X-MEN SEQUEL UPDATE

Hugh Jackman, who returns as Wolverine in the X-Men sequel, said his fight with Kelly Hu's Lady Deathstrike will be "ferocious."

"When Wolverine encounters Deathstrike, he's pitched in a ferocious, fierce, ugly, flesh-tearing battle," Jackman said.

Jackman's comments came Tuesday night during FX's airing of the first X-Men movie. Hu was the host for the wraparound segments, which included comments from Jackman, director Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Shuler Donner.

"With a name like Lady Deathstrike, I don't think that there's a mistake that she's a villain," Hu said.

"The wirework that is being done in this film … there's a lot of wires being wrapped around your body, so that they can yank it and your body go spinning in the air. It looks absolutely fantastic."

Singer said the filmmakers tried to do some "unexpected things" in the sequel.

"Even with all the Internet talk and all of the things that people know or think they know, there will still be some surprises," Singer said. "I guarantee it."

"I'll go out on a limb and say that X-Men 2 will deliver more than X-Men 1," Jackman said.

A scene involving Professor Xavier and Cyclops going to see Magneto in his plastic prison was shown, as Magneto tells Xavier that he has revealed all to Stryker before gas takes out both of them. Then, Cyclops takes on Lady Deathstrike and a couple of guards.

In other X-Men sequel news:

* The cover of the new issue of Glamour magazine, due in stores next week, features X2 stars Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique), Halle Berry (Storm) and Famke Janssen (Jean Grey).

* Chris Claremont's novelization of the movie is 408 pages.

* Look for The Continuum's daily coverage of X2 leading up to the May 2 release to continue on Thursday.

STREET FIGHTER COMICS FROM UDON, IMAGE

Image Comics announced Tuesday night that UDON has obtained the license to develop comics based on Capcom's Street Fighter, and Image will begin publishing the new series in September, with a special preview book available in August.

Street Fighter will be available in English worldwide, excluding Asia.

"We couldn't be more pleased to add Street Fighter to the Image lineup," said Image Publisher/Vice-President Jim Valentino. "What Erik Ko and his crew have done with these characters is truly stunning, and whether you're a long-time fan of the video game or you just like great-looking comics, you're going to want this book!"

Street Fighter was first developed as a video game by the Japanese company Capcom and quickly became one of the most popular arcade games of the '80s. An action fighting game, Street Fighter features different characters from around the world participating in a massive tournament. Each fighter has a unique history and they all have their own special moves. A number of crossover games have been published, incorporating various other properties, including Marvel Comics characters.

"Street Fighter is a landmark in arcade and console video games," said Ko, UDON's chief of operations. "It defines the combat fighting game genre that is still very popular nowadays. And the SF franchise is alive and well after almost 15 years, with various incarnations of the game still available in arcades and home console systems."

"Essentially, Street Fighter is to video games what Star Wars is to film. Everyone who has played video games is familiar with Street Fighter. And with various generations of the SF games available, it has created a whole universe of characters and everyone who has played the game loves at least one or two of them."

Street Fighter will be written by Ken Siu-Chong, whose past credits include Marvel's Taskmaster, X-Men Unlimited, Fantastic Four and Mangaverse: Avengers Assemble. Siu-Chong is currently working on WildStorm's Robotech.

The artwork for Street Fighter will be handled by a rotating creative team that includes Alvin Lee, Arnold Tsang and Andrew Hou. Lee and Tsang will be doing the black-and-white art, while Tsang will also be doing colors with Hou. Lee is perhaps best known to the US comic readers through his run on Marvel's Deadpool and Agent X.

"Doing a Street Fighter comic is our dream come true," Ko said. "We've all been highly influenced by the Capcom art style and getting involved in this project has been very exciting for us. We choose this to be our first independent project because Street Fighter has such a wide array of characters, each of which are unique in his/her own way and there is just so much interesting story to tell."

JOSHUA MIDDLETON EXCLUSIVE TO MARVEL

Marvel Comics announced that artist Joshua Middleton has agreed to an exclusive creator contract through 2004.

Middleton will be regular cover artist of the May-debuting New Mutants ongoing series, as well as interior artist for the enigmatic NYX series, debuting later in this year.

Middleton's agreement gives him the opportunity to pursue all aspects of the artistic process for his Marvel work, from pencils to inks to colors.

"What has pleased me so much is Marvel's willingness to embrace my process, allowing me to create good work the only way I feel I've been successful - on my own," said Middleton. "It has not been my experience that this is normally the case in the mainstream arena, so the notion that I could work for Marvel Comics and be able to handle every aspect of the art is just remarkable."

Middleton's agreement with Marvel allows him to continue work on his creator-owned project, Sky Between Branches.

"There was never a question of what to do with Sky between Branches, as Marvel offered from the outset to allow me to continue on with the project should I desire to do so," said Middleton.

"I've been such a huge fan of Josh's work, but it wasn't until I saw the work he was doing in Sky Between Branches that it became very evident that this guy was onto something completely different and stylistically unexplored in comics," said Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. "His impeccable draftsmanship coupled with great storytelling and a unique color sensibility makes Josh, in my mind, one of the hottest new talents to keep an eye on. I so firmly believe this that I... hmm, actually, that's an announcement for another day!

"We're thrilled that Josh has come on board and joined the Marvel family. So far he's thrilled Marvelites with his beautiful covers and a few pages here and there, just wait until he sinks his teeth into one of our ongoing books!"

New Mutants, an ongoing series by writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with pencils by Keron Grant and covers by Middleton, launches on May 21.

CROSSGEN'S MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE COLLECTION

MVCreations will begin its rollout of CrossGen Entertainment projects on July 9 with Masters of the Universe Vol. 1: The Shard of Darkness, a 112-page trade paperback printed in CrossGen's 8" x 5" Traveler format.

Priced at $9.95, the debut volume marks the first time that CGE will publish a collected edition in this format for its initial print run.

Reprinting the four-issue miniseries originally published by Image Comics, The Shard of Darkness opens as strange events trouble the Masters of the Universe. Determined to unearth the cause of the calamity, the heroic He-Man sets forth on a dangerous quest to end the crisis--but the sinister Skeletor and his merciless minions have other ideas.

The story is by writer Val Staples, penciler Emiliano Santalucia and inker Marco Failla.

"We had seen and heard a lot of positive feedback about the Traveler-sized collections from CGE," said Staples, president of MVCreations. "In a day and age where trades are becoming more and more popular, the Travelers are priced to move, and a brilliant way to give readers a lot of bang for their buck.

"If you want a fun read that accessible to all ages, then The Shard of Darkness is for you. Intended as a beginning point for new readers, the story jumps right into the action, providing a natural flow of information as the story progresses. This way you're not buried in excessive explanation. And retailers searching for a product that they can use to reach out to younger readers should be happy to hear that the story matches perfectly with the new toy line and cartoon."

IMAGE COMICS' HELLHOUNDS

Hellhounds, an all-new ongoing series, will debut in August from Image Comics.

Written by George T. Singley with artwork by Joe Abraham, Hellhounds is described as "an altogether different look at the world of superheroes, approaching one of comics' most popular genres from a perspective that is far from typical."

Instead of imbuing a couple of inherently noble characters with fantastic abilities, Singley is exploring how superpowers change the lives of two people whose morals are slightly more ambiguous.

Here's how Image describes the book:

"In Hellhounds, those two people are a pair of elite bounty hunters, King and Shock, who are regularly hired for special missions involving the defense of Earth by any means necessary. It's a fairly cut-and-dried job, until they begin to develop super powers via an unknown source. Suddenly, both Shock and King begin to take a closer look at themselves and what they do as they consider the incredible responsibility that comes with possessing super powers."

"I love superheroes, but like most readers who've been with comics for a while, I'm well aware that a lot has been done with the genre," Singley said. "With Hellhounds, my goal is to explore a completely different aspect of being or becoming a 'superhero.' On one level, King and Shock are used to performing 'heroic' acts -- sometimes by less than 'heroic' means -- for the greater good of society and due to their human limitations, they're more or less accepted as 'heroes.' What happens, though, when they suddenly gain abilities that make their tasks easier, not to mention as more tempting?"

In addition to artist Abraham, Hellhounds will feature colorist David Self and letterer Steve Dutro.

"It's great to have such a fantastic team of pros working on this book with me," Singley said. "Joe Abraham is one of the best artists in the industry today, his storytelling and character work is just phenomenal, and this story really comes alive with his artwork. David Self's coloring is nothing short of gorgeous, as anyone who has seen his collaborations with Rob Haynes will attest. Steve Dutro is one of the most prolific 'hand' letterers on the market -- he letters more books in a day than most fellow pros do in a month. All of these guys just astound me every time I look at their work -- they're really making Hellhounds shine."

Singley has lined up different artists to contribute covers to the first issue of Hellhounds, including Ryan Sook, Casey Jones and Tomm Coker.

ONI'S MADMAN SPECIAL

Oni Press has announced a July release for Madman Super-Groovy King-Size Special, a 56-page, squarebound, full-color one-shot.

The bulk of the book will be a brand-new, full-length story written and drawn by Madman creator Mike Allred. The rest of the book will be rounded out by unique takes on the characters by three artists hand-picked by Allred himself: Daniel Krall, Nick Derington and Steven Weissman.

"It's always the first question out of any fan's mouth," Oni Press publisher Joe Nozemack said. "'When is Mike going to do more Madman?' They always say they love The Atomics and X-Statix, but they want more Frank Einstein. Now they can scoot their chair up to the table and prepare to feast!"

"Madman is my baby boy," Allred said. "I can't go too long without seeing him. Since the next big Madman miniseries is taking longer than expected, I decided I needed to do something to give him some exercise. A cool annual like the old DC books, with lots of extra, out-of-continuity stories, seemed like a good way to go."

In typical Madman style, the off-center hero gets caught up in a mental brawl between two scientists-one slightly madder than the other-that also involves a strange swamp monster and a few perils of the heart.

"Mike has a sense of heroism and romance that is unparalleled in any entertainment medium," Oni Press editor-in-chief Jamie S. Rich said. "This Special has all the classic elements that made people go cuckoo for Madman in the first place."

"It's been almost a tradition with Madman that I open it up for other artists to interpret the character," Allred said. "The entire Madman Picture Exhibition is testament to that. In this case, Jamie and I talked about a lot of different people. Our mandate for the three guys who we ended up asking was that these stories would be their personal approach to the character. I didn't want them just telling a story I'd tell. You don't ask these guys to do anything but what they do best."

Madman Super-Groovy King-Size Special will arrive in stores on July 9 and will cost $6.95.

NEW ANGEL EPISODE

The WB has announced a new episode of Angel, "The Magic Bullet," will air on Wednesday, April 16.

Here's how the network describes the episode:

"With Angel (David Boreanaz) and the others under Jasmine's (guest star Gina Torres) extraordinarily divine power, Fred's (Amy Acker) life is in danger and she goes on the run. After discovering the secret to breaking Jasmine's spell over the nation's citizens, Fred must find a way to save the others before she's captured and killed."

The episode was written and directed by executive producer Jeffrey Bell.

BRIEFLY

Coming Thursday: DC news -- and much more!!!

E-mail the Continuum at RobAlls@aol.com

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