Wednesday, July 31, 2002

ERIC ROBERTS ON WITCHBLADE

Eric Roberts will guest-star on the Monday, Aug. 12 episode of TNT's Witchblade.

In the episode, "Parabolic," Roberts guest stars as Lupo, an international hate-clan leader accused of killing the parents of a young woman named Bola (Alexis Dziena) who seeks revenge for their deaths.

Sara (Yancy Butler) is recruited to enlist the power of the Witchblade to help Bola.

The episode was written by Ralph W. Hemecker and Jennifer Beck and directed by Anghel Decca.

Other guest-stars include Jake Simmons, Siluck Saysansy and Kathryn Winslow.

In other Witchblade news:

* This Monday's new episode is "Veritas."

Here's how the network describes the episode: "While investigating an execution-style murder, Sara is pulled into a web of deception and conspiracy that threatens her life and the life of her friend Gabriel Bowman. With both the FBI and unknown assailants in hot pursuit, Sara must employ the Witchblade to save herself, but will using her powers compromise the truth that she has sworn to uphold?"

Another new episode, "Parabolic" will premiere on Monday, Aug. 12.

*Anthony Cistaro, who plays Kenneth Irons, will appear at the Inkworks booth at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Thursday at 1 p.m.

* Look for more on Witchblade soon here in The Continuum.

DC PROVIDES FREE OVERSHIP OF POINT BLANK #1

With the release date of Point Blank #1 on Aug. 14, DC Comics is providing to retailers a free 50 percent overship of the issue.

Point Blank, a five-issue Eye of the Storm mini-series, is by writer Ed Brubaker and European comics artist Colin Wilson, and features painted covers by Simon Bisley. Point Blank #1 also features a variant cover by Wilson on 50 percent of copies.

Here's how DC describes Point Blank:

"Have you ever had something on the edge of your thoughts but couldn't recall it? That's the problem facing Cole Cash - a.k.a. Grifter of the WildCats. He's determined to get to the bottom of the mystery in Point Blank, - a five-issue mature-readers super-hero noir spectacular.

"After being summoned by his old Team 7 associate and legendary I.O. spook John Lynch, Cole is ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The perpetrators and their ultimate goals become the least of Grifter's concerns after Lynch falls victim to a vicious attack that leaves him at the abyss of death."

"Between his work on Batman and Catwoman, Ed Brubaker's reputation as a writer of hard-hitting, crime-driven stories is growing by leaps and bounds," says Vince Letterio, DC's Manager - Direct Sales. "To top that off, Colin Wilson's art has to be seen to be believed. He's not that well known in the U.S., but we've had lots of artists tell us how much they love his work."

The conclusion of Point Blank leads directly into Sleeper, an ongoing Eye of the Storm series by Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips.

FIRST LOOK: AGENT X #1

Agent X #1 will arrive in stores on Aug. 7 from Marvel Comics. The issue is written by Gail Simone, with art and cover by Udon.

Here's how Marvel describes the issue:

"What would you do if you had no idea who you were, where you were from or how you got to where you were? And what would you do if you discovered you had special talents that made you different than everyone else? Would you use those talents for good? For evil? For your own gain? Or a little bit of everything? Introducing the mystery man known only as Agent X. You may think you know what's coming -- and who this mystery man is -- but do you really? And will Agent X's unique talents make him tough enough to endure training at the hands of the Taskmaster? Or maybe a better question is: will Taskmaster let him?"

Agent X #1 will be 40 pages and will cost $2.99.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

VIZ'S SHONEN JUMP

Viz Communications and Shueisha of Japan, the largest manga publisher in the world, will unveil a special preview issue of the U.S. Shonen Jump #0 Wednesday night at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

The 56-page preview edition is an abridged version of U.S. Shone Jump that will launch this fall with 250 pages.

Patterned after Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, which has a circulation in Japan of some 3.4 million, the U.S. Shonen Jump will be published monthly. It will target the growing segment of boys, teens, and young adults who identify with the "anime lifestyle" in America. The magazine will contain manga's most popular titles including several that are already well known as anime in the U.S. market, such as Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh! Other initial titles to be announced are Yuyu Hakusho, Naruto, Shaman King, One Piece and Sandland.

The U.S. Shonen Jump will be printed in English and retain the Japanese right-to-left format, enabling the manga artwork to appear as intended by the artists. Viz plans to achieve a circulation of over 1 million for the publication within three years.

Starting this week, preview #0 will be distributed by Viz in partnership with the Musicland Group and Diamond Comic Book Distributors. The Musicland Group will immediately distribute 50,000 free issues in stores nationwide, with Diamond Comic Distributors circulating an additional 40,000 free copies in August.

Set to go on-sale in November, U.S. Shonen Jump will be available through subscription, single-copy sales on newsstands, and in specialty stores throughout the country. The cover price will be $4.95. An introductory subscription rate of $19.95 for 12 issues is being offered to charter subscribers. Readers may access www.shonenjump.com to subscribe.

"Bringing Shonen Jump to America is an important milestone in realizing the vision our company was founded on 16 years ago -- to introduce U.S. audiences to the joys of manga," said Viz's president, Seiji Horibuchi. "Shonen Jump is the first English language manga publication targeted at the mainstream mass-market. Manga has long been immensely popular in Japan. Thanks to the Web and American television, it is now becoming an exploding phenomenon in the U.S."

NEW ENGLAND COMICS FOR NOVEMBER

Following are New England Comics' solicitations for November, with information coming from the company.

THE TICK'S BIG XMAS TRILOGY #1,2,3

The Tick and his friends celebrate Christmas this year in blazing style with a three-issue Tick Christmas spectacular trilogy! All three issues will ship on the same day. The covers, by Sean Wang, form a panoramic three-part triptych and feature most of the heroes, villains andsupporting characters who have appeared in The Tick's 16-year history.

The story is appropriately epic for a three-part Christmas extravaganza! The Tick, the Yuletide season's favorite son, discovers that the "Christmas Spirit" appears to be on the wane in The City this year. He decides to boost the supply of Christmas cheer by staging a Christmas Pageant, and getting "everyone" involved. Even The City's costumed super-villains agree to participate, although with Chairface Chippendale and The Terror highlighting the evil cast, it may not just be seasonal goodwill at work.

32 pages, $3.95 each.

FAMOUS NAVAL BATTLES OF WW2 #2: BATTLE OF THE JAVA SEA

By Ron Ledwell

In the opening days of World War II the Japanese quickly overran the Pacific Ocean possessions of the European Allies. The Dutch island of Java was next on the Japanese "hit list" and to avert another disaster, the Allies sent various naval units to the aid of the Dutch Admiral who was in overall command. These units included American, British and Australian ships. The operation seemed doomed from the beginning: conflicts in strategy and tactics, combined with differences in languages and signalling methods, along with a lack of knowledge and experience of Japanese tactics, made Allied success a long-shot. Nevertheless, this ad-hoc fleet was the only Allied force standing between Japan and the Empire's successful conquest of the major oil- and rubber-producing possessions in the Far East. The Battle of the Java Sea, while not as famous as the Battles of Midway and Coral Sea, constituted a major confrontation in the Pacific theater during World War II. It may remain "mysterious" to many military and WW2 buffs, but it had far-reaching consequences on the course of the Second World War. 32 pages, $3.75.

BRIEFLY

Here's a first look at the covers to Evie Ernie: The Horror #1, Sigil #30, Mystic #30, Route 666 #6, Ruse #14, Way of the Rat #7, The Path #9 and The Art of Frank Miller Hardcover.

GIVE'EM A CLICK