Kossori's Newsfile #8

Welcome to Kossori's Newsfile. What follows is my (slightly unbiased) view of the current goings-ons in the world of comics.

First there was Superman...

Then Superman II...

Then... burn-out.

And then there was Batman...

And then Batman Returns...

And then... well... more burn-out...

But then there was Blade
And then X-Men
And then Blade 2.And then... Spider-Man.

It appears that super-heroes are gearing up to be the next Mighty Morphing Power Rangers or Dragonball Z. They're certainly getting the exposure.

It's been a long time coming... And it couldn't have come at a more better time for the industry. Although a lot of fanboys would have loved to see this happen sooner, like say in the '80s, so that Dark Knight and The Watchmen would have seen the big screen. But as it is, no one's complaining.

Soon we will see Daredevil, X-Men 2 (also known as X2), The Incredible Hulk and Iron Fist making their way to the movies! And also Spider-Man 2.

Not to be left out, DC and Crossgen have things going on, as well. Soon there will be a battle for the silver screen and the fans will be the winners.

WB is slowly turning into DC Comics on TV, showing both Smallville and a new series, called Birds of Prey.

Smallville is somewhat like Dawson's Creek meets Superman. With Clark Kent living his Wonder Years.

Birds of Prey follows a crime-busting trio, Oracle (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl), Black Canary and The Huntress (who is in this "Elseworlds"-type series again the daughter of Batman and Catwoman).

The first episode of Birds of Prey details how Catwoman is killed, Batman leaves Gotham, The Joker and Batgirl's fateful meeting, Black Canary's new powers (she's a psychic), and how the trio meet.

Oracle is given custody of The Huntress and Black Canary has visions of the other two, which leads her to Gotham. Meanwhile, The Huntress is seeing a psychologist because the traumatic events of her mom's murder. Her shrink is in reality, none other than Harley Quinn.

With the amount of DC character appearances in the first episode, one can only wonder at the type of characters and guest-stars to appear later. It's definitely a show I'd watch, if I could. But, alas... I don't get the WB.

Marvel also has a live-action series going: Mutant X.Mutant X is a syndicated series about mutants (which Marvel claims has no semblence to X-Men, in fear of Fox making a legal dispute- which would bring the series, and possibly the movies, to an end). From what I've seen, it's a nice show with lots of potential. It has its flaws, of course, like bad editing and lack of connection to the real world. As a matter of fact, in the first several episodes you'd never see any extras, bystanders or citizens. It was like they were in a vacuum. The acting is okay and the writing is really good (Executive Writer is Howard Chaykin, a comic writer). They're working on the second season now.

ABC Family has revealed it's Saturday and Sunday morning schedules. And they must be taking their super-hero vitamins!Here's the line-up:

Saturday: 9:30am ET/PT - Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot 10:00am ET/PT - X-Men 10:30am ET/PT - Spider-Man 11:00am ET/PT - Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends 11:30am ET/PT - The Incredible Hulk

Sunday: 8:00am ET/PT - Spider-Man Unlimited 8:30am ET/PT - Spider-Man 9:30am ET/PT - Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot