Tuesday, June 4, 2002

JENNIFER GARNER AS ELEKTRA

In case you missed the first photograph of Jennifer Garner as Elektra on Monday, CLICK HERE.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UPDATE

Paul Dini told The Continuum he hopes to write for the second season of Cartoon Network's Justice League animated series.

"I'm busy at the moment kicking off a few other WB animation projects, but I'm hoping to do some scripts for Justice League later this summer," Dini said.

"Bruce Timm, Rich Fogel and I have discussed some cool potential JL story lines, so we're all up for it. I just have to juggle the timing on my end to make it happen."

Dini intended to write for the first season, but an injury prevented it.

Look for more on Justice League soon here in The Continuum.

X-MEN SEQUEL UPDATE

Halle Berry will apparently be involved in early shooting of the X-Men sequel.

Interviewed at the Essence Awards by Access Hollywood, Berry said, "I go back to do X-Men 2 in about seven days, so there's no signs of slowing down any time soon."

Shooting the X-Men sequel continues a busy year for Berry, following winning an Academy Award for Monster's Ball and shooting the new James Bond movie, Die Another Day.

Berry will be revisiting her role as Storm in the sequel, which is filming in Vancouver with a May 2, 2003 release date.

Producer Ralph Winter told The Continuum X2 is set to start photography on June 17.

QUEEN & COUNTRY GETS SECOND TRADE PAPERBACK/HARDCOVER

Following the response to the first Queen & Country collection, Oni Press has announced the publication of the simultaneous soft and hardcover editions of the second story arc -- Queen & Country Vol. II, Operation: Morningstar.

Written by Greg Rucka, Morningstar featured Brian Hurtt on pencils with Christine Norrie and Bryan O'Malley on inks. The original John K. Snyder III painted covers will be used as interior chapter breaks, and Durwin Talon will provide a new illustration for the cover of the paperback.

Morningstar collects Queen & Country #5-7. Written prior to September 11, 2001, the story line focuses on a mission by the Minders (special forces in the British secret service) to retrieve a sensitive contact list from a hidden dead drop in Afghanistan before the taleban finds it. As the male agents go into the field, Minder Tara Chace is left in London, where she is undergoing psychiatric treatment in the wake of the assassination she performed in the initial four issues of the series. Wanting to feel useful, Tara works on cracking the case from home.

"I think it's important that Queen & Country maintain a sense of immediacy," Rucka said. "I don't want this to be a comic book about spies where they seem to live in a world that is a throwback to a cold war, where the enemies aren't real and the world is not recognizable as our own. Sometimes, as in the case of Morningstar, the real world moves faster than we do, but that didn't render the story meaningless. Not by a longshot."

Following the format of the first collection, Morningstar will have simultaneous trade paperback and hardcover editions. The contents will be identical to one another, but the hardback will have a faux leather cover, no dustjacket, with embossed lettering. It will be strictly limited to initial orders. It will also continue the design pattern established by Broken Ground, so that over time, all the books will look unified on readers' bookshelves.

"The beauty of Queen & Country is that it's a continuous experience," said associate editor James Lucas Jones. "Each story arc is going to build on the last, and the characters become richer and the overall tapestry more apparent. At the same time, anyone can enter the fray at any time and understand what is going on. Greg Rucka is using the serialization format to its utmost."

"As this book keeps rolling, Oni keeps knocking me out with the talent they find for it," Rucka said. "They all manage to be distinct, yet fit in with one another, as well. Brian Hurtt came into this assignment in a pinch, and really did an awesome job with the detail and storytelling. And both O'Malley and Norrie have an amazing way around a page. These scripts were very important to me, and they all approached them with the care and skill they deserved."

The new cover by Talon reunites him with Rucka, after they worked together on the Officer Down story line in the Batman books at DC Comics, as well as a special two-page Queen & Country scene created for a 9-11 auction.

"Queen & Country is an exciting book to be involved with," Talon said. "Rucka is really breaking the mold when it comes to espionage comics."

The Queen & Country: Morningstar collections contain 88 pages of black-and-white story and art. Both will ship to comics shops on Sept. 25, The hardcover edition will retail for $20, while the regular trade paperback retails for $8.95.

ARCHIE COMICS FOR SEPTEMBER

Archie Comics has released its solicitation information for September.

For a complete rundown,, CLICK HERE.

BRIEFLY

Here's a first look at the covers to X-Men: Evolution #10, Wolverine #180, Captain Marvel #35, Thunderbolts #70, Thor #52, Daredevil #36, Lady Death/The Crow Preview and Lady Death: The Mourning #1