Child of Genomex

One Way

2007-01-26T14:36:44Z

There is a new film to be released, "One Way", a rape and revenge story with Germany’s questionably best actor, Til Schweiger starring, and featuring Lauren Lee Smith in a minor role. However, I won’t pursue this any further as I can’t stand Til Schweiger.

Lights, Camera, Action Take 9

2006-09-14T09:56:39Z

http://www.mpica.org/LCA9/main.htm

There will be some former Mutant X cast and crew members at the annual MPICA charity auction this year. From September 15-17, the following items from Mutant X's writer Jon Cassar will be up for grabs:

Mutant X Ep.103 "Russian Roulette" writer's draft, revised pink, revised blue, and revised tan scripts donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.105 "Chrysalis" revised pink script donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.109 "Crime of the New Century" revised pink script donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.108 "Lit Fuse" revised green script donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.110 "Altered Ego" shooting script and outline donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.111 "Double Vision" writer's draft and shooting white scripts donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.107 "The Meaning of Death" white shooting script donated by Jon Cassar
Mutant X Ep.106 "Kilohertz" writer's draft script donated by Jon Cassar

"Chrysalis?" Ah, well. Anyway, the guests slated to appear this go around:

Rob Ballentyne, Artist The Davinci Code / Earth: Final Conflict
Rae Crombie, Props La Femme Nikita
Ellen Dubin "Jeri Slate" The Collector/ "Giggerota" LEXX [a.k.a. Dr. Robinson from Mutant X "In Between"]
Von Flores "Sandoval" Earth: Final Conflict
Ken Girotti, Director, 24 / La Femme Nikita
Nicholas Gray, Producer Forever Knight / Street Time
Barclay Hope "Peter Axon" Psi Factor
Gregory Itzin - "President Charles Logan" 24
Brock Jolliffe, Special Effects La Femme Nikita / Mutant X
Louis Lombardi - "Edgar Stiles" 24
K. Douglas MacRae, Story Board Artist La Femme Nikita / Mutant X
Rocco Matteo, Production Designer La Femme Nikita / Mutant X
Tom McCamus "Mason Eckhart" Mutant X
James Morrison - "Bill Buchanan" 24
Glenn Morshower- "Aaron Pierce" 24
Geoff Murrin, Screenwriter
Jim Murrin, Screen Writer
Natsuko Ohama - "Amanda Cohen" Forever Knight
Mary Lynn Rajskub "Chloe O'Brian" 24
Carlo Rota "Morris O'Brian" 24 / "Mick Schtoppel" La Femme Nikita
Jean Smart - "Martha Logan" 24
Joanne Vannicola "Mia Stone" Psi Factor [a.k.a. Matty Conlan from Mutant X "Double Vision"]
Patricia Zentilli "Bunny" LEXX

Adam fiction

2006-08-18T17:16:28Z

Gacked my latest Adam pic from a Russian page. This one is the most sinister I've found so far. It really looks satanic. I enjoyed reading Rosemary's Baby and Karen says I know a lot about cults. Maybe I should make up my own Satanic counter-universe and abandon the MX premise completely, as I always happen to be stuck with it. It's odd, but it actually has no rules so that one might predict characters may behave so and so.

A death in the family

2006-06-10T15:30:11Z

Actor Leon Pownall, who played Dr. Victor Palance in the Mutant X episode "Shadows of Darkness," died of cancer last week. He was 63 years old.

Globe and Mail article

LEON POWNALL, ACTOR, WRITER AND DIRECTOR: 1943-2006
Dedicated thespian who went from high-school drama classes to playing Shakespeare on stage at the Stratford Festival was a firebrand who found stardom. All the same, he never lost his faith in grassroots theatre companies
Canadian Press; Globe and Mail archives

STRATFORD, ONT. -- It made sense that Leon Pownall found inspiration in the work and life of Dylan Thomas. They were both born in Wales and they both worshipped the magic of language. Although the connection ended there -- Mr. Pownall left Wales as a boy and it was all over for Dylan Thomas by the time the great Welsh poet drank himself to death at 39 -- the influence remained deep and ingrained until 18 months ago when Mr. Thomas brought his play Do Not Go Gentle to the stage in Stratford, Ont.

The results were intoxicating, and had much to do with Mr. Pownall's harmonic structure. A Shakespearian actor, he had written the play in 1982 under the title Dylan Thomas Bach (bach being Welsh for dear) and judiciously mixed Thomas's poetry, recollections and all the man's demons.

It was Mr. Pownall's final venture into theatre. Appropriately enough, it was staged by PostScript Productions, a new theatre company based in Stratford, Ont., that was dedicated to Canadian playwrights. To throw in his lot with an underdog was something he had done all his life.

"He was a wonderful actor as well as a director and a writer, said Richard Monette, artistic director for the Stratford Festival. "He was last here directing Do Not Go Gentle . . . and though he could be difficult, he had a heart of gold."

Leon Pownall who, spent 14 seasons with the Stratford Festival, arrived in Canada with his family in 1957. The Pownalls settled in Hamilton, Ont., where the teenage Leon went to Hamilton's Central High School and discovered a deep fascination in acting. Inspired by his drama teacher, he was accepted to the National Theatre School of Canada in 1964. Coincidentally, he also received an offer to join the Stratford Festival for that year's season. He chose Stratford over the school in Montreal, beginning a relationship with Canada's premier theatre company that would last eight consecutive seasons, progressing from playing messengers and pages to such roles as Henry V (1966) and Laertes (1969).

From Stratford, Mr. Pownall moved to British Columbia. He took a hiatus from theatre, running his own business in Vancouver and seemed to have given up treading the boards until he started teaching drama at the Matsqui Penitentiary in Abbotsford. That experience convinced him to return to the theatre. He worked as artistic director of the White Rock Summer Theatre and took a position as artist-in-residence at the University of British Columbia.

In 1983, he also founded the Shakespeare Plus festival in Nanaimo, B.C., with high hopes that what the bard had done for Stratford he would again do for Vancouver Island. By August of 1985, the dream had faded. Labouring under a deficit of $100,000, his company had staged just three plays and only half the seats in its 300-seat theatre were sold.

By then, however, he had again been well and truly bitten by the theatre bug. In 1986, he went back to Stratford to portray Henry VIII. It was a triumphant return. He played the infamous Henry as an insolent, energetic young king who verged on the unkingly in a manner that unsettled some theatre-goers. In the scene in which a conspiracy of nobles try to exile one of Henry's appointees, the actor announced his presence on stage by absently whistling a tune from upstage. Subsequent Stratford roles included Claudius in Hamlet; Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1991); and Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra (1993).

In the meantime, Mr. Pownall continued to surface at remoter venues, as much to support small companies that he believed deserved help.

In 1987, he played an older Elvis Presley in Are You Lonesome Tonight? at the Charlottetown Festival in PEI. The play, the subject of a local furor because of its strong language, represented a new direction for the festival, which was known for family plays such as Anne of Green Gables. The play required two actors. Ben Bass impersonated the young Elvis, and Mr. Pownall impersonated the older and drug-ridden Elvis.

The production held "up a mirror to society," Mr. Pownall told a local reporter. "It takes a very good look at how society deals with success and the people who achieve it. There's a great quote at the start of Alan Bleasdale's script for Are You Lonesome Tonight? which says, essentially, that America always kills its heroes."

At the time, the head of publicity at the Charlottetown Festival was Moira Dann, now an editor at The Globe and Mail. That year, Mr. Pownall played opposite ends of the character continuum, she said. "Are You Lonesome Tonight? alternated on the main stage along with Anne Of Green Gables and Leon played Matthew in Anne and the older Elvis in Lonesome."

Mr. Pownall had a ritual for "becoming" Elvis, said Ms. Dann, who is editor of Facts & Arguments.

"It started at around 5:30 p.m. every day, long before his 7:30 call. He'd have a bite to eat in his dressing room, and start easing into bits of his costume; his voice would acquire a Southern accent as he listened to the music from the show while he put on his makeup. By the time he put on the wig [around 7:15], the transformation was complete: Leon was Elvis.

"And there was no cajoling him out of it; if you wanted to deal with Leon, you'd have to wait until after he'd cold-creamed off the last bit of makeup."

A year later, Mr. Pownall took on the operation of a small company in Toronto. It was to be yet another doomed project. In late July of 1988, he was named artistic director of Toronto Workshop Productions. The company was struggling under an accumulated debt of $250,000. "It was like, poor old dog TWP is sleeping on the sidewalk, and everybody takes a kick at it as they go by," he said. "I decided that we had to be positive and not get involved in squabbles that lead nowhere."

By October, however, the doors of TWP had been padlocked by its board of trustees after a dispute with a previous artistic director about plans to redevelop the property at 12 Alexander St., which was then the oldest continuous professional theatre in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pownall kept busy on television and in movies. Later that year, he appeared in a CBC production about the First World War called The Killing Ground in which he played Canon Frederick Scott, a middle-aged army chaplain who tragically found his son's remains on a battlefield. In 1989, he landed the role of a teacher in Dead Poet's Society opposite Robin Williams, and in 1997, he was nominated for a Gemini for his role as Dr. Ewen Cameron in The Sleep Room, an ambitious mini-series about the Montreal psychiatrist who thought he could find a dramatic cure for mental illness using psychedelic drugs and electroshock therapy. His work attracted the attention of the Central Intelligence Agency, which had its own reasons for wanting to know more about the limits of the human brain.

Mr. Pownall played Cameron as a man equally driven by ego and obsession. Cameron, he said, was no pantomime villain. "Ewen Cameron was not a monster who came out of some alien egg and suddenly appeared on the scene," he told The Globe and Mail. "This was someone who was hailed as one of the great modern minds of psychiatry. In Brandon, Man., he transformed the mental institution there from a medieval fortress into a Garden of Eden where people with various mental disorders could find the time and peace and tolerance to seek a recovery. It was only when he got into the brainwashing techniques at the Allan Institute that he took on the masque macabre."

Among Mr. Pownall's other appearances were principal parts in Bethune, How the West was Fun, Love and Hate, Million Dollar Babies and the title role in Handel's Last Chance. He also made guest appearances on The Road to Avonlea, Forever Knight, Street Legal, The Beachcombers and Slings and Arrows.

For all his success, he never failed to pitch in to show his support for struggling theatre companies. "Hell no, we're not gonna lie down and die," he declared characteristically at the opening of the 1995 Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, N.S. "We're gonna make great theatre."

Leon Pownall was born in Wrexham, in northern Wales, on April 26, 1943. He died of cancer in Stratford, Ont., on June 2. He was 63. He leaves two children, Monty and Peter.

The Official site

2006-04-12T22:23:57Z

I changed the addy to the Official site from .net to .com on the top page. So you should be able to click to it now.

~~Lina ;)

MX FAQ: The Mutant X vs. X-Men Lawsuits

2006-04-09T07:48:26Z

Mutant X trivia question: Who was Albion Magnus?

Mutant X vs. X-Men: The lawsuits

Okay, so here's what happened. Tribune Entertainment and Marvel Comics teamed up during the summer of 2000 to plan a live action show called Genome X (coincidentally, the first X-Men film had just been released by 20th Century Fox Studios that July). The show's title would later be changed to Mutant X. Though production began shortly after the cancellation of Howard Mackie's popular "Mutant X" Marvel comic book series in 2001, the show's characters are unrelated to those of the comic books. Mackie's 32 comic books depict an alternate X-Men universe, where Havok is transported to a parallel dimension in which Scott Summers's family was captured by the evil Shi'Ar, and many 616 heroes were villains. More about the "Mutant X" comic books can be found here.

In early April of 2001, while the show was still in production, Fox Studios sued Marvel Comics for copyright violation, claiming that the premise and characters of Mutant X were nearly identical to those of the X-Men film to which they held the rights. They accused both Tribune and Marvel of riding on the coattails of the X-Men movie's success, and proposed an injuction to stop production of the show. 13 minutes later, Marvel counter-sued, protesting that the show's characters were entirely separate from those of the X-Men world, and that the Fox suit had been brought solely to block the show's release.

Who was right? Were the characters of the show and the film related? Mutant X was co-produced by Marvel. The show's title and original premise, along with the timing of its release ensured that comparisons with X-Men were inevitable. According to an early casting breakdown published by Comics2Film in January of 2001, Mutant X was similar to X-Men in several ways. Check out these character descriptions:

Adam Xero: Adam is 30's, handsome, charming and at ease with everyone. He is the leader, strategist, tactician and all around one-man brain trust of the Mutant X. Adam is simply the smartest man alive-one of the special breed of children genetically engineered within the Human Genome Project - a product of a test-tube baby. He knows everything known to man since the dawn of time and can call upon this information at any time. His extreme intellect is his mutation. Even at the age of 10 he was a published writer in the fields of physics, biotechnology and medicine as well as writing bestseller novels that made him a millionaire. He very sexy and has an excellent body. The call sheet requests a physical actor.
Shalimar Fox (aka Shadowfox): She is a fiery and feral beauty utterly in touch with her primal nature. She is a little wild and completely unpredictable... breathtakingly sensual. Outrageous sexiness, with a dark edge. She has strong survival instincts, all of which are the natural outgrowth of her mutant abilities. She also has strength & speed. This actor must be extremely sexy, have a fantastic body and be an amazing athlete.
Brennan Mulwray (aka Fuse): He is the master of electricity-able to literally throw off sparks with enough power coursing through his body to power a small city. A street-smart guy, he is fast talking and wise-cracking with an ingratiating grin. He is a vibrating mass of nervous energy, jumpy and impulsive. He loves being a Superhero and thinks throwing off sparks is a total gas. He is a good-natured, partying, wiseguy, urban roughneck. He has one weakness.... the Mutant X named Emma for whom is is crazy about.
Emma Desalvo (aka Rapport): She is a telepathic, capable of creating a psychic link with any other living thing, sensing empathetically the feelings of others, as well as plant suggestions in humans that affect and direct their behavior. She is beautiful, charming and saucily sexy with a wisdom beyond her years. She can also manipulate the way others feel. She is a sunny, happy young woman with a sense of mischief and prankish nature. Her psychic powers have also given her too much information at times…which sometimes terrifies her but also makes her a strong survivor in the team.
Jesse Kilmartin (aka Synergy): A very complex guy. Son of a self-made millionaire. He grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is a lonely guy who has gone though life unloved and uncared for. He is cautious and defensive. Jesse can literally split his body into three triplicates, each representing a different aspect of his personality. He wants to use his powers to help others in need. He can be aggressive, charming, sensitive and is also able to take on the physical appearance of anyone around him.

If this information is accurate, the following points are readily apparent.

1. The X in the Mutant X logo resembled X-Men's.

2. Mason Eckhart's original name was Albion Magnus...uncomfortably close to Magneto, X-Men's main villain.
3. Adam Xero's surname was also close to Professor Xavier's. Today, one of the main differences between Adam Kane and Professor X is that Adam is human, while Xavier is a mutant. But the original Adam Xero character actually was the product of genetic experiments. He didn't have the psionic abilities of his X-Men counterpart, but his mental capabilities were genetically enhanced.
4. One of Jesse Kilmartin's original abilities was to alter his physical form to look like other people, a characteristic of the X-Men character Mystique.
5. Emma deLauro (then Emma deSalvo) was initially going to be a telepath like X-Men's Jean Grey. Also like Jean, Emma was to be paired with Brennan, whose character description somewhat resembled Scott's.
6. The X-Men had code names. The Mutant X team members originally had code names too: Shalimar Fox = Shadowfox, Brennan Mulwray = Fuse, Emma deSalvo = Rapport, and Jesse Kilmartin = Synergy.
7. The Double Helix shared the stealth capabilities of the X-Men's jet.
8. Despite repeated claims by Mutant X's creators to the contrary, the early plot outline stated that there was a connection to the X-Men movie:

"The series is based on the feature film X-Men. Different characters, different stories. This series is about 5 genetically engineered humans who were all victims of the Human Genome Project-a top secret experiment on fetus's that created children with enhanced gifts. They were made still very human and yet they have capabilities that far exceed those of mankind. The New Mutants, led by Adam Xero, are a 'family' of outlaws with a mission to find the victims of the Human Genome Project...aid them in mastering their abilities, protect them from those who would exploit or harm them, and to provide a sanctuary where they can rebuild their lives.

"There is a government agency called the Genetic Security Agency (GSA), a completely covert intelligence service under the command of Albion Magnus, that seeks out Mutants to bring them into the government's custody. Our New Mutants heroes are not about to be captured by the GSA. The government agency has converted a team of mutants to work for them in their mission to track down all the New Mutants. Each adventure will pit Mutant X against other equally powerful-or even more powerful-mutants, working for the GSA."

After deliberation, Judge Allen Schwartz allowed Tribune to continue production, but ordered that some eliminations be made in the show's planning, such as Adam Xero's surname, the appearance of the X logo, and the code names for the Mutant X team members. As a result, Adam was surname-less for the first season, finally acquiring "Kane" in the introductory voice-over of the second season. The characters' code names were also cut, and the logo's font underwent a curvaceous makeover:

Even with these compromises, the legal battle between Fox and Marvel continued until March of 2003, when the two companies settled privately. Not long before the settlement, ADV Films was awarded the rights to sell Mutant X DVDs, which it released in June. Seven months later, shortly after Tribune had also settled with Fox, Tribune sued Marvel for 100 million in damages, blaming Marvel for all the drama which had ensued. This lawsuit is still ongoing.

--firstmutant

childofgenomex @ 2006-04-07T07:54:00

2006-04-07T17:57:12Z

Why weren't the kids outraged when Adam, finally told them he had invented the governors?

The official site

2006-04-06T21:52:40Z

As some of you have noticed, the official site's http://www.mutantx.net address appears to have expired.

The good news is that at least http://www.mutantx.com still works for now. ;)

The New GSA Underground rpg has a new home!

2006-04-06T20:59:34Z

I decided to reopen the New GSA Underground rpg:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/gsaunderground2/

Since Yahoo doesn't allow you to reopen Groups after they've become private & invite-only, naturally, I thought I'd create a second new group.

This is not a sequel, but merely a continuation of the original rpg.

~~Lina ;)

MX FAQ: The Four Mutant Types

2006-04-02T09:02:45Z

Reworking the FAQ sheet. :)

There are four types of new mutants: ferals, moleculars, psionics, and elementals. New mutants' DNA is in a constant state of evolution. The same genetic alterations which give them their abilities also make them vulnerable to periods of active mutation during which their powers run rampant, "growth spurts" where they can develop additional related abilities, and cellular breakdown. The last gives each new mutant an "expiry date," the date by which, if his or her DNA is not stabilized, he or she will die. The more powerful the new mutant, the sooner the expiration date. Thus Gabriel Ashlocke, the first and most powerful new mutant created, was the first to succumb to this cellular breakdown. Though other new mutants have reportedly had their DNA stabilized through experimentation by the genetics expert Dominique, Jesse Kilmartin is the only new mutant on the Mutant X team whose DNA was successfully stabilized by Adam Kane.

Ferals have animal DNA spliced into their own, giving each feral some of that animal's characteristics. Genomex.net's feral subtypes: feline (cat, lion, etc.), ursine (bear), canine (dog, wolf, etc.), porcine (boar, hog, etc.), cervine (deer), reptus (lizard, snake, etc.), amphibian (frog, etc.), piscis (fish).

On the Mutant X team, Shalimar Fox is a feline feral with glowing cat's eyes. She has enhanced senses of smell, sight, and touch; because of her enhanced hearing, loud sounds can cause her to have migraines. Her heightened strength and reflexes allow her to make magnificent leaps and powerful combat moves. Like all feline ferals, Shalimar is very territorial and has an intense fear of fire. More about Shalimar Fox is here. DVD bio.

Other ferals who have appeared in the series: Amphibian Tina, feline Dr. Richard Saunders, feline Donna Morse, feline Lieutenant Bo Longstreet, feline Angel Dorn, feline Randall "The General" Clark, canine Aldous Berkley, amphibian Lena Blake, scorpion Lorna Templeton, lupine Michael Ward, feline Amanda Terry, feline Nikki Rodgers, reptus (lizard) Eckhart's accomplice, lupine Terra, feline Gia DuChamps, arachnid The Guardian, feline Kara Whitely

Moleculars can affect the molecules of their own bodies or those of their environment. Genomex.net's molecular subtypes: intangibility (able to move through solids), imperviousness (withstands physical penetration), invisibility, propulsion (accelerated motion or speed), gravitative (able to alter weight in self, others or objects), chromatic (affects color, light, etc.), stasis-suspension (affects time), replication (self-cloning, etc.), elasticity (able to alter size or shape - extremely rare).

On the Mutant X team, both Jesse Kilmartin and Lexa Pierce are moleculars.

Jesse Kilmartin ("The Nerd Wonder"), as an intangible/impervious molecular, can alter the density of his body's molecular structure to be either intangible enough to walk through walls (called "phasing"), or so dense that neither bullets nor cars can penetrate him ("massing"). By the end of the third season, Jesse can also phase and mass other objects and people by touch. Jesse can only remain massed for as long as he can hold his breath, and if he remains phased for more than 30 seconds, he may not be able to reform. More about Jesse Kilmartin is here. DVD bio.

Lexa Pierce is a chromatic molecular. Lexa ("Complexa") is able to bend light to make herself and those she is touching invisible. Unlike molecular stealth mutants like Danielle and Catherine Hartman, however, Lexa is also able to shoot penetrating lasers from her fingertips, and create blinding light flashes with her hands. There is a time limit on Lexa's invisibility, and while invisible her heat outline can still be seen with infra-red goggles or feral vision. More about Lexa Pierce is here and here. Dominion profile.

Other moleculars who have appeared in the series: Propulsive Vince Meisel, stasis-suspension Nick Renfield, gravitative Wendy Stone, super-strength Kendra MacEvoy, chromatic/X-ray vision Jerri Wiley, propulsive Todd Wiley, stealth Danielle Hartman, stealth Catherine Hartman, regenerative Charles Marlowe, regenerative Caleb Mathias, stasis-suspension Diana Moeller, astral projection Cyrus Payton, regenerative Kristoff, elastic/multiple Leo Pierce, stasis-suspension Samantha Bennett, chromatic (dark matter) Randall Blake, intangible Nathan Reynolds, stealth The Clown, regenerative Tony LaPorta, stasis-suspension/alternative dimensions Diane Taylor

Psionics have enhanced mental abilities. Genomex.net's psionic subtypes: telepathic (mind readers), telekinetic (able to move objects with the mind), telempathic (able to read and adjust emotions), precog (able to see future events), illusionist (projects unreal visuals or attitudes).

On the Mutant X team, Emma deLauro began as a telempathic psionic and diversified as the series progressed. As a telempath, Emma was able to read the emotions of others and project images/emotions into their minds. Emma would later demonstrate other psionic abilities as well: broadband telempathy, telepathy, memory enhancement and erasure, psionic blasts that rendered the recipient unconscious, and mind control. More about Emma deLauro is here and here. DVD bio

Other psionics who have appeared in the series: Telekinetic Frank Thorne, telepath/ESPer Ruby Bishop, telekinetic Allison Turner, telekinetics Daniel and Stephen Benedict, telekinetic Toni Quintana, telepath Lisa Valentine, new mutant detector Maria, telecyber Michelle Bigelow, memory erasure Mark Griffin, projecting x-ray vision Zack Lockhart, illusionist/dreams Henry Voight, combustion (microwaves) Harvey Lanchester, telekinetic Morgan Fortier, illusionist Levak Ivanov, telepath Tyler Ryan, telepath Sam Raymond, telekinetic Eckhart's accomplice, telepath Andrea Marshall, illusionist Johnny Cummings, cybernetic William Dennett, telepath Riley Morgan, telempath Dr. Robinson, precog John Bishop

Elementals control the energy of the elements and the environment. Genomex.net's elemental subtypes: electrical, thermal (heat or cold related), sonic, chemical, botanical (plant related), geological (earth related - extremely rare).

On the Mutant X team, Brennan Mulwray is an electrical elemental. Brennan ("Sparky") can throw tesla coils from his fingers, allowing him to jump-start cars and cardiac arrests, open electronic locks, and electrocute enemies. Brennan needs a period of rest between voltage uses, and cannot use his abilities when he gets wet, lest he short out or electrocute himself. Wrapping his arms in chains grounds him. More about Brennan Mulwray is here. DVD bio.

Other elementals who have appeared in the series: Electrical cybernetic Barry Sterling (a.k.a. Kilohertz), thermal Alice Robbins, electrical absorber Ashley Elliott, thermal Josh Valentine, botanical Skeet Vossberg, eletrical Matty Conlan, sonic Calvin Porter, air absorber Eli Lynch, thermal/heat and cold Pamela Fries, thermal Kelly Rice, thermal Josh, electrical Patricia, thermal Billy Larkin, thermal Harvey Lanchester, thermal Nick Maddox, energy/pain Silva, thermal Hector Friemark, electrical Candace Rockwell

Uncategorized/Controversial:
Gabriel Ashlocke. Psychopath Gabriel Ashlocke, aka Patient Zero, was the first new mutant Adam created. He has traits of all four mutant types: a feline feral's strength and reflexes, a psionic's telepathy, illusionist and mind control abilities, and an elemental's ability to throw destructive balls of light. Adam and Mason podded young Gabriel after killed his parents; he escaped 25 years later to pod Mason Eckhart and form an army of new mutants called The Strand. More about Gabriel Ashlocke is here.

The Child. Gabriel Ashlocke created "Ashlocke's Second Coming," The Child, from the DNA of four new mutants: elemental Brennan Mulwray, psionic Riley Morgan, molecular Nathan Reynolds, and feral Kara Whitely. As a result, The Child has the abilities of all four new mutant types.

Chester. Chester was Brennan's short-lived genetically engineered pet locust.

Neil Cuddahy. Neil is a non-sleeping mutant who needs only one half an hour of sleep a night. Neil may be a molecular, based on information from My Friend's Bookstore: NEAL CUDDAHY: You won’t catch this guy falling asleep on the job. Neal is a Molecular whose body processes energy so he doesn’t require sleep. A professional driver, his non-stop midnight truck runs have transported hundreds of New Mutants and needed supplies to safe houses all over the country. Low key and fond of Jimmy Buffet tunes, Neal has only one complaint: “It’s lonely when you’re the only one awake.”

Charlotte Cooke. Charlotte can secrete a toxin from her fingers which changes a person's moral polarity, from good to bad or from bad to good. On new mutants, this effect lasts a minute; on non-new mutants, it lasts forever until Charlotte returns them to normal with a second touch. According to Dr. Ken Harrison's report on Genomex.net, Charlotte may be a feral:

I would like to adjust your thinking on the genetic coding of new mutant, Charlotte Cooke (security file #EOG998CC). Although this subject is no longer available to Genomex, I find the case a fascinating study. It aligns with my recent exploration on variation within the mutant species and merits further attention from our science departments.

Upon initial analysis, many of you labeled the female Cooke as a Molecular. She excreted a toxin from her pores that seemingly altered the moral compass of her opponents, causing them to rage, despair or degrade themselves beyond their normal limits. In a sense, the contaminant acted like a cocaine derivative, twisting the victims' nervous systems until it extracted unnatural behavior.

In retrospect, I suppose the Molecular classification was a likely one. The subject did seem to bend physical laws, a characterization that defines the group. There are blaring aspects of the female Cooke that do not line up with a Molecular profile, however. Calling her such was an unreasonably rash diagnosis, the kind of which will not be tolerated in the future. Any additional examples of such shoddy work will be reported promptly to Mr. Eckhart for disciplinary action. For now, no specific names will be put forth. You know who you are and are expected to increase the quality of your work.

Genomex psychologist Dr. Varady worked up a composite of Cooke as a potential Psionic (subcategory: Empath). While I have only the highest regards for our esteemed colleague, I cannot agree with her conclusions. Cooke's powers are transmitted physically, not mentally, although they do affect thought processes of the brain. Thus, a Psionic label is also incorrect.

Having been forced to take matters into my own hands, I have come to the only obvious conclusion as to Cooke's classification: Feral. Many reptile and insect females secrete venom that can paralyze or confound their victims. Such is the case with new mutant: Cooke. Examination of her DNA samples as well as her family history support my findings.
I find it particularly discouraging that your departments missed the same deductions. Mere weeks ago I sent out a mandatory memo in regards to Insect Ferals. Apparently the entire personnel overlooked it. I need not point out that correct identification of Cooke's abilities might have facilitated Genomex's detaining her. Instead, she is now a GSA priority capture. You may all consider yourselves on a probationary status of employment until this error is redeemed.

Incidentally, I have been informed that several research heads felt I would be interested in Cooke's associate, the plant Elemental "Skeet" Vosburg. Despite my background in botanicals, let me assure you the existence of an unbathed, under-educated low-class new mutant whose sole talent is to defoliate does not inspire me. The vile being is to be reduced to full stasis level if there is available pod space or disposed of in the usual method. I trust such insulting assumptions about my taste will not be made again.

Thank-you,
K. Harrison

--<lj user="firstmutant></lj-cut>

Howard Chaykin update

2006-03-16T11:32:03Z

In this article, Howard Chaykin, the head writer for the first season of Mutant X, talks about his work before and after the show.

http://comicbookbin.com/bubble072.html

It was 2000, and Chaykin had just come to a parting of the ways with his last television show, the syndicated Mutant X. "It was a great job, a good ride. I learned a great deal, I had a great time, and I finally started working myself into an early grave. After I left the show I dropped 35 pounds, I started sleeping, and my life just got easier." The time seemed right for a full-time return to comics.

HOWARD CHAYKIN: BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
By Philip Schweier
Mar 13, 2006, 13:51

With the volume of comics material written by Howard Chaykin in the past couple of years, a return to illustrating seemed inevitable. Projects such as the forthcoming Hawkgirl series is only the latest in a number of projects from co-writing his own series (American Century), mini-series (City of Tomorrow) and the graphic novel Mighty Love. Such a varied body of work is admirable for a man who had been out of the industry for a decade.

It was 2000, and Chaykin had just come to a parting of the ways with his last television show, the syndicated Mutant X. "It was a great job, a good ride. I learned a great deal, I had a great time, and I finally started working myself into an early grave. After I left the show I dropped 35 pounds, I started sleeping, and my life just got easier." The time seemed right for a full-time return to comics.

"I hadn't drawn in ten years,” says the seasoned comics creator. “I'd done some individual pieces here and there, but I hadn't really done any work of volume, and I discovered to my surprise and delight that my chops were still in pretty good shape."

Born in Newark in the early 1950s, Howard Chaykin wanted to be a cartoonist since discovering comics around the age of four. He managed the feat by apprenticing himself to an acknowledged master in the field, Gil Kane.

“Everything I know I learned sitting and watching television with Gil Kane,” says Chaykin. “I'm serious. I didn't do anything. I was his gofer, and the fact of the matter is it was the best learning experience I ever had. Gil Kane taught me everything. He taught me how to be a professional.”

He also apprenticed himself to Neal Adams and Gray Morrow, but it was Wally Wood who offered him his first published work. "I pencilled Shattuck, a western strip for Wallace Wood to ink for the Overseas Weekly, a newspaper for sale to the military only."

Chaykin’s first job in mainstream comic books was in DC romance titles, a genre which soon died out. “The guys who edited them were failed book editors, and the guys who replaced them were comic book geeks. So they basically threw away the idea of girl readers, which really pissed me off, because I like girls.”

In the early1970s, super-hero comics were being done by men a generation older. “The Marvel Bullpen in those days was old guys,” he explains, “ And most of us were EC fans, or pretentious illustration fans, and came out of an entirely different world view. We all assumed – and this is not a joke – that we were the last generation of comics talent.”

Of his generation of comics creators, he feels few of his colleagues were suited for drawing costumed crime fighters. "Rich Buckler was the most super-hero appropriate character in the bunch," he says. "(Bernie) Wrightson was doing the horror and mystery stuff, (Mike) Kaluta was doing the same. (Walt) Simonson came in shortly after I did, with a science fiction portfolio. So none of us were really prepped to do super-heroes.

“All of us had grown up on that material, but by the time we'd become professionals – and I'm speaking for myself, and fairly certain I speak for most of those guys – we were interested in a wider range of material. I did pulp fiction, and science fiction, sword & sorcery. I was just testing the waters on everything I could get."

In 1972, DC Comics launched WEIRD WORLDS, a a science fiction/fantasy comic showcasing other characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan. These secondary properties failed to find an audience. Before the book was eventually cancelled, Editor Denny O'Neil offered Chaykin his first taste of creative carte-blanche. His concept, Iron Wolf, led to seminal versions of concepts that would eventually be found in much of Chaykin's work. He infused it with "themes of romantic honor tempered by ironic detachment, played out against a background of galactic empires and brightly painted starships" -- Howard Chaykin, from the Iron Wolf reprint, 1986.

Weird Worlds came to an end with the tenth issue, and Iron Wolf with it. Chaykin then created The Scorpion, a pulp style adventurer for Atlas in 1975. However, following the second issue, the concept was dramatically retooled into standard super-hero fare. This sudden alteration failed to save the title from being cancelled, and Atlas soon disappeared as well.

Putting Atlas behind him, Chaykin continued to toil in the trenches of the comics industry, doing fill-ins on such titles as DC's Weird War. At Marvel, he and Len Wein collaborated on Dominic Fortune, another pulp-style character. They also put their heads and talents together for Gideon Faust, a Victorian era sorceror published first in in the pages of Star Reach, an independent sci-fi anthology comic, and later in HEAVY METAL.

He also continued to develope his own ideas while experimenting with a variety of artistic styles. When his Cody Starbuck debuted, his drawing style was very reminiscent of Alex Toth. A grand space opera, Cody Starbuck mirrored many of the themes later seen in the 1977 blockbuster film Star Wars.

Chaykin was chosen to illustrate the Marvel Comics adaptation of the film. After a meeting with George Lucas in Burbank the year before the movie was released, Chaykin walked away with a box of 4000 stills and a portfolio of conceptual paintings by Ralph McQuarry. "The stills were incredibly dead an inert," he explains. “They looked like a high school science project. What freaked me out when I saw the film was it ended up looking like the McQuarry paintings, and that was the most profound effect, that they managed to do all the work in post. It's a tribute to what was done to that film after it was shot."

Of course nobody had any idea the phenomenon that Star Wars would become. "Had I known, I probably would've worked harder on it. I still haven't gotten over the resentment of the fact that it existed in the pre-royalty times so I got chump change for those books.”

Chaykin’s wish for royalties was understandable, given his weak financial standing at the time. Publisher Byron Preiss provided an opportunity to illustrate science fiction books such as Alfred Bester's Stars My Destination and Samuel R. Delaney's Empire, taking a sabbatical from comics he hoped would prove more lucrative. “I hardly call it a sabbatical,” he points out. “It was debtor's prison.”

However, the effort wasn’t as rewarding as expected, and he continued moving from project to project, such as DC’s World of Krypton mini-series, and another Marvel movie adaptation, James Bond: For Your Eyes Only. “I had to support myself elsewhere until I had a big screaming match with one of the mainstays with one of the major companies."

Driven out of comics for two years, Chaykin made a living by doing covers for Western and romance paperbacks. However, the national economy dipped dramatically in the early 1980s, coinciding with a developing conservatism in paperbacks. Publishers turned to other talents such as Pino and Elaine Dewillow. "It was the year of the bodice-ripper. I was doing fairly graphic stuff, and more influenced by Bob Peak and David Grove, and those guys."

In the early 1980s, Chaykin moved to Southern California, with the specific intention of getting into show business. Among his earliest efforts was the animated film HEAVY METAL, for which he provided character designs.

Around 1982, fledgling First Comics began looking for creator-owned projects to publish. He gave them AMERICAN FLAGG!, which he refers to as the apotheosis of all the things he'd been reading, studying and learning since his teenage years. “It was just an opportunity to vent all of my spleen and get paid for it. What a concept.

"I make no secret of the fact that I'm a left-leaning kind of guy,” he says. “Unfortunately unlike a lot of my fellow left-leaning freres, I also have really complex ideas about multi-culturalism, and I'm profoundly patriotic, because I don't feel the right has any right to hijack patriotism, although they've done a fabulous job of it.”

Former First Comics editor Mike Gold regards Chaykin to be one of the most prescient comics creators since Steve Canyon creator Milton Caniff. “Every Chaykin reader who followed our culture, our technology and our politics for the past two decades is constantly suffering from deja vu.”

AMERICAN FLAGG! was just the sort of huge success any start-up company hopes for, but the arduous task of writing and drawing a monthly comic book took it’s toll on Chaykin’s health. After two years, he turned the art chores over to others; a year later, he left altogether.

A more relaxed schedule in the mid ‘80s allowed him to generate an enviable variety of projects. He created two additional graphic novels for First Comics centering on the post-modern world of Times2 (Squared). Featuring Runyonesque characters based on his own family, the books are among Chaykin's personal favorites.

He also rode a wave of popularity which took him to the doorstep of DC Comics. A four-issue mini-series featuring The Shadow resurrected the character in more contemporary times. "I find it's a really funny book. I had a great time. I was only annoyed at how much the second issue was incredibly censored; character names, attitudes, just stuff. Oooh! I was appalled. But I was in California so I couldn't go to the office and scream."

Chaykin’s version also imbued the hero with what today are considered unappealing charcter traits. "The Shadow is a man of the '30s, and in my version he's a man of the '30s running around in the '80s. Men of the '30s had certain attitudes."

Specifically, a certain amount of chauvenism, a trait which Chaykin defends as the nature of the beast. “We are a society that is constantly victimized by presentism. You've got a contemporary culture doing period material that imposes contemporary ideas on period ideas. So when I do period work, I try to convey period sensibility, and buyer be damned. And I'm frequently damned by the buyer because they want presentism, and they can find it elsewhere.

He then wrote and illustrated a Blackhawk mini-series for DC, followed by another, Twilight. Featuring the art of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, the latter instilled more realistic – and sometimes less pleasant – human qualities to DC's stable of science fiction heroes.

During this time, Chaykin returned to American Flagg! When the series concluded a year and a half later, he found new avenues for his work, most notably the controversial Black Kiss, an erotic thriller published by Vortex in 1988.

While major companies might have loved to have Chaykin on staff, he continued to eschew super-heroes. "You know, when you start giving a guy super-powers, my own innate goofiness comes in. I always felt the stuff that (Harvey) Kurtzman did, the Super-Duperman, the Plastic Sam, was closer to the way real people would behave. I believe that super-heroes should have feet of clay to bring them down to size and to make them more fun to be surprised by.

"One of my favorite comic books is that last Superman story that Alan Moore wrote. But I have no idea where to begin writing Superman because there's something, for me, so innately goofy about this guy. He's huge, he's all powerful. Y'know, what if God and Superman had a fight? Superman would probably trip Him, so I can't imagine writing Superman."

Despite his disinterest in the super-hero genre, Chaykin is fascinated by Batman. "Batman is an allegedly normal guy who, if you really look at the subtext of Batman, he's a guy who had a bad day when he was eight years old. Since then he's been justifying the idea of going out and beating the living shit out of criminals dressed up as a bondage guy, and I'm facinated by that. I think it's an amazing idea and I love taking a character and playing with him. It's why I've always done Elseworlds."

Chaykin featured the Dark Knight in three Elseworld stories. In 1991, Mark Chiarello illustrated Batman: Houdini, which teamed a Victorian-era Batman with the master escape artist. In 1996 Chaykin wrote and drew Dark Allegiances, featuring Batman during World War II, followed by Thrillkillers in 1998, a tale suggestive of the film Natural Born Killers.

Another story, the three-issue FLYER published in Legends of the Dark Knight in 1991, is noteworthy as it was illustrated by Chaykin’s former mentor, Gil Kane.

Regarding Batman as a guy who is completely and totally his own self product, Chaykin, like an actor searching for character, chooses to look under the mask. "I've always been much more interested in Bruce Wayne than Batman. Bruce Wayne's a really interesting guy. I want to do a story about Bruce Wayne involved in an Enron-type scandal, and Bruce Wayne at Bohemian Grove. It's where all the rich republicans and celebrities go up in Northern California and run around naked. You know, ‘Eliminate rage,’ and they dance naked around a bonfire. I want to see Bruce Wayne doing that."

Stumbling into television, he managed to find the financial success for which he was searching. "It was whore money,” he says shamelessly. Cultivating a television career throughout most of the 1990s, he worked on such shows as The Flash, Viper, and Earth: Final Conflict. “I started out a rung above the bottom (staff writer) and finished a rung below the top (executive consultant).

During his tenure in television, Chaykin continued to do occassional comic book projects, such as Power & Glory for Malibu Comics’ Bravura imprint. The story of a costumed hero manufactured by the American government, he describes it as "Broadcast News with super-heroes."

In more recent years, Chaykin, with writing partner David Tischman, scripted a number graphic novels and mini-series for DC comics. An ongoing series from Vertigo, American Century, ran for two years.

His television days behind him, Chaykin has returned to comics with fresh interests and renewed sensibilities. "I'd always been an anal structurist in every sense of the word. I'm a great believer in order and geometry, and for some ungodly reason, and I have no idea where it came from, I developed a jazz musician's improvisation, a lack of fear about not knowing exactly where I was going with an idea, which is a very new idea for me. It's brand new.

“I try to reinvent myself every five years. My stuff looks pretty much the same, but there's also stuff added to it, because I find myself getting too rock bound and conservative, so I end up throwing stuff out and trying something new. I mean, I've had a lovely career, but the truth is, it's been different every time and it's what keeps you young and fresh.

“I'm really lucky to have the work that I've got to do. I'm having a great time, because a lot of guys my age are sort of stultified and atrophied in their abilities and in their attitudes toward the material. It's a seven day week, and I put in a minimum of 65 hours a week, and I'm not making nearly the amount of money I used to make in television, but I'm a lot happier.”

Chaykin shows no sign of letting up. Leading up to his drawing duties on Hawkgirl, Chaykin has doen several covers for DC, as well as a couple of limited series, one featuring a new take on the Challengers of the Unknown, the other his original story City of Tomorrow. He also wrote LEGEND, a 4-issue adaptation of Philip Wylie's novel Gladiator, with art by comics veteran Russ Heath.

He is also currently working on a prequel to Black Kiss is also in the works, as well as a personal project, Midnight of the Soul. Chaykin describes the book as a transliteration of the Greek myth of The Journey through a single 12-hour experience in a guy's life. “It's about a guy who is mortally wounded during the liberation of the death camps who's carried around a belief system that he's supported for five years through addiction to morphine and cheap wine. In this 12-hour period, where for the first time in five years he hasn't had a drink or a drug, he begins to learn that his memory is a screened memory, and it's all a lie, and things begin to evolve and change. By the end of the 12 hours his life is changed dramatically. It's violent, it's funny and it's very, very dark."

Both writing and drawing, he's danced around the idea of self-publishing the project. "It's come close to being published by various companies but it's something I really want to control. It's personally derived, there are metaphors from my own life in this job but in a world where super-hero comics are held in the regard they are, this is not an easy sell."

Despite such challenges in the comics world, Chaykin feels very lucky. “It's an absoulutely fantastic way to make a living. I work in sweats and a t-shirt and a four-day beard. I look like a homeless person, and I love my life, and I'm real proud and happy.

"One of the things about my life and my career I've always said is I am absolutely blessed."

Announcement

2006-03-14T17:46:16Z

Dear Children of Genomex,

I apologize for my sporadic posting in and responses to emails about this community. Since my duties as future evil world dominator have become rather time-consuming, I am transferring the role of maintainer to one who can be around more regularly.

Congradulations, blueroses2. :)

childofgenomex @ 2006-03-05T15:40:00

2006-03-05T15:41:42Z

http://www.geocities.com/electra_s_sanctuary/morestuff/adam_shrine.html

I would like to introduce my new Adam website. All feedback welcome.

Tom McCamus's award

2006-02-26T13:43:00Z

Actor Tom McCamus (Mason Eckhart) received recognition for his work in the film Waking Up Wally Friday night at the 2006 ACTRA ceremony in Toronto. A list of the nominees is here. Yay Tom!

Tom McCamus wins
ACTRA, the actor’s union of Canada, has handed out its 2006 Toronto awards to two veterans of the screen and a 10-year-old newcomer.

Samantha Weinstein, 10, captured the outstanding female performance prize for her role in the short film Big Girl, launched at last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival and winner of the festival’s Best Short Film award. She portrayed a girl who is skeptical of her single mom’s new boyfriend.

Weinstein made her feature film debut in the 2004 black comedy Siblings at the age of eight. Her credits include several television guest appearances such as Swarmed on the Sci-Fi Network.

Tom McCamus has numerous film, television and stage credits. He won ACTRA’s outstanding male performance as Wayne Gretzky’s dad in the CBC TV movie Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story, airing last November.

McCamus had also won a Genie Award for his work in I Love a Man in Uniform as well as a nomination playing Sarah Polley’s father in The Sweet Hereafter, directed by Atom Agoyan. Other film appearances include Ginger Snaps (the prequel), Siblings and Beautiful Dreamers.

McCamus is a mainstay on television, currently playing the lead role of Eckhard (sic) in Mutant X. He has also made appearances in other Canadian TV shows such as Due South, Street Legal, The Newsroom and The Eleventh Hour.

The veteran actor also spent eight seasons at the Shaw Festival and several years at the Stratford Festival.

Polley, who began as the lead in Road to Avonlea, was bestowed the ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence, mostly for speaking out about the state of the Canadian film industry and her work in helping young actors.

Polley grabbed her first Gemini Award at the age of nine for the CBC movie Lantern Hill and later for her performance in the CBC series Straight Up. She hit the world stage as a film lead in the critically acclaimed The Sweet Hereafter, winner of the 1997 Grand Prix at Cannes.

Polley recently captured a Genie for her lead role as a dying woman in My Life Without Me. She has also moved into directing. Her first feature, Away From Her, is based on an Alice Munro short story.

The 2006 ACTRA Awards in Toronto were handed out at a gala in Toronto on Friday night. They recognize professional work done by the English-speaking Toronto members of ACTRA’s performers. About 13,000 of ACTRA’s 21,000 members are from Toronto.

x-posted to tommccamus

Mutant X in Bulgaria

2006-02-18T09:24:27Z

Met some fans on Mutant X Bulgaria who are busy making Bulgarian subtitles for Mutant X on this site. (Type 'Mutant X" in the search box at the top). That's dedication. :)

Danielle Hartman

2006-02-13T05:15:16Z

The first annual memorial event for Guylaine St. Onge, the actress who played Adam's former lover Danielle Hartman in S1's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," will be held in Montreal on March 18th.

Link found on imdb.com.

GUYLAINE ST-ONGE MEMORIAL “FEAST ON YOUR LIFE” EVENT

The late actress Guylaine St-Onge’s 10-year-old son has come up with a fun and unique way to honor his mom’s memory and spirit a year after she passed away at the age of 39 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Event Details: On March 18th the Guylaine St-Onge Memorial “Feast on Your Life” Event will take place in Montreal at ORKUS Indoor Skateboard Park in Montreal, Canada. All skaters are welcome but the competitions and games will be for kids 15 and under.

Event Sponsors: Nike, Adidas, Puma, Ocean Pacific, Alliance Atlantis Communications, Ruca Clothing, Emerica Shoes, Axis, Platinum Distributors and Canadian Skate Board Supply are a few of the companies who have generously donated their products for prizes. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk has donated an autographed item.

Supported Charities: Some of the proceeds are being donated to The Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation. The Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to making a world of difference for seriously ill children and their families.

Guylaine St-Onge: Some of Guylaine’s credits include co-starring "Fast Track" with Keith Carradine, co-starring as Juda in "Earth Final Conflict" and "One Way Out" with Jim Belushi and Jason Bateman.

If you would like to make a cash donation in Guylaine’s name, please contact: Starlight Children's Foundation Canada.

If you have a product you would like to donate as a prize, please contact: Orkus Skatepark Email: info@orkus.ca

A full filmography from IMDB.com follows.

Guylaine St. Onge Filmography:

1. Do or Die (2003) (TV) (as Guylaine St. Onge) .... Iona
2. Highwaymen (2003) (as Guylaine St. Onge) .... Olivia Cray
3. Year of the Lion (2003) (TV)
4. One Way Out (2002) (V) .... Evans Farrow... aka À sens unique (Canada: French title)
5. Lucky Day (2002/I) (TV) (as Guylaine St. Onge) ... aka Mary Higgins Clark's 'Lucky Day' (USA: complete title)
6. "Mutant X" - Whiter Shade of Pale (2002) TV Episode .... Danielle Hartman
7. "Earth: Final Conflict" (1997) TV Series (as Guylaine St. Onge) .... Juda (2001-2002)
8. Dead by Monday (2001) .... Irene Hutchins
9. Angel Eyes (2001) (as Guylaine St. Onge) .... Annie Lambert
10. Largo Winch: The Heir (2001) (TV)
11. "Code Name: Eternity" - Watery Grave (2000) TV Episode .... Nathalie Recarrier
12. Full Frontal (2000) .... Luba/Romans wife/agent
13. Virtual Mom (2000) (TV) .... Anne-Marie
14. "La Femme Nikita" - Threshold of Pain (1999) TV Episode .... Caroline
15. "Foolish Heart" - The Correct Decision (1999) TV Episode .... Bridgette
16. "Fast Track" (1997) TV Series .... Nicole Chandler
17. "The Outer Limits" - Bodies of Evidence (1997) TV Episode .... Dr. Helene Dufour
18. "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" - The Sacred Chalice of I-Ching (1995) TV Episode .... Natalie
19. No Exit (1995) .... Carmel Stonema... aka Fatal Combat
20. "Matrix" - The Yellow Chamber (1993) TV Episode .... Beautiful Woman
21. Operation Golden Phoenix (1993) .... Princess Angelique
22. "Counterstrike" - D.O.A. (1992) TV Episode .... Dorn
23. "Lightning Force" (1991) TV Series (as Guylaine St. Onge) .... Marie Joan Jacquard (1991-1992)
24. Montréal vu par... (1991) (as Guylaine Saint-Onge) .... La jeune fille
25. "Neon Rider" - Nowhere to Run (1990) TV Episode .... Gabrielle
26. "Mount Royal" (1989) TV Series .... Stéphanie Valeur
27. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" - The Big Spin (1989) TV Episode (as Guylaine St. Onge) .... Tanya Verushka
28. "War of the Worlds" - To Heal the Leper (1988) TV Episode .... Beth

Actor Updates: February

2006-02-09T06:19:14Z

Just to shake things up... I'm posting in reverse alphabetical order this month. :D

Victor Webster (Brennan Mulwray)

Victor will be appearing as a recurring guest star on the television show Charmed, playing Cupid. princessbryn found more information here. It's a bit disorienting when my fandoms become intermingled... But anyway, Victor also recently had a role in Heather Graham's show Emily's Reasons Why Not, and the movies Rick Hansen: Heart of a Dragon, and Primal Scream.

Lauren Lee Smith (Emma DeLauro):

Lauren's controversial film, Lie with Me, was released in Canada in December. Three weeks ago, after a short break, Lauren returned to play Lara Perkins in the third season of Showtime's The L Word. Rumor has it that this will be her last season on the show. Filming is complete on Lauren's upcoming movie, The Last Kiss--and yes, once again, her character's name starts with an "L". She also has a small part in Art School Confidential, which aired at Sundance and also stars Sophia Myles, John Malkovich and Anjelica Huston. This film will come out in April.

John Shea (Adam Kane):

Shea sighting! Back in November, John Shea appeared on the television series Medium in the episode "Still Life." He will star in the movie Framed later this year.

Victoria Pratt (Shalimar Fox):

Victoria has been busy. Look here to check out Slidershal's pics of Victoria Pratt from her 1/15/06 appearance at the Xena 2006 Convention in Burbank. Battle on Victoria! VPO reports that Victoria has future roles in the Sci-Fi Channel's House of the Dead 2 on 2/11/06, Brotherhood of Blood, Toxic, and the movie What Love Is with Cuba Gooding Jr., Anne Heche, Gina Gershon, Sean Astin and Matthew Lillard.

Tom McCamus (Mason Eckhart):

Looky, Tom news! lonelywalker reports on tommccamus that Tom McCamus's latest film, Black Widow premiered January 19th on CBC Television. Tom also played on Showcase's sitcom It's Me Gerald and the movie The Walter Gretzky Story: Waking up Wally.

Forbes March (Jesse Kilmartin):

Forbes created waves of fangirl happiness on The Fire Escape two weeks ago when he emerged to post a thank you to his fans. Forbes March continues to be a hit on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, where he, Bree Williamson (Miranda Davis from "Crossroads of the Soul"), and Michael Easton (Gabriel Ashlocke in "A Breed Apart") have recently been joined by yet another of Forbes's former co-stars, Kerry Butler. Heh. Forbes's newest movie, Undone, is due to be released soon.

Karen Cliche (Lexa Pierce):

After her beautiful wedding last year, Karen Cliche has moved on to new projects. princessbryn reports that Karen's latest film, Flirting with Danger, also stars Charisma Carpenter (otherwise known as Cordelia in the Buffyverse).

Mutant X Valentines

2006-02-05T12:47:34Z

It's February, the season of love. So it's time to ask the inevitable questions about the romances in Mutant X.

Which Mutant X couple did you like the best?

Which pairing made the least sense?

Whom do you wish the writers had put together?

The Sims Take over Mutant X

2006-01-30T06:30:49Z

Oh, the things you find on Google...

The Sims and The Sims 2 are the popular simulation games which allow players to play God by creating and directing virtual people and their communities. You can find Sims downloads of almost anything these days, and it seems Mutant X is no exception.

Emma DeLauro
Shalimar Fox
Adam Kane
Jesse Kilmartin
Brennan Mulwray
Psionic Lexa Pierce (hm...)

feelings are for fluffy kittens

2006-01-24T08:38:13Z

I annoy a lot of people when I say, "feelings are for fluffy kittens". Well, I feel a lot of emotion in connection with my fluffy kittens, but that doesn't stop me from being able to sift facts. It shouldn't stop anyone, but increasingly, it does.

What does this have to do with Mutant X? A lot. The response by a large number of fans towards the characters is based on their emotional response to the physical appearance, which is how we have fans who just never noticed Brennan was an unrepentent thug or that Adam is a hero, well, because he must be, and hey, maybe the system of ethics in the MX universe is different. Contorted thought like the last is scary, extrapolated to response to real people; you cannot make up these things.

Townhall.com
What's the "truth" anymore
By John Leo
Jan 23, 2006

Of course Oprah took the side of veracity-challenged author James Frey, author of “A Million Little Pieces. She is in the feelings business, and you don’t succeed in her line of work by favoring facts over deeply felt but untrue stories. The tears that she and her staffers shed while reading Frey’s largely concocted tale of crime and addiction made the book important to her. When Frey appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live, Oprah made things worse by phoning in to say, “the underlying message of redemption in James Frey’s memoir still resonates with me.” Apparently this meant that she was so moved by the book that she doesn’t care that it contains many untruths. Resonance makes lying defensible.

She has a lot of company. Bill Bastone, the talented investigative reporter whose web site, The Smoking Gun” broke the news about Frey, says 40 percent of email consists of “How dare you” messages defending Frey. Patti Davis, President Reagan’s daughter, expressed sympathy for Frey, and some bloggers have abandoned coherence in order to come down on Frey’s side (“ I believe that much of his fabrications are collective memories, splintered memories and probably recovered memories,” one wrote.) Various publishing types help justify the fraud by arguing that memoirs are never a hundred percent accurate and almost all autobiographies contain evasions and lies. Doubleday pointed to the “overall reading experience” of Frey’s work, which is probably better than saying, “It’s a pack of lies and you’ll love it.” In 1972 the writer Clifford Irving went to prison for creating and selling a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Now Oprah and his publisher might defend him as an emotional truth teller.

The willingness to accept “emotional truth,” even when packaged in lies, is hardly new. What’s new is that those who insist on factual truth are now on the defensive-pictured as fuddy-duddies who don’t understand that the self recognizes the highest truth in feelings. College speech codes have long been written in feelings language. Hurt feelings are evidence of an offense. These codes reflect, and reinforce, the rise of feelings over facts and standards. The emotional impact is what counts. Brown University, for instance, banned “verbal behavior” that “produces feelings of impotence, anger or disenfranchisement,’ whether, ‘intentional or unintentional.’” In other words, you can’t say anything that makes anybody feel really bad.

The many hoaxes on colleges campuses, mostly involving untrue reports of rapes and racial attacks, often turn out to be teaching instruments of a sort, conscious lies intended to reveal broad truths about the constant victimization of women and minorities. After the Tawana Brawley case, an article in the Nation magazine said the faked kidnapping and rape she reported were useful because they called attention to the suffering of blacks, so “in cultural perspective, if not in fact, it doesn’t matter whether the crime occurred or not.”

Many of the campus hoaxes owe something to the postmodern notion that there is no literal truth, only voices and narratives. If so, who can object if you make up a narrative that expresses the truth you feel? This attitude seeps into therapy, often through therapists who guide patients to the feeling that parents must have abused them. After one California patient sued her parents, her therapist said, “I don’t care if it’s true…What actually happened is irrelevant to me.”

Certainly our culture is awash in lies-politicians, professors, reporters, columnists, scientists, etc., so much so that numbness has set in. ” Emotional truth” seems to take advantage of this numbness over a culture saturated in lies. If you can’t believe the literal truth any more, why not trust your own emotional response to stories?

Press coverage of hurricane Katrina was loaded with stories and claims that turned out to be wildly untrue. But the emotions stirred by TV’s often fanciful coverage were powerful and the most emotional of the media stars-Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper-strongly advanced their careers. If emotional impact keeps advancing at the price of truth, we will all be in trouble.

John Leo is a columnist and editor for U.S. News & World Report and a contributing columnist on Townhall.com.

Find this story at:

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/johnleo/2006/01/23/183356.html

Hello and Mutant X

2006-01-20T08:41:11Z

Hi!

I thought I'd say Hi! Feel free to add me! I love the show Mutant X and I so far have Season 1 only on DVD and plan to get Season 2 and 3 soon! I just bought BSG so Mutant X Season 2 and 3 is next on my list of DVD's to get.

S3: Special effects division

2006-01-19T11:54:02Z

In this short 2004 article about television visual effects, Keyframe Digital Production's president, Darren Cranford, talks a little about creating the special effects in Mutant X's Season 3. The episode with the cockroaches he's referring to is #306, "Shadows of Darkness."

Pic from the official site

VFX for TV shows: convincing tricks for today's series must be utterly transparent. April, 2004 by Ann Fisher

You're asked to create the same results as in feature films--turn the unbelievable into the believable. However, you are given less time and less money. How do you do it?

Quickness--from the latest software versions, whipsmart talent and your own management, which often must be able to decide on a dime whether to throw away that shaky crane shot and plunge right into CG from the start.

From one visual effects house to another, the concerns are the same: seamless transitions from live action to CG back to live action, usually involving main characters that have supernatural looks or abilities. Integration, sometimes involving elimination, of the environment is another big focus. Those interviewed for this article spoke about television shows like Mutant X, Alias, Navy NCIS, Carnivale and Spartacus.

MUTANT VISUALS

Keyframe (www.keyframe.ca) in Niagra-on-the-Lake, Ontario, specializes in visual effects for television shows and has worked on Ultimate Adventure and Playmakers. The studio has been creating the visual style for the extremely effects-oriented Mutant X since it went on-air three seasons ago. It is currently in syndication. The clients are Fireworks Entertainment and Tribune Entertainment.

"The first season was a little more campy. The last two seasons they've toned it down to be a little more realistic and, oddly enough, more realistic is a little bit more challenging," says Keyframe president Darren Cranford, of the show's major challenge. "But also the sheer number--we have 10 days turnaround for over 100 shots per episode." Of a 16-person staff, eight are dedicated to Mutant X. Cranford and partner/co-founder Clint Green provide onsite supervision on the Toronto set.

Mutant X centers on four genetically altered human crime fighters who have mutant powers. They all appear in each episode of this live action show. Each character has a signature special power/visual style. One shoots lightning out of his fingers. Another can change his body mass, going from rock hard to deflect bullets (a CG character roto-scoped every frame) to porous so he can walk through walls. One is feral and her eyes become catlike. The other shoots and bends light around her making her almost, but not quite, invisible (she actually becomes a full CG character). Their favorite mode of transportation is a double helix jet that resides in a hangar in the mountain. The CG setting and props are essential to the story and appear in every episode.

"The best advice I could give to any house that's doing this type of stuff--the turnaround is huge, it has to be so quick--if you want to have a consistent look, have a consistent person. One person is dedicated to this person's effect. That way you can get the job done properly. It gets so much faster because that person knows all these shots are his/hers and it just gets done. It's second nature as opposed to, 'What have I got to learn this week?'" says Cranford.

Discreet Combustion is used for editing and many of the effects because of its powerful 2D particle systems, greenscreening and tracking functions. DPS Digital Perception software is used for offline editing. Discreet 3DS Max 6 is used for animations that include character real-to-digital transitions as well as swarms of cockroaches.

"One of the episodes actually called for hundreds of cockroaches on the floor, so this was a prime example of how to use a software to make all these bugs crawl around each other, not go through each other, and bunch up around feet, while the camera was moving. To be able to do this show, we used Combustion to remove all the tracking dots, we had to have tracking dots for 3DS Max, so they worked hand in hand very easily. With 3DS Max we're able to render out each individual layer so we're able to do the reflection on the floor, the shadows, the cockroaches themselves and then composite it all in Combustion," says Cranford.

Keyframe uses custom-built workstations by local AF Computer Consulting. "This fits into our pipeline because as our machines get old we throw them into the cold storage room and they get hooked into the network. If something goes down, they're here within less than 20 minutes, they put a new card in, we're off and running, there's no delay whatsoever," explains Cranford.

KEEPING ALIAS JUMPING

Digital Dimension (www.digitaldimension.com) in Los Angeles has created visual effects on ABC's Alias for its four seasons (the client has also approached the house about doing visual effects on an as-yet-unannounced series involving creatures and characters). For two episodes--one last season's finale, the other this season's opener--it created tricky shots of star Jennifer Garner diving off buildings. In the finale, she chases her mom and bungee jumps off the roof as a glass skyscraper breaks behind her. In the opener, she's in a Spanish hotel, disguised as a maid, the cops find her as she's stealing jewelry and she dives off a hotel balcony into a pool. All the buildings are CG.

The shots start with real footage but after she's gone four to five feet, she becomes fully CG. Digital Dimension photographed Garner to create 3D models with 3DS Max. It used Reactor, a Discreet tool included in the most recent 3DS Max 6 that computes the physics of objects like bungee cables or buildings breaking. Digital Fusion is used for compositing. Vray was the renderer. All hardware was Dell, from the keyboard to workstation to renderfarm to server.

The challenge is "live action to CG to live action," says Ben Girard, facility visual effects supervisor: "That was tough. It's the same thing in Lord of the Rings. The tricky part is to seamlessly go from one to the other. It took quite awhile of testing because of different lighting, the 3D model of her that we have is not necessarily the same as when shot [appearances change]. On top of that she's dropping off the building so she's off balance and it's quite a lot of motion.

"We do a lot of film visual effects, that's our bread and butter, but as far as television there's little budget, there's little time and on top of that Alias is all HD so it's basically all film resolution so you don't have the same time to do the same quality. It still looks good but there's a real-life limitation of how much can you do in three weeks," he says. "Experienced people can do a lot more in the same amount of time, and our crew is the best."

CREATING THE WORLD OF SPARTACUS

Stargate Digital (www.stargatefilm.com) in Los Angeles has created the visual effects for Spartacus, a USA miniseries whose two two-hour episodes will air this month. The client is USA Network. Shot in Bulgaria, the epic is set in Rome, which was re-created with matte paintings, CG set extensions and massive crowd duplication. Twelve 3D artists and 15 compositors, including some in Stargate's London and Vancouver branches, handled nearly 120 visual effects shots.

There were two really big challenges, says Eric Grenaudier, visual effects supervisor. One involves a turning point of the story that finds Spartacus and the mob cornered in a peninsula. To escape, they use a diversion at night--setting the heads of their livestock on fire. Stargate tried to do this effect first with real cows, tracking CG fire on black atop their heads, but the stampeding cows soon became all CG.

The other challenge was the :35 opening shot into Rome. The set wasn't big enough. "We had to nest a live-action plate within a CG plate and do a transition from CG character to live-action crowd totally seamlessly, and it was broad daylight, so there was no place to hide." That's challenging because it had to be photoreal.

"We were going to do a crane and we had the biggest crane available in Bulgaria," explains Grenaudier. "We were going to do a camera move all the way to a close-up to one of the protagonists on his balcony in the middle of the set. But a technical problem while we were shooting made the shot unbelievably bouncy and unsteady, and I scratched it. So now we have to take the portion of the shot we'll be getting--the close-up of the protagonist--and project it onto a totally rebuilt shot of the set in CG. And also we're inside the set in the close-up and we turn around to look at the plaza, we'll be coming into the live action because at that point the camera is steady and there [are] no bounces. That transition has to happen and nobody has to notice, so it's not just the set extension around the practical shots. The first three quarters of the shot, the entire set is being replaced with a CG version of it."

dream lover

2006-01-11T18:42:04Z

i just watched part of dream lover from season three yesterday (only part of it for some reason the rest of it wont play on my computer but the prophecy will) and is it just me or is the guy that played carl ames and the guy that played sabastian the same actor.. i looked it up on the internet movie data base and they dont even list sabstian in the credits of the episode but i swear its the same guy

Original Thoughts: Avi Arad

2006-01-09T04:32:10Z

"This is based on potentially real issues. I thought it was time to develop another universe that is sort of into the next millennium that in some ways does exist. I've seen experiments on human tissue that are pretty scary stuff."
--Avi Arad, 2001

It's fun to compare the preliminary visions of the creators of Mutant X with one another and with the reality of how the show turned out. I posted an early interview with Season 1 head writer Howard Chaykin a few months ago. Here are some thoughts from executive producer Avi Arad at around the same time.

Article found here.

Marvel's Avi Arad said that Mutant X, the upcoming live-action television series, will take a different approach to genetics and mutation than Marvel has done in the past.

The series, being syndicated by Tribune Entertainment, deals with a group of people who were part of a Genome Project that ultimately goes wrong. These man-made mutants find themselves on the run from the government agency that initiated the project.

"It's definitely not the X-Men," said Arad, who will be executive producer. "It's about genome technology. It's a whole new universe of mutants. You look at the show and think about it, that 20 years ago they were experimenting on babies, with DNA, and to make all kids with blue eyes, all kids tall, this sort of thing.

"Now, there is a product recall. These babies are 18, 20, 25 and so on. They know they are different. They were born different. Many of them were changed in the embryo stage or even pre-embryo.

"It's more like The Fugitive. It's not like the world is against them because the world is really unaware that they exist."

Arad said it is important that the writing of Mutant X is developed with a serious tone.

"This is based on potentially real issues," he said. "I thought it was time to develop another universe that is sort of into the next millennium that in some ways does exist. I've seen experiments on human tissue that are pretty scary stuff.

"You would be amazed at what's going on. I have friends, a woman who couldn't have kids. There is an adoption center in Los Angeles where you take a woman and a man - the egg and a seed -
and put it in another woman. Surrogate parents. It's very popular today, with legal papers. And I have a friend who has two kids like that. One looks like him and one looks like her. It's an amazing thing."

Arad, who created the concept with Rick Ungar, said the series was originally called Genome X.

"The thing that prompted me was that it was the right time to do it," Arad said. "You could not open the newspaper without genome mapping or genome testing. Once you can look at it and understand it, it's like rearranging tiles. It's as simple as that."

Fox and Marvel currently have litigation concerning Mutant X's alleged ties to the X-Men franchise. While Arad said he can't get into any legal details, he stressed that Mutant X was not an X-Men spin-off.

"It is absolutely not a spin-off," he said. "There's no reason to do a spin-off."

Production of Mutant X will take place in Toronto, possibly starting next month.

Name the Episode

2005-12-28T08:22:58Z

Here's a 2002 interview with Mark Lutz, the actor who played the Groosalugg on "Angel: The Series." 10 points if you can name his Mutant X character and which episode he played in without peeking.
Not you, tptigger. ;)

http://www.cityofangel.com/behindTheScenes/bts2/lutzPBP.html

The Undefeated Champion
An exclusive follow-up interview with Mark Lutz

Over the summer CityofAngel had the opportunity to interview the man behind the Groosalugg, Mark Lutz. Back then it was unsure if Groo would ever make a reappearance on Angel. Now that he is back in action we were lucky enough to interview him in person at the Buffy Posting Board Party 2002 in Los Angeles. After working on Angel last season Mark has kept himself busy with numerous projects, "I've been super busy since then. I did an episode of Mutant X, I did the Facts of Life Reunion Movie, and I did an episode of Doc, which is the No. 1 show on the PAX Network with Billy Ray Cyrus, who's a super nice guy; an amazing guy. I did ER two weeks ago, I did Friends, so it's been super busy," he explained. Mark's appearances on Friends and ER will air on Mar. 7th and Mar. 28th, respectively.

When Season 2 ended Mark himself wasn't sure if he would be back on Angel, but there was a definite possibility. "Well, to be honest, when I first auditioned for the roll, the break down service-that's what the agents get from the casting directors-it describes the character; 'Groosalugg, male', and then they give the character description. It said that he was (a possible recurring character), and we knew it was going to be two episodes but maybe more, so you just sort of cross your fingers and hope for the best." It was not until earlier this year that Mark found out the Groosalugg would be back in action. "I was told around October of last year, the executives on Angel phoned my agents and they said that, 'We'd like to put him on hold for December.' So I knew I was shooting in December." While he was working on many other projects at the time, it became blatant that Groo was returning, "I was up in Canada shooting the Facts of Life Reunion Movie, where I married Natalie [Mindy Cohn], yeah that was fun, so that was good. And doing a bunch of other stuff so I had a pretty good idea then that I was obviously coming back."

As many people involved with Angel have said, being back on the set is always a pleasure. Mark's experience was no exception. He was delighted to return and see all his friends again, especially Andy Hallett, with whom he formed a strong friendship. "I didn't know him before the show, I just met him on show and since then we've become really good friends, we hang out all the time and Alexis, J., David, Charisma, Amy, they're all really genuine people. Yeah, it's great. I've made a lot of great friends on the set. I met Andy like the second day I was working on the first episode [Through the Looking Glass] and we've become like fast friends since then because originally moving from Toronto to L.A., he was the first real friend I made in L.A," he continued.

Returning to Angel has allowed Mark and Charisma to further develop the connection their characters began to explore in Pylea last season. As they continued to work together it became apparent that there was an innate connection between Cordelia and Groo, "It's great; we have an amazing chemistry. We were just talking the other day, when we got back together. It had been at least six months since we had shot the other episode. The first scene we shot together was the one that's coming up on Monday night which takes place in her apartment and afterward she just looked at me and she goes, 'We do have good chemistry.' And I went, 'Yeah, we do!'" While he couldn't comment on the likelihood of any com-shucking between their characters, Mark had nothing but praise for Charisma, "Ah ha! I can't comment on that but yeah, Charisma and I get along great and she's an awesome, awesome girl!" Mark was just as tight-lipped when asked if Groo was still planning on taking Cordy's visions, "Ah maybe? I know the answer to that but I can't answer. Joss keeps me on a pretty tight leash," he said with a laugh. Even if they don't "seal" their relationship, Mark hinted that perhaps they could, "Com without Shukking; that would be great, you know."

Now that the Groosalugg is in L.A. there is an exorbitant amount of tension between both himself and other characters, and the strange world he has to adjust to. Mark will have many aspects of his character to explore and adjust, such as his unique dialect. Just as Alexis toned down Wesley's English accent, as he became more incorporated into society, Mark may explore the same technique, "He plays with that. Obviously, he's in a new world and the good thing about Groosalugg is that a lot of people view the character as kind of dumb, but to be a champion pit fighter in Pylea, obviously he's got a lot going on." While Groo may appear to be merely a fighter on the surface, there is much more that Mark is going to explore, "It's funny, in the episode that airs Monday [Couplet], during a couple of the fights sequences that we worked out with the stunt coordinator, Mike [Massa], who's a great, great guy, he's like, 'No, this guy's an experienced fighter, he sees this and he sees that, and he makes decisions.' So the Groosalugg's a smart guy underneath it all; you can't be undefeated champion without having some smarts behind you."

Mark predicts the outcome of this tension will be on the comedic side rather than conflict. "I don't necessarily think conflict but I think there's a lot of comedy there. It's completely 'fish out of water' stuff and some of the stuff I've read is fantastic. I have a scene on Tuesday that I'm shooting with Andy that the first time I read it in the script, I laughed out loud. The writers on the show are so great." Whether or not Angel and Groo are going to come to blows over Cordy is beyond Mark's knowledge at this point. He just places his trust in the amazing and talented writers. "I have no idea what is going to transpire but I put my trust in those guys-they're frickin' fantastic writers. I mean, the first script I read for the first episode I auditioned for, the writing was so good. I love Tim Minear to death. The best episodes of Angel that I've seen have been the ones he wrote. They're completely awesome." Still, not all of the fans are rooting for Groo this time around. Now that Angel has been exploring his feelings for Cordelia, the fans seem to be split on the subject. "Yeah, I've heard that, there's a faction on the web that want Cordelia and Angel to get together. So some people are a little bit pissed, some people are a little bit happy, so-Hey! I think that's great," Mark said. Yet it is this sort of tension that the writers take advantage of and build excellent story lines off of, "I love the way that Joss, Tim, David [Greenwalt], and everyone write those episodes. [They] pull the rug from under people; like take them one direction and then take them in another, it's great."

Mark is back in the spotlight now that Groo is once again mingling with the members of Angel Investigations. Between the great actors and amazing writers, Mark is delighted to be a part of the scene again. While we couldn't get any future information from him, Mark assured us that the stuff coming up is going to be out of control. So for more on Mark and Groo we'll all have to stay tuned and see what happens. Finally, here's a little message from Mark to all the fans with a laugh, "How's everyone doing? Watch Angel - Monday nights at nine."