Avalon studios has finally addressed the problems on it's well received title Aria. The title is to get in more artists and hopefully stick to deadlines. Fans have been greatly frustrated by the titles inability to stick to it's shipping times. Artists named in the new line-up include Mark Texeira and Bill Sienkiewicz. Different artists will be called in for different story arcs.Aria artist Jay Anacleto will be working on a two issue cross over Aria/Angela: Heavenly Creatures aswell.

Worried fans can rest assured! Rumors on the internet that Garth Ennis was killed in a recent train accent have been proven false.

Marvel has announced the return of Chris Claremont to "Uncanny X-men" next year.He is currently working on Fantastic Four and the new "Heroes Reborn:Doomsday" (Dr.Doom story) which will be out in November.

Nubia, Diana's black sister is to return after a 26 year hiatus. She was seen earlier this year in the "Wonder woman" annual, and will appear again early next year in issues 154 and 155, out in January and February 2000. The story "Three hearts" is written by Doselle Young, drawn by John McCrea and inked by George Freeman, with covers by Adam Hughes.

Mike Mignola's popular comic Hellboy is rumoured to be turned into a movie directed by Guillermo Del Tono and produced by Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin. As yet there is no funding, but Harry Knowles ( one of the "100 most powerful people in Hollywood" according to Premiere magazine. ) is trying to create interest in the project. Terry Gilliam has been fueling rumours of a watchmen movie, although he has stated before that he wished to work on one he is now saying he would like to shoot it as a mini series. He's also looking into an adaptation of Miller's "Elektra:Assasin" and Alan Moores "From Hell". A lot of rumours have been flying around concerning the upcoming X-MEN movie. So far it seems that sir Ian McKellan will play Magneto, Patrick Stewart as Xavier, Dougray Scott as Wolverine, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique, Anna Paquin as Rogue,Tyler Mane as Sabretooth and Halle Berry as Storm. Jim Caviezel has allegedly signed up to be Cyclops. A Blade sequel is in the works, Snipes is also rumoured to be returning to the Black Panther role he abandoned in favour of Blade. Current DC projects are a possible movie of the Vertigo re-vamp of Human Target, which should be more "Face Off than Batman". Jonah Hex is to be made into a tv series which will be a mix of "X-files,Bonanza and Buffy". A film adaptation of Books of Magic is also underway, and (as fans will probably be glad to hear) Neil Gaiman will be executive producer. For a huge list of what is and may be in production go to Wizard movie mania.

Clerks news (July '99)

A missing scene from Clerks, Julie Dwyers funeral, is set to be published as a one shot by Oni press this August. 'Clerks; the lost scene' will feature art by Phil Hester and Ande Parks and a cover by Duncan Fregredo. In addition to the lost scene Kevin Smith is adding a new introductory sequence with Jay and Silent Bob. Smith said " we didn't have the wherewithal to shoot (the scene) back when we made Clerks," and that it's "kind of restoring the original version of the flickor something like that."

Bizarre crossover (July '99)

August sees the release of a 'superman and Bugs Bunny' crossover mini-series by Mark Evanier, Joe Staton, Tom Palmer and Mike de Carlo. The comic would have been released sooner, but was stalled due to the complexity of inter company approvals. The basic premise for the story is that Mr. Mxyzphk and the gremlin (from the Bugs Bunny cartoons) join forces and cross-link their respective realities to cause trouble.

free comics

a new contest website has opened that gives fans the chance to win up to $250 worth of comics and related merchandise. The contest is open to any age and any country, rules are available on the site. See free comics

-Leonie