MARVEL PRESS CONFERENCE: WHITE TIGER

Marvel Comics staged a press conference on Thursday for its upcoming White Tiger series, featuring the book's writers, young adult novelist Tamora Pierce and her husband Tim Liebe, and editor Ruwan Jayatilleke.

Scheduled as a six-issue mini-series, White Tiger launches on Nov. 15.

Following are highlights from the press conference:

* Pierce described herself as "a very unothrodox second-wave feminist" who has always been drawn to primarily female heroes.

She said she was a big fan of the Daughters of the Dragon. "When I was forming my adult writing self, the two most effective female warrior heroes in fiction or comics were Misty Knight and Colleen Wing," she said. "They had an incredible effect on me in terms of shaping what would become my own warriors."

Asked about how Angela del Toro, would differ from the previous White Tiger, her uncle Hector Ayala, Pierce said, "This is a new century. She is a female. She is gentically diffenert. OK, Hector, that was you and this is now. I would look more to the Colleen Wing/Misty Knight model. They had their feet on the ground."

Pierce also noted that Angela at 28 is older than Hector was when he became White Tiger and is a proven commodity as a cop and an FBI agent.

* Jayatilleke said that, with White Tiger, Pierce and Liebe have created "a real feet-of-clay super-hero story."

"She's trying to find her way," he said.

* According to Pierce and Liebe, characters showing up in White Tiger will include Daredevil, Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Curt Connors.

"I'm having fun with Black Widow and I thought I would never have fun with Black Widow," Pierce said.

* Jayatilleke said White Tiger takes place before Civil War.

* Asked about White Tiger's costume, Pierce said, "She looks attractive and at the same time, she looks pracitcal. The fanboys will probably miss the balloon fixation and the large portion of bare acreage, but she looks good."

* Pierce said she anticipates bring some of her fan base -- and new readers to comics -- with White Tiger. She has promoted the book on her web site and message boards.

Plus, she said she hopes to bring new readers to her work. "Comics carry this cache that kids and adults, they just want to see it," she said.

* Jayatilleke praised the work of French artist Phil Briones.

"He's drawn a really strong hero who's easy on the eyes and hard on the criminals," Jayatilleke said.

"This guy can draw action like nobody's business," Pierce said.