Tuesday, May 7, 2002

HULK MOVIE UPDATE

Eric Bana, who stars in The Hulk movie that is now filming, said part of the appeal of the character was that The Hulk was unlike other comic-book characters.

"Superman jumps in the phone booth and Batman goes in the cave, but, really, the Hulk kind of has no control over being the Hulk, which is really the thing that attracted me to the project," Bana said during the recent press conference for the film - part of which was televised on E! News Daily on Tuesday.

"I think we all have that Hulk inside of us," said director Ang Lee.

The Hulk will be computer-generated, but influence by Bana's appearance.

"There will most definitely be very recognizable elements in both characters, which is part of the challenge for myself," Bana said.

KRISTIN KREUK TALKS SMALLVILLE

Kristin Kreuk, who plays Lana Lang in The WB's Smallville, said that the season finale, "Tempest," should prove to be eventful.

"Well, I can tell you that there's going to be a tornado, if you didn't know that already," Kreuk said during an online chat on Tuesday night. "That there's going to be stuff going on with Clark's spaceship. And people discovering it and there's going to be the threat of a lot of people leaving Smallville, because of various reasons.

"And there's going to be a romance blossoming. And a lot of triangles forming. And it's going to be a lot of action. And a lot of plot twists that people will definitely have to see."

For more of Kreuk's comments from the chat, CLICK HERE.

SPIDER-MAN MOVIE UPDATE

Spider-Man, the fastest movie to reach $100 million, might also become the quickest to reach $200 million.

According to Brandon Gray of the Box Office Mojo web site, Spider-Man earned $11.0 million on Monday, lifting its four-day total to $125.9 million.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is the fastest movie to reach $200 million, doing so in 13 days.

On its first Monday, that film pulled in $10.9 million for a six-day total of $116.5 million.

In other Spider-Man movie news:

* Access Hollywood will feature Spider-Man's spider wrangler on Wednesday.

JUSTICE LEAGUE'S OBSIDIAN AGE

DC Comics has provided more details about "The Obsidian Age - The Hunt for Aquaman," a seven-part, twice-monthly story starting in JLA #69.

Written by Joe Kelly, "The Obsidian Age" features alternating chapters illustrated by the art teams of Doug Mahnke and Tom Nguyen and Yvel Guichet and Mark Propst.

Here's how DC describes the story:

"The JLA has fallen - vanished while searching the ruins of Atlantis for their lost teammate, Aquaman (missing since last year's epic 'Our Worlds at War'). Yet there's no time to mourn, as provisions put in place by Batman summon a new team of heroes into the ranks of the JLA.

"The 'Big Seven' may be gone, but the World's Greatest Super-Heroes still will be around to save the day! Who will make up the team? You'll have to wait for JLA #69 to find out!

"Then, just two weeks later in JLA #70, the mystery of the Ancients (who attacked the team in #66-67) is revealed! Manitou Raven and Tezumak, who previously assailed the JLA, were almost too powerful to handle. Now meet the rest of their team: the sorceress Gamemnae! The otherworldly Angel! The mighty Sela! The Whaler! And their leader, a young mage named Rama Khan! And who are these villains? They call themselves... the Justice League!"

Said Kelly: "The idea for this story started with the thought, What if there were a Secret Age of Heroes that began 3000 years ago? What if the World's Greatest Super-Heroes were sent there to battle and never returned?"

JLA #69-74 ship twice-monthly in the months of August, September and October.

In related news, "Our Worlds at War," the event that leads into "The Obsidian Age - The Hunt for Aquaman," is collected in two volumes in August.

Our Worlds at War's creative line-up includes writers Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz, Joe Kelly, Phil Jimenez, Peter David, and Todd Dezago. Artists include Ed McGuinness, Mike Wieringo, Doug Mahnke, Kano, Phil Jimenez, Ron Garney, Leonard Kirk, Todd Nauck, Carlo Barbieri, Pascual Ferry, Mark Buckingham, Bill Sienkiewicz, Yvel Guichet, Duncan Rouleau and more.

Volume One reprints Superman #171-172, Adventures of Superman #593-594, Superman: The Man of Steel #115-116, Action Comics #780-781, Supergirl #59 and JLA: Our Worlds at War #1.

Volume Two reprints Superman #173, Adventures of Superman #595, Superman: The Man of Steel #117, Action Comics #782, Wonder Woman #172-173, Young Justice #36, Impulse #77, Superboy #91 and World's Finest: Our Worlds At War #1.

"Demand for Our Worlds at War was very strong, with several chapters selling out on publication," said Vince Letterio, DC's Manager - Direct Sales. "With this storyline tying into this summer's big JLA storyline, these new collected editions will give everyone the chance to revisit the events that led up to Obsidian Age."

Superman: Our Worlds at War Volume One and Volume Two are both 264-page trade paperbacks with a cover price of $19.95 U.S. Volume One arrives in stores Aug. 7. Volume Two arrives in stores Aug. 21.

NEW JEREMIAH EPISODE

A new episode of Jeremiah, "Thieves' Honor," will air on Showtime on Friday at 10:45 p.m.

Here's how the episode is described:

"Jeremiah and Kurdy are sent to Clairfield to find Elizabeth and a friend who were captured by Theo's jocks. Meanwhile, investigations are under way to find a potential traitor who's been leaking information from Thunder Mountain."

The episode was written by Jeremiah executive producer Sam Egan and directed by Holly Dale.

"I think Sam did a fantastic writing job on this episode, with Jeremiah and Kurdy reunited with the one person they really didn't want to see again: Theo (Kim Hawthorne) from the pilot episode," said Jeremiah executive producer Scott Rosenberg.

The episode will have an encore on Showtime Beyond on Sunday at 10:45 p.m.

NEW MUTANT X EPISODE

A new episode of Mutant X, "Deadly Desire," will air in syndication this week.

For a complete synopsis of the episode, including photos and spoilers, CLICK HERE.

KIDS' WB! SUMMER LINE-UP

X-Men: Evolution will be getting a new time period and be reduced from two episodes to one on Saturdays with Kids' WB!'s new summer lineup.

Beginning May 25, X-Men: Evolution will air at 11 a.m. The network had been running first-season repeats in the 8 a.m. time period.

Here's the complete lineup, with all times ET: 8 a.m. -- Rescue Heroes: Global Response Team; 8:30 a.m. -- Static Shock; 9 a.m. -- Jackie Chan Adventures; 9:30 a.m. -- The Powerpuff Girls; 10 a.m. -- Pokemon: Johto League Champions; 10:30 a.m. -- Yu-Gi-Oh!; 11 a.m -- X-Men: Evolution; 11:30 a.m. -- Phantom Investigators.

Effective Monday, May 27, Kids' WB!'s new weekday summer line-up is as follows: 3 p.m. -- Scooby-Doo (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays); Rescue Heroes: Global Response Team (Wednesdays); 3:30 p.m. --Yu-Gi-Oh!; 4 p.m. -- Pokemon; 4:30 p.m.: The Powerpuff Girls.

ONI PRESS REPRINTS CUT MY HAIR

Oni Press and Crazyfish have announced that Cut My Hair, the debut novel from Jamie S. Rich, is returning to print this August.

Originally published by Crazyfish/MJ-12 in the summer of 2000, the prose novel featured spot illustrations by Chynna Clugston-Major, Judd Winick, Andi Watson, Scott Morse and Renee French and quickly sold out.

"While prose isn't a normal part of the Oni Press line, Cut My Hair fits in seemlessly ," said Oni Press publisher Joe Nozemack. "Jamie's novel is about youth and love and music, subjects that that lay at the heart of many of our books."

"With 2002 shaping up to be my busiest year in comics ever, I knew that there was no way I had the time to put my publisher hat on again," Crazyfish head Scott Morse said. "But at the same time I really wanted to see Cut My Hair back on shelves. Partnering with Oni provides the perfect way to make this happen and satisfy the continuing demand from fans for the book."

Here's how Oni describes the book:

"Cut My Hair is the story of a young man named Mason. He hangs out with kids that are into bad music and bad haircuts. He lives in sunny California, where he spends his nights acting stupid in punk rock clubs and his days aimlessly reading comics and listening to tunes. The two most important things in his life are the girl who makes his heart beat at erratic speeds and the band with the strange boy he knows from high school-both of whom lead lives far more interesting than the one he leads himself. Unfortunately, his life is about to come crashing down on him in a barrage of angry fists and stomping feet. Everything is going to change."

"The response I've gotten since Cut My Hair's initial release is really astonishing," Rich said, "I wasn't sure how the book would find its audience. Would comic readers care about illustrated prose? Would bookstores know what to do with it? Well, evidently the answer to both questions is 'Yes.' It's unbelievably rewarding to see people relating to a work I've invested so much time and energy in and I'm thrilled with the opportunity to share this book with a new batch of readers."

This new printing of Cut My Hair contains 236 pages of prose and over 50 illustrations and retails for $15.95. Wrapped in a full-color cover by Mike Allred and Laura Allred, it hits stands on Aug. 7.

BRIEFLY