Tuesday, March 20, 2001

JLA/AVENGERS UPDATE

Although the JLA/Avengers crossover by Kurt Busiek and George Perez remains unscheduled and more than a year away, editors of the project said that fans will get a chance to see small parts of it, possibly this year.

"I imagine we'll probably be releasing glimpses of little stuff as the year progresses," DC's Dan Raspler said at the recent news conference. "We're not going to leave everyone out in the cold. Because once the stuff starts coming in, I'm sure everyone's going to want to see it."

"We'll have regular sort of progress updates once a month," Marvel's Tom Brevoort said. "We'll be releasing a panel or two panels on the Internet or what not, so that people can see little glimpses and know the fact that we're actually proceeding."

Raspler said there's a possibility of companion books or products for the crossover.

"I would imagine there will be of some kind," Raspler said. "This is not an official announcement or anything like that, but I imagine that we will want to do something like that to make it more special."

"That's all down the road right now," Brevoort said. "Right now we're worried about the actual book. Once, we get that figured out, then we'll figure out what ancillary things we want to do."

The creators said they are looking forward to mixing the teams' members.

"It's sort of thing that makes the best story even better is the chemical combinations between the personalities and with both teams, they're so extreme, it would be a lot of fun," Raspler said.

"It's worth pointing out, it's Avengers/JLA, not Avengers vs. JLA," Brevoort said. "And while there will probably be conflicts and there will probably be battles, that's not the point. The story that we're telling and these two teams - how they're the same, how they're different, how they interact -- and what makes these two universes special places, that's what the story's about. We'll get to the battles - assuming there are battles - where they fit the story rather than make the story the battle."

Added Perez: "I enjoy the character interaction. These are individuals facing each other, not just costumes."

Which characters do the creators hope to see interact?

Said Raspler: "I want to see Thor and Superman. I'm really psyched about that."

Said Perez: "With Thor and Wonder Woman, you'll have a mythological god with a woman who worships a different pantheon. Both of them are really fascinating. I think of the back-and-forth debate and not just who's stronger than who. I think that's what the fans want to see. Ideologically, how would they react to somebody so radically different for the first time?"

Said Brevoort: "I'm more interested in seeing the characters that you don't tend to lump against one another interact. I'm more interested in seeing how Batman and Hawkeye interact than I am Batman and Captain America because on some level it's parallel with Batman and Captain America. They fit a certain role on their teams. Those are the moments I'm looking most forward to, sort of the odd matchups."

Busiek emphasized the teams.

"Inevitably when people start talking about this, it's this character should fight this character and this character should fight this character," Busiek said. "As if it's like one-on-one celebrity elimination wrestling. But these guys are teams. If it was one-on-one, it could be Superman/Thor as a project, it could be Batman/Captain America as project. This is Avengers/JLA. It's about team interaction."

X-MEN: EVOLUTION UPDATE

The next new episode of X-Men: Evolution, "Shadowed Past," continues to show Magneto as a significant player in the mutant world - even as he remains behind the scenes.

Accordingly, the character is shown in shadows during the episode.

"With Magneto, we wanted this dark, mysterious presence, not even so much as a character than as a presence that's just overhanging everything," Frank Paur, one of the show's directors, told The Continuum.

Even so, it's clear that it's Magneto behind the events that affect Mystique, Nightcrawler and Rogue.

"The helmet is trademark. It's Magneto. You've got to keep it," Paur said, describing the character's look. "Trying to get rid of the jockey short look. I like the basic black. It's always worked very well.

"The helmet has always reminded me of these Greco-Roman designs, so I thought, why not give him a big metal breastplate? Let's make him mysterious. Let's make him scary. He is a scary person. At times, he's very Spawn-esque in that we don't want to see him all the time. Because if we see too much of him, he's just somebody with a loud mouth as opposed to somebody you're very afraid of."

Paur counts HBO's Spawn series among his credits, along with Gargoyles and Batman.

"Every show has a personality of its own," Paur said. "The job of a producer or a director is to find that personality stylistically. With this show, we wanted it to be kid friendly and fun because our audience is different. I would have never made this series patterned after Spawn, for instance, because Spawn is a completely different audience and a completely different feel than we wanted on this thing. So the two paths shall never cross because it's a different audience and a different sensibility.

"If anything, this show more closely resembles Gargoyles than it resembles any other stuff I've done. Gargoyles again was a character-driven show and it dealt with beings and people coming into their own, discovering themselves in a world that doesn't feel right about them. Stylistically, Gargoyles was probably a little darker-edged because it had some very heavy tones itself. That was more in the afternoon market."

Paur said that he's enjoyed X-Men for years. "Oh yeah, I was a big Neil Adams fan and John Byrne, too," he said.

In fact, Paur worked on Fox Kids' X-Men series, mostly on storyboards.

"I did several of them, including the Phoenix stuff on it," he said. "I wasn't particularly happy with it. My sense of timing and direction is a little more involved now. They're fun characters to draw and tell stories with - that's what the challenge is."

"Shadowed Past" will air on March 31 on Kids' WB!. Look for more on the remainder of the first season of X-Men: Evolution and the "Shadowed Past" episode soon here in The Continuum.

THE CROW: SALVATION'S MAIA JAVAN

The Continuum sat down with Maia Javan, production designer of The Crow: Salvation, in Salt Lake City, Utah, for her insights into the film's look.

For the interview, CLICK HERE.

BROADSWORD COMICS FOR MAY

Following is BroadSword Comics' solicitation for May, with information coming from the company.

TAROT: WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #8

Written and art by Jim Balent.

" The Return of the Dark Witch" Part 2 of 3

Raven Hex is ambushed by the Shadow Coven, who has marked her for death. It's Dark Magick versus Darker Magick as Raven fights for her survival. Meanwhile eerie events continue in Salem. Tarot and Jon come face to face with the legendary specter, The Headless Horseman, as the ghost, Crypt Chick,tempts the new apprentice, Willowry, to betray her Dark Mistress, Raven Hex. This issue comes three ways...regular, signed and as a Deluxe Edition which features a 6.5"x10" b/w penciled Litho of the Sultry Specter "Crypt Chick", from Balent. Also signed by the artist and numbered, limited to 1,000.The Comic book and Litho come bagged and boarded together.

32 pages, $2.95 (Signed edition $10, Deluxe edition, $19.95).

ALTERNATIVE COMICS FOR JULY

Following in Alternative Comics' solicitation for July, with information coming from the company.

OPPOSABLE THUMBS #1

By Dean Haspiel.

Cartoonist Dean Haspiel's new solo series is about a born and bred New Yorker and the trials and tribulations of living in the big bad city which serves as the backdrop for the informed, existential expression in his sociological comics. Taking its lead from the pages of the two-man anthology Keyhole (with Josh Neufeld),

48 pages, black and white, $4.95.

FIRST LOOK: LEGION WORLDS #1

Legion World #1 will arrive in stores on April 18 from DC Comics. The issue is written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Yvel Guichet and Dexter Vines and a cover by John Cassaday.

Here's how DC describes the issue:

"A new mini-series starring the 31st Century's greatest heroes begins. On 'Earth,' the Legion has been disbanded, and M'Onel prepares for an inevitable war while battling an amped-up Tharok of the Fatal Five." Legion Worlds #1 will be 48 pages and will cost $3.95.

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