EDITOR'S NOTE: COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

The Continuum will provide full coverage direct from Comic-Con International this week in San Diego.

Look for the site to break format a bit with more than once-a-day updates throughout the week and weekend.

MIKE MIGNOLA TALKS HELLBOY MOVIE

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola told The Continuum that he is pleased with the progress of the Hellboy movie currently in production in Prague.

Mignola returned from the Czech Republic this week and is in San Diego for Comic-Con International. He signed at the Dark Horse booth on Wednesday night and will be part of a Sony presentation on the film on Saturday.

"It looks great. I saw a lot of the footage," Mignola told The Continuum. "And I was on set for three weeks, and it looks great. I'm very happy. They're done at the end of the month."

Mignola first spoke with director Guillermo del Toro some six years ago about the project, and both agreed then that Ron Perlman would be best to play the lead role. Mignola has had no second thoughts after Perlman was cast, nor since seeing him on set.

"I've always said that he would be perfect to play Hellboy and we were right," Mignola said. "He's just perfect. He's Hellboy. It's very strange because I would see him on set and he's the one guy that I wasn't surprised when I saw him. It was like, 'Well, of course.' It's just perfect.

"It's stranger when he walks on the set as Ron Perlman. It's like, 'Oh, Ron Perlman's here.' But when he's Hellboy, he's Hellboy."

Mignola said he has some mixed feelings about seeing Hellboy in a new medium like film.

"It's like raising a kid all by yourself for 10 years and then suddenly he's going off to college and you hope he's got it right," Mignola said. "It's very exciting, but it's very strange. And it's a little sad that it becomes this thing that's not manageable any more. But it's great. It's exciting to see it turn into something that's so far beyond anything you would have imagined."

It was recently announced that Hellboy would open next Memorial Day weekend.

"It's a big one," Mignola said of the weekend. "The studio is very excited; they're very happy with what they've seen."

Look for more on Hellboy soon here in The Continuum.

LADY DEATH MOVIE UPDATE

Andy Orjuela, producer of the Lady Death animated movie from ADV Films, told The Continuum that it will be released on Oct. 30, 2004.

Orjuela just returned from Korea, where he was overseeing production.

"I actually got to see a good portion of it," he said. "It's coming together pretty nicely."

Orjuela told The Continuum that casting for the official voice tracks will take place in March, with recording at the end of April. He hopes to have the film completed in time for Comic-Con International next year.

Although Lady Death has been relaunched at CrossGen, Orjuela said the movie will be closer to the Chaos! Comics roots of the character.

"It's definitely based off the original comics, although it's a little tighter and more complete," Orjuela said.

Orjuela will be part of an ADV panel on Lady Death on Friday at Comic-Con.

"We'll show a small sequence of key animation of line art and we'll show the trailer and some behind-the-scenes stuff," he said.

PUNISHER MOVIE UPDATE

The movie isn't even before cameras yet, but Artisan Entertainment is making a big splash for The Punisher at Comic-Con International.

A multi-piece sign standing more than 21 feet featuring The Punisher logo towers over the Artisan booth. It is one of the largest of many large displays in the exhibit hall, which is larger than any previous in Comic-Con history.

The Artisan booth also contains a grave site similar to the one shown in The Punisher teaser/trailer, showing Frank Castle's dates of birth and "death." Inside the booth, the teaser/trailer is being shown.

According to a representative of Artisan, the studio will be giving out pins from the movie, and T-shirts like the one shown here will also be available.

Filming of The Punisher - which stars Thomas Jane and John Travolta and is written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh - should begin by the end of the month.

Click on the images for larger and fuller images, and look for more on The Punisher very soon here in The Continuum.

DC COMICS ROUNDUP

DC Comics' booths at Comic-Con International contain numerous black-and-white previews for attendees to browse, revealing several new projects and release dates.

Following is a rundown of some of them:

* The Superman: Secret Identity mini-series by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen will launch in January. It will be four issues.

* Superman: The Kansas Sighting is a two-issue Elseworlds mini-series by J.M. DeMatteis and Jamie Tolagson that will be released next year.

* The Monolith is a new series starting in December. It is written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, with art by Phil Winslade.

* Batman Adventures: Harley & Ivy, a three-issue mini-series by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, starts in November.

* Batman: London by Night, an Elseworld project, is scheduled for January. It is written by Eddie Campbell and Darren White, with art by Campbell.

* The 7th Helper is also scheduled for January. It is written by Mo Williams, with art by Dietrich Smith and Walden Wong.

* Sam Kieth's Scratch will be released next year.

* Howard Chaykin's Mighty Love is targeted for a February release.

* It's A Bird, a Vertigo project by Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen, will be released next year.

DC will announce more details on these projects at Comic-Con and look for details and images here in The Continuum.

BARRY WEEN RETURNS

Oni Press announced on Thursday that Judd Winick will return next year with Barry Ween in Space.

"You think you've been wanting more Barry Ween?" asked Oni publisher Joe Nozemack. "Get in line! We've been wanting more Barry Ween. And every time one of you bugged us about the book, all three of us would bug Judd individually-making it three times the bugging! We are the naggiest publisher in comics."

"It's true," Winick confirmed. "It was like something off an early episode of The Simpsons. 'Will you do more Barry Ween?' 'No.' 'Will you do more Barry Ween?' 'No!' 'Will you do more Bar-' 'Fine! Okay! Leave me alone!' I got so sick of seeing Jamie Rich outside my house dressed like a Dickensian orphan, I had no choice but to pick up my ink brush.

"All kidding aside," Winick said, "returning to Barry is like returning home after a long time away. He's always been on my mind, and when I am sketching just for fun, it's usually Barry I end up drawing. This reunion of the gang has been a long time coming. Don't worry. Jeremy is going to get this whole mess rolling, and he and Roxie and Barry are going to tear the cosmos apart!"

There's no release date yet.

"We don't want to release Barry Ween in Space until the project is completely good to go," Nozemack said, "but rest assured that 2004 will be a lot funnier than 2003. And it's all because of a certain boy genius."

SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE

GIVE'EM A CLICK

Greg Johnson, story editor and head writer of X-Men: Evolution, has written "Law of the Jungle," one of two new episodes of MTV's Spider-Man animated series airing on Friday.

Johnson recently was given a preview tape of the episode by Spider-Man executive producer Audu Paden.

"He said it was one of his favorite episodes," Johnson told The Continuum. "I liked what I saw of it."

Johnson said the episode deals with the origin of the Lizard, and at one time was going to be a Doctor Octopus story. Rob Zombie provides the voice of Dr. Connors/The Lizard.

Johnson, who wrote the episode a year ago, dealt with the Spider-Man in the first time in a career that also has seen him work on such Marvel shows as Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.

"Out of all the Marvel characters, Spider-Man was the one I seemed to connect with more than any of the others," he said. "Of course, since then I've grown to love X-Men."

Johnson told The Continuum he has written several episodes for Season 4 of X-Men: Evolution. He also is developing a new Thunderbirds series with former X-Men: Evolution story editor Bob Forward.

MARVEL'S SECOND WAVE FOR TSUNAMI

All of the initial launch books of Marvel's Tsunami titles - Runaways, Sentinel, Mystique, Venom, Namor and Human Torch - begin brand new story arcs in October.

To mark the occasion, as well as Marvel's continued commitment to the titles, four of the six titles will ship two issues in October - some with new creators like Venom's Paco Medina and Mystique's Michael Ryan. Plus, each issue beginning a new story arc will feature a special metallic ink on black enhanced cover, at no extra charge.

Here's a look at all the titles beginning new story arcs in October, along with a sneak peak of the special enhanced covers.

VENOM #6 & 7

Written by Daniel Way, penciled by Paco Medina, covers by Medina (#6) and Sam Kieth #7.

On the loose from an Arctic research facility and pursued by a mysterious alien agent, Venom is headed to civilization. Hungry and craving adrenaline, Venom sets his sights on a tasty little snack - a short, hairy Canadian guy with a bad temper...

32 pages, $2.25.

MYSTIQUE #7 & 8

Written by Brian K. Vaughan, penciled by Michael Ryan, covers by Adrian Alphona (#7), Greg Horn (#8).

"Tinker, Tailor, Mutant, Spy" pts. 1 and 2 of 3. Mystique's new assignment from Xavier is to track down a possible new biological weapon: mutant anthrax that spreads telepathically. But Mystique is getting restless following Xavier's orders... and he might not be the only boss she's working for these days...

RUNAWAYS #7

32 pages, $2.99. Written by Brian K. Vaughan, cover and pencils by Adrian Alphona.

"Teenage Wasteland" pt. 1 of 4. Still on the run from their super-villain parents, this motley crew of superpowered kids finds a kindred spirit in a daring young stranger.

32 pages, $2.50.

SENTINEL #7 & 8

Written by Sean McKeever, covers and pencils by UDON.

"No Hero," parts 1 and 2 of 3. In the aftermath of the events of the first story arc, Juston must decide his next move. But has the Marvel Universe given birth to a new hero ... or to a monster?

32 pages, $2.50.

NAMOR #7 & 8

Written by Andi Watson and Bill Jemas, pencils by Pat Olliffe, covers by Salvador Larroca (#7) and Greg Horn (#8).

New artists Pat Olliffe and John Livesay illustrate the mounting culture clash between Atlantis and the landlubbers, with star-crossed lovers Sandy and Prince Namor caught in the middle.

32 pages, $2.99.

HUMAN TORCH #7

Written by Karl Kesel, cover and pencils by Skottie Young.

"Out," part 1 of 2. It's the scoop of the century when a Hollywood tabloid drags Johnny Storm out of the closet! The only problem is, Johnny isn't gay ...

32 pages, $2.50.

IDW TO PUBLISH THE SHIELD

IDW Publishing is turning the FX television series The Shield into a comic book beginning in December.

"We're all fans of The Shield at IDW," editor-in-chief Jeff Mariotte said. "Every time we talked about other potential TV licenses to followup CSI, The Shield was at the top of the list. Getting thechance to play in the sandbox created by Shawn Ryan and the show's amazing writers, directors and cast is a dream come true."

The Shield's series premiere, on March 12th, 2002 achieved ratings history as the most-watched original series premiere in cable television series history. It was also the most-watched entertainment program in FX'sseven-year history. During the course of its first six weeks The Shield became ad-supported cable's #1 rated original drama.

The Shield breaks the conventional formula of the cop genre. It plays out in a tough, morally ambiguous world in which the line between good and bad is crossed every day. It focuses on the tension between a group of corrupt but effective cops and a captain torn between bringing them down and advancing his own political ambitions.

Series star Michael Chiklis, as Detective Vic Mackey, won 2002's Emmy for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series, the first Emmy ever awarded to any show on FX.; The show was also nominated for writing and directing Emmys. Chiklis also won 2003's Golden Globe, and The Shield won the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Series on television.

The Shield comics will debut in late 2003.

BRIEFLY

GIVE'EM A CLICK

Coming Friday: News from Comic-Con -- and much more!!!

E-mail the Continuum at RobAlls@aol.com

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