J.J. Abrams' Alias, the lone bright spot in ABC's 2001-2002 season, garnered eleven Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe Award for lead actress Jennifer Garner (who plays Elektra in the new Daredevil film).  Although Garner herself was unable to attend this year's San Diego Comic-Con International, series creator Abrams and other members of the Alias team were very much in evidence at San Diego, and they all appeared enthusiastic about the licensing of Alias trading cards, comic books, and toys.

Trading Cards

Inkworks had the most high profile spot of any trading card manufacturer at the show, and the Inkworks booth buzzed as Abrams and other members of the Alias cast signed autographs for long lines of fans on Friday.  Speaking at the Inkworks Anniversary Party held at the Hilton, Abrams was obviously pleased with the idea of Alias trading cards and excited about the prospects for the show's second season. He is clearly interested in developing Alias as a brand and expanding its reach well beyond broadcast television.

Inkworks intends to launch the Alias: Season One Premium Trading Cards in December.  The card packs will include randomly inserted autograph cards from the show's stars as well as 'Piecework' cards that include an actual piece of one of the costumes (like that amazing blue rubber dress) from the show. Inkworks' Allan Caplan was obviously pleased with the prospect of doing trading cards based on a popular TV series that is built around a stunningly beautiful actress -- especially given Inkworks' success with cards based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, which features the gorgeous Sarah Michelle Geller.

Comic Books

Arcade Comics, which just solicited its first comic series, Youngblood: Bloodsport, in the current Previews, announced that it was launching a comic series based on the Alias TV series in December.  Rob Liefeld, who is illustrating Youngblood: Bloodsport, told ICv2 that he would also be doing some work on the new Alias comic since it is his favorite TV series and he was responsible for bringing for bringing it to Arcade.  J.J. Abrams himself will write the comic, at least at first, and he has complete control over the project.

One detail that has not been settled as of press time is the title of the comic book, since Marvel already publishes a Max comic entitled Alias (by Brian Michael Bendis).

Toys

Mirage, a new company formed from the remnants of the N2 Toys production staff, has acquired the license to produce toys based on the Alias characters.  Toys take longer to produce than comics or cards -- and Mirage had no prototypes ready for San Diego, but a spokesman told ICv2 that Alias toys were a high priority for his company and that he felt that action figures could be ready by spring 2003.