Friday, October 4, 2002

X-MEN: EVOLUTION UPDATE

A new episode of X-Men: Evolution, "The Stuff of Villains," will air this Saturday on Kids' WB!.

The episode is written by Adam Beechen and directed by Gary Graham.

"What I like about this episode is the shift in tone," X-Men: Evolution story editor Greg Johnson told The Continuum. "The previous three episodes have dealt with some fairly weighty issues, and it's time for a breather. The Brotherhood Boys have a pretty strong presence in this one, and whenever they're involved, humorously odd things tend to happen, with Toad stealing the show, once again.

"But I have the feeling most eyes will be on a certain Cajun fellow."

That "Cajun fellow," of course, is Gambit who was featured in promos for the episode and gets his most significant screen time in the episode. He also speaks for the first time.

Click on the thumbnails below for screen grabs from the episode.

In other X-Men Evolution news:

* Last Saturday's episode ranked No. 1 among all time period competition in Boys 2-11 (4.8 rating/21 share), Boys 6-11 (6.3/29) and Tweens 9-14 (4.6/23) and among the time period broadcast competition in Kids 2-11 (3.5/16), Kids 6-11 (4.1/20), Girls 2-11 (2.2/10) and Girls 6-11 (1.9/10).

* Look for comments and images from the X-Men panel at last weekend's comic convention in Los Angeles this weekend here in The Continuum.

MARVEL'S MEKANIX

Following her appearance in X-Men Unlimited #38, Kitty Pryde returns in the Mekanix, a new six-issue miniseries by writer Chris Claremont and artists Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa.

The story features Kitty tending bar at the University of Chicago.

"Kitty has always been the innocent window through which we saw the consequences of racism that the X-Men faced," editor Andrew Lis said. "Here, she opens that window on a very human level, showing us not other galaxies, but the everyday prejudices that we all face."

Kitty isn't the only familiar face making a comeback. Featured on the interior pages below with the dyed blonde hair is the former New Mutant named Karma.

The first issue of the mini-series arrives in stores on Wednesday. Covers are by fashion designer Celia Calle.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

CROSSGEN COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For four- or five-page previews and covers to CrossGen Comics titles arriving in stores next week, CLICK HERE.

Titles include The First #24, Mystic #29, Negation: Lawbringer #1 and Way of the Rat #6.

MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS COMIC

This December, Airwave Comics is publishing the official comic-book adaptation of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.

This marks the first time Mr. Magoo has been published in comic books since 1965 and coincides with the return of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol to primetime TV on NBC, also this December.

"This is a great opportunity for Airwave Comics," said Airwave publisher Richard Maurizio. "Mr. Magoo is an icon and it's an honor to publish a comic book based on one of America's favorite holiday specials."

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol is the first-ever animated special produced exclusively for television. Originally aired on NBC-TV in 1962, this program remains a staple of holiday specials. To commemorate the fortieth anniversary of this landmark program, NBC-TV will air Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol this holiday season in a prime-time slot.

Since 1949 Mr. Magoo has bumbled his way from comic good fortune time after time. Voiced by Jim Backus, the myopic Magoo was an instant animated hit and went on to become a classic character starring in Academy Award -winning theatrical shorts, three TV series, two holiday television specials and a live-action film.

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol Official Comic Adaptation will be published as a 56-page commemorative comic book in two formats: a limited-edition version packaged with the DVD of the classic program ($22.98) and a standard comic book ($7.98). Both versions contain the comic-book adaptation of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, two all-new stories, a reprint of a classic Mr. Magoo comic-book story from the 1950s, and a surprise interview with an animation artist that contributed to classic Mr. Magoo cartoons.

BRIEFLY