Friday, July 12, 2002

THE HULK TV/MOVIE UPDATE

Marvel's The Hulk is being developed for television in both live-action and animation, sources told The Continuum.

Like with its other movie franchises, Marvel is seeking to develop a television version of the Hulk. Work continues on a Spider-Man animated series for MTV, and X-Men: Evolution enters its third season on Kids' WB! this fall.

TV versions of Daredevil and Blade have also been speculated.

It's possible the Hulk could be on television in both live-action and animated formats. Unless the animated version goes to a pay cable station, it figures on being skewed toward a younger audience, similarly to X-Men: Evolution.

Most likely start for any Hulk TV shows would be fall 2003, following the June 20, 2003 release of the movie.

Production of director Ang Lee's The Hulk continues. The film, except for a trailer and an early press conference, has been closely guarded for the most part. But last weekend at Wizard World Chicago, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said to expect a media blitz closer to the release date.

"The Hulk arguably could be the most popular Marvel super-hero because of that TV show years ago," Quesada said. "The word on the street is that Universal is going to try to saturate the media as much on Hulk as Sony did with Spider-Man."

THE WOMEN OF NICK FURY

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, the 1998 made-for-television movie based on the Marvel Comics character, returns to television for the first time on Saturday night.

The film will air at 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. (ET/PT) on SciFi Channel as part of a "Superhero Scinemathon."

The movie -- which premiered on Fox on May 26, 1998 -- starred David Hasselhoff as Nick Fury, Lisa Rinna as Val, Sandra Hess as Viper, Garry Chalk as Dugan and Ron Canada as Gabriel Jones.

During production, The Continuum visited the set of Nick Fury in Surrey, British Columbia, spending a day on the multiple Helicarrier levels.

Look for interviews and photos with the cast and crew of the movie in The Continuum on Friday and Saturday. CLICK HERE for an interview with Lisa Rinna, and CLICK HERE for an interview with Sandra Hess.

MARVEL COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and four-page previews of Marvel Comics titles arriving in stores on Wednesday, CLICK HERE.

Titles include Captain Marvel #34, Daredevil #35, Elektra Glimpse & Echo #1, New X-Men #129, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #46, Spider-Man: Blue #3, Spider-Man: Quality of Life #3, Thor #51 and Ultimate X-Men #20.

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS SELLS OUT

Diamond is reporting that Top Cow's Battle of the Planets #1 has completely sold out of its print run through the distributor.

The title debuted into retail stores nationwide on July 10.

"Well, it's a good sign when a book sells out about an hour after it's shipped," said Matt Hawkins, Top Cow's president. "We overprinted the book significantly and it appears even with the overprint we underestimated the demand for the book.

"Since the first story arc is only three books we're evaluating whether to create a second printing of the first issue or simply make the trade for the first three issues available far sooner than we had originally intended. I'd love to hear feedback from retailers on what they would rather see."

HEROBEAR AND THE KID COLLECTED

Astonish Comics is releasing the first collection of Herobear and the Kid in two formats.

Herobear and the Kid. Herobear and the Kid Volume 1: The Inheritance will be presented in a limited edition hardcover and a standard-sized trade paperback.

The limited edition hardcover (August/September, 150 pages, $49.95) will be slightly oversized and will feature the first five issues of Herobear and the Kid, and extra sketches, notes, and drawings. Plus, each hardcover edition will come with its own drawing and full-color animation cel of Herobear and Tyler flying through the air, best of friends.

The trade paperback edition of Herobear and the Kid Volume 1: The Inheritance (November/December, 150 pages, $17.95) contains many of the extra sketches, notes, and drawings of the hardcover.

"I'm very excited to be able to offer these two editions of Herobear and the Kid," said creator Mike Kunkel. "Showcasing Tyler and his friend, Herobear, in these formats allows me to offer a variety of extras that I hope fans will enjoy. I hope that these two books are fun to look at and fun to read, but more than that, it feels great to now be able to present these characters that people have enjoyed and have connected with emotionally in a special collected format."

BRIEFLY