---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire and Mike Imboden Present: THE COMIC BOOK NET ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE ISSUE NUMBER 367 5/10/2002 Edited by: David LeBlanc - ComicBkNet@aol.com Winner of the 2001 EAGLE AWARD as FAVORITE COMICS E-ZINE! FREE VIA EMAIL SINCE FEBRUARY 1995 ______________________________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [A] Submissions, mailing address, web page [1] On the Net ............................ David LeBlanc [2] Letters to the Editor ................. Your Page! [3] TRIVIA CONTEST ........................ Win *real* prizes! [4] Network Buzz .......................... News, gossip & rumors [5] Interview; Mark Waid .................. Tim O'Shea [6] Movie Review .......................... Amy Harlib [7] A View From the Cheap Seats ........... Rich Watson [8] M.O.E. Reviews ........................ Paul Dale Roberts [9] My View:CrossGen April Issues ......... David LeBlanc [10] New Comic Book Releases List .......... Charles LePage [11] HYPE! Section ......................... Various ______________________________________________________________________ World Wide Web Home Page-->> http://members.aol.com/ComicBkNet Mailed by Yahoo!: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ComicBookNetworkEmag AOL text copies in Sci-Fi Library II - Keyword aol://4400:3990 HTML WEB EDITION at -->> http://www.digitalwebbing.com/cbem featuring a week's worth of the online strips: Steve Conley's ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS AND DR. CYBORG by Alan Gross & Mike Oeming ----------------------------------------------------------------------- o \o/ _ o _| \ / |_ o_ \o/ o /|\ | /\ _\o \o | o/ O/_ /\ | /|\ / \ / \ |\ /) | ( \ /o\ / ) | (\ / | / \ / \ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The ComicBook Network was founded by Ed Dukeshire and Mike Imboden ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to receive each issue automatically through your Email account, FREE, please send a message FROM that account TO: ComicBookNetworkEmag-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To UNSUBSCRIBE send a message FROM the account to be dropped to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com See section [A] for the address to mail material to be reviewed. ______________________________________________________________________ All text contained within is copyrighted to the originating author(s). 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AOL search/keyword: aol://4400:3990 ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] On the Net David LeBlanc ComicBkNet@aol.com Well everyone must have seen SPIDER-MAN at least once by now. I was pondering a review of the movie but this issue has two others so I'll let those stir your interest if you haven't seen it yet. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and am pleased it did so well. And from what I saw at That's Entertainment Free Comic Book Day brought a lot of potential new customers around to see what it was all about. Back from another week on the road so let's see what is new on the racks before launching another issue: AVATAR PRESS Steven Grants Mortal Souls #1 (Of 3), $3.50 Steven Grants Mortal Souls Wraparound Cvr #1 (Of 3), $3.95 Warren Ellis Strange Killings #3 (Of 3), $3.50 Warren Ellis Strange Killings Wraparound Cvr #3 (Of 3), $3.95 CARTOON BOOKS Bone #47, $2.95 DARK HORSE COMICS Star Wars Episode II Attack O/T Clones #4 (Of 4), $3.99 Star Wars Episode II Attack O/T Clones Photo Cv #4 (Of 4), $3.99 DC COMICS Fables #1, $2.50 Suicide Squad #9, $2.50 GEMSTONE PUBLISHING Big Big Overstreet Price Gd Vol 32 Alex Ross Cvr, $35.00 Overstreet Comic Book Price Gd Vol 32 Archie HC, $30.00 Overstreet Comic Book Price Gd Vol 32 Archie SC, $22.00 Overstreet Comic Book Price Gd Vol 32 Superman HC, $30.00 Overstreet Comic Book Price Gd Vol 32 Superman SC, $22.00 LITTLE ROCKET PUBLICATIONS Force Majeure Prairie Bay #1, $2.95 MARVEL COMICS Captain America #2, $2.99 SECOND TO SOME STUDIOS Fade From Blue #1, $1.00 <----------Pick of the Week! WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT Just A Pilgrim Garden Of Eden #3 (Of 4), $2.99 magazines Comics International #145, $2.25 Speaking of movie reviews - I remind everyone that this is an Ezine dedicated to comic books. While STAR WARS is popular with most of us it is not a comic book derived movie so don't look here for extensive cover of Episode 2. If however someone chooses to review the comic adaptation that's cool. I have been remiss in not mentioning the dynamic work of former contributor to the Emag, Jen Contino. She has been writing some great interview columns in the pages of the CrossGen titles with the various artists and writers in the March through May issues. Once again we share in the joy of the success of an alumnus of our humble effort to promote comics. Way to go Jen! David LeBlanc - ComicBkNet@aol.com Editor The Comic Book Net Electronic Magazine ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [2] Letters to the Editor If you want to comment on this or any previous issue, want to offer something for us to publish, or just want to shamelessly suck up to the editor to try and get your name in print send Email to: ComicBkNet@aol.com Note: Letters of comment, including those sent to the columnists, may be used in future issues of CBEM unless you specifically request us NOT to use them. Your Email address and/or name will be withheld upon request. +++++ Subj:The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys Date:5/6/02 2:00:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time From:ddesjard@press.ugapress.uga.edu Dear Comic Book Network: Have you heard of the movie called The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys? It will be released on June 14. It's set in the 70s and tells about two Stan-Lee-worshipping boys who draw their own comic books. The movie shifts back and forth between live action and animation. It features comic-superheroes-come-to-life animation sequences that were directed by Todd McFarlane. Here's a link for info. about the book on which the movie is based: http://www.uga.edu/ugapress/books/shelf/0820323381.html Here's an e-mail address for Amanda Sherwin, who works for the film's distributor: asherwin@thinkfilmcompany.com David E. Des Jardines Marketing Dept. University of Georgia Press 330 Research Drive Athens, GA 30602-4901 ph: 706-369-6159 fax: 706-369-6162 e-mail (preferred): ddesjard@ugapress.uga.edu www.uga.edu/ugapress/ ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [3] [TRIVIA CONTEST] **THE FIRST PLACE TO FIND THE EMAG EACH WEEK IS ON OUR HOME PAGE!** IF YOU ARE DESPERATE TO WIN THE TRIVIA, GO THERE FIRST ON FRIDAY NIGHT http://members.aol.com/ComicBkNet QUESTION OF THE WEEK Prizes donated by Discount Comic Book Service at www.dcbservice.com where you can order most DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark Horse comics, statues and retail products for 35% off. +Submit your own trivia and win the CHEEZY PRIZE(tm) if you can stump+ +the readers! You MUST submit the correct answer with your question.+ LAST ISSUE'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: SPIDER-MAN is hyping lots of products right now. One of the latest TV ads he is in is for Cingular Wireless, wherein he webslings around the country to the tune of a heavy rock beat. The question is what is the name of the song or the group that performs the music? Hint: It is an original song from the same decade Spidey began. The theme to the commercial is by the madman from Detroit, Ted Nugent. "Journey To The Center Of The Mind", by the Amboy Dukes, was a hit in 1968. Mark Zutkoff got it first and wins THE ROSE trade paperback from our sponsors. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: In what title did Marvel's Celestials first appear? IMPORTANT RULES NOTICE Email your guess to ComicBkNet@aol.com or just REPLY to the message if you read the Emag in your mail. DO NOT quote the entire message! You MUST allow mail from ComicBkNet@aol.com to be notified if you win. The first correct answer to reach the editor wins the CHEEZY PRIZE(tm). The editor will be the sole judge as to which guess arrived first! Messages with more than one guess will be disqualified. Winners will forfeit their prize if the Email notification is not accepted from ComicBkNet@aol.com LIMIT: ONLY ONE PRIZE every 4 weeks PER PERSON! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [4] Network Buzz News, gossip and rumors from around the industry 'Spider-Man' Takes Box Office on the Ultimate Spin by Brandon Gray May 5, 2002 HOLLYWOOD (Box Office Mojo) - The Amazing Spider-Man indeed. No need for "spin" control from Sony. Spider-Man shattered every opening record on the books with an unprecedented $114 million weekend, according to studio estimates. Never before in Hollywood history has a movie grossed over $100 million in its first three days, not even when taking ticket price inflation into account. To put that figure into further perspective, uber-blockbusters Stars Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone took 5 days to hit that mark. Swinging into 3,615 theaters, Spider-Man ranked as the third-widest release ever after Harry Potter's 3,672 and Mission: Impossible 2's 3,653, and it played on an estimated 7,500 screens, a bit shy of Harry Potter's 8,200 record. Nonetheless, Spidey swooped past Harry Potter's $90.3 million to claim the opening weekend crown, and posted the highest per theater average ever for an ultra-wide release – a staggering $31,535. Though some rival studios have the $130 million Marvel Comics adaptation pegged at about $110 million for the weekend, one cannot deny the universal appeal Spider-Man has displayed, an appeal nurtured from 40 years of comic books for the Marvel Comics figurehead, a relatable hero, the latest state-of-the-art special effects and a massive, rollicking marketing campaign. According to Sony, Spider-Man's audience was split evenly between males and females and those over and under the age of 25. What's more, moviegoers polled on opening night by CinemaScore gave it an A-. Sony's exit polls had similar results, with 90% of audiences checking the "excellent" or "very good" boxes. Breaking the weekend down, Spider-Man snared an estimated $39.3 million on Friday alone, crushing Harry Potter's $32.3 million opening day record and the boy wizard's $33.5 million single day record. On Saturday, Spider-Man pulled off another incredible feat as it enjoyed an 11% boost in business to an estimated $43.7 million, eclipsing the single day record it had just set Friday. The norm for fan-driven movies performing at high levels is to drop on Saturday, such as Marvel stable mate X-Men's 7% dip on its first Saturday during its $54.5 million first weekend. Sony is extrapolating that Spider-Man will drop 29% to $31.0 million on Sunday, the highest gross that day has ever seen. Spider-Man follows the tradition of superheroes breaking box office records as they leap to the big screen. Back in 1978, Superman soared to a weekend milestone of $10.4 million from 818 theaters en route to $134.2 million. Superman II followed suit with $14.1 million from 1,395 venues in 1981. Then came Batman in 1989 with its staggering $40.5 million bow from 2,194 theaters (which would equal about $58 million today adjusted for inflation) on course to a $251.2 million total. Batman Returns' $45.7 million and Batman Forever's $52.8 million also set new weekend benchmarks. X-Men's $54.5 million two summers ago even set the precedent for a non-sequel at the time. In a distant second -- to put it mildly -- The Scorpion King grabbed an estimated $9.6 million, 8.4% of what Spider-Man did. Down 47%, the $60 million Mummy spin-off actually held up a smidgen better than it did last weekend, when it tumbled 50%. The 17-day total stands at $74.8 million. Two movies trying to eke out a few counter-programming dollars were caught in Spidey's web. In seventh place, Deuces Wild was not ready to rumble with an estimated $2.7 million from 1,480 locations. In the can for two years, the '50s street gang drama was originally going to be a limited release, but MGM decided to go wide with it just a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Woody Allen's latest Hollywood Ending, his third movie distributed by DreamWorks, came in at an unhappy 10th place. Playing at 765 theaters, it managed just $2.2 million, anemic by even Allen's low box office standards. Small Time Crooks remains his biggest opening ever, bowing to $3.9 million from 865 venues two years ago. His last picture, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, debuted to $2.5 million from 903 and ended up with $7.5 million. The top 12 pictures totaled an estimated $153.3 million, Spider-Man accounting for about two thirds of that sum. Business was up a whopping 116.2% over last weekend and was up 53.7% over the same frame last year, when the sole new wide release The Mummy Returns unearthed a then monumental $68.1 million from 3,401 theaters on course to $202 million. +++++ Marvel Enterprises, Inc. Receives Advance Licensing Fee From Columbia Pictures for Spider-Man Movie Sequel NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 6, 2002-- Advance Comes On Heels Of Record-Breaking Opening For Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios Spider-Man Movie, Which Earned $114 Million Just one day after making movie history with the record-shattering opening weekend for the Spider-Man movie, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) has announced that it has received a substantial, seven figure advance for the sequel that is scheduled to hit screens in 2004 from Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios. The announcement was made by Marvel Enterprises, Inc. CEO Peter Cuneo. "We said last week that the Spider-Man movie would usher in the Golden Age of Marvel. While we had great confidence in the potential of the Spider-Man motion picture, no one could have predicted the remarkable, record-breaking success the film has achieved in its opening weekend. We are extremely grateful for the creative achievement of our own Avi Arad, executive producer of the film, director Sam Raimi, producer Laura Ziskin, and the many extraordinary talents who contributed to the film," said Cuneo. "As the head of Marvel Studios, Avi Arad has always believed that our characters would be Hollywood celebrities and it is his pursuit and realization of this dream that has made this day so special. We are also very grateful to the many executives at Sony/Columbia Pictures for their dedication in bringing one of our premiere characters to life, and executing a superb, record-setting marketing strategy." Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe, and Directed by Sam Raimi, the Spider-Man movie shattered all box office records for a three-day opening weekend by earning $114 million dollars (The previous best three-day gross was for Warner Brother's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which brought in $90 million dollars in 2001). Marvel will continue to reap the benefits of the Spider-Man movie as the company has a gross participation from dollar one in the box office as well as earns revenue from the DVD sales and the pay-per- view, cable and network television deals. The company also generates revenue from the licensing and merchandising of the movie -- including the brisk-selling toys, action figures and accessories from the company's internal toy division, Toy Biz. "Spider-Man validates our new corporate strategy. Marvel is a multi- faceted entertainment company and it is structured to effectively leverage our big theatrical events and profit from each of them in a number of ways - from the film and licensing, to our comic book and toy businesses," added Cuneo. "Additionally, we are focused on developing strategies for each of our characters that will help ensure their long-term success and profitability." Responsible for the resurgence of the comic book movie, Spider-Man is the second consecutive record-breaking movie based on Marvel's characters. In 2000, The X-Men movie from 20th Century Fox recorded the largest opening for a non-sequel at the time when it generated more than $54 million, on the way to grossing over $300 million dollars worldwide. Licensing plans are already underway for the highly-anticipated X-Men sequel - X2. Production is planned to start on June 1 and the film is scheduled to hit theaters in May, 2003. Licensing and production are also underway for The Hulk directed by Ang Lee and expected to open nationwide in 2003. Excitement for The Hulk is already at a feverish pitch as evidenced by the reaction to the film's 30-second trailer that premiered preceding Spider-Man – generating cheers from audiences across the country. Daredevil starring Ben Affleck is currently in production and scheduled for a January 2003 release date. New Line Cinema is in preparation for Blade 3 following the great success of the first two Blade films. The Blade franchise signals the multiple sequel potential for all of Marvel properties. These films kick-off an incredible slate of motion pictures based on Marvel characters that are expected to hit the big screen over the next few years. 2003 alone will see at least four Marvel-inspired features: Movie Studio Cast/Crew Scheduled Release Date Daredevil New Regency/ Ben Affleck/Jennifer Garner/ January, 2003 Fox Mark Steven Johnson (Director) X2 (X-Men Sequel) Fox Patrick Stewart/Halle Berry/ May, 2003 Bryan Singer (Director) The Hulk Universal Eric Bana/Jennifer Connelly/ June, 2003 Ang Lee (Director) Punisher Artisan Jonathan Hensleigh (Director) August, 2003 Treatments include: Sub-Mariner (Universal), Ghost Rider (Sony), Fantastic Four (Fox), Dr. Strange (Dimension), Iron Man (New Line), Prime (Universal), and from Artisan Punisher and Iron Fist. With sequels and over 4,000 other characters in its extensive library, the "Marvel"ous age of movies is likely to continue for years to come. +++++ SPIDEY TOY SALES MAY HIT $1 BILLION! May 7: Early reports from major retailers indicate that in the wake of the huge box office success of SPIDER-MAN, toys based on the character are selling extremely well. Toy sales are an essential component to the Marvel Enterprises bottom line, with the lack of sales for the X- MEN franchise blowing a hole in the company's finances leading to the complete reorganization of the company's TOY BIZ wing. The NEW YORK POST is reporting: "Experts say sales of Spidey merchandise could approach $1 billion. And that has execs from Toy Biz - Marvel Comics' toy division - and Sony, which put out the movie, rubbing their hands in glee, because they'll split the pot of cash. " The POST said: "Average movie-merchandise sales are in the $300 Million range, said Charles Riotto, president of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association. " 'Spider-Man' will go way beyond that," he said. " 'Spider-Man' is leading the pack in a summer that will be packed with movie tie-ins" because of its wide appeal. " 'Spider-Man' appeals to older kids and teens." Kathleen Waugh, director of special events at the Toys "R" Us Times Square store, said - while watching clerks restock the shelves in the "Spider-Man" department - "People have been taking `Spider-Man' toys by the armful." Meanwhile, MARVEL ENTERPRISES' stock price responded in reverse to the box office score, dropping to $7.25 in Tuesday morning trading. +++++ SPIDER-MAN SWINGS INTO BARNES & NOBLE! Marietta, GA, - In celebration of the release of the record-setting "Spider-Man" movie, Barnes & Noble Town Center is hosting Super Hero Saturday: Comic Arts Festival on Saturday, May 25, 2002 featuring many Marvel Comics writers and artists. Among the local creators scheduled are Eisner award-winning Peter Parker:Spider-Man writer Paul Jenkins and fan-favorite Ultimate Spider-Man artist, Mark Bagley. Other creators who will also on hand include Georges Jeanty (Weapon X), Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze and Joe Pruett.(X-Men Unlimited). Comic lovers are invited to meet their favorite writers and artists between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. under the outdoor tent and enjoy free popcorn, face painting and giveaways, including a hardcover edition of Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man and tickets for the blockbuster "Spider- Man" movie. Trade editions of the artists and writers work will be available for purchase, but fans are welcome to bring their own personal comic books or collectibles for autographs, which all creators will sign free of charge. As a special treat, aspiring comic artists are invited to attend, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., a Comic Arts Drawing Workshop to learn how to draw their favorite super heroes hosted by Gaijin Studios, Atlanta's premier comic illustrators. Learn the "do's" and "don'ts" from the professionals. Bring your art portfolios for a professional's personal review. For younger Spider-Man fans, Paul Jenkins will host Spider-Man storytime at 11:00 a.m. in the Jr. Department featuring Spider-Man stories, Spidey crafts, and a tasty snack. There's sure to be something for the entire family at Super Hero Saturday:Comic Arts Festival on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at Barnes & Noble Town Center! +++++ Marvel sues Buena Vista over Spider-Man artwork NEW YORK, (May 9) (Reuters) - Marvel Enterprises Inc., the comic book giant that owns rights to superhero Spider-Man, is suing Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista home entertainment unit, saying Buena Vista used its artwork without permission to promote a Spider- Man cartoon series unrelated to the current hit film. The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court late on Wednesday, seeks an immediate injunction against Buena Vista to stop it using the artwork. It also wants the court to order Buena Vista to retrieve and destroy all copies of the artwork already in circulation. Officials of Marvel and Buena Vista were not immediately available for comment. A court clerk said a hearing date had been set for the morning of May 17. Marvel said Buena Vista had timed the release of a new Spider-Man home video cartoon series to coincide directly with the opening of Columbia Pictures' <6758.T> new "Spider-Man" movie, which opened last week set a new box office record by pulling in $115 million in its first weekend. Marvel said Buena Vista had sought its permission to release the cartoon series but had not been given authorization to use the company's Spider-Man artwork for use in its advertising and promotion materials. It said advertisements appeared in such newspapers as The Daily News and Newsday in New York City and in Toys 'R Us and Wal-Mart stores in different parts of the United States. "Buena Vista is advertising and promoting its exploitation of the series through the use of artwork that is directly copied from the Marvel 'Spider-Man' artwork," Marvel said in its suit. "Marvel has not consented to or approved of such usage." Specifically, Marvel said Buena Vista had copied the artwork picturing Spider-Man scaling the side of a tall building from the vantage point of someone on the roof looking down at the character creeping up. It said the artwork was "virtually identical" to Marvel's Spider-Man image, including the positions of the character's legs, arms, hands and fingers. +++++ Spider-Man Collection on Sale DALLAS (AP) - Spider-Man creator Stan Lee plans to sell part of his personal collection of comics and art this summer. "This is material Stan has kept all these years in his reference collection," John Petty, director of Heritage Comics Auctions of Dallas, said Wednesday. Items for sale will include Lee's collection of original art from the Spider-Man newspaper strip and personal reference copies of key Marvel Comics issues. The sale will be conducted during the Wizard World comic book collectors convention July 4-7 in Chicago. Lee, 79, was executive producer of the new film "Spider-Man" and has consulted on other upcoming films based on his characters, including "The Hulk" and "Daredevil," along with a sequel to the blockbuster "X- Men." He is also developing original characters and ideas at his new production company, POW! Entertainment. On the Net: Heritage Comics Web site: http://www.HeritageComics.com. +++++ ARBOR PLACE MALL WELCOMES SPIDER-MAN & MARK BAGLEY! Douglasville, GA -- Marvel Comics' Spider-Man will be webbing his way into Arbor Place, A Great Shopping Place, for a fun-filled day of excitement, free autographs and two action-packed shows. Both programs -- at noon and 3:00 p.m. on May 11th -- arre free and will be located in the Parisian court. "Everyone's favorite web-slinging, wall-crawling, superhero extra- ordinaire shattered Hollywood records with his big screen debut, and we are thrilled to have him here visiting our center," stated marketing director Todd Anderton. A hit with young and old fans alike, Spider-Man's appearance at Arbor Place coincides with the 40th anniversary of the web-slinger's first appearance in his very own comic book. The wall-crawler, along with two more Marvel classic characters -- Spider-Girl and Wolverine -- will appear in two productions of "Who Wants to be a Superhero" at Arbor Place. Joining the colorful heroes will also be Georgia's own Mark Bagley, fan-favorite illustrator for Marvel's top-selling Ultimate Spider-Man comic book. Bagley, who has penciled titles such as The New Warriors and Thunderbolts over his 17-year career, will sign autographs from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Additional Info: Arbor Place Mall CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. Contact: Todd Anderton 770-947-4244 www.cblproperties.com. +++++ Special Announcement from the NYCCBM! New York City Comic Book Museum nyccbm@hotmail.com On June 8th the NYCCBM will be holding our second annual fundraiser Beyond the Panels II! If you were with us last year, a great time was had by all.If this is your first time hearing about it, then there is a lot in store. The new Britney Spears restaurant, NYLA, and the Dylan Hotel are hosting the party for us. We will actually be the first event at Britney's new place! The event is simply a party, with beer, wine, food, music, and tons of guest stars to meet. Take a look at our web page (www.nyccbm.org) to see the full list..some of the guests so far include: Legendary Jim Steranko as well as Comics' Greats Gene Colan, Carmine Infantino, Joe Quesada, Phil Jimenez and many more! The list will grow in the next few weeks, but the tickets will not remain for long. We will be announcing our list of the ten men and women from the comic book world who will be joining us as honorary trustees as well as unveiling our new logo, new website and launching the tour of our successful exhibit Heroes Among Us! Tickets are $35 for the event, and the cash bar will stay open a few hours longer so you can stay and mingle with some of your favorites from the industry. Tickets will go on sale in the city at our sponsor comic book store, Midtown Comics, on Wednesday of this week. At this price and for what we have planned, they are going to go quickly. We wanted to make a special offering of these tickets to those of you that have joined up for our mailing list and continue to show an interest in the museum! From now through Wednesday of this week, you can order your ticket to this party. You can call us at 212-712-9454 for information or email us at nyccbm_rsvp@hotmail.com. You can charge tickets online through our helping.org link for the easiest assurance of your space at this fantastic event. Or you can ask at Midtown Comics this Wednesday! The press release will be out this week and the furor will start. By the way, there will be some fabulous raffle prizes at the party, the least of which will be portfolio reviews over at both Marvel and DC Comics with top editors Joe Quesada and Mike Carlin! And so much more... Show your support for the NYCCBM and get your ticket now, before it becomes as impossible as...seeing Spider-Man on opening night! Best, Your friends at the NYCCBM!!! www.nyccbm.org +++++ Professor Uses Comics to Teach Physics By ANDRES YBARRA - The Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Is Spider-Man's web really strong enough to support him as he swings from building to building? Why did Superman's home planet of Krypton explode? How much would the Flash need to eat in order to run around the globe in 80 seconds? The man to ask is University of Minnesota physics professor Jim Kakalios. Kakalios, who has taught physics at the school since 1988, is entering his second semester teaching an elective course for freshmen called Science in Comic Books. Or, as he calls it in his syllabus, ``Everything I Know of Science I Learned From Reading Comic Books.'' He says using comic books to teach the fundamentals of physics is a great way to stimulate his students. ``It seems by the time they left the class, they were looking at the world with a more critical and more scientific eye,'' he says. The fun lies in pointing out where the comic book writers got the science right, and where they got it wrong, he says. Kakalios, a comic book lover whose office is filled with action figures, came up with the idea for his class after applying physics to a 1973 Spider-Man comic in which Peter Parker's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, dies. Gwen is knocked from a bridge by the evil Green Goblin, but Spider-Man catches her with his webbing an instant before she hits the water. When Spider-Man pulls her up, he discovers to his horror that she is dead. While Spidey was shocked, Kakalios was not. The professor estimated Gwen's falling velocity, applied Newton's Second Law of Motion and calculated the G-forces exerted when she went from 95 mph to a standstill in an instant. ``It's not surprising her neck broke,'' Kakalios says. Kakalios made Gwen's death an exam problem during the course's first semester last fall. The explosion of Krypton, part of Superman lore, is one of those cases where the comic book writers got the physics right, Kakalios says. In the early Superman comics, the explanation for his superpowers was that he came from a planet whose gravity was much greater than Earth's, Kakalios says. Thus a hero so strong that on Earth, he could leap a tall building in a single bound. Kakalios calculated Krypton's gravity by working backward from the force required to leap a building on Earth. From there, Kakalios concluded that Superman's planet must have had a core of superdense - and dangerously unstable - material. ``Then you realize why Krypton exploded,'' he says. In what is likely to be of interest to fans of the box-office hit ``Spider-Man,'' Kakalios concluded that Spidey's web is plenty strong enough to swing him from a building or catch a falling heroine. The comic book says the hero's webbing has the tensile strength of steel; from that, Kakalios calculated it could support a couple of tons. For his final exam, Kakalios had students choose a comic book scenario to work as a physics problem. History major Kristin Barbieri, 19, tried to figure out how much caloric energy the Flash would need to circle the globe in 80 seconds, as he did in one comic book. She concluded that the superhero simply could not have eaten enough to do it. ``He would have been able to get the first burst of energy, but he would have sunk (in an ocean) after that,'' Barbieri says. Computer science major Eric Caron, 19, also worked a Flash problem. In one comic book, the Flash vibrated his molecules to melt ice that encased him. Caron tried to figure out how fast the hero would have had to vibrate. ``It was close to 6,000 mph hour,'' Caron says. "It's not the most realistic thing. But hey, if he can run at light speed.” On the Net: http://www.physics.umn.edu +++++ PRESS RELEASE idee public relations (310) 566 5675 ideepr@hotmail.com SAVE THE DATE SILENT BOB SPEAKS! AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH Proceeds go to ACTOR (A Commitment To Our Roots): Bringing Financial Relief to the Original Founders of the Comic Book Industry LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 6th , 2002 - ACTOR, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping veteran comic book writers and artists in need, will host an evening with writer/director/actor Kevin Smith, on May 31st, at 7.30 PM at the Writers Guild Theater, 135 South Doheny Dr. (1 Block south of Wilshire) in Beverly Hills. Tickets are $15 (limited to 4 per person) and include a free comic gift bag. Tickets are available at Golden Apple Comics, 7711 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles (323 658-6047) or DJ's Universal Comics, 11038 Ventura Blvd, Studio City (818-761-3465), or through Kevin Smith's website, www.Viewaskew.com. Ticket sales begin May 9th and run through May 30th! Kevin Smith, the creator behind such offbeat movie hits as "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy" is also one of the world's hottest comic book writers and a prominent supporter of the comics industry. Smith will answer questions on all subjects, from his new multi-year exclusive deal with Marvel Comics, which includes the mini-series "Spider- Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do,” to his life as one of the movie business's most popular directors. "Participants can look forward to a relaxed Q&A format, as any and all questions will be answered,” says Smith, who is well known for his candid and laid back manner in public. "Come and join us, and maybe we'll be able to raise a chunk of change for ACTOR in the process.” As Marvel Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada says, “I can think of nothing better than hanging with Kevin for an evening and listening to him talk comics and movies_Come join Kevin on this wonderful night and help out a worthy cause.” About ACTOR Today the fantastical visions of the comic-book world that took shape in the 1940’s and 50’s are reaching wider audiences than ever before. With the multi-million dollar "SPIDERMAN" in theatrical release with huge ticket sales, it would be easy to overlook the many talented writers and artists who filled page after page with beautifully crafted artwork and mythical characters. ACTOR is the only charity dedicated to supporting the many talented and under-appreciated creators who laid the groundwork for the comic book industry, but now live in financial need. During the industry's Golden and Silver Ages from 1938 to 1970, these pioneering cartoonists toiled in low-wage obscurity, with writers earning a penny a word and artists a mere $5 a page. As freelancers they worked without pension plans, health benefits, or the possibility for creative ownership, and today many of them live in poverty, unable to afford food, medical care and housing. Now they need a helping hand from those to whom they have given so much enjoyment. ACTOR is an association of the comic industry's top publishers and has received support from leading celebrities and entertainment figures, from Marvel founder Stan Lee to "Seinfeld" writer David Mandel. The federally chartered 501-(c) (3) non-profit organization is served by two boards of directors; the Fund-raising committee is made up of Jim McLauchlin and Pat McCallum of Wizard Entertainment, Joe Quesada of Marvel Comics, Mark Alessi of CrossGen Comics, Brian Pulido of Chaos! Comics, Jim Valentino of Image Comics, and Mike Richardson of Dark Horse Comics. The Fund Disbursement Committee is composed of the industry's most respected statesmen: Roy Thomas, George Perez, Joe Kubert, Dennis O'Neil, John Romita Sr. and Dick Giordano. For information on tickets or to send donations, contact idee PR at 310-566-5675. +++++ MARVEL MEDIA BLITZ! A Feeding Frenzy On The Wall-Crawler... And Marvel! Hey, True Believer! It seemed that no matter where we looked this past week, Spider-Man (you know, that movie that shattered every Hollywood opening record with its $114 million weekend debut) -- and all of Marvel Comics -- was in the spotlight. Here's a quick rundown of some recent sightings: * Both the UPN and Fox New York City area nightly news programs covered Marvel's special staff premiere of the Spider-Man movie in their Wednesday, May 1st broadcasts. One network caught the entire Bullpen on camera, while the other featured a few words by the legendary John Romita Sr.! * The latest issue of RollingStone features "Spider-Man's Kirsten Dunst" on the cover, while inside Peter Travers says that "Spider-Man is up, up and away as the firecracker to beat this summer." Praising director Sam Raimi's vision, Travers also raves that "(Tobey) Maguire and Dunst keep Spider-Man on a high with their sweet-sexy yearning, spinning a web of dazzle and delicacy that might just restore the good name of movie escapism." * The May 13th edition of Us magazine reveals how Maguire got in such great shape (a grueling five-month program of gymnastics, martial arts, weight training, yoga and high-end cardio), speculates on Dunst's former flames (including, you guessed it, Maguire himself), and gave Spider-Man a rave review ("At last, a perfect comic book movie"). * The May 13th issue of People, the magazine's famous "50 Most Beautiful People" edition, includes such marvelous faces as Hugh Jackman (Wolverine in X-Men), Halle Berry (Storm in X-Men), Jennifer Connelly (Betty Brant in The Incredible Hulk) and Jennifer Garner (Elektra in Daredevil). * In the "Week In Review" section of The New York Time's May 5th edition, reporter Jayson Blair examines the history of black heroes in comic books, listing such Marvel characters as Blade, Storm, Photon, Cage and Black Panther, who Blair describes as a "trailblazing hero (who) broke many black comic hero stereotypes." * The May 5th issue of the New York Post featured three comic book related articles. The first noted how "New Yorkers continued to fall into Spider-Man's web yesterday -- braving long lines just to catch a glimpse of the teenage super hero." The second covered John Romita Jr.'s upcoming effort (on May 10th and 11th) to raise money for his cancer-stricken niece through a 48-hour drawing marathon. Finally, in a story entitled "Holy Rip-Off!", The Post reported that a rifle- wielding stickup man stole $20,000 worth of comics from Action Comics (located on Manhattan's East 81st Street). Now that's a job for Spidey! * Entertainment Weekly continued their coverage of The House with a five-page Marvel-centered feature article that asks "Can Superheroes Save Hollywood?" The article includes a two-page illustration of Spider-Man, the Hulk and Daredevil -- and a hilarious sidebar written by comics-guru Kevin Smith! In "Trash of the Titans," Kevin explores his experiences writing for both DC and Marvel. His bones of contention: DC wouldn't let him reference the Powerpuff Girls (who, in a head-scratching aside, are actually owned by AOL Time Warner) or print the word "fart" (they instead -- if you can believe it -- instead inserted the word "toot"!) On the Marvel side, Smith registered his concern with our overprint policy (noting that his store (Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank, New Jersey) often sells out of Marvel titles... but on the flip side he noted that "over at Marvel, you can not only use the term 'fart,' but you can use the other F word (in Marvel's MAX line)" -- and even slipped in a plug for his upcoming miniseries Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do! So there you have it, friends! Whether on TV, in newspapers or your favorite glossy mags, The House is the place to be! 'Nuff Said! Bill Rosemann Marketing Communications Manager Marvel Comics +++++ Marvel May 15 Webcast To Review Q1 Results And Initiate FY 2002 Guidance NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2002--Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) announced today that it will host a webcast open to all investors at 11:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 15. Marvel will release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002, which will include the initiation of financial guidance for FY 2002, prior to the market's opening that day. On the webcast Marvel's management team will review its financial results for the first quarter of 2002, provide an overview of its operations and discuss its financial guidance. Investors may access the live webcast on the Internet via www.vcall.com or directly at http://www.vcall.com/EventPage.asp?ID=81609; allow 15 minutes to register and download and install any necessary software. Following its completion, a replay of the call can be accessed for fourteen days on the Internet at either of the above links. With a library of over 4,700 proprietary characters, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused in four areas: entertainment (Marvel Studios), licensing, toys (Toy Biz) and comic book publishing. Marvel facilitates the creation of entertainment projects, including feature films, television and dvd/home video based on its characters and also licenses its characters for use in a wide range of consumer products and services including video and computer games, apparel, collectibles, snack foods and promotions. Marvel's characters and plot lines are created by its comic book division which continues to maintain a leadership position in the U.S. and worldwide while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property. For additional information visit the Marvel Web site at http://www.marvel.com We hope you will be able to join the webcast. For further information or to receive future company news announcements via e-mail, please contact Richard Land or David Collins at 212/835-8500 or mvl@jcir.com. CONTACT: Jaffoni & Collins Richard Land or David Collins 212/835-8500 mvl@jcir.com SOURCE: Marvel Enterprises, Inc. +++++ "Rosetta" a sophisticated new anthology of comics Alternative Comics to release September collection of award winning cartoonists Gainesville, Florida, May 6, 2002: September 2002 sees the Alternative Comics release of Rosetta, a squarebound 196-page comics anthology of sophisticated works by an international cast of award winning artists. Rosetta is targeted at a mature audience which views comics as a valid art form equal to any other. Rosetta not only entertains with new stories by over twenty award winning cartoonists from North America and around the world, but also reveals the creative processes and compromises that occur in the creation of comic art in the form of a sketchbook section. The contributing artists have been set the task to go beyond the boundaries set by their previous works and to push themselves into areas that they consider dangerous to their reputations. Edited by Ng Suat Tong, Rosetta is packaged under a phenomenal sequential jam cover and endpaper concept by Dave Cooper, Marc Bell, Miriam Katin and Ron Rege Jr. Alternative Comics will debut Rosetta at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland held September 6-8, 2002. (Rosetta; Mature Readers; Trade Paperback; $14.95 US; 196 pages; 7" x 10"; ISBN: 1-891867-22-9; Alternative Comics). Under a cover by Dave Cooper, Nick Bertozzi dreams about the sequentiality of Hokusai's prints, Ivan Brunetti muses upon the music of Erik Satie, David Choe examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a trip to the Gaza strip, David Collier discusses the quirks of Islam, Renee French provides an eccentric example of portraiture, Tom Hart explores his literary side, the respected cartoonist Lat retrieves a distant memory of his childhood in Malaysia, Matt Madden produces sequential magic out of old NYC mug shots, Miriam Katin delves into the moral questions surrounding her childhood in Hungary, Megan Kelso provides another chapter in her Artichoke Tales, James Kochalka provides an atypical example of his realism, Ron Rege Jr. philosophizes about consumerism, Katja Tukiainen provides a diary of her trip of India to study yoga and Stefan J H van Dinther tests the boundaries of experimental comics. The contributing artists include: 1. M. S. Bastian (of the Swiss avant-garde Mutanten group) 2. Marc Bell (The Expo anthology, Exclaim! and Vice magazines) 3. Nick Bertozzi (Boswash, The Masochists, Rubber Necker) 4. Ivan Brunetti (Schizo, Haw) 5. David Choe (Slow Jams, Non) 6. David Collier (Collier's, Just the Facts) 7. Greg Cook (Catch as Catch Can) 8. Dave Cooper (Weasel, Crumple) 9. Renee French (Marbles in My Underpants, The Soap Lady) 10. Tom Hart (The Sands, Hutch Owen, Triple Dare) 11. Michael Kupperman (Snake N Bacon) 12. Ulf K. (The Man on the Moon, Tango with Death) 13. David Lasky (Boom Boom, Urban Hipster, Ulysses) 14. Lat (Kampung Boy, Town Boy) 15. Matt Madden (Black Candy, Odds Off, A Fine Mess) 16. Miriam Katin (Monkeysuit, Drawn & Quarterly) 17. Megan Kelso (Queen of the Black Black, Girlhero) 18. James Kochalka (Sketchbook Diaries, Monkey vs. Robot, Fantastic Butterflies, Peanutbutter & Jeremy) 19. John Porcellino (King Cat, Perfect Example) 20. Ron Rege Jr. (Skibber Bee Bye, Drawn & Quarterly) 21. Tobias Schalken (Eiland) 22. Katja Tukiainen (New Thing) 23. Stefan J. H. van Dinther (Eiland) 24. Sara Varon (Dreamland Burns) 25. Danijel Zezelj (The Corinthian, Air Mexico, WWIII Illustrated) A multi-country book signing tour will kick off with the debut of Rosetta at the Small Press Expo (SPX) held the weekend of September 6- 8, 2002 at the Holiday Inn Select in downtown Bethesda, MD, just one mile outside the nation's capital, Washington DC. In its ninth year SPX now serves as the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books and the discovery of new creative talent. for more information about Alternative Comics or Rosetta, please contact: Alternative Comics Publisher Jeff Mason at 503 NW 37th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32609-2204. Phone: (352) 373-6336. E-Mail: jmason@indyworld.com mailto:aroe@mindspring.com Rosetta: http://www.indyworld.com/rosetta +++++ CROSSGEN COMICS DEBUTS WAY OF THE RAT #1 FREE ONLINE FOR FREE COMIC BOOK DAY The First Issue Of The Martial Arts Series To Be Available Online Beginning May 4 TAMPA, FL., May 3, 2002 - In anticipation of the comic book industry's national Free Comic Book Day celebration on May 4, CrossGen Comics is doing their part to draw new readers into comic book stores by placing the first issue of their new martial arts action series on their Comics on the Web program for free, two weeks before its comic store launch. The previous new release preview placed early on Comic on the Web, The Path Prequel, marked an increase in sales of the comic book and retailers claimed an increase in new traffic to their stores. CrossGen has the same anticipation for Way of the Rat #1. "One of the most important pieces of new information we discovered when we launched The Path Prequel online prior to its reaching stores is that the online Web comic drove sales in a big way," said CrossGen VP of Business Development Tony Panaccio. "Now, the question is what do we do with that information? We'd be somewhat foolish not to use this discovery to help retailers introduce this book to a whole new audience. As we are signing new partnerships to Comics on the Web on nearly a weekly basis, it only logically follows that premiering Way of the Rat in the free section of Comics on the Web is the best way for CrossGen to direct new CrossGen readers and new comics readers in general to pick up the new title, which is the very spirit of Free Comics Day. With our Premier Retailer Program prominently featured in Comics on the Web, we get thousands of clickthroughs each week from new readers looking for local comic shops once they read our online versions. These clickthroughs drive foot traffic and sales, and that's what it's all about." Way of the Rat #1 will be available on Comics on the Web from May 4 through its release on May 15. If you are interested in trying this issue, log on to www.comicsontheweb.com and click on "select a title to read." About CrossGen Comics On The Web CrossGen's Comics on the Web is the first inexpensive subscription- based distributed library of Internet-based comic books usable on PC and Mac platforms with a potential audience well into the millions. For the subscription price on only $1 per month to start, users are presented with Web comics in an easy to read format accessible in seconds from even the slowest dial-up connection. They read just like a printed comic, but with a rich set of features developed in Flash by one of the medium's most renowned programmers, Gabo Mendoza of Gabocorp Studios. Initially launched with more than 50 CrossGen issues available, accounting for more than 1,100 pages, the library will grow to more than 160 issues and 4,400 pages by the end of 2002, rising at a steady pace to nearly 20,000 pages in more than 800 issues by 2005. The number of issues available, when calculated against the $1 per month base, brings the cost per comic down to about 3 cents at launch time, and reduces it to about half a penny by the end of 2002. +++++ 4Kids To Produce and Launch New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2002--Company To Serve As Exclusive Global Merchandise Licensing Representative For The Property Set To Air On The Recently Acquired 4Kids Entertainment Saturday Morning Kids Block On Fox 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:KDE) and Mirage Licensing, Inc., the holder of the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, announced today that 4Kids will produce twenty-six (26) episodes of a new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series. The new Ninja Turtles series is scheduled to premiere in the first quarter of 2003 on the Fox Saturday Morning Block programmed by 4Kids. In addition to producing the television series, 4Kids will also serve as the exclusive merchandise licensing agent for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property worldwide. "We are delighted to be working with Peter Laird, the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to introduce the Ninja Turtles to a new generation of fans," said Al Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment. "The Ninja Turtles property enjoys worldwide popularity and we expect the new Ninja Turtles series to be must see TV for kids around the globe. There has always been tremendous interest in the Turtles and we expect that the master toy licensee, Playmates Toys, Inc., will quickly be joined by other leading children's merchandise companies around the globe in supporting the re-launch of the Ninja Turtles." "We are thrilled to partner with 4Kids to produce a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series," said Gary Richardson, CEO of Mirage. "4Kids has established itself as a leading producer of quality children's entertainment with such shows as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! at the top of the children's television ratings. 4Kids also enjoys a stellar reputation as a leading merchandise licensing agent." The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created in May 1984 when Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman published a forty page black and white comic book. The original Ninja Turtles animated series debuted in 1987. It was the #1 children's television show throughout the late 1980's and early `90's. Ninja Turtles merchandise licensees, including master toy licensee Playmates Toys and videogame licensee Konami were also enormously successful, selling in excess of $1 billion in sales at retail for toys, videogames and other merchandise within all product categories. "In reintroducing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I am pleased to say that 4Kids will be going back to the Turtles' comic book roots," said Peter Laird, co-creator of the Turtles. "We anticipate that the new Ninja Turtles series will contain the same irreverent contemporary humor and compelling action sequences that the Turtles are famous for, updated for the 21st century." About 4Kids Entertainment Headquartered in New York City with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:KDE) is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing and product development, television, film, music and home video production and distribution, media buying and planning and website development. For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.4kidsEntertainment.com. About Mirage Licensing, Inc. Mirage Licensing, Inc. is the licensing arm of a group of companies - Mirage Studios, Inc., Mirage Management, Inc., Mirage Publishing, Inc. - located in Northampton, Massachusetts thhat for 18 years has administered, nurtured and protected the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property, one of the most successful and respected worldwide children's entertainment and merchandise properties of all time. This release and prior releases are available on the Company's Worldwide Web site at www.4KidsEntertainment.com. +++++ Man Robs N.Y. Store of Rare Comics NEW YORK (AP) - As the ``Spider-Man'' movie scaled the box office this weekend, a man robbed a store of rare comic books, including the first issue of ``The Amazing Spider Man.'' Police said a man entered Action Comics in Manhattan on Saturday and approached clerk Stuart Bowler. The man then reached into a duffel bag and said, ``'I have to show you these things,''' Bowler said. ``I thought he was trying to sell some books, because everyone's always trying to sell books, but then he pulls out a gun.'' Bowler said the man was apologetic as he handcuffed him and took more than $20,000 worth of rare comic books. “He said, 'I'm sorry. I hate to have to do it this way, but I really need the money,'” Bowler said. The robber even stopped to unload his gun before heading back out onto the crowded street, he said. Police were still searching for the man. The movie version of the famed comic book superhero opened in theaters this weekend, pulling in more than $100 million. +++++ From the SPLASH PAGE of Comicon.com at: http://www.comicon.com/splash/ CUNEO: 'WE THINK WE CAN REMAIN INDEPENDENT FOR A WHILE'! May 8: With great success comes great vulnerability! As Marvel enterprises basks in the massive box office and toy sales of SPIDER- MAN, stock analysts are taking a new, hard look at the company and some are saying that to reach its true potential, the company needs to be sold to a larger media conglomerate. An article in print editions of today's WALL STREET JOURNAL , under the headline "MARVEL: POWERHOUSE POTENTIAL?" does a fairly thorough analysis of the company's restructuring over the last year, including the buyback of a portion of its junk bond debt, its new revolving credit facility and the five and a half year licensing agreement it has given to the new TOY BIZ (which marvel describes as a separate and non-affiliated company). The JOURNAL also points out that working capital is at $28.9 million and cash on hand for operations at $8.8 million. John Taylor of Arcadia Investments Corp told the JOURNAL: "The jury's not out on this company; the court isn't even in session. They need to get into a regular cycle on these major motion pictures, have more going on in regular revenue-producing events." The JOURNAL said: "There is little chance of positive earnings or cash flow until the 2002 and 2003 movie releases generate revenue (IMS Capital Value Fund manager, Carl) Marker said. But his faith in management and the long-term business strategy has boosted his confidence in the stock. Still he believes Marvel would be better served as part of a bigger company." Marker told the JOURNAL: "Our thinking is that Marvel needs to be sold to a larger entertainment company, like Disney or AOL Time Warner, with the leverage to make better films and promote the library of characters." Marker said a larger company could "use the characters at theme parks, produce television shows and films in-house and absorb the costs across a larger revenue base, as well as have the power to make more lucrative licensing deals." Marker said: "I think management is making the company more attractive, but it could take four or five years of momentum building before we see a deal of that kind." Marvel CEO, Peter Cuneo said: "I don't speculate on whether we will be an interesting acquisition. We think we can remain independent for a while." +++++ From Newsarama at http://www.comicon.com/Newsarama/ Winner of the 2001 Squiddy - Best General Comics Web Site RETAILERS FILE CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST MARVEL While Spider-Man and Free Comic Book Day provided some rosy news for comics and especially Marvel over the weekend, come Monday, it's apparently business as usual in the increasingly antagonistic relationship between some comic retailers and Marvel Comics. San Francisco's Comix Experience founder Brian Hibbs has filed a class action lawsuit against Marvel Comics in New York Supreme Court on behalf of all American comic book retailers against publisher Marvel Enterprises, Inc. The suit alleges that Marvel has repeatedly breached its Terms of Sale in its dealing with American comic book specialty stores. Simply put, many of Marvel's recent late books from last year through the early months of this year shipped over thirty days late. By the terms of Marvel's agreement with retailers and Diamond, the books should therefore be returnable. However, the books have not been coded as returnable by Marvel, neither have retailers been allowed to decrease their orders on the late-shipping titles. As a result, retailers are left with full orders of books that arrived well after the on-sale date the publisher originally announced. Books which editorial content differs significantly from what was advertised in solicitations are also returnable. The policy by Diamond and other publishers to make books that miss their ship date by more than 30 days is a result of the early 90s when retailers would order hundreds of copies of heavily-hyped comics, only to have them ship months late, when customers had forgotten about them. As Hibbs himself said on the Warren Ellis Forum, "With singles, readers expect the book to be released on a regular basis. When the book starts to fall behind, many readers feel like the momentum of the story is lost.” Another problem with books shipping late is that of customers' budgets – when a book doesn't show up in a given week, most customers pocket the money they had budgeted for the book, rather than hold it in order to spend when the book actually arrives. When the book does ship, it's an added expense, rather than a planned expense, and as a result, the customer may pass on other comics in order to keep their spending within limits. In either case, the retailer can potentially lose money on the late- shipped product, either from customers not buying the late book, or passing on other products in order to buy the late book when it eventually ships. A press release from Hibbs' lawyer stated: Marvel's Terms of Sale states that a product delivered more than 30 days after "the solicited on sale date specified at the time of purchase" or product which "contains significant editorial or manufacturing differences from the solicited content" will be made either order adjustable (where retailers can stop or reduce the late shipping product coming into their store) or returnable. Comic book retailers buy Marvel Comics on a non-returnable basis. The suit alleges that Marvel Comics has systematically refused to recognize such products as order adjustable, in an attempt to increase profits at the storeowners' expense. "I've been concerned," Hibbs said in the release, "since the middle of 2001 when I began to notice how many Marvel comics were shipping late, or with different content or creative teams than we had ordered. These late and mis-solicited titles were clearly costing me sales. I tracked just the 30+ day late shipping books for an eight-month period and, using the sales charts estimates on ICV2 (http://icv2.com/index.html) I was shocked to find that Marvel shipped over $6.2 million dollars in contractually late material!" Obviously, the most recent example of this would be the recently announced Origin #6, which was scheduled to ship in January, but, after the rest of the series missed shipping deadlines, was finally rescheduled to hit shops Wednesday, May 22nd, over four months late. Originally, the miniseries explaining Wolverine's origin was supposed to run for five months (with #1 and #2 shipping in September, 2001, and the remaining issues spread out one per month through January), but the revised schedule of the books' release took nine months. Elektra, New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Iceman, Brotherhood, Daredevil: Yellow, Amazing Spider-Man, Elektra/Wolverine, and a number of trade paperbacks were also shipped over thirty days late. The problem, many retailer report, comes when the buzz and hype of a series or scheduled issue begins to fade, and buyers lose interest, and ultimately don't buy the book, resulting in unsold copies sitting on shelves – copies that are not returnable because Marvel says they cannot be returned to Diamond for credit. By Hibbs' own accounting, from April through December 2001, six percent of Marvel books shipped more than 30 days late, and therefore should have been returnable. As for the "class action" of the suit, according to the `Lectric Law Library, the term means that one party, or a group of parties is suing as representatives of a larger class. To move forward in the judicial system, the court must agree that the action is in fact, a class action. Once the court certifies the action as a class action, members of the class much be given notice, and the opportunity to exclude themselves from the proceeding. Class members who opt out are not bound by the eventual judgment in the case. Class actions also serve a valuable social service – for example, Hibbs himself, while a successful comic book retailer, could hardly afford to legally tackle Marvel on his own, but a class action allows lawyers to vindicate the rights of a larger group of people, in this case, comic book retailers, where no one party to the action has sufficient economic incentive to bring the suit on their own. Nancy Ledy-Gurren of Ledy-Gurren & Blumenstock, LLP, the New York law firm representing the plaintiffs, said, "This is precisely the type of situation that a class action is designed to remedy. Marvel is treating all specialty store owners unfairly - uniformly turning its back on its own Terms of Sale. There is, in this type of commercial dispute, strength in numbers." "Most comic book stores are under-capitalized, owner-operated affairs," Hibbs said, "and the individual losses per-store are far too small for us to take on Marvel individually -- Marvel could bury us one-by-one in legal fees, without even trying. By filing this as a Class Action suit, we hope that the court recognizes that the aggregate loss sustained by all American comic book retailers from Marvel's suspect business practices is a multi-million dollar problem." In brief, Hibbs' lawsuit seeks over $10 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages. From the complaint: 5. WHEREFORE, plaintiff, on behalf of himself and all other members of the Class, pray for judgment against the defendants as follows: (a) Certifying this action to be a class action, in accordance with Article 9 of New York's Civil Practice Law and Rules, and appointing plaintiff and his counsel to represent the Class; (b) Awarding compensatory damages in the amount of $8,000,000 on the First Cause of Action; (c) Awarding compensatory damages in the amount of $8,000,000 on the Second Cause of Action; (d) Awarding compensatory damages in the amount of $8,000,000 on the Third Cause of Action; (e) Awarding punitive damages on the Third Cause of Action in an amount determined by the trier of fact to appropriately serve the function of exemplary damages, the amount demanded being $10,000,000; (f) Awarding compensatory damages in the amount of $8,000,000 on the Fourth Cause of Action; (g) For costs and disbursements incurred in connection with this action; and (h) For any just, different and further relief that the Court deems just and proper. Boiling down the legalese, Hibbs said that the complaint lists a presumed $10 million in damages done by Marvel to comic book stores. "This figure will likely be amended as we get into discovery,” Hibbs said. "Speaking for myself, the goal is to get Marvel to live up to their Terms of Sale, and to make it clear to all other manufacturers that retailer's are willing to look after their own. "Marvel, despite their couching everything in terms of `us against 'Aol/TimeWarner'' is an incredibly large multi-million dollar company: I know we in the comics industry often can't help but thinking about them in terms of the Bullpen of yore, but that's clearly not the case any more. Sad as it may be, the way you make multi-million dollar companies pay attention to your concerns, when polite discourse has failed, is to take it to the legal system, and to their stockholders. I would have preferred to solve this in some other method -- and dozens of other retailers and myself have tried to gain redress. But we've been ignored.” "We tried to work with Marvel, both directly and indirectly, by having Diamond try to put some pressure on them, as well as having other retailers trying to contact them.The outcome of those talks? You're looking at it.” Hibbs said that he's confident that individual comic book shops keep good enough records of what they've sold, and should be able to provide enough information to prove that mis-solicited comics equal lost sales. Currently, Hibbs is the only plaintiff in the class action, which is normal, as the complaint was just filed today. "At this moment, Nancy believes the best thing to do is to pursue this with a single lead plaintiff representing the class of comics retailers,” Hibbs said. "We will add other stores in as direct plaintiffs as necessary. I have a file with over a dozen other retailers who have agreed to participate, if it comes to it - and that was only by my making the most casual of questions to a group of my peers. "For whatever it is worth, I have not yet had a retailer tell me they don't support making Marvel live up to their own contract. Again: Marvel set the Terms of Sale, not the retailers. Marvel needs to live up to their responsibility.” As for the question that has many readers raising an eyebrow at the timing of the filing, Hibbs said that the suit was filed now, because the suit was ready. “I only found Nancy about six weeks ago because of Marvel's TOS, I needed to file in NY - and being in San Francisco, that took a lot to orchestrate, and we've been working as hard as we could to get the pieces in motion. "Having said that, as important as the comics press is, the real impact of such a suit in changing and addressing Marvel's behavior is their board of directors and stockholders. If we want those folks to take real notice of the inequities that Marvel has put upon retailers, then we have to make the point publicly. “A week ago, or next week do you think `real world' reporters would be giving as much weight to this story as they will this week?” Diamond Comic Distributors declined to comment about the lawsuit when asked by Newsarama. TRANSFORMERS REPLICATE Dreamwave's Transformers #2 went on sale this week, and the good news continues for the publisher on the Robots in Disguise front. Dreamwave Productions has informed Newsarama.com they've decided to publish a new, third printing of issue #1. Likely to be in the 30 to 50k-copy range, new wrinkles added to this print run will be inclusion of three images that were initially released as lithographs (Ultra Magnus, Megatron, and Shockwave), and a new cover. Tentatively scheduled to be in stories June 12th, Dreamwave reports this will "definitely" be the last print run for issue #1, and says they'll overprint in addition to orders by retailers, "to make sure that everyone that wants one, gets one.” Said DW's Adam Fortier, "Although we more than doubled the order for the second printing, it still sold out.” In addition, issue #2 - which the publisher says they've also sold out of - is going back to press for a new, 2nd printing, also tentatively scheduled to arrive in stores on June 12th. The publisher estimates it has now printed 225K copies of the first two printings and variant editions of issue #1, and also reports retailer orders for June's issue #3 remained fairly consistent with issue #2 (which they report as 175k). Dreamwave also announced a trade paperback of the entire mini-series is being prepared for a November 2002 release, and will also include the preview book, the majority of the artwork (all the alternative covers, likely some of the poster and lithograph images) and what they call "surprise pages" - about 8-12 pages of an unpublished alternate ending to issue #1 they created. The publisher reiterated their plan to publish two Transformers projects a month beginning in July when their Armada ongoing series debuts, and that writer Simon Furman's Transformers: The War Within is still slated for an October debt, the month after the G1 mini-series concludes. "We do plan to have two Transformers projects in print all the time,” said Fortier, though adding it is the "rough" plan and there may be some gaps along the line. "They will also be different from the other, so that you don't feel like you're reading the same story twice. And we're in all likelihood not going to be doing more than two (not counting TPBs), as we don't want to flood the market with product. Doing two books means that we can ensure the quality. I'd rather put out two great books than five mediocre ones.” Future projects include another G1 mini-series next year with Pat Lee attached as artist, and a large, comprehensive G1 handbook-style volume profiling all the characters (350-plus) from Transformers G1, with entries including their histories, new art featuring each character in robot and vehicle mode, and additional background information including info on Cybertron, their history on Earth, etc_ No firm publishing details were available for either of those projects. And In other non-Transformers Dreamwave news, the publisher tells Newsarama it has plans to conclude and continue projects they were unable to finish for various reasons over the last few years. "There are many fans out there that don't know the final pieces to the stories that they have been reading. Shidima, Echo, and even Warlands: Age of Ice all had to be stopped part way through, for various reasons. Because we're now on our own [i.e. no longer affiliated with Image Comics] we're able to finish these comics off, and give closure to our fans.” Asked to explain in more detail the reasons why they were postponed, Fortier said, "Because of too many changes, or because we moved focus from these comics to others … as a small studio, we didn't get the option of doing 3-4 titles a month, but could only do 1-2 at a time.” "This isn't about money,” claimed Fortier, "this is about knowing the ending.” A collected edition of the first four issues of Shidima (issue #4 shipped in August 2001) will be released in July (which includes a new eight-page story by Brian Augustyn and Mike Norton), along with the new issue #5. The series will conclude with issue #7. The original series writer Adrian Tsang is still attached for the final three issues, and they'll be penciled by Lou Kang and Sigmund Torre on backgrounds. Warlands: Age of Ice #6 is scheduled for June, with a new penciler, Mateo (Banished Knights #3) Guerrero attached and original writer Tsang still onboard. Pat Lee was the original penciler. That series ends with issue #9, and Dreamwave says a new volume 3 is already in the works, with Brian Augustyn writing and Guerrero on pencils. Issue #5 of that series shipped in January 2002. Finally, Echo will pick up again this coming December or January. "This comic book was picked up by 20th Century Fox to be made into a movie,” said Fortier. "One of our most popular titles (by the original creative team of writer Ken Siu-Chong and Studio XD, whose members now make up part of Udon), we were unable to tell the ending the way we wanted to. The final three issues will be published, to give our fans the ending that they deserve.” The last three issues will be written by Transformers Chris Sarracini and drawn by Ramil Sunga, and a collected edition of the first five issues and a #0 issue (issue #5 shipped in September 2000) will be released in conjunction with the new issue #6. +++++ From Comics2Film at http://www.comics2film.com THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN ------------------------------------- Variety confirms internet rumors that Shane West is coming on board The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The trade reports that the actor is in negotiations for the part of Tom Sawyer, an American police detective. Variety reports that the details are still being worked out, but the casting seems likely. West joins Sean Connery on the project. Stephen Norrington is set to direct. The film is produced by Don Murphy, with Mark Gordon exec producing. http://www.variety.com MORT THE DEAD TEENAGER ---------------------- Mort the Dead Teenager, a comic book series about... if you can't guess from the title... a dead teenager, may be once again moving toward the big screen. According to Fox 411, Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender will serve as Executive Producers on the film, along with Madonna's production company Maverick Films. The film has been in limbo for some time, after Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis' plans for the project died. Reportedly, Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood may be playing living-impaired character. Thanks to IGN Film Force for the lead. http://filmforce.ign.com CATWOMAN -------- Just days after IGN Film Force reviewed the script for the new Catwoman movie, the site reports that casting is underway. FilmForce reports that reliable sources have informed them that Owen Wilson has been offered the lead male role in the film, to star opposite Ashley Judd. Wilson, who is best known for his comedic roles in such films as Shanghai Noon and The Royal Tenenbaums has been approached to play John Lone. In the script, Lone is a former Gotham City police officer who worked on the costumed hero and villain cases. When Catwoman appears in his new home, Lake City, Lone is back on the case. While Wilson has been offered the role, he reportedly has not yet accepted it. http://filmforce.ign.com ASTERIX AND OBELIX: MISSION CLEOPATRA, BLUEBERRY, L'AVENTURIER, WOMAN TRAP, THE, LA MARQUE JAUNE, FANTOMAS, MICHEL VAILLANT --------------------------------------------------------------- It's no doubt that the blockbuster status of Spider-Man will push the comic-to-film drive even further in the U.S. but Variety reports a similar phenomena occurring in France. The French comic flick Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra has racked up $100 million in ticket sales, sparking a comic book feeding frenzy in that country. Brotherhood of the Wolf helmer Christophe Gans is set to direct L'Aventurier for Eskwad Prods. The English language movie is set to lens next January and will be the highest priced French film to date with a $45million budget. Moebius' Blueberry is filming this month in Mexico for La Petite Reine. That company is also adapting Fantomas based on the cult comic strip. Jean Reno is set to star with Frederic Forestier directing. Comics creator Enki Bilal is directing and adaptation of his book The Woman Trap (La Femme Piege) for Telema. The film is due out this year. Telema is also working up La Marque Jaune for a 2004 release. James Huth (Serial Lover) is directing. Luc Besson is producing a film version of the race-car strip Michel Vaillant. Filming is slated to start on that one in June. http://www.variety.com +++++ From the DC Comics Online Newsletter at http://www.dccomics.com ROBERT KANIGHER, 1915 - 2002 Prolific and Influential DC Comics Writer Robert Kanigher, one of the most prolific comic book writers of all time, passed away on Monday, May 6, at age 87. His career spanned five decades, nearly all of which was spent at DC Comics as a writer, creator and editor. Born June 18, 1915, Kanigher showed early promise as a writer when his short stories and poetry began appearing in magazines including The Loyalist and The Bridge in the late 1920s; one of his works won him The New York Times Collegiate Short Story Contest in 1932. After serving as writer and director of a teen-oriented radio show in the late 1930s, Kanigher wrote for popular radio shows including House of Mystery and Cavalcade of America. As a playwright, Kanigher wrote The Kite, Outbreak, Blind Date and other dramas, several of which were optioned for movies. Some of Kanigher's earliest comics work appeared in Fox's Blue Beetle in 1940. He soon found work with MLJ/Archie on Steel Sterling, The Web and other titles, and with Fawcett on Captain Marvel Adventures. Kanigher put his expertise to work by authoring the book How to Make Money Writing for Comics in 1943, which is considered the earliest work on the subject. That same year he also wrote the books How to Make Money Writing for Radio and Hollywood Halo. Editor Sheldon Mayer gave Kanigher his first DC work in 1946 in SENSATION COMICS. Kanigher soon found himself providing scripts for Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkman, the Atom, the Justice Society of America and Wonder Woman, whose adventures he went on to write for the next 20 years. 1946 also saw Kanigher hired as an editor at DC; he would remain on staff through 1968, then return, again as editor, from 1972 to 1974. Longtime officemate Julie Schwartz considered Kanigher a fast and versatile talent. "There was one day when he was looking at a cover," Schwartz recalls, "and it didn't look right, so he wrote a note on the side that said, 'drop an inch,' meaning to adjust the art somehow. Anyway, the page came back with a caption added that read 'Drop an Inch!' So Kanigher immediately sat down and wrote a story called 'Drop an Inch.' I think he did it over his lunch hour." "I worked with Bob for about 30 years," says Joe Kubert. "Our collaboration was always terrific for me, and his stories were always great to work on. He had the ability to write in a way that painted pictures verbally, which made my job easy. His stuff was so damn provocative, too. He permitted me a lot of freedom on the stories we did. As far as I'm concerned, he was one-of-a-kind." Although Kanigher wrote for Archie/MLJ, Fawcett, Fox and others in the early 1940s, and, briefly, for Skywald, Gold Key and Marvel in the 1970s, the lion's share of his work appeared in the pages of DC comics. Over the years, he wrote tales of super-heroes and horror, romance and adventure, humor and tragedy, in such titles as FLASH COMICS, SEA DEVILS, RAGMAN, SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE, WONDER WOMAN, FORBIDDEN TALES OF DARK MANSION, METAL MEN, TOMAHAWK, ARAK SON OF THUNDER, and countless others. He also scripted the first appearance of the Barry Allen Flash in SHOWCASE #4, the issue credited with kicking off the Silver Age; Kanigher would come back to THE FLASH as writer in the late 1960s, working with frequent collaborators Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Kanigher's work on WONDER WOMAN in the 1950s and '60s dramatically expanded the series' mythology, in a manner comparable to Editor Mort Weisinger's expansion of the Superman mythos in the same period. Most of all, though, Kanigher will be forever identified with war comics, the genre in which he made his greatest mark. Among the many war characters he scripted were the Unknown Soldier, Captain Fear, Johnny Thunder, Captain Storm, the Haunted Tank, Enemy Ace, and, of course, Sgt. Rock. He wrote stories of combat set in numerous eras, looking at war from a variety of viewpoints in the pages of G.I. COMBAT, OUR ARMY AT WAR, OUR FIGHTING FORCES, ALL-AMERICAN MEN OF WAR, CAPTAIN STORM, and BLITZKREIG, to name just a few. Kanigher was highly regarded as a creator of characters as well as a writer. He had a gift for creating iconic characters including Angel and the Ape, the Metal Men, Black Canary, the Haunted Tank, King Faraday, Rex the Wonder Dog, Rose & Thorn, the Silent Knight, the Viking Prince, the Gentleman Ghost, Green Lantern's foe Harlequin, Johnny Thunder, Mlle. Marie, the Losers, and countless others. Kanigher's writing, always powerful, sometimes created controversy. With "Enemy Ace," he presented war from the enemy's point of view. His story "Head-Count," from OUR ARMY AT WAR #233, made the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1971 in connection with an article on realism in comics. In the early 1970s, in stories for LOIS LANE and DC's romance titles, Kanigher looked at such subjects as racism and interracial relationships. "To this day, nobody in comics could pull the heartstrings like Kanigher could," says Len Wein. "He could tell an emotional story like nobody else. That's an amazing gift." Aside from his work as a writer, Kanigher began painting landscapes and still lifes in the 1950s, and eventually had a show at the Randall Gallery. He was an accomplished skier as well, often hitting the slopes with DC Editorial Director Irwin Donenfeld. He also taught at the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Art in the late 1970s. Kanigher continued writing into the 1980s, contributing stories to SGT. ROCK as late as 1988, after more than 40 years with DC. His tales continue resonate with current comics fans in such titles such as SGT. ROCK ARCHIVES Volume 1 and the SGT. ROCK'S PRIZE BATTLE TALES Replica Edition. Later this year, more of Kanigher's work will be collected in ENEMY ACE ARCHIVES Volume 1 and WONDER WOMAN 80-PAGE GIANT. "I draw from life, from emotion, from personal experience," Kanigher said in the pages of FIFTY WHO MADE DC GREAT. "That's what makes my stories what they are. [The readers] recognize in my books one drive, one thought, one mind. The stories bear my stamp." The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations to the United Jewish Appeal be made in Kanigher's name. THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER-HEROES WORK OVERTIME IN JLA: "THE OBSIDIAN AGE - THE HUNT FOR AQUAMAN" The JLA has fallen — vanished while searching the ruins of Atlantis for their lost teammate, Aquaman (missing since last year's epic "Our Worlds at War"). Yet there's no time to mourn, as provisions put in place by Batman summon a new team of heroes into the ranks of the JLA! This summer sees the debut of "The Obsidian Age — The Hunt for Aquaman," a 7-part, twice-monthly storyline starting in JLA #69, solicited in the June issue of Previews (Volume XII, #6). The story draws to its dramatic conclusion in November's JLA #74. Written by Joe Kelly, "The Obsidian Age" features alternating chapters illustrated by the art teams of Doug Mahnke & Tom Nguyen and Yvel Guichet & Mark Propst. The "Big Seven" may be gone, but the World's Greatest Super-Heroes still will be around to save the day! Who will make up the team? You'll have to wait for JLA #69 to find out! Then, just two weeks later in JLA #70, the mystery of the Ancients (who attacked the team in #66-67) is revealed! Manitou Raven and Tezumak, who previously assailed the JLA, were almost too powerful to handle. Now meet the rest of their team: the sorceress Gamemnae! The otherworldly Angel! The mighty Sela! The Whaler! And their leader, a young mage named Rama Khan! And who are these villains? They call themselves... the Justice League! "The idea for this story started with the thought, What if there were a Secret Age of Heroes that began 3000 years ago?" says Joe Kelly. "What if the World's Greatest Super-Heroes were sent there to battle and never returned?" Issues #69-74 ship twice-monthly in the months of August, September and October. Issues #69 and #70 are both 32-page issues with a cover price of $2.25 U.S., arriving in comic-book stores August 14 and August 28, respectively. SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR COLLECTED IN TWO MASSIVE VOLUMES "Our Worlds at War," the unforgettable epic that leads into JLA: "The Obsidian Age — The Hunt for Aquaman," is collected in two volumes this August. Each volume weighs in at 264 pages and arrives within two weeks of each other. Both are solicited in the June issue of Previews (Volume XII #6). OUR WORLDS AT WAR features an all-star line up of creators, including writers Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz, Joe Kelly, Phil Jimenez, Peter David, and Todd Dezago. Artists include Ed McGuinness, Mike Wieringo, Doug Mahnke, Kano, Phil Jimenez, Ron Garney, Leonard Kirk, Todd Nauck, Carlo Barbieri, Pascual Ferry, Mark Buckingham, Bill Sienkiewicz, Yvel Guichet, Duncan Rouleau, and many more! Volume One reprints SUPERMAN #171-172, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #593-594, SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #115-116, ACTION COMICS #780-781, SUPERGIRL #59, and JLA: OUR WORLDS AT WAR #1. Volume Two reprints SUPERMAN #173, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #595, SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #117, ACTION COMICS #782, WONDER WOMAN #172- 173, YOUNG JUSTICE #36, IMPULSE #77, SUPERBOY #91, and WORLD'S FINEST: OUR WORLDS AT WAR #1. "Demand for Our Worlds at War was very strong, with several chapters selling out on publication," says Vince Letterio, DC's Manager — Direct Sales. "With this storyline tying into this summer's big JLA storyline, these new collected editions will give everyone the chance to revisit the events that led up to Obsidian Age." SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR Volume One and Volume Two are both 264-page trade paperbacks with a cover price of $19.95 U.S. Volume One arrives in comic-book stores August 7. Volume Two arrives in comic-book stores August 21. DIRECT SALES DEPARTMENT WELCOMES MIKE SCIGLIANO AS REPRESENTATIVE — DIRECT SALES Mike Scigliano, former Assistant Manager at Best Comics & Hobby in Little Neck, NY, has joined DC's Direct Sales Department as Representative — Direct Sales. Mike reports to Vince Letterio, Manager — Direct Sales. Scigliano is responsible for sales calls to retailers on the West Coast. In order to give this region the best possible service, Scigliano keeps office hours from 11:00am to 7:00pm, accommodating the three-hour time difference between DC's New York offices and the West Coast. "Mike has a strong retail background, and he really knows our books," says Letterio. "In addition, his modified office hours should help stores in the West take advantage of DC's sales capabilities." "Joining DC is a terrific step forward in my career," says Scigliano. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the West Coast retailers." Prior to joining the Direct Sales staff, Scigliano was Assistant Manager of Best Comics & Hobby in Little Neck, NY. He has also worked in art direction and editorial for 3:16 Productions and Oxygen Studios. With the addition of Scigliano to the Direct Sales staff, Representative — Direct Sales Jann Jones moves from working with West Coast retailers to the Midwest/Southeast territory. She can now be reached at 212-636-5721. In addition, Anne Rogers, now completes her move into her new position as Representative — Events & Retailer Services. SMALLVILLE, JUSTICE LEAGUE, STATIC SHOCK AND THE ZETA PROJECT EPISODE SCHEDULES DC has been supplied with the following episode schedule for Smallville, Static Shock and The Zeta Project on the WB and the animated Justice League on the Cartoon Network. All times are Eastern and Pacific: 5/11 (9:00 am) "Taffy Time" (The Zeta Project) 5/11 (9:30 am) "Lost And Found" (The Zeta Project – New) 5/11 (12:30 pm) "War World, Pt. 1" (Justice League) 5/11 (10:00 pm) "War World, Pt. 1" (Justice League – Widescreen) 5/12 (7:00 pm) "War World, Pt. 2" (Justice League) 5/14 (9:00 pm) "Obscura" (Smallville – New) 5/18 (8:30 am) "Sunspots" (Static Shock) 5/18 (9:30 am) "Eye Of The Storm" (The Zeta Project – New) 5/18 (12:30 pm) "War World, Pt. 2" (Justice League) 5/18 (10:00 pm) "War World, Pt. 22" (Justice League – Widescreen) 5/19 (7:00 pm) "The Brave and the Bold, Pt. 1" (Justice League) Be advised that this schedule is subject to change. +++++ From Rich Johnston, THE 2001 SQUIDDY JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, in his ALL THE RAGE Gossip Column at: http://www.SilverBulletComicBooks.com RUMOUR BARRIER "I accept that the following material is rumour and gossip, intended to entertain only. "I won't repeat the information inside as fact. I understand if I want the truth, I will go to Silver Bulletins. "I enter freely with my mind open and my blinkers off." Now, onto the rumours. Class Act "My favourite thing about Sundays" - John Layman Late For Court Marvel has been shipping a fair number of comic books late for the last couple of years. Hold the front page, huh? Okay, okay, but here's the thing. Doing a quick tot up of the ICV2 lists (which don't count anything past advance orders or comics going anywhere other than the USA) that's about 6.3 million dollars of comics books that have shipped 30 days or more than they were solicited for. With everything else combined, we could be looking at 10 million dollars worth of stock. As a customer should we care? I mean, we get the comics eventually, in a few years when they're collected would we even remember? After all, those last two issues of Watchmen were terribly late, but does anyone even mind now? I'd certainly prefer my books to be good than come out on Thursday. But, see, it's not that simple with retailers. They've got this pesky thing called cashflow. Which means they plan expenditure and expected revenue and work their business plans around them. That's how they make money - by judging supply and demand for a certain week or month. Judging how the market will react for a certain product at a certain time of the year. When something goes wrong, it causes them problems. When a lot of things go wrong, it causes them real problems. During the boom of the nineties when Image, Valiant and a bunch of other hanger ons made millions, the late arrival of certain books killed them dead, but left retailers with piles of unsold comics. Deathmate. Wetworks. Turok. So new, more restrictive, shipping policies were employed by the main distributors, Capital and Diamond (and I should know - I was a publisher then). So that any book that shipped after 30 days would be made returnable - Capital even brought in a series of fines for late shipping product. And even after the bust came and everyone went exclusive with Diamond, this system remained in effect. Publishers set their own terms of sale with Diamond that retained this clause, that if a book shipped over 30 days late or differed to how it was solicited, it could be treated as a sale or return item - and publishers could send unsold stock back for a refund. Including Marvel. Marvel's terms of sale with Diamond and retailers reads as follows: Orders for Marvel products cannot be canceled or reduced expect in the following circumstances: Delivered more than thirty (30) days after the solicited on-sale date specified at the time of purchase. Product contains significant editorial or manufacturing differences from the solicited content. Product containing distinct seasonal or holiday content is delivered more than one (1) week after the close of the season or holiday. Items which meet the above criteria will be designated by Marvel as qualifying for order reductions or returns through a DCD customer publication. This clause is echoed in other exclusive publisher contracts, such as DC, Dark Horse and Image. Except under the Quesada/Jemas regime, the company has not been making these late comics returnable - leaving retailers with stock they judged would sell in one month, but not in the next. A run down of books that should have qualified for returns or order reductions over the last few months include New X-Men #119, scheduled to ship 17th October 2001, but shipped 28th November 2001, Elektra #8, meant to ship on the 13th of February 2002 but shipped on the 26th March 2002, and Origin #5 which was meant to ship on the 26th of December 2001 but shipped on the 13th of March 2002. These are a few of many titles listed. Indeed, a strange anomaly is the number of trade paperbacks, featuring previous produced work that, nonetheless ship months late, including Daredevil Visionaries Frank Miller Vol. 1, scheduled to ship on the 23rd of January but finally making it to stores on the 24th April. Other late trades include Daredevil Visionaries Kevin Smith, X-Men Vignettes and Dr Strange Separate Realities. None of these titles were made returnable or qualified for order reduction. Now, of course, it's not like the comics retailers are actually stuck with $10 million dollars worth between them - they'll sell plenty of it. And indeed, if all the books had shipped on time, it's likely that they would still be stuck with some of that stock anyway. But it's still Marvel not living up to its word and breaching its own agreed contracts. Naughty. I understand that, later this week, thorn retailer in Marvel's side, Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience, is to launch a class action against Marvel Comics for breach of trade, on behalf of all American comics retailers. I understand that, clandestinely, he has a dozen of the bigger retailers behind him and more signing up. Some people have said that All The Rage should be setting the comic industry agenda for the week. Well, I think this should be a good start_ This Has A Rumour Value Of 8 Out Of 10 Memphis Blues Talking about retailer problems, the word "Memphis" is gaining legendary status among retailers at the moment. When Diamond closed a number of warehouses and concentrated a large number of retailer accounts being serviced by their Memphis warehouse, affected retailers expected teething troubles. But not quite like this. Reports of huge shipments going missing, constant mis-orders and a level of service below anything ever seen are common accusations. One shop owner was tearing his hair out when he was told that they'd lost his Transformers #1 and GI Joe #1 orders - and there was no chance of getting replacements. Quotes from retailers include the following: "Memphis has so utterly destroyed our comic sales over the past 3 months (we're down about 70% in comic sales) that I'm about ready to just give up on that side of the business until Diamond can get their warehouses in order." "Memphis pulled our books this week. You've never seen such a disaster. Missing titles everywhere. No Order. No Cage. No Howard the Duck. Only 1/3 of our Ultimates_ Put it all together and I think, if I sell EVERYTHING I got in today at full retail, it'll pretty much equal what I'm billed for this week." "According to our rep, EVERY account serviced by the joke-of-a- warehouse in Memphis has major problems." "This week, our first with the Memphis crew, we were short more than 900 (not a typo - nine HUNDRED) books" "We had 85 lines of our invoice that were incorrect. We were missing about 65% of our reorders. Anyone need a case of Ultimate X-Men? It's sitting in my back room waiting for a return slip." "In the future, I'll just include the word 'Memphis' as an indication that an item didn't arrive, or it arrived horribly mangled, or it wasn't billed on our invoice but the rest of the world as well as asteroids visited by NASA satellites received it, or we only received four random pages of this comic, or our copies of the trade paperback were compressed into hard diamond-like lumps, or... Well, you get the idea." It's not all doom and gloom however. One retailer writes: "A bright young woman named Jennifer who works the front desk at the Diamond Baltimore warehouse was absent this morning. When I inquired about her absence, I was told that she, along with many others, was sent to Memphis to straighten the mess out. I know that's of little consolation to you who rely on Memphis for weekly orders, but I think that it's cause for some optimism." Word is that things are slowly getting better - but in a year when the comic industry has started to take its first few baby steps into new growth, it's a pity that part of it received such a heavy pruning. This Has A Rumour Value Of 7 Out Of 10 Space Case More confirmation of the already-ATR-rumoured cancellation of The Establishment, artist Charlie Adlard has agreed to start a new Astronauts in Trouble book, called AIT: Citizen Dave, in July. The book will be published by the end of the year. This Has A Rumour Value Of 8 Out Of 10 He's Baaaaack... Bob Greenberger has been rehired by DC Comics as a Senior Editor for their Collected Editions group. Greenberger left DC March 2000, joining Gist Communications, a dotcom, and then got headhunted by Marvel in January 2001. He was headhunted by Marvel Comics to tackle their serious problems with late shipping product. The word is that he made some serious dents in it, but seemed to be running a Red Queen's Race. There were allegations at the time that he was fired for building power bases within Marvel outside his original job remit, and was dismissed at the same time a number of other Marvel employees were made redundant as part of an efficiency drive in January 2002. And now he returns to DC - with a full working knowledge of how the competition works - especially their trade paperback program. You can hear Paul Levitz humming from here, can't you? This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10 Imperious Rex Steve Bissette, creator of Tyrant, publisher of From Hell and Lost Girls and artist on Swamp Thing has a new message board. And he's being his own uncompromising self. Well, this kind of stuff: "Sadly, after that, Kevin (Eastman) never again treated me well. All my efforts on behalf of Tundra yielded nothing, save his acrimony; when I dared to speak out via my COMIC JOURNAL interview, I heard from mutual friends Kevin was outraged (though his own subsequent interview with Gary Groth confirmed, almost point by point, my statements; I also found paperwork proving my statements about the Lovecraft project, and subsequently mailed those to Gary after Kevin's interview saw print). I last saw Kevin and Julie at a Chillercon in NJ, and later that year at an insane party at a mutual friend's home, wherein Kevin and Julie sat in one room, refusing any conversation with yours truly, and I and my friends ended up in another, as everyone else walked around as if on broken glass, skirting the weird vibes." Join in the fun, as Steve talks about horror, gore and Dave Sim, right here. http://www.fanboy.info/yabbse/index.php?board=13 This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10 Small Print This is a tiny thing. In an article in The Guardian newspaper earlier this week, concerning book clubs, the author wrote "These aren't for people who really, actually read, who are all off curled up with Jimmy Corrigan, or House of Leaves, or A History of London's Sewerage, or rereading What Katy Did or piling through the entire ouevre of Raymond Chandler in a lost weekend or throwing The New Puritans across the room, all for fun, and none of which will be coming to a book club near you, ever." Like I said, a tiny thing. Just the first mention in mainstream media I've seen of a graphic novel being talked about as a book, without having to also be defined as a comic. Jumped out at me a bit, I think. Just wanted to share. This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10 Weekly Dosage COMIC SHOP OF THE WEEK: Nexus, Reykjavik, Iceland. HELPFUL BEAR OF THE WEEK: Alistair Pulling COMIC OF THE WEEK: Fury, By Ennis, Robertson and Palmiotti QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What, if anything, has anyone heard about a special relationship between Diamond and Dreamwave? Email me at twisting@hotmail.com FILM OF THE WEEK: Bend It Like Beckham TV OF THE WEEK: Mo Mowlam on working under Tony Blair ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Modern Life Is Rubbish, Blur MARCH OF THE WEEK: Sex Workers Pride, May 1st, Soho WORD OF THE WEEK: Plinth WEBSITE OF THE WEEK: http://www.ntk.net ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [5] Interview Tim O'Shea tim_jen@mindspring.com [This interview is presented for the first time exclusively on CBEM.] Interview: Mark Waid By Tim O'Shea This week was a wacky week. Through some unforeseen wires getting crossed, my column, reviews and interview for ORCA actually ran after they ran at CBEM. Then the night I planned on writing the column and reviews for this week (Tuesday night), I instead ended up at the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field. Little did I know that it would end up being the longest game in Turner Field's short history. After 16 innings, a Braves loss and not getting home until 2 AM, I soon realized there would be no columns done in time for ORCA or CBEM. (Side note: IF you stay at a major league baseball game past midnight, the odds of ending up on the giant diamond-vision screen increase dramatically. After 34 years of never appearing on the big sports screen, I appeared twice last night/this morning. I had to dance goofy, but what's the value of dignity in comparison to 30 seconds of entertaining yourself and the few remaining fans around you?) So to cut a long story short, I don't want to disappoint loyal weekly CBEM readers (and I want to give them a rare first dibs at an interview [given that ORCA typically gets first run, but considering the unique circumstances.]). So instead of the originally run at ORCA disclaimer, relish in the fact that this week's interview with the fun Mark Waid is premiering here at CBEM! Mark discusses projects old and new, as he fast approaches his first issues of Marvel's Fantastic Four and moves steadily toward the return of his and Barry Kitson's EMPIRE (coming out through DC). Of course, we also discuss one of my currently favorite reads, RUSE (his remaining work for CrossGen). My thanks to Mark for his time and always interesting thoughts. Also thanks to HeroRealm's Alex Hamby for allowing me to use information from his February 2002 insightful Waid interview (http://www.herorealm.com/ubb/Forum90/HTML/000027.html) as a springboard for my first two questions. .Enjoy! CBEM: In the HeroRealm interview you clarify that the Fantastic Four you and Mike Wieringo plan to create is inspired by the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. With that in mind, what are your favorite issues from that run (no need for numbers, plot lines will suffice)? Waid: Jeezum Crow. All of 'em, pretty much, but particularly everything between issues 40 and 70 or thereabouts. I was NEVER an FF fan growing up--my first issue was issue #140, which began with a splash page of Reed holding Sue's divorce papers. Nothing that really drew me back, though since I collected ALL super-hero comics when I was ten, I bought FF faithfully up until about issue 300 or so. But nothing resonates like the middle of the Lee/Kirby run. CBEM: Also in the HeroRealm interview you mention that you plan to "stretch" (pun intended) out the depth of Reed's character, portraying him as you put it "a slightly older Buckaroo Banzai" (a reference that cracked me up, as I recently bought the Buckaroo Banzai DVD). I was curious given that your take as previously mentioned will draw upon Jack and Stan's approach to Reed, how will you approach Ben Grimm, as the miserable monster who lumbers around in a trenchcoat and hat, or as the guy who plays poker every week with Nick Fury (as portrayed once in a Marvel Two-In-One long ago [granted that was not written by Stan or Jack]? Waid: A little more the former than the latter. A lot of my second issue goes to reinforce that regardless of the way the others have learned to take Ben's condition for granted, "it ain't somethin' ya get USED to." Ben's trapped in that body (as far as I'm concerned--no Thing-reverts-to-normal stories from ME) and he's one of comics' most tragic figures--and he should be ANGRY about it. Not constantly tantrum-angry, but there's a LOT of rage bubbling under a thin surface at ALL TIMES. It comes out in the punches he throws and in his sarcastic sense of humor, which must also be present--it's a tall order, but pretty much every joke Ben speaks has got to at least be in the ballpark of funny and not lame. My goal is to get Ben to make you laugh at least once per issue regardless of the circumstances at hand. CBEM: So much of what made Stan and Jack's run so interesting to me was the supporting cast that they built around the core family. Who do you plan to utilize for the supporting cast and if you'd rather not say, can you at least comment if Wyatt Wingfoot is on the list? Waid: Not yet. To be honest, I'm doing the same thing here I tend to do with all the series I take over--scale back and concentrate almost exclusively on the title characters for a little while until I settle in and really, truly feel like I know them. THEN it's time to expand the cast. But let me learn the guitar first before you ask me to be a one-man band. CBEM: Back to stretching out Reed as a character, I must say that there is so much of his powers that have been untapped by artists. One thing that stood out for me on Alan Davis' short stint on the book during Heroes Reborn was the unique way that Davis had Reed using his powers (i.e. stretching his eyeball to see into another room). Not enough writers or artists have tried to create unique scenes with Reed's powers. As the guy who loves DC's Plastic Man, I'm pretty sure you can suggest some zany scenarios to Wieringo, have you yet or do you plan to? Or do you plan on focusing more on the mind of Reed than his powers per se? Waid: Well, while I actually do plan on focusing more on the mind, I do want to have Reed do new things that are, frankly, unsettling and creepy--to anyone BUT the FF. The operative word Stan always used for the FF was "offbeat," and that's what I want to recapture--that no matter how familiar and friendly this family seems, it's a lot more Addams than Brady, and if you're just a regular joe, there's just no way not to cringe at the sound Reed's skin makes when he stretches or the racket Ben makes just walking down the street. I'm loud when I wear corduroys, and he's made of rock, for pete's sake. CBEM: In your effort to create an atmosphere where "there's just no way not to cringe at the sound Reed's skin makes when he stretches or the racket Ben makes just walking down the street" how challenging do you think it will be for artist Mike Wieringo to convey these scenes? Waid: Not at all. You can't draw gross sounds, but you sure as hell can draw bystanders REACTING to gross sounds. CBEM: On a related note, what do you think will appeal to readers most in terms of the way Wieringo portrays the FF? Waid: There's an openness and an expressiveness that makes the characters into PEOPLE, not super-heroes. And, Jesus, the guy's storytelling is impeccable. Hey, readers, if you're tired of staring at pages trying to figure out what's going on, come here! CBEM: Given that you and Wieringo previously collaborated on Flash, in what ways do you think (comparing your days on FLASH to the present FF work) he has grown as a storyteller? Waid: He was always brilliant and always a top-flight collaborator, but now that he's had some experience co-writing (with his own series, TELLOS), he's just a better storyteller. He seems to be even better about visual continuity--how panels flow, how a page is designed, and most of all the difference between information and clutter. CBEM: For the most part, at this point your work on CrossGen books has been wrapped up, with the noticeable exception of RUSE. As a fan of your work on CRUX and SIGIL, I was wondering did you accomplish what you had set out to do with those books? Or did you run out of time and had to leave some issues unresolved? On CRUX and SIGIL, can you point to one or two issues as your best and explain why you were satisfied with the results? Waid: Didn't accomplish much at all worthwhile, sadly. Don't get me wrong--I worked with Scot Eaton and Steve Epting, two of the most talented and most professional guys in comics, and I was lucky to do so. I just wish I didn't feel like I let them down. Neither series was a cakewalk--SIGIL, basically a good concept, was by the time I got there already mired down in elements that just weren't working, and I wasn't allowed to do anything radical with them. I certainly did my best, but... CRUX was a little more creatively satisfying--I'm pretty proud of issue five in particular, where I got the chance to experiment with some new structural techniques--but, again, the series was, by necessity, SO mired in the CrossGen Universe that I needed to get permission to have characters blow their noses. Not a lot of room for radical thinking there. I was so thrown off by the committee approach to writing stories and creating characters that I never did get a handle on that book. Epting, Magyar and D'Armata, the art team, deserved better, and I hope Chuck Dixon has better luck with it. CBEM: In the first few issues of RUSE, the creative team threw a whole slew of new characters at the reader. I was wondering if each new story arc will introduce new agents that work for Simon Archard, or is there a limited number of core agents that will be used in the book? Waid: Oh, we'll be meeting all sorts of new agents along the way. That's half the fun. CBEM: What attracted you (or made you decide) to set RUSE on a planet "much like the earth of the mid-1800s"? Waid: Not my call--it's just that none of the CG books, with the exception of CRUX, are set on Earth. But the request was to do a Sherlockian Victorian detective series, so...there. CBEM: Would you agree that one of the main elements that makes RUSE so engaging (and unique) is the opportunity for you to employ more cerebral dialogue and dry wit amongst the characters? These are character elements that really would not have worked in your other more superheroic books. Waid: I don't know that that's true--I think they probably would have more than might be apparent. Hell, the relationship between Simon and Emma isn't terribly far removed from the relationship between Max Mercury and Impulse, at least to my ear. But the caustic banter does seem to be one of the things most often mentioned favorably by fans. It's certainly the most fun--and yet hardest--part of the book to write. CBEM: I think some folks may have passed on RUSE, mistaking it for a variation on the Sherlock Holmes series. Do you think the readership would be boosted if many readers realized the star of the book was actually Emma Bishop, the female "Watson"? For those who aren't buying the book, from your perspective what are they missing out on and why should they be buying the book? Waid: I think the biggest thing they're missing out on is laughs. The constant comedy is such an integral part of the series and the character dynamics to me that I can't imagine the series working without it. CBEM: How frustrating has it been that so much time has passed between the most recent issue of EMPIRE (while it was a GORILLA comic) and the next one? Do you think it will be hard to regain the audience, or will there be a great deal of pre-release promotion on it and anticipation from fans of the book, that it should be no problem? Waid: I have absolutely no idea how it'll be received. You also have to factor in, frankly, that we're telling in a post-9/11 world a story starring a world-conquering super-villain. There may be no appetite for that anymore, not like there was. It was the most successful of the Gorilla books and did pretty well--we'll just have to see. CBEM: Given that there was a long downtime for the book, I was curious, are there certain elements of the story that you have rewritten or reworked as you had more time to consider the characters and the plot (more time than you would have if the run had not been interrupted)? Waid: Not gargantuan ones. More to the point, I think the "time off" has encouraged me to rethink the first six issues and draw them out, make them less dense. I still aim to tell a complete story in each issue, all as part of an overarching story, but the success of books like TRANSMETROPOLITAN and AUTHORITY--which, as good as they are, you can read cover-to-cover while you pee--makes me think that maybe I tend to pack too much my stories. CBEM: Long-time Waid fans know that movies influence your approach to writing. What techniques or approaches from movie storytelling do you employee to a successful degree in comic book writing? Waid: I don't know about the contribution of specific film techniques to my work as much as I do the contribution of specific film WRITERS-- or even good TV writers, like David Kelley stuff and Aaron Sorkin. Studying how they accomplish what they accomplish is a terrific tool. From William (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, MARATHON MAN) Goldman, I learned the value of delivering as much information as possible in as short a time as possible without seeming to overwhelm. From Kelley, I picked up a great trick that I may be in danger of overlooking--that of having a character act so seemingly OUT of character that other characters (and readers) begin to think he's (I've) lost his (my) mind--and then revealing exactly why he's acting that way and why it's PERFECTLY in character if you know what he knows. You'll see good examples of that in RUSE #9 and #10. CBEM: Last year when I ran into you at the Atlanta ComicCon, you were looking forward to the release of the Superman film on DVD. What's the short list of Waid's favorite DVDs so far in 2002? Waid: FOLLOWING, by Christopher Nolan. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. And finally, finally, FINALLY, THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI. CBEM: Since the last time you worked at Marvel, it at times appeared to be a challenging experience, given the editorial interference that occurred at times, how much did who made up the current editorial team play a factor in your willingness to take on the FF assignment. Waid: It was an enormous factor. What makes Marvel attractive right now isn't just the characters--it's the sense of anything-goes excitement that permeates the whole place, which is as it should be, since THAT'S THE FUEL THAT ORIGINALLY RAN THE PLACE when Stan, Jack and Steve started it. CBEM: As a writer who has done definitive runs of established characters (namely DC's Flash and Marvel's Captain America), how strange an experience is it to read someone else getting to "play" with the characters. Or are you just too busy to even look at other comic books these days? Waid: It's weird. It's like seeing an old girlfriend with someone else. I'm very impressed with what both Geoff Johns and the new Captain America writer John Ney Rieber are doing, but I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to read those books with pure enjoyment for a long, long time. I can't help but be hammered, as I read every page, by an inner monologue that says, "That's good...yeah, that's right...wait, that's not what he would do...but this other thing is great and perfectly in-character..." And it won't shut up. CBEM: Given the challenges of continuity "restrictions" in some of your most creative work, do you think in the long-term you'll be more interested in more creator-owned work, where obviously continuity is completely controlled by you? Waid: It's a trade-off. Ultimately, the more creative control you have over a property, the better it's likely to be. When I approach a story, I have a definite creative vision, and when I'm lucky, it's shared very closely by the artist--but that's about as thin as you can spread that vision before it becomes watered down. Too many cooks. And yet...and yet...because I'm in this business out of a love for the characters as much as if not more so than out of a love of the medium, I don't know how long I'd stick around if my ties to Superman, the FF, etc. were severed. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [6] Movie Review Amy Harlib aharlib@earthlink.net [Amy is a lifelong lover of SF & F, comics and graphic novels who reviews regularly on-line at SFRevu.com, rambles.net, silver-oak.com and Blue Iris Journal. She is also a dedicated listener to 'Nuff Said' comic book radio talk show on WBAI in New York.] Spider-man (Columbia Pictures, 2002). Directed by Sam Raimi. Written by David Koepp based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Music by Danny Elfman. Visual Effects Designer, John Dykstra. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated: PG-13. 'Spider-man' may just about be the best movie adaptation of a comic book ever made so far, capturing the spirit of the sequential art and storytelling of the original and transferring it to the big screen. Helmer Sam Raimi with a distinguished genre track record that includes the cult favorite 'Evil Dead' trilogy and 'Darkman' (1980), turns out to be a fan of the source material created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for Marvel Comics in 1962, this graphic narrative in question being the first about a superhero who, under his colorful costume, represented very much the ordinary, disaffected urban adolescent whose self-doubts and emotional troubles reflected those of his audience. The hero's personal life became equally interesting as his crime-fighting life, winning over legions of loyal followers and revolutionizing the degree to which readers could identify with the characters in very many subsequent comics that carried on the trend. Sam Raimi's and scripter David Koepp's respect and affection for Spider-man shines through every aspect of this film which should please both comic book fans and the general public and tells the eponymous protagonist's origin story with certain aspects altered and adapted to suit the requirements of the movie medium and the current cultural zeitgeist. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), not quite your average teenager, orphaned in infancy and raised in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City by his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), suffers the ridicule of his classmates because of his high IQ and general geekiness. Too shy to profess his love for the literal girl next door Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), Peter's sole friend remains Harry Osborn (James Franco) the disappointment of his rich, industrialist, widower father Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), for nearly flunking out of every private school in the city. When his high school senior class goes on a field trip to a University research facility, Peter gets accidentally bitten by a genetically engineered spider (updated from the atomically mutated one in the comic), that escaped from its container. This bite transmits substances that, after a night of disturbed sleep, dramatically alters Peter so that he has the muscular physique of an Olympic champion; no longer needs his eyeglasses; and now possesses weird glands in his wrists that shoot spider-webbing (an agreeable change from the comic's mechanically contrived, chemical web-shooting devices). Soon discovering additional powers including incredible strength; the ability to cling to and scale vertical walls and ceilings; and an uncanny awareness of approaching danger, Peter trounces the school bully and then, feeling cocky, creates a makeshift "Spider-man' costume and enters a contest and wins hoping for the $3,000 prize for defeating a tough, professional wrestler. Stiffed of his payment because of a technicality, the unsympathetic Peter chooses not to help catch the thief when that stingy promoter gets robbed. This decision leads to the tragically ironic death of Uncle Ben, who, on his way to meet his nephew, gets carjacked, shot and killed by the very same criminal mentioned above. Resolving to honor his Uncle's memory, Peter perfects his Spider-man costume and begins secretly using his new powers to thwart a series of violent crimes and to help save Mary Jane's life from some of the same foul deeds, thus winning her heart. All the while, the now newly-graduated Peter maintains his mundane persona of free-lance photographer. Meanwhile, in a desperate bid to secure two big defense contracts, one for a high-tech personal combat glider, another for a drug to enhance human performance, Norman Osborn, CEO of Oscorp Industries attempts to shortcut the final testing process by using the prototypical substance on himself with calamitous results. Osborn becomes a latter-day Jekyll-and-Hyde, at certain times transforming into a psychopathic madman and then, turning back to normal, unable to recall the deeds he's done. When a corporate takeover ousts him from the corporation he founded, the distraught Osborn's "goblin" side prevails. Absconding with the snazzy armament-packed glider and clad in metallic green armor of a design vastly improved from the original comic book conception, the 'Green Goblin' commences a series of attacks on his tormentors, actions that put innocents in danger---including those Peter cares most about, like Aunt May, Mary Jane and Harry. Peter realizes the necessity to take on the Green Goblin while simultaneously coping with the ensuing juicy emotional complications: Harry, his best friend also loves Mary Jane and is the son of Osborn whose dual identity Peter soon deduces at the same time the nemesis discovers the hero's alter ego! This wild and woolly plot comes alive and gets rendered believable by the superb cast perfectly suited to their roles: Maguire's appealing combination of athleticism and vibrant energy with crack-voiced boyishness; Dafoe's convincing night and day personality transformations and earnest conviction delivering some very outrι "comicbooky" lines; Kirsten Dunst's radiant charisma and nuanced performance giving depth to an otherwise stereotypical role; Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris utterly lovable and avoiding cloying sentimentality; James Franco's seething intensity; and J.K. Simmons as the scene-stealing, feisty, boss-from-hell editor of the Daily Bugle to whom Peter sells his photos. Besides the dazzling Spider-man and Green Goblin costumes, the movie's SPFX offer equally stunning visuals, especially when the hero performs his amazing web-slinging flights through the skyscraper canyons of Manhattan, the recognizable locations there-in adding to much of the fun. The superpowered fight sequences also provide thrills and excitement in superbly coordinated set-pieces that include duels above a street festival with Spider-man bounding from one giant parade balloon to another; to a set-to in a burning building; to the climactic nocturnal showdown on the 59th Street bridge. These, plus Spider-man's heroics capturing lesser maldoers, realized through the effects skills of John Dykstra and his team, made comic book action spring to vivid life on the screen. Equally great, if not more so, the scenes depicting Peter's giddy glee on discovering his newfound powers and testing them out, belie