The debut of the comic book series – Jericho: Season 3: Civil War — will pick up where the television program left off, answering many questions for its passionate fans. The first issue of the comic book is scheduled for an October release and will be a six issue miniseries from DDP and the show’s original creators and producers.

There will be 500 copies of a special black and white mini-comic for sale at $5 a pop. If anyone at Comic-Con drops by this panel and has any news to pass along, please hit the comments.

Disappearing from NBC’s schedule completely (a.k.a. cancelled) are Kings, Knight Rider and Medium.

“It’s not just wishful thinking,” Shotz said in an exclusive interview Tuesday at CBS Studios in Studio City, Calif., where he screened the pilot of his new series, Harper’s Island. He added: “We’ve … been developing a feature to hopefully make, because we would love to. I mean, … Jericho is so built in a way, … especially where we left off season two, to create a feature. So our hope is to launch this comic-book series and then, with the development at the same time of the feature, hopefully get that launched as well.”

The comic book series Shotz refers to will be released by Devil’s Due Publishing this fall.

From the press release:

“Jericho is alive and well, thanks to the amazing fans who’ve driven us to find new and fresh ways to tell the Jericho story,” says Dan Shotz, Co-Executive Producer of Jericho. “Josh Blaylock and the DDP team are great partners and have shown a true love for our show. We are so thrilled about this comic book series and the endless possibilities for the future of Jericho.”

Joining Shotz in developing the comic book will be most of the original creative team including Jon Turteltaub, Carol Barbee, Karim Zreik, and Jon Steinberg.

“I can’t tell you how cool it is for DDP to be able to continue the Jericho story in comic book form,” says DDP President Josh Blaylock. “We plan to give fans the story they’ve been craving. This is going to be epic stuff.”

The official Devil’s Due website can be found here. As of yet there is no mention of its Jericho comic. Fans of Jericho, how excited are you about this news? Sound off in the comments below.

“We’re developing a feature for JERICHO,” says Turteltaub. “It would not require you to have seen the TV show, but it get into life after an event like this on a national scale. It would be the bigger, full on American version of what’s going on beyond the town in Jericho.”

The article isn’t much to go on and being in development certainly doesn’t mean the movie will get made. For those nutty fans of Jericho, though, it’s good news. Still, it’s best not to get too hopeful at this point. Not every beloved television show can be like Firefly and get the big screen treatment (Serenity).

Thoughts on Jericho – “9:02″

The fifth episode of Jericho was originally broadcast on October 25th, 2006. The town loses power again due to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) while everyone is out watching a barrage of missiles soar through the air. Everything electronic will no longer function. More importantly, a man from Jake’s past returns to town, bringing in his wake a slew of trouble.

Here are our thoughts:

• Jake and Hawkins are two peas in a pod, aren’t they, recognizing right away the hallmarks of an EMP.
• Two weeks later. Kids are using nonfunctioning cell phones for batting practice.
• Dale and his issues are terribly uninteresting but at least they reflect a larger problem in Jericho — and Jake has his own problem with “bullies” at Bailey’s.
• The sexual tension between Stanley and Mimi is very, very evident in this episode. They’ve got something going on…
• Gracie is almost as annoying as Dale. The character seemingly has only one role: to rule her store with an iron fist and frustrate anyone who attempts to reason with her. And she is the replacement parental figure Dale has turned to?
• Jake seems to have quickly decided to trust Hawkins after discovering him with a backyard satellite dish during the previous episode. Perhaps Mitchell being back in town has spooked him more than he is willing to admit.
• Why would anyone want Mimi’s watch? Can she prove the diamonds are real or are they willing to take it on faith? I suppose kids who are bored enough to whack at cell phones with baseball bats will do just about anything.
• The town coming together to help Stanley harvest his corn is sure heartwarming. And all those extras got to learn how to harvest corn.
• Heather (Sprague Grayden) and Emily (Ashley Scott) only appear at the end of this episode as part of the harvesting crowd. Too bad.

Discuss!

Thoughts on Jericho – “Federal Response”

The fourth episode of Jericho was originally broadcast on October 18th, 2006. Power is suddenly restored to the town and a message from Homeland Security arrives through the telephone, on television and on the Internet telling everyone to stay put.  Unfortunately, a power surge causes fires throughout town.

Here are our thoughts:

• The reverse 911 system is pretty darn neat, if it actually works the way it did in this episode.  Simultaneous calls arrive on all the landlines in town?  Impressive.
• Do we ever learn who was responsible for getting power restored to the town?
• Skylar’s friend has actually memorized an IP address?   Who does that?
• Following a nuclear attack, how many people decide to vacuum first thing when power is restored?  Is it just Gail Green or would others think of cleaning?
• That power spike was nasty.  Imagine if those kids had been playing just a few feet closer to the power line.  Grilled.
• This episode had a wonderful exchange between Heather and one of her students:
  

  “Is she going to wake up?”
  “Yes.”
  “With super powers?”
  “Probably not.”

• First Heather runs into a burning building and then Eric!  This town is full of heroes.
• There is probably a good percentage of people who would worry if Lindsay Lohan — or any celebrity — had survived a nuclear attack. Human nature.
• Given all his secrecy and, well, paranoia, it seemed out of character for Hawkins to simply go out in the backyard with a laptop and a giant satellite dish.  And come on, he just happens to glance in the direction of Jake and spot him with the scope?  Maybe he’s the one with the superpowers, not Emily…
• Aside from the pointless teenage scenes, the weakest aspect of this episode was the Eric-April-Mary storyline.  Will he leave his wife for his bartender or won’t he?  Gosh.
• Jake is a person of interest with a flagged passport? What a shocker.

Discuss!

Thoughts on Jericho – “Walls of Jericho”

The fourth episode of Jericho was originally broadcast on October 11th, 2006. A man named Victor is found in town, sick from radiation poisoning and warning that “they” are coming.  Meanwhile, gasoline for the generators keeping the clinic open and the bar’s satellite TV operating is running low.

Here are our thoughts:

• One thing Jericho always did well was depict ordinary people reacting to extraordinary events.  The deputies refusing to touch the man found in the pharmacy for fear of contamination may seem callous but in reality, how many of us would risk exposure to radiation for a strange man?  And although he eventually caved, Mr. Murphy initially stuck to his guns about letting Jake and Heather get to the gas.  Not to mention other people refusing to donate gas from their cars, despite it being for the clinic.
• Hawkins is seen using his electromagnetically shielded laptop for (perhaps) the first time.  And the incredible back story he concocted for his family is introduced.
• Heather continues to display her knowledge of mechanics by suggesting a way to get to the gas sitting in otherwise inaccessible tanks at the gas station.  And she knew not to use steel to transport gasoline.  Of course, Stanley didn’t listen to her (“That was dumb.”) but everything worked out in the end.
• Although viewers were given evidence of Eric’s affair beginning with the first episode, “Walls of Jericho” was the first time tension between Eric and April is shown.
• As always, the teenage storyline (and its happening party scene) was painful to watch, dull and out of place.
• The debate over whether or not to give Victor a shot of adrenaline to wake him up and April’s disgusted reaction, was intense.  Even more intense was the revelation that Hawkins knows Victor and that the two are in the same secret group/organization.
• The final few minutes of the episode, Johnston’s service for the twenty people who died of radiation poisoning and the town’s sheriff and deputies, having everyone who lost someone or is missing someone (“We stand because we know that every life matters.”) were very powerful.  Johnston touched upon the theme of the episode, survival versus humanity, and drove the point home.  But then Hawkins had to go and ruin the moment by attempting to bond with his son.

That’s it.  Discuss!

Thoughts on Jericho – “Four Horsemen”

The third episode of Jericho was originally broadcast on October 4th, 2006.  Picking up where the second episode left off, it saw the residents of Jericho digging out after the radioactive rain came through town.  They learn more about what has happened to the country.  But more questions raised than answers given.

Here are our thoughts:

• There are supposed to be some 5,000 or so people in Jericho, Kansas.  Assuming a few hundred fit in the town hall shelter and thousands were able to hole up in their basements, one would assume that there would still be a few hundred needing a place to stay.  There were a lot of people in the mine — but not a few hundred.
• Was Mr. Rennie the only one to die?  If so, the town was lucky.
• Stanley’s line about spider powers was hilarious, as was the expression on his face when he said it.  The relationship between Stanley and Bonnie and Stanley and Jake has already been fleshed out quite a bit during these first three episodes.
• Whatever the story is behind Johnston’s statement “I can run this town without my pants,” it needs to be told.
• Do we ever learn exactly what Emily meant when she told Jake, “You were supposed to be the one that was dead … not him!”
• Speaking of Emily, what are the odds the flight data recorder (aka black box) picked up the very piece of dialogue needed to suggest her fiance was still alive?
• What happened to the crew of the train?

That’s it.  Discuss.

Thoughts on Jericho – “Fallout”

The second episode of Jericho was originally broadcast on September 27th, 2006.  It dealt with the town of Jericho dealing with the impending arrival of radioactive fallout from the nuclear strike in Denver. Here are our thoughts:

• That radioactive fallout looked like one mean mother of a cloud.  But if there hadn’t just been a nuclear blast, how many of us would have recognized it as a deadly incoming toxic mass? And how many of our towns would be able to organize sheltering some 5,000 people in roughly two hours?
• Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) continues to know just a little too much about everything. At least this time folks seem less impressed and more stunned at the depth of his knowledge. To be fair, Eric Green (Kenneth Mitchell) gives him a run for his money with that lengthy and presumably accurate description of death from radiation poisoning.
• And to show that it isn’t just the men in Jericho who know a thing or two, both Heather Lisinski (Sprague Grayden) and Emily Sullivan (Ashley Scott) prove they’re not to be underestimated. Heather knew more about fixing the generator in the hospital’s fallout shelter than anyone, but she was brushed off. And Emily formulated a wonderful plan on the fly to escape from the fake police officers.
• Why exactly did Hawkins lie about not being able to fix the radio? And who was on the other end broadcasting to him? One of his partners in undercover spydom, perhaps?
• Which teenager was more annoying: Dale Turner (Erik Knudsen) or Skylar Stevens (Candace Bailey)?

And discuss amongst yourselves.