Saturday, April 20, 2002

WILDSTORM PRODUCTIONS PROJECTS

At the Wonder Con in Oakland on Friday, DC Comics provided an update on WildStorm Productions' upcoming projects, including the JLA/Planetary crossover and a new Zero Girl mini-series.

Following are some highlights:

JLA/PLANETARY

JLA/Planetary: Terra Occulta, by Warren Ellis and Jerry Ordway, will be a 48-page Elseworlds one-shot.

Here's how DC describes the book:

"In this twisted Elseworlds epic, Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are Planetary. And if theyŐre Planetary, then who are the Four, the strange and powerful beings who horde technology, dark secrets, and hidden information for their own sinister benefit?"

THE AUTHORITY

The Absolute Authority is an oversized, slipcased hardcover edition that collects the first 12 issues of The Authority by Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary. Jenny Sparks, Jack Hawksmoor, the Engineer, Swift, the Doctor, Apollo and Midnighter face super-terrorists, interdimensional invaders, and godlike aliens in these dizzying, now-classic tales.

Also included in The Absolute Authority are 3 pages from the never-published Authority: Widescreen special, extra, behind-the-scenes looks at the book's creative process, including a full script by Ellis, plus design and supplementary material provided by the entire creative team.

The Authority: Kev, an all new special written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Glenn Fabry, will be coming late this summer as part of WildStorm's Eye of the Storm mature readers imprint.

WILDCATS

Version 3.0 launches in August, with the creative team of writer Joe Casey and artists Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend. Joining Spartan, Grifter, Zealot, Void and Ladytron are newer characters including "Crashman" Pacheco and Agent Orange.

POINT BLANK/SLEEPER

In a mature readers miniseries that connects to WildStorm Universe continuity, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Colin Wilson bring a gritty, noir-style super-hero thriller. Holden Carver -- a.k.a. the Conductor -- is at the center of this hard-hitting five-issue miniseries that leads directly into Sleeper, an ongoing, mature readers series by Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Sleeper finds the Conductor working undercover, infiltrating the villainous underworld of the WildStorm Universe. And while he's been put in motion by one of the most powerful characters in that universe, the Conductor runs the risks of being discovered by the villains he's running with, and, worse, becoming one of them.

ZERO GIRL: FULL CIRCLE

Sam Kieth brings back iconoclastic hero Amy Smootster in Zero Girl: Full Circle, a new 5-issue miniseries that takes takes place three years after the original Zero Girl mini-series.

This story explores the relationship further between Amy Smootster and her former guidance counselor and brings an intriguing new character into the mix, one who causes emotional turmoil among the three of them, along with battles between good and evil -- and circles and squares.

THE LIFE EATERS

Bestselling science fiction novelist David Brin and illustrator Scott Hampton, the creative team behind last year's graphic novel Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Forgiveness, return with an all-new hardcover graphic novel of World War II, The Life Eaters.

> The powerful tale expands on Brin's short story "Thor Meets Captain America," which is decidedly not about any Marvel Comics characters. Instead, it refers to the Nazis' use of necromancy to pit ancient Norse gods against the forces of the Allies. While this strategem works in the short run, the German end up with bigger trouble on their hands than they ever could have imagined when the food of the gods runs short, forcing the Aesir to look elsewhere for sustenance running headlong into the Hindu gods of Southeast Asia.

MATADOR

Matador is a six-issue mature readers series from Homage set in the mean streets of Miami. Writer Devin Grayson teams up with illustrator Brian Stelfreeze to tell the tale of Police Lieutenant Isabel Cardona, who connects a series of seemingly unrelated murders to a supposed urban legend known only as the Matador.

TOP 10: SMAX THE BARBARIAN

Alan Moore delves into the background of a member of the tenth precinct in the four-issue mini-series Top 10: Smax the Barbarian, illustrated by Top 10 artist Zander Cannon. In this mini-series, Smax, accompanied by fellow cop Toybox, journeys to his home plane, where he takes part in an unusual revolution, giving readers a much-longed for chance to see Smax on his own turf.

GLOBAL FREQUENCY

The 12-issue series from writer Warren Ellis stars this fall. Each issue of the series will be by a different artist, including Garry Leach, Glenn Fabry and cover artist Brian Wood.

The Global Frequency is a worldwide independent defense intelligence organization with a thousand and one agents, all over the world. Anyone you know might be with them. It's the world's little open secret. These agents are charged with cleaning up after the 20th Century the detritus of science gone haywire, Cold War defense systems that were never powered down, cyborg counter agents and more.

JLA/JSA UPDATE

JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice, the hardcover graphic novel, has been scheduled for a November release by DC Comics.

The story is from JSA writing team of Geoff Johns and David Goyer, with art by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Marino.

Here's how DC describes the story:

"The two teams come together when a political incident involving the Ultra-Marines, who are more than happy to make a pre-emptive first strike on the United States… if they can get by the combined forces of these two teams, that is."

Click on the image above for a larger image.

JIM LEE, JEPH LOEB ON BATMAN

Artist Jim Lee, WildStorm Productions' editorial director, will join writer Jeph Loeb on Batman beginning with October's Batman #608.

Lee is expected to be on Batman for at least a year. Lee's pencils will be inked by Scott Williams.

Loeb is also writing a new Batman/Superman to be drawn by Ed McGuinness.

No plans have been announced yet for current Batman artist Scott McDaniel, who has an exclusive contract with DC, but it is expected he will have a high-profile gig for the company.

Look for more on this story soon here in The Continuum.

BEN AFFLECK TALKS DAREDEVIL

Ben Affleck, who stars in the upcoming Daredevil movie, said that Matt Murdock's blindness makes him all the more interesting to play.

"There's this really interesting effect to show how he gets his sense of where he is -- [he has] his hypersensitive sound, almost like radar," Affleck told Entertainment Weekly during the premiere of his new film, Changing Lanes, which opened No. 1 at the box office.

To prepare for the role, Affleck has been working with blind actor-writer Tom Sullivan, who has been hired as a consultant on the film.

"I've been studying how his body changes when he approaches things," Affleck said.

Affleck said Daredevil was a comic that he loved growing up. "I could really identify with him," he said.

Affleck's comments will be printed in the April 26 edition of Entertainment Weekly, the summer movie issue with Spider-Man stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst on the cover.

SPIDER-MAN MOVIE UPDATE

Carl's Jr. has kicked off its partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment to promote the Spider-Man movie.

For the next four weeks or while supplies last, participating Carl's Jr. restaurants are offering fans three different Spider-Man collector's cups. Spider-Man antenna toppers are also available at participating restaurants for 99 cents with any purchase.

In early May, "Cool Combos for Kids" will feature one of four toys highlighting Spider-Man or his nemesis, the Green Goblin.

Television spots featuring footage from the movie plus new original scenes have also begun airing.

"We are pleased to be able to partner with Sony to help kick off the summer movie season with Spider-Man,s" said Stephen Buchan, senior vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. "There is a huge Spider-Man following and everything we have seen about the movie looks terrific!"

In other Spider-Man movie news:

* Below are images of a 60-foot Spider-Man outside of Loews Theater on 42nd Street in New York City. A similar Spider-Man is outside of the Sony studios in Culver City, Calif.

* Below are three more images from the film. Click the thumbnails for complete and larger images.

NEW ANGEL EPISODES

The Continuum has obtained five images from "Benediction," the Monday, May 13 episode of The WB's Angel.

The WB has yet to release specifics about the episode.

The WB has released details about the Monday, May 6 episode, which is titled "A New World."

Here's how the episode is described:

"Angel's (David Boreanaz) son Connor (guest star Vincent Kartheiser) is brought back from the Hell dimension a feral teenage warrior, and is hellbent on vengeance against his father for his evil past."

Tim Minear directed the episode, which was written by Jeffrey Bell.

CROSSGEN COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and three-page previews of upcoming CrossGen Comics titles, CLICK HERE.

Titles include Ruse #7, The Path #2, The First #19 and Meridian #23.

BRIEFLY