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Thursday, January 23, 2003



BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER UPDATE

GIVE'EM A CLICK

UPN has released three images of Ashanti from her upcoming appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Ashanti, a multiple Grammy Award nominee, plays Lissa on the "First Date" episode, which is scheduled to air on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Here's how the network describes the episode:

"Buffy goes on a date with Principal Wood, while Xander goes on date with an evil woman."

Look for more Buffy the Vampire Slayer news soon here in The Continuum.

HULK MOVIE UPDATE

A commercial for The Hulk movie should air some time during the first quarter of Sunday's Super Bowl coverage on ABC.

The time is premium because viewership can fall off if the game becomes a rout. Sources told The Continuum the trailer will show the full size and might of the computer-created Hulk.

In other Hulk movie news:

The United States Playing Card Company will be releasing two decks of playing cards based on images and characters from the movie, as well as a collectible tin that includes the two decks.

These will ship to retail in early June, in advance of the movie.

"Based on the overwhelmingly favorable response we received to the decks and collectible tins based on the Spider-Man movie that we released in 2002, we expect this playing card series to be quite successful," said George White, vice president, marketing of the United States Playing Card Company.

IMAGE COMICS FIRST LOOKS

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

Titles include Savage Dragon #104, Electropolis #4, Tech Jacket #3 and Venture #1.

DC COMICS FIRST LOOKS

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

Titles include JLA #77, The Filth #8, Gotham Central #, Global Frequency #4 and Robotech Sourcebook.

UPCOMING DC DIRECT PRODUCTS

DC Comics has announced new products from DC Direct, due in comics shops in August.

For a complete rundown, with images, CLICK HERE.


IDW PUBLISHES STEVE NILES' QUEEN BOUDICCA

Steve Niles, who scored a hit with 30 Days of Night, has announced his newest project for IDW Publishing: Queen Boudicca: The Warrior Queen

Queen Boudicca: The Warrior Queen tells the tale of a time and a people like no other. The time of 60 AD was not one of cheery knights and noble ways. It was a time when women fought alongside men in battle, as equals. A time when a Queen suffered horrible humiliations by the Romans and fought back with such savage rage that the very Earth bears marks of her struggle to this very day.

"I've been obsessed with Queen Boudicca's story for years," Niles said. "It's an amazing story. Boudicca was a woman in her 40s, old for her time, who lived as a Queen until her husband died, leaving her at the cruel hands of the Romans. But she didn't fold. She stood up and fought back. In fact, the scars of her attack on London remain to this day, as she scorched the city to the ground. Boudicca is a true example of what someone is capable of when pushed too far by evil."

"The best way that I can think of to describe Queen Boudicca is that it's a mix of the films Gladiator and Braveheart, with the motherhood of Aliens II," added IDW Publishing VP of Sales and Marketing, Beau Smith.

Niles will be teaming with newcomer artist MILX.

"This guy showed up on my messageboard and posted some of his art. He's amazing and I can't wait to spring him on the comics industry," Niles said. "Everything I've seen so far perfectly captures the time period and the tone of the story."

The release date and format information for Queen Boudicca has yet to be determined.

BILL JEMAS TALKS NAMOR

Bill Jemas, who is writing Marvel's upcoming Namor book with Andi Watson, said that the upcoming Sub-Mariner movie was an impetus for the new title.

Namor is part of Marvel's Tsunami initative, and Jemas, Marvel Comics COO, talked about the title during a phone press conference on Wednesday.

"Namor, the Sub-Mariner is a real part of the fabric of Marvel's history and at one time had been one of the most important early characters in the universe," Jemas said. "And within the next couple of years, Namor is going Hollywood. Universal Studios purchased the rights to the character, they have a first-class creative team in full-scale development of the property and our job at Marvel - as you saw with Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men and then Daredevil and Elektra and the Hulk - and once we know a property is going Hollywood and characters are going to hit the big screen, we make a real emphasis to do the things that comics book do best, which is help get a groundswell behind the character early and also relate the character in terms that a very, very important comic-book market can understand.

"One of the reasons Hollywood is so interested in comic books is because that they like the buzz that comic-book fans create and they understand that comic-book fans in general are pretty good at predicting media trends.

"So our job is to get out there and make Namor work in the comic-book market."

Jemas said he got two types of pitches for the book.

"One was people that were so tired of the old Namor stories that they had the character walk around the Rust Belt with a backpack," he said. "You know, 'I am the former prince of Atlantis hiding out in Pittsburgh working at a diner.' Which I think has nothing to do with the essence.

"Or they were so in love with the stories they were doing what I called 'tiptoeing through the tuna.' Some folks were entirely preachers of 50s, 60s and 70s story-telling."

Jemas said that the approach to Namor will be consistent with the original stories, time periods and settings.

"Namor is a wonderful character, a fiery young man with significant passion," Jemas said. "And the book is a love story and a political story set in Atantis in the 1930s. There's nothing about the book that is terribly inconsistent with continuity."

NEW SIDEKICKS SPECIAL

Oni Press has announced the return of the "comicdom's hippest superpowered teens," J. Torres and Takeshi Miyazawa's Sidekicks, with a one-shot in May.

Sidekicks Super Fun Special is a 32-page collection of stories about Terry and her pals' summer vacation written by Torres and illustrated by some of the comics industry's top artists.

"With Takeshi busy with work in Japan, we knew it was going to be a while before we could do the next miniseries," Torres said. "But neither one of us wanted to go a full year without any Sidekicks-type fun. Our solution? We called in some of our most talented friends to give us a hand."

The different stories in the book focus on a variety of summer outings by the kids of Shuster Academy -- each one illustrated by a different creator.

Garth, the teen-aged werewolf, goes to grandma's house courtesy of Scott Morse's brush. Kurtis, Mark, and Steve visit the season's hottest music festival-Onipalooza-thanks to the talents of Steve Rolston. Finally, Terry and the girls face a post-finals test as they try to pick out new swimsuits with the help of Mike Wieringo. A framing sequence by co-creator Takeshi Miyazawa ties it all together and a new cover by Miyazawa and Arthur Dela Cruz (who also contributes a pin-up) wraps it all up in one hot little package!

"When J. first came to me with the idea for this special I was a little skeptical," said series editor James Lucas Jones. "To me J. plus Tak equaled Sidekicks and I wasn't necessarily interested in messing with an equation that had worked so well. Then he told me who he wanted to bring in. You'd have to be crazy to turn down a line-up like this!"

"This Super Fun Summer Special provides the perfect break between Sidekicks sessions," Torres concluded. "I'm just excited about all the people who showed up for my little end-of-the-school-year party!"

Sidekicks Super Fun Summer Special retails for $2.95. It has 32 pages of black and white story and art and a color cover by Miyazawa and Dela Cruz. It ships to comic book stores on May 28.

BRIEFLY

  • DC Comics is rushing back to press for a second printing of the sold-out Fables: Legends in Exile trade paperback. It is scheduled to be in stores on Feb. 19.

    "I'm understandably pleased that the first Fables trade is selling so well," said writer Bill Willingham. "According to the anecdotal evidence making its way to me, the series appeals not only to established comics fans, but is helping to grow new readers, as the books are passed on to wives, moms, and other non-comics reading friends and relations."

  • Coming Friday: Marvel news, animation news - and much more!!!


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