Thursday, June 12, 2003
HULK MOVIE UPDATE
Gale Anne Hurd, producer of the Hulk movie, said that the Marvel Comics character has elements of Shakespearean tragedy.
"There was real elemental drama of the human condition in this character," Hurd said. "What I always liked about the Hulk was that he was a hero, but not really a super hero, not when compared to the other Marvel crime-fighting characters.
"The Jekyll and Hyde conflicted intrigued me. Part of it is a cautionary tale, not only about the demons that we have to terms with inside ourselves, but it is also a bit of a commentary about the ramifications of having the technology to create a Hulk. The comic book dealt with Cold War issues, but we've been able to update it and it's relevant, if not more relevant, now."
Hurd, who has worked 12 years to bring the Hulk to the big screen, said that technology has caught up to the filmmakers' wishes during that time.
"We now have the technology to creat the Hulk the way it should always have been approached," Hurd said. "Now with CGI, with the technologies that have been developed at Industrial Light & Magic, we are able to go beyond what could have been imagined on the television show or even on film.
"There might have been ways to put the Hulk on screen before now, but it wouldn't have been the Hulk imagined by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby."
In other Hulk news:
* Jennifer Connelly, who plays Betty Ross, will be featured on Extra on Thursday night.
* MTV's Hulk special premiered on Thursday night. It included comments from former Hulk writer Peter David and Marvel editors Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso.
The show will repeat Friday at 8:30 p.m. (ET), Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
* Look for more Hulk news soon here in The Continuum, and for 120 stills from the movie, CLICK HERE.
JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED UPDATE
Cartoon Network has released more detailed loglines for the two-part "Twilight" episode of Justice League.
"Twilight" will air on Saturday, July 5 as part of the three-hour "Justice for All" event. The Justice League episode will be preceded by four Superman episodes, the two-part "Apokolips Now" and "Legacy" episodes.
Here's how the network describes part one of the "Twilight" episode
"When a mysterious alien menace threatens to destroy Apokolips, Darkseid turns to the Justice League for help. Superman does not trust his old foe, but his fellow superheroes convince the Man of Steel to come to Darkseid's defense."
Here's how part two is described:
"Darkseid's longtime enemies on neighboring planet New Genesis, High Father and Orion, believe Darkseid may be fooling the Justice League. Meanwhile, Superman faces both Darkseid and another foe in a deadly battle that could destroy the Man of Steel."
Justice League returns with more all-new episodes in October.
Among the developments set for the new season include the return of both Vandal Savage and Aquaman, Las Vegas hijinks from Joker and Harley Quinn and a Christmas episode. In addition, classic characters make their Justice League series debut, including Amazo, Dr. Destiny, Despero and Dr. Fate.
JOE QUESADA TALKS BORN
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Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said that Born, the mini-series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, reveals the origin of The Punisher "that no one knows about."
"Two or three years ago I asked Garth to redefine The Punisher, and he came in and he did that," Quesada said recently during the Wizard World East convention. "During that stint, I asked Garth if he could come up with a more elaborate origin sequence of The Punisher.
"And he kind of felt it was perfect the way it was, the way it happened in the park was pretty much a good enough incident to get Frank Castle into the psychopathic mode he eventually got into.
"And then thinking about it a little further, Garth realized that he actually did have the origin of The Punisher. And he wasn't in Central Park. It actually happened way, way before."
Quesada praised Robertson's art.
"This is very, very detailed oriented and research intensive," Quesada said. "They really caught the Viet Nam period.
"And for those of you who ask, 'Well how the hell did Frank Castle fight in Viet Nam? How does he still remain a youthful Punisher today?,' this actually answers the question."
Born #1 goes on sale on June 25. Quesada noted that the soldier part of the Born logo has been eliminated. The covers are by Wieslaw Walkuski.
GREEN LANTERN HONORED WITH GLAAD AWARD
On May 31, Green Lantern was honored for the second consecutive year with the GLAAD Award for "Outstanding Comic." The award was given for the storyline "Hate Crime," from issues #154-155, in which Kyle Rayner's assistant, Terry Berg, became the victim of a vicious attack.
"More than anything, I was proud that we put the issue of hate crimes out there," writer Judd Winick said in his acceptance speech. "The media never seems to cover the issue unless someone is attacked, beaten or murdered. In our case, we put out a comic-book story, and it was in the New York Times and picked up by the AP. Hate crimes got national coverage because of a few comics.
"Green Lantern's 'Hate Crime' story comes from myself, artist Dale Eaglesham, our editor Bob Schreck, the folks at DC Comics who backed us 100%, and of course our readers. The support we've received has been an inspiration."
Winick also won the "Outstanding Comic" award in 2001 for his graphic novel Pedro and Me.
"This storyline has meant so much to myself, Judd and Paul Levitz, who supported us from the very beginning," Schreck said. "The greatest reward is knowing that perhaps, in some small way, this story has helped someone, somewhere. This award is a cherished reminder of that fact, and we're very honored."
The storyline is collected in the Green Lantern: Brother's Keeper TP, which reaches stores this week.
FIRST LOOK: FREEMIND #7
Freemind #7 will be available from Future Comics. The issue is written by David Michelinie, pencilled by Bob Hall, inked by Jose' Marzan and olored by Tom Smith, with a cover by Giordano and Bob Layton.
Here's how Future describes the issue:
"Crippled genius Mac Flint, in the guise of FlinTech troubleshooter Edison Wilde, is hot on the trail of the mastermind responsible for his recent kidnapping. Security Chief Rico Sanchez joins forces with the android Wilde as clues begin to point to a source much closer than anyone suspected."
Freemind #7 will be 22 pages and will cost $2.99.
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BRIEFLY
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