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THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2008

COMING FRIDAY

Marvel First Looks, Wizard World Los Angeles coverage -- and more!

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ROUNDUP

Matt Wayne, whose animation credits include Justice League Unlimited and Hellboy: Sword of Storms, makes his writing debut on Kids' WB!'s The Spectacular Spider-Man with "Natural Selection," this Saturday's new episode.

In "Natural Selection," Peter Parker and Spider-Man both must learn to make own their choices when decisions made by Dr. Curt Connors transform Pete's mentor into The Lizard.

"I prefer our take on the Lizard, and particularly this version of Martha Connors, to any Lizard in the comics," Wayne said. "We hew pretty close to the original story, but it's folded into the larger story we're telling about Peter Parker.

The episode marks the first Marvel story by Wayne.

"My only Marvel-related credit is a joke ad in 1989: The Year in Review -- an ad for Damage Control," Wayne said.

Wayne has written three of the first 13 episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man. "I was scheduled to do another three for Season 2, but gave the last two away as I moved on to (BET's) Hannibal," he said. "We'll see about doing more."

In other Spectacular Spider-Man news:

* The one-hour series premiere last Saturday scored season high household numbers in its timeslots and raising ratings by significant percentages, according to Nielsen Research Media.

The premiere of helped the Kidsą WB! Saturday morning lineup tally its highest household rating (1.1/3) of the 2007-2008 season, and pushed all of the network's key demographic ratings to their highest marks in the 2008 calendar year.

According to Nielsen Research Media, the Survival of the Fittest episode at 10 a.m. registered a 1.2/3 household rating -- the top mark for Kidsą WB! in the 10 time slot during the 2007-2008 season, and representative of a 20 percent gain over the equivalent week last year. The episode's 1.4/5 mark in the Kids 2-11 demographic eclipsed last week's time slot ratings by 25 percent.

The numbers held and improved for the second episode," Interactions at 10:30 a.m., also scoring the top household rating (1.4/4) for the 2007-2008 season in the 10:30 a.m. time slot, and leading its broadcast network kids competition in all boys demographics as well as the Kids 2-11 and Kids 9-14 segments.

* Andrew Robinson wrote the upcoming episode featuring the Shocker.

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ASPEN COMICS POSTPONES SOULFIRE

Michael Turner and Aspen Comics on Thursday announced the release date of Soulfire #8 has been postponed due to Turner's recurring health complications.

Originally scheduled for a March 19 release, Soulfire #8 will be now be delayed until Turner is able to fully complete the entire series, which he is in currently in the process of finishing.

"I want to express my apologies to the fans and retailers who've stuck by me throughout this arduous Soulfire run and the many delays on the book's release," Turner said. "The past several months have honestly been incredibly painful to me not only physically, but also mentally trying to finish up the last few issues in the series and meet our return ship date.

"Towards the end of last year after completing my commitment to Marvel for a run of their covers, I dove right back into the Soulfire work, completely ready to get everything finished up in time for the big return and finale. At the time we announced the books return date, I had believed many of my health issues to be behind me, but unfortunately the pain in my leg and hip came back strong and fast. It became time again for me to address the situation before something worse happened. I'm closing in on an 8-year battle with my cancer and I know I'll beat this eventually, I'm just backed into a corner right now and need to fight my way back out again. Unfortunately, the Soulfire schedule takes the hits too."

According to Aspen, in early January, Turner sought more than three weeks of specialized treatment outside of the country for the returning pain in his leg, and has since been in recovery from the procedure.

Aspen will be issuing a new release date for #8 and subsequent issues soon.

"The past several months have definitely been difficult," said Frank Mastromauro, Aspen's executive vice president. "From a business standpoint, we of course want to release Soulfire and have it completed, not just for the fans and retailers, but for us here too. Aside from the monetary reasons, it was our first announced title as a company and we're all excited to see it finished up and on the shelves. Mike wants this more than anyone.

"But from a friend standpoint, seeing Mike in pain every day, not being able to sit and draw, drive into the studio, or just be a part of our daily activities and having fun again, really hurts everyone. We never want to pressure him into doing work when he isn't able to, yet he still tries and does the best he can for us and the company. I've never met a stronger person in my life."

Turner said he is going as fast as his health will allow.

"My goal is to go at a steady pace and try to get a couple of pages done each week," he said. "Some days are good for me, and some are not. I'll just need to deal with those as they come and stay on track. Thankfully, the pages are turning out well and I'm excited for everyone to check out all of the new things I've been putting into the book. I want to make sure it's worth the wait for everyone.˛

Aspen will be releasing the first six pages of Soulfire #8 in its Free Comic Book Day issue Worlds of Aspen #3 coming May 3. The complete Soulfire #8 issue is expected around the same time frame, with announcements for the release dates of issues #9 and #10 following shortly after.

The release of Soulfire: Volume 2 will immediately follow the conclusion of Turner's run. Soulfire: Volume 2, by the team of J.T. Krul, Marcus To and Beth Sotelo, will launch with a guaranteed ship date, and Aspen has confirmed that several issues of the upcoming series are already completed.

Serenity at Entertainment Earth


BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and five-page previews of Bluewater Productions titles, CLICK HERE.

Titles include Ray Harryhausen Presents: Jason and the Argonauts: Kingdom of Hades #3, The Blackbeard Legacy #3, Insane Jane #2 and Ray Harryhausen Presents: Flying Saucers vs. The Earth #1.

Get a life-size Yoda wall graphic you will


ARCHIE COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and two-page previews of upcoming titles, CLICK HERE.

Titles include Betty & Veronica Spectacular #82 and Betty & Veronica Double Digest #159.



MAY SOLICITATIONS ROUNDUP

For previously posted May solicitations, click on the publishers' names below:

* Archie Comics.

* Big City Comics.

* Bluewater Productions.

* Bongo Comics.

* Boom! Studios.

* Dabel Brothers Productions.

* Dark Horse Comics.

* DC Comics.

* Devil's Due Publishing.

* Digital Webbing.

* IDW Publishing.

* Image Comics.

* Markosia Pubishing.

* Marvel Comics.

* Moonstone Books.

* Oni Press.

* Radical Comics.

* Red 5 Comics.

* Top Cow Productions.

* Viper Comics.



BRIEFLY

* Top Cow Productions will release a Freshmen: Summer Vacation Special in June. The 48-pager will be written by Hugh Sterbakov, with art by Sheldon Mitchell.

* Dynamite Entertainment has announced an agreement with the Dille Estate that allows for the creation of Buck Rogers comics, collections (including classic material), comics-based fine art prints, posters, action figures, trading cards, statues and other high-end collectibles.



COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES

In case you missed The Continuum's coverage over the past month, here are some links. Click on the date to get the day's full report.

* Saturday, March 8: Smallville's James Marsters, Dark Horse Comics for June and First Looks.

* Friday, March 7: Heroes' Eriko Tamura, The Spectacular Spider-Man's Crispin Freeman and Marvel First Looks.

* Thursday, March 6: Watchmen, Wanted, The Spectacular Spider-Man, First Looks and Image Comics' The Safest Place.

* Wednesday, March 5: The Spectacular Spider-Man's Victor Cook and Archie First Looks.

* Tuesday, March 4: Smallville, World of Quest, Bluewater Productions for July, Marvel Comics roundup, DC Comics roundup, IDW's BlueDream imprint and First Looks. StarWarsShop.com - More Product. More Exclusives.

* Monday, March 3: Iron Man's Jon Favreau, The Spectacular Spider-Man, NBC's Fear Itself, First Looks and Image's Pretty, Baby, Machine.

* Sunday, March 2: Devil's Due Publishing for May and Dark Horse First Looks.

* Saturday, March 1: The Batman, Legion of Super Heroes, Smallville, Marvel First Looks, Boom! First Looks, DC First Looks and Archie First Looks.

* Friday, February 29: Smallville, Marvel First Looks, Image First Looks, DC First Looks, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Viper Comics for May.

* Thursday, February 28: Justice League: The New Frontier's Phil Morris, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Red 5 Comics First Looks and Radical Comics for May.

* Wednesday, February 27: Battlestar Galactica, Marvel Comics press conference, Marvel First Looks, The Simpsons, Batman: Gotham Knight and Digital Webbing for May.

* Tuesday, February 26: Oni Press for May, Markosia Publishing for May, DC Comics roundup, First Looks and Red 5's Atomic Robo.

* Monday, February 25: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Boom! Studios for May, Smallville and DC First Looks.

* Sunday, February 24: From WonderCon: Iron Man movie and WildStorm Productions, plus: First Looks and Red 5 Comics for May.

* Saturday, February 23: From WonderCon, DCU panel, Aspen Comics panel, Wanted presentation, DC Nation panel, Astro City panel and Terry Dodson panel, plus: IDW Publishing for May and Dabel Brothers for May.

* Friday, February 22: Marvel First Looks, Image First Looks, Devil's Due Pop and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

* Thursday, February 21: Bongo Comics for May, Columbia Pictures options The Boys, Dark Horse Firsts and Archie Firsts.

* Wednesday, February 20: Image Comics for May, Justice League: The New Frontier's David Boreanaz, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Smallville and Marvel First Looks.

* Tuesday, February 19: X-Men Origins: Wolverine casting, Marvel Comics for February, DC Comics for February, Top Cow Pilot Season winners, First Looks and Marvel's Secret Invasion.

* Monday, February 18: Archie Comics for May, Painkiller Jane on DVD, Incredible Hulk toys and Fantastic Four.

* Sunday, February 17: Moonstone Books for June, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Knight Rider and First Looks.

* Saturday, February 16: Justice League: The New Frontier's Jeremy Sisto, Knight Rider's Justin Bruening, First Looks, Marvel Second Printings and Hasbro's Marvel toys.

* Friday, February 15: Top Cow Productions for May, Marvel First Looks, Image First Looks and Knight Rider.

* Thursday, February 14: Justice League: The New Frontier's Brooke Shields, Knight Rider's David Hasselhoff, First Looks and Family Guy.

* Wednesday, February 13: Dark Horse Comics for May, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, First Looks, Hasbro's 2008 highlights and Bluewater Productions' Pistolfist.

* Tuesday, February 12: The Batman, The Simpsons, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and First Looks.



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