"It's been an exciting challenge, pulling this series together," said Charles Kochman, DC's in-house editor on the series. "We're fortunate to have a lineup of writers that includes some really diverse but appropriate names. I'm certain fans will enjoy the books, and new readers will find the series to be both accessible and exciting."

In addition to five core Justice League members whose names appear in the books' titles, other DC Universe heroes, including the Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man, appear in the novels as well.

CHAOS! ANNOUNCES STATIC-X, THE DWELLING

Chaos! Comics has announced a July release for its first Static-X one-shot and a Black Label Graphics one-shot, The Dwelling.

Static-X is one of the top industrial metal bands. The four members of Static-X have played on the successful Ozzfest tour. They have more than 1 million CDs sold with lead songs on the Queen of The Damned and the Resident Evil soundtrack albums.

"It sounds cliche, but it's a dream come true to be featured in a comic book," said band member Tripp Eisen. "I grew up with comics and still read a few comics to this day. Chaos Comics was a logical choice and their stuff is right up our alley. Their imagery fits right in to the concept."

The comic book is set in the techno-doom laden future to come. The world is ruled by The State. Corporations and commercialism have been abolished. Wayne, Ken, Tony and Tripp (members of Static-X) are cybernetically enhanced workers, leading insignificant lives as slaves to The State. Memories intrude, reminding them of a time they worked together, nearly inciting a revolution. Is this the truth or another implanted memory? Will they learn the real story before it's too late or will they become the mindless agents that The State created them to be?

Written by Chaos! Publisher Brian Pulido, the Static-X #1 comic will feature art by David Brewer with color by Jay Fotos. Static-X #1 is a 32-page, full-color comic book available in a band photo cover, an art cover, and a Collector's Edition cover with foil embossed autographs of each band member. As a bonus, a CD will be included with the song "Black & White" live from the Family Values tour, "Get to The Gone" live music video and special interview footage of the band ­ all unavailable anywhere else.

Pulido is also writing The Dwelling, which centers on Aaron and Emily, a pair of introverted procrastinators, discover a cave outside the dustbowl town of Amado, Arizona. Inside, they encounter The Dweller, an ancient evil that bends their minds and forces them to live their fears. Though they escape to town, the Dweller pursues them relentlessly, eroding their confidence, putting paralyzing fear into everyone who crosses his murderous path. Can these outsider teens unlock the hero within themselves and overcome their fears or will they, like everyone else in town, fall prey to The Dweller's call?

For the complete July solicitations for Chaos! Comics, CLICK HERE.

BRIEFLY