Friday, February 18, 2005
MARVEL COMICS FOR MAY
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Marvel Comics has released its solicitations for May.
For a complete rundown, with cover images, CLICK HERE.
For a rundown of trade paperbacks, with cover images, CLICK HERE.
BATTLE POPE RETURNS AT IMAGE
Robert Kirkman is bring Battle Pope -- originally published by Funk-o-tron from 2000 to 2002 -- back into print through Image Comics starting in June.
The monthly series will showcase stores by Kirkman and Tony Moore in color the first time.
"Val Staples, the cover colorist on the original series has always been
Battle Pope's biggest fan," Kirkman said. "He loves the book, always has. Ever since he started coloring the covers he's always been itching to color the book. At
one point he had even asked about doing a color trade through MV Creations. I've always been open to the idea and with the fifth anniversary of the first issue's debut coming up in June I thought now would be the perfect time to do it."
"Battle Pope is Robert Kirkman Unleashed," said Eric Stephenson, Image's executive director. "Completely over the top. Completely insane. If your perception of Robert is based solely on Invincible, The Walking Dead and Marvel Team-Up, prepared to be knocked for a loop."
The first 15 issues of the monthly Battle Pope will present the original series of mini-series, as well as the individual Battle Pope one-shots. As for what might come after Kirkman runs out of material to reprint -- which won't be until 2007 -- he is leaving the door open for new POPE stories.
"I may just continue the numbering and do new stuff, but we'll see when we
get there," Kirkman said "There was never an ending for the book, the last
issue didn't really have any kind of closure, so doing new stuff wouldn't be
a bad idea."
The original Battle Pope saga was composed of a series of inter-related
mini-series, and included Battle Pope #1-4, Battle Pope Shorts #1, Battle Pope
Mayhem #1-2, Battle Pope Shorts #2-3, Battle Pope Christmas Popetacular,
Battle Pope Wrath of God #1-3 and Battle Pope Presents: St Michael #1-3.
"The original Pope stuff was a series of scattered mini-series and one
shots, and none of them were terribly self-contained stories," Kirkman said.
"It was written like a regular series with subplots and stuff carrying over
from one book to the next. So it's almost like we're finally getting it
right. Doing this book as Battle Pope #1-15 makes much more sense."
The series featured Moore as artist on the lion's share of pages but
also showcased early work by Cory Walker, E.J. Su, Mark Kidwell, Matthew Roberts, Terry Stevens and even a few by Kirkman himself. All the issues will eventually be collected in the new series, along with material originally created exclusively for the black-and-white Battle Pope trade paperback collections.
Moore is providing brand new covers for the book, and Staples is coloring the whole series.
IMAGE COMICS' GIRLS
Girls, a 12-issue maxi-series by brothers Joshua and Jonthan Luna -- the creators of Ultra -- launches on May 25 from Image Comics.
Here's how Image describes the series:
"This time around, the Lunas tell the tale of an average guy named Ethan
Daniels who's never had much luck with women. Until he meets an unnamed
mystery girl, that is. And this girl, he soon discovers, is no ordinary
girl. Like most women, she holds secrets beyond his understanding. But in
this case, those secrets might end up impacting not just Ethan's future, but
that of the whole world. Along the way, Ethan learns much about himself and
his own approach to the opposite sex.
"The story takes place in the fictional, rural setting of Pennystown, USA. Completely immersed in Mother Nature, life is beautiful and serene in this sleepy little town, but it's long overdue for a wake up call."
Joshua Luna, who writes the book and co-plots with his brother Jonathan -- who
illustrates the book -- described Girls as "a horror/thriller, wrapped in a
love story, snuggled in a mystery, sprinkled with comedy."
Said Jonathan: "In a sense, Girls is the total opposite of Ultra," Jonathan said. "The
hero is a guy, it's set in a rural town as opposed to the metropolitan
Spring City. And I think we're going to get a little bit darker with this
one -- Ultra hinted at some of the darkness welling up in our heads."
BRIEFLY
* New Line has announced a May 3 release date for Blade: Trinity on DVD.
* According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Fonda is in negotiations and Donal Logue has joined the cast of the Ghost Rider movie. Fonda would play the role of Mephistopheles, and Logue will play Mack, Johnny's chief mechanic and best friend who soups up Johnny's motorcycles for his stunts.
* According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Purefoy has signed on to star opposite Natalie Portman in the V for Vendetta movie.
* The Fall, a graphic novel, by Ed Brubaker and Jason Lutes, has been optioned for a film by David Goyer with producers Bently Tittle and Pascale Faubert. Brubaker will write, with Goyer directing and producing.
* Coming Saturday: Wonder-Con news and more!
COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES
In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links:
* For Saturday, Feb. 12, including Painkiller Jane movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 11, including an interview with Constantine's Shia LaBeouf, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 10, including Man-Thing movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Wednesday, Feb. 9, including Dark Horse Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Tuesday, Feb. 8, including Fantastic Four movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 7, including Justice League Unlimited news, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 4, including Marvel Comics news, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 3, including NYX news, CLICK HERE.
* For Wednesday, Feb. 2, including Marvel news, CLICK HERE.
* For Tuesday, Feb. 1, including The Simpsons news, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Jan. 31, including an interview with Constantine's Rachel Weisz, CLICK HERE.
* For Saturday, Jan. 29, including Constantine movie news, CLICK HERE.
Copyright © 2005, The Comics Continuum