It's On... The Revolution Will Be Televised STATIC, the Milestone comic I co-created, is on the KIDS WB every week as the animated series STATIC SHOCK! The show is being produced by Warner Animation and is brought to you by several of the immensely talented folks behind the excellent BATMAN BEYOND, SUPERMAN and BATMAN animated series. Milestone alumni and co-founder Denys Cowan is also on board as a director (Denys helmed several episodes of the SABRINA cartoon, so he's an old hand at this stuff). I have also contributed to the series, writing 3 of the first 13 episodes. Happily, the series is remarkably close to the comic, fans of the early issues of Static should be pleased, I know I am. STATIC SHOCK NEWS Next on STATIC SHOCK Saturday, March 31st at 11 AM there's a replay of "They're Playing My Song!," my first script for the series. This episode introduces Felix, Lucky Cola, The Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude and Rubberband Man to the TV series. It also prepares us for the April 7th rebroadcast of "Junior." I wrote it and Static co-creator Denys Cowan directed it. Edwin Alva returns but he's not the problem, his son is. Junior has unlocked the secret of the mysterious gas that created the Bang Babies. Meanwhile, Virgil's in deep trouble with his own father. Then on April 14th, Dwayne McCall creates trouble in a rebroadcast of "Child's Play." STATIC SHOCK #3 is Here!! The wait is over, STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL #3 is finally at your freindly neighborhood comic shop, waiting for you to go get it and take it home. Static, HARDWARE and the Milestone HEROES team up to confront the villain behind the disappearance of nearly 100 Bang Babies. And wait until you find out who's behind it all! This issue and the next unfold to reveal perhaps the most controversial Milestone storyline ever! Read it carefully, there's much truth to be gleaned, between the lines. If all that weren't enough, you'll never forgive us for issue #3's shocking conclusion! This one is not to be missed... On Sale Now!! STATIC RATINGS SHOCKER Among Kids 2-11, STATIC SHOCK is the #4 show on broadcast Saturday Morning. Let's give a big hand to the many talented people who put the show together. Shaquille O'Neal to Guest Star on STATIC SHOCK Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal will be making a guest-voice appearance during the second season of Kids' WB!'s Static Shock. "He will be playing himself, a truly larger-than-life NBA superstar," Static Shock story editor Chris Simmons told The Continuum. "He is due to voice his part later on this month. Should be fun, no doubt." Static Shock is moving to 8 a.m. (ET) on Saturdays, beginning next season. O'Neal is a self-professed Superman geek and sports a Man of Steel tattoo. He starred in the 1997 movie Steel, based on the DC Comics character. While helping the Lakers win the NBA title last season with an MVP performance and having an another All-Star season, O'Neal said he also wants to continue his acting career. "I think I'm OK," O'Neal told The Continuum. "I'm not like Wesley Snipes or Bruce Willis yet, but anything is possible. Acting is very different than basketball. They're not even close. Acting is very much facial expressions and delivery." -Courtesy Comics Continuum Season #2 Rumors from Comics Continuum They report, “As for Static Shock, production on season 2 has begun. There will be a very, very special celebrity voice, and a story is being based around that being written by Chris Simmons.” The Official STATIC SHOCK Web Site Info on the show, downloadable character trading cards, even a game where you get to be Static, they've pulled out all the stops on this one. Check it out right here. STATIC SHOCK Video Clips If you've got the dreaded RealPlayer, or the even more deadly Windows Media Player, you can watch STATIC SHOCK clips right on your desktop. Take a look. STATIC SHOCK RENEWED For Second Season!! From VARIETY: KIDS' WB! REUPS 'STATIC' Series leads time period in kids 2-11 By PAULA BERNSTEIN NEW YORK -- Kids' WB! has ordered an additional 13 episodes of "Static Shock" from Warner Bros. Animation, ensuring that the animated adventure series will return for a second season in fall 2001. Since its premiere on Sept. 23, "Static Shock" has led its time period among the broadcast nets in kids 2-11 and in other key kid demos. "We are excited that kids have responded as strongly to Static, a new kind of teen superhero with real humor and heart, as we expected they would," said Kids' WB! senior VP Donna Friedman. Based on the Milestone/DC Comics property, "Static Shock" follows the adventures of Virgil Hawkins, who becomes the electromagnetic "Static," a superhero to his community. The series introduced the first animated African-American teen superhero. STATIC SHOCK #2 is Here! Have Virgil and Hardware discoved the horrifying fate of the missing Bang Babies? Guest starring Milestone's HEROES -and another shadowy surprise or two. On the stands January 3rd Update: An Apology Static Shock #2 is the victim of the single worst reproduction job I've ever been associated with in my dozen years in the business. The colors printed about 30% too dark and the black plate printed as a gray wash instead of a solid black. The result is a murky, indistinct mess. We're working with DC Comics and Ronalds (the printer) to make sure this never happens again. I wanted to publicly apologize to the readers, but also to John Paul Leon and Melissa Edwards, who turned in an outstanding job on this issue, a job not apparent in the printed final product. Thank you for your understanding. STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL #2 Review Fandom.Com's Randy Lander has the first review of the latest Milestone offering. Read it here. STATIC SHOCK Comic of the Year! Well, Honorable Mention, anyway. Psycomic demonstrates its good taste here. Wizard Finally Notices STATIC SHOCK The first mention of Static Shock in the industry's leading newsmagazine, a brief interview with me, is available here. Static Shock Newspaper Story From the Denver Gazette. Isn't the internet wonderful? My clipping service hasn't even sent me this one and here it is. Static Who's Who Fandomshop.com has a short, "Who's Who" style page on Static. Find it, and a smoking Mark Bright Static drawing, right here. While you're there, peep the review of "Aftershock." Question and Answer: Static Shock's Phil LaMarr By Rob Allstetter You'll be picking up more Static on your television next season - and Phil LaMarr is glad about it. LaMarr provides the voices of Virgil Hawkins and Static in Static Shock, the animated series that Kids' WB! has already renewed for a second season. The Continuum recently sat down with LaMarr, who also stars on Fox's MAD TV, for the following question-and-answer session. The Continuum: How did you get the role of Static? LaMarr: It was an open audition. They definitely wanted an African-American voice actor to play the role. I went in and auditioned and they liked my stuff. And I liked the script and the character, too. I was probably one of the few people who came in who had heard of the character before. The Continuum: So you have read the Static comics? LaMarr: Oh, yeah, the whole Milestone line. I've read comics since I was teeny-tiny. And, as a black comic-book reader, your antenna goes up every time there's any face of color anywhere. Usually, it doesn't live up to the expectations of what you would hope, but we buy all the issues of Black Lightning anyway. Just to see them. So, with Static, when the initial comic book line came out, I was all over it. There were the others, but Static and Blood Syndicate were the ones that stuck with me more. Maybe it was because of the more urban grounding of it that gave us some sense of reality. The Continuum: How would you describe Virgil? LaMarr: It's interesting because Virgil is a good guy in the sense that he's a really good kid. He loves his father. He knows what's right and wrong and does it. But, at the same time, it's not goody-two-shoes. He's still flawed enough to be interesting. He hates his older sister in that brother-sister kind of hate, and he makes mistakes, even though he's a really smart kid and recognizes the importance of studying. Sometimes he jumps out without thinking and sometimes he can be selfish or inconsiderate to his friends and his family. It's great, because you can get the benefit of being a role model because he's a good guy and he's on the right side, but at the same time it's not boring. The Continuum: How does this compare with your other animation roles? LaMarr: This is the first one where I'm the main guy. This is also the first time I've done basically animated drama. The other ones I've worked on, like Futurama, King of the Hill, etc., are all comedies. This really is like drama or an action movie, where you're not worried about the jokes. You actually get scenes where you have to act and use emotion. The Continuum: What's your approach to voicing the character? LaMarr: It's basically me, just a lot younger and a little bit higher. It's mostly the feeling and the attitude. He's a 14-year-old boy and he's really smart and he's got super powers. That innocence helps explain why, in a world not too unlike ours, a kid would get these powers and be a good guy. You would have to have a certain amount of innocence to go that way. The Continuum: You worked with Andrea Romano, the voice director of the Batman and Superman shows? LaMarr: She's fantastic. She works fast and she knows exactly what each moment should be. I don't know how; she works on every show under the sun. I don't know how she has time to read the script, but she does it. The Continuum: When voicing Static, did you do it by myself or with the cast around you? LaMarr: Actually, in every episode we did, we had full cast, unless there was somebody for some reason absolutely couldn't make it. I don't know if from a technical standpoint, if it really makes a difference. If they get you to read a line six times, they can find ways to put them together. But from a performer's standpoint, it's so much better to hear the line before yours and respond naturally to do. Otherwise, you're just changing the emphasis. The Continuum: You guys work up quite a sweat in those sessions. LaMarr: Especially when there is a page-and-a-half of description of action. You get hit and you fly up against a wall, through the wall and then you land on the ground. So I need a hit from the punch, then an impact sound as you're going through the wall and then when you hit. "Uhhh, huuuh, gaaa!" Then they tell you they need a little more pain when you go through the wall. Sometimes you can't make those sounds without actually doing physical trauma to yourself, jumping up and down, slapping yourself. The Continuum: Do you have a favorite episode? LaMarr: There's an episode - it isn't the last one - where Virgil is actually dealing the memories of his dead mother. They're doing a memorial for her, and he's just in complete denial. I like that episode because, in addition to dealing with the super-hero stuff, he's dealing with personal stuff. Also, in animation so many times, people are orphaned or their parents are dead and nobody ever feels anything about it. "If your mother could see you now," the doting father says. But nobody's ever sad. Nobody ever recognizes that lost parent. In this episode we do. The Continuum: Anything else you want to say about Static Shock? LaMarr: This show is a great combination of action, real people issues, cool electricity effects and heart. Copyright © 2000, The Comics Continuum -Courtesy Comics Continuum   STATIC SHOCK Web Page The official Kids WB site is up and running, with new features added all the time. Click here to take a look. STATIC SHOCK at Fanuniverse: More STATIC SHOCK news here and a new interview with me here. John Workman Interview STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL letterer isn't just one of the most talented letterers ever, he's been a writer, artist, editor, art director and more! Check out this interview at Fandom - Comics Newsarama. Tony's Tip? Watch STATIC SHOCK! Tony Isabella, long-time comics pro, creator of Black Lightning and indefatigable on-line columnist of Tony's Tips, has very nice things to say about Static, Milestone and me. In an upcoming column, he says, in part: "First and foremost, I'm excited about STATIC SHOCK--and those related comics projects--because I like the character a lot. I'd love to see the animated series and the mini-series succeed because that means more Static stories for me to enjoy. Second, Dwayne McDuffie is one of the best writers in comics and not enough fans and readers know it. He's never been a flavor of the month; he's just done consistently terrific work. Outside of the original Jack Kirby issues, the only issues of THE DEMON I have in my collection are ones he wrote. And, no matter how much I trim my Marvel collection, his DAMAGE CONTROL books always make the cut. More McDuffie comics are a good thing." For more of Tony's thoughts about Milestone, click here. To read his review of the first episode, click here. STATIC SHOCK Review The folks at Slushfactory.com have posted this review of our first episode. Another STATIC SHOCK Review Here's the SilverBullet.com review of our first episode. Chris Simmons talks STATIC SHOCK the hyper-talented writer of STATIC SHOCK's first episode (and many others) talks about his work developing STATIC the comic into STATIC SHOCK the TV show. Click here to learn more and to see some great new pictures from the series! STATIC SHOCK at Comics2Film: Beaucoup STATIC SHOCK stories at the popular film site, including a major interview with me. STATIC SHOCK at CSNsider: A very complete story on all things STATIC SHOCK just went up at CSNsider. New Interview at ComicBookGalaxy: A new, short interview with me about STATIC SHOCK is just one click away. World's Finest Updates: Although it focuses on our sister shows, SUPERMAN, BATMAN and BATMAN BEYOND, a web site called Worlds Finest is honor bound to cover the latest STATIC SHOCK news. And they do... STATIC SHOCK!: REBIRTH OF THE COOL is an all-new, four-issue limited series already in the comic shops. I'm writing the series, which isn't based on the TV continuity, by the way. We'll be picking up on the Dakota Universe about six months after the last run ended. I don't want to give too much away but there will be guest stars galore, including the BLOOD SYNDICATE, CURTIS METCALF and more than a few surprises. The series is pencilled and inked by STATIC's original artist, John Paul Leon! John's red-hot off his recent stint as the artist on Alex Ross' EARTH X for Marvel Comics, so we're thrilled to have him back. John and I are joined on this project by letterer John Workman and colorist/seperator Melissa Edwards. We've been blessed with top of the line talent at every position. It's going to look great, you better order extra copies... He's back. STATIC SHOCK: ROTC #1 Review This one's at a site called, "ComicsWorthReading.com" and if that doesn't bode well, I don't know what would. STATIC SHOCK Newspaper Article From the Colorado Springs Gazette, Bill Radford's syndicated column has the news. Click here for more. STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL #1 Review Fandom.Com's Randy Lander weighs in on the latest Milestone offering. Read it here. STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL #1 Preview The good folks at Comics Continuum have uploaded the first four pages of our new mini-series. Check it out here (you'll have to scroll down a bit, but it's on this page). STATIC SHOCK: TRIAL BY FIRE Review Fan Universe has a new review of the STATIC SHOCK trade paperback. Read it here. STATIC SHOCK: TRIAL BY FIRE Review SlushFactory also has a new review of the STATIC SHOCK trade paperback. Read it here. STATIC Message Board Here's something new, a fan site for the discussion of all things Static. It's part of the "Island of Misfit Comics," which includes boards for Martian Manhunter, Starman, Deadpool and She-Hulk. There's news and links, too. I think it's looking good but click here and judge for yourself. STATIC SHOCK: TRIAL BY FIRE IS HERE The long-awaited trade paperback collection of Static's classic origin arc from the first four issues of his 1993-1997 comic book series should already be in your local comic shop. Featuring a script by yours truly and Robert L. Washington III, with pencils by John Paul Leon and inks by Steve Mitchell and Shawn Martinbrough, TRIAL BY FIRE is the second Milestone collected edition, joining ICON: A HERO'S WELCOME on finer bookshelves everywhere. If your friendly neighborhood comic shop isn't planning to carry it, just click the link to order a copy of Static Shock : Trial by Fire from Amazon.com for only $8.95 (10% off). At your local shop, or just one click away... UPDATE: STATIC SHOCK: TRIAL BY FIRE has made the Psycomic.com Hot 100 all-time graphic novel list. Click here for the enthusiastic, if somewhat ungrammatical, 5 out of 5 stars review. We're so proud all we have to say about the list is, "Where's Icon?" Dwayne and Denys Interview Video The good folks at Gamers Republic interviewed STATIC SHOCK co-creator/director Denys Cowan and I right after the San Diego Con preview of our new cartoon. This link will take you to a text version of the interview. There is also, for those of you with a T-1 line and/or a stunning amount of free time, a gigantic QuickTime movie file of the interview, available for download. I'm not that fat. This Just in From The Comics Continuum: Phil LaMarr, who does the lead voice of Virgil Hawkins/Static in Kids' WB!'s upcoming Static Shock! animated series, told The Continuum that he has completed voice recording on all 13 of the first-season episodes. "This is the first show where I'm the main guy, LaMarr said. "This is also the first time I've done basically animated drama." LaMarr, a regular on Fox's MAD TV and an avid comics reader, said that the animated series is faithful to the original Milestone Comics series. "It's interesting because Virgil is a good guy in the sense that he's a really good kid," LaMarr said. "He loves his father. He knows what's right and wrong and does it. "But, at the same time, it's not goody-two-shoes. He's still flawed enough to be interesting. He hates his older sister in that brother-sister kind of hate, and he makes mistakes, even though he's a really smart kid and recognizes the importance of studying. Sometimes he jumps out without thinking and sometimes he can be selfish or inconsiderate to his friends and his family. "It's great, because you can get the benefit of being a role model because he's a good guy and he's on the right side, but at the same time it's not boring." The series was voice-directed by Andrea Romano, whose credits include Batman and Superman. Phil LeMarr Talks Static Shock Comics Continuum has the story, and so do we. STATIC SHOCK! Voice Actors Announced Thanks to The Comics Continuum for the following info: "Voice recording has begun in Los Angeles on the early episodes of Static Shock!, the new Kids' WB! animated series based on the Milestone Comics character. Phil LaMarr provides the voice of Virgil Hawkins, who finds himself imbued with electromagnetic superpowers after being exposed to a mutanic gas. LaMarr is currently in his fifth season as a regular on Fox's MAD TV, where is known for his impersonations of Michael Jackson, Sidney Poitier, Billy Crystal and Prince. He has done voice work for Futurama, King of the Hill, Family Guy and Hey, Arnold!. The cast of Static Shock! also includes Jason Marsden as Richie Foley, Virgil's best friend; Kevin Richardson as his father, Robert Hawkins; Michelle Morgan as his sister, Sharon Hawkins; and Danica McKellar as Freida Goren, another friend. Marsden appeared in ABC's Step by Step, and his movie credits include The Goofy Movie and White Squall. His voice credits include Tino in ABC's The Weekenders, Jack in Fox Kids' Xyber 9: New Dawn and the young Clark Kent in the opening three-part episode of Superman on Kids' WB!. McKellar is best known as Winnie Cooper from ABC's The Wonder Years. The voice director for Static Shock!, a production of Warner Bros. Animation, is Andrea Romano, whose credits include the Batman and Superman series." STATIC SHOCK! Newslinks at Comics2Film Here's a buttload of web links to news stories about my favorite Saturday morning cartoon. Popimage Interview An interview with yours truly recently went up at Popimage.com. Read it here. McDuffie Interviewed at Spideynet.com Click through to the "10 Questions" feature that you'll find on this page. Newsrama Has the Scoop on Milestone Plans Here's a link to a recent Newsrama report on various Static-related projects. Home Static Shock Bio Credits Columns Comic Scripts Milestone Company Line Press E-Group Shop Dwayne's Links