Friday, August 16, 2002

SMALLVILLE SEASON OPENER

Smallville's second season will open on Tuesday, Sept. 24 with an episode called "Vortex."

The episode picks up from the cliffhangers of the first-season finale, "Tempest," when tornadoes hit Smallville.

"Vortex" is written by executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.

The Continuum has obtained 10 images from the episode. Click on the thumbnails for larger and more complete images.

Look for more on Smallville soon here in The Continuum.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

MARVEL COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and four-page previews of Marvel Comics titles arriving in stores on Wednesday, CLICK HERE.

Titles include Captain America #4, Incredible Hulk #44, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44, Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #3, Ultimate X-Men #27, Uncanny X-Men #411 and Weapon X: Marrow.

X-MEN: EVOLUTION UPDATE

X-Men: Evolution producer Boyd Kirkland told The Continuum that the show's on track for a third-season premiere on Kids' WB! next month.

"We haven't been given a definite air date yet, but assume it will not be the first Saturday in September ... maybe the second weekend," Kirkland told The Continuum on Thursday.

"We have footage back on the first two episodes, and they look great! Footage on the third episode is due here tomorrow. Pre-production on the last two episodes of the season is still in-house being finished over the next couple of weeks."

In other X-Men: Evolution news:

* Look for Angel to appear again in Season 3.

* To the right is a first look at Storm's new civilian appearance for the third season. Click on the image to get a larger image and a back view.

JUDD WINICK ON DONAHUE

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Judd Winick, writer of DC Comics' Green Lantern, appeared on MSNBC's Donahue on Thursday night, discussing the upcoming issue in which a gay character is victim of a hate crime.

In Green Lantern #154, in stores next month, Kyle Rayner's assistant Terry is attacked.

"Two years ago, my editor Bob Schreck came up with the idea that would satisfy both a good story and, you know, our Commie agenda, to create a gay teenager that would be an assistant to Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern, during his day job," Winick said. "From there, we just let the character develop. He's a supporting role, but he's in the comic the whole time. We wanted to put the message out there, that we've got a superhero looks to a young man and says he's got no problem with whom he is."

Donahue host Phil Donahue asked Winick if addressing such intense issues in a media normally associated with very young readers was appropriate.

"We reach a very wide audience. And what is the harm in addressing it now?" Winick said. "For so long, comics have been male, hetero, white, just like the rest of the United States. Why can't we in this medium - which is supposed to be diverse; we have aliens, we have people from different planets, we have people with all these powers - why can't we present a kind of diverse message?

"I mean, that's who our readership is. There are gay teenagers out there. There are gay kids reading it."

After Winick's first segment, Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council appeared on the show and debated with Winick over several issues. While disagreeing with Winick on several issues, he agreed that "violence is not the answer."

Donahue told Winick he thought the character "was well integrated into the story."

BRIEFLY