Hawaii Five-0: Grace Park on Kono's Near-Death Experience - And What it Was Like Filming It

It's an understatement to say Kono (Grace Park) went through a lot on Hawaii Five-0 recently, as the Season 2 cliffhanger had her at death’s door - pushed into the ocean, bound and gagged, and sinking to her doom. Fortunately, she was saved by Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) in the Season 3 premiere, though not everyone was so lucky in that episode.

During my recent visit to the set of Hawaii Five-0, I spoke to Park about what the experience of being thrown in that scary, underwater situation was like – both for Kono and for the actress playing her. We also discussed Kono and Adam’s turbulent relationship and the addition of more women to Hawaii Five-0 this season.

Grace Park in Hawaii Five-0

IGN TV: Suffice to say, Kono just went through a traumatic experience. How does she come out of it?

Grace Park: That’s what’s really interesting, because when a situation like that comes about, you think, “How does this impact the character?” It is part of the job, but that doesn’t mean she’s Teflon and unflinching. At the same time, I think the bigger thing is Chin Ho losing his wife. That seems like it overshadows my situation, where I managed to live. If anything, it’s probably going to be one of those incidents that contribute to Kono’s overall character as a cop and her experience being a police officer. It’s those layers and layers of experiences that kind of embed themselves into someone’s psyche that eventually, 20 years down the line when you meet someone, they have the essence of cop.

IGN: What was it like shooting those sequences where she’s underwater? I’d assume that wasn’t very fun...

Park: Kono’s a surfer, so she’s great in the water - she’s grown up in the water. If you’re surfing some big waves, you will have been caught underneath, sometimes for a few sets, right? So what I’ve learned -- and I don’t even surf – is that the longer you can stay underwater, the more comfortable you are. Talking to some of the water men, like Brian Keaulana, he’ll tell you one of the first things you can do is learn to stay underwater for a long time. That way, you won’t panic when you’re underwater and the waves are coming and you are not going to get up there. I thought, “I can’t do that for very long.” But prepping for the underwater scene… I mean, I was so uncomfortable every time I read the script, because I would hold my breath as I was reading the script! I was so uncomfortable because I didn’t realize I’d stopped breathing, as I’m reading my character and she’s bound and gagged in the water.

IGN: Would that qualify as the toughest thing you've had to do on the show?

Park: Funnily enough, I was more comfortable doing that, the idea of being bound and gagged underwater, versus having to be in a shore break again.

[Editor’s Note: During the filming of the Hawaii Five-0 pilot, Park learned firsthand just how much ocean water can pummel you in a shore break - where a wave breaks directly on, or very close to, the shore]

[Hawaii Five-0 showrunner/executive producer] Peter Lenkov asked, “Grace, how are you with this whole underwater thing?” I’m like, “Am I in a shore break?” He’s goes, “No.” I’m like, “You sure I’m not in a shore break?” “No you’re bound and gagged, and you’re sinking on the bottom of the ocean.” I’m like, “But I’m not in a shore break?” “No.” “That’s fine, that’s totally fine.” “You’re sure?” “Yes!” It was just so traumatizing in the pilot! [Laughs] Other than that, I was researching and prepping on that. I started learning how to hold my breath underwater and the breathing technique that you do to be able to be underwater for minutes at a time. I got up to, like, a minute, but I wasn’t practicing for that long. But that was more than we needed. The thing I was thinking was, “Well, of course she’s going to know how to do this.” So when you do go underwater -- and she knows she’s going to be tipped overboard -- when she goes under, you don’t sink to the bottom of the ocean. We had to try to get me to sink. They put lots of weights on me and we had to have someone underwater dragging me down and all this kind of stuff.

Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park

IGN: Wow, that has to add to the trauma!

Park: Right? Actually the trauma could have been during one take where I wasn’t ready, but I didn’t just say no. They’re like, “Are you ready?” I’m like, “Well, actually...” [Splash noise] They pulled me under, and I was kicking so hard to try to get out. I was supposed to have breakaway wrists and breakaway ankles, but they didn’t break away. So when I came back up, they were like, “That was really, really great, except we didn’t have your face on camera.” And I was just like, “I was trying to get out of the restraints!” But the weirdest thing was, I was kicking super hard underwater, and I didn’t have enough breath to stay under very long, but I was, like, zero panic. It was really weird because I had practiced already, so my body already knew, “Oh, you’re fine.” So that was really trippy, even though I had a lot of water and was coughing. So that’s the kind of stuff I knew about her character. She was already thinking when she was on the boat, and when I did the research diving with Ocean Ramsey, I kind of caught her out of the corner of my eye, and she wasn’t using her arms and legs to kick. She just did this kind of dolphin gliding thing in the water. So I tried it, too. I was like, “Oh my gosh!” You can move really fast doing that. It seems kind of like how fish move because fish don’t have arms -- their fins are kind of small -- but they move so fast. I figured that’s what she’s doing. Of course, it’s not on the screen because that’s not going to sell very well, but I figured that’s probably why she’s not as traumatized. There’s also always so much action, she kind of just rolls back into it.

IGN: I was initially going to ask you, “Is Kono's relationship with Adam going to continue this season?”, but the premiere answered that question in a big way. Those two began as almost a Romeo & Juliet thing, with her a cop and him as the son of a mobster. Is it going to be a little smoother now?

Park: I think that relationship -- just with the setup, like you said -- the setup is such that it’s never going to be easy or smooth. I think that their relationship is good. There’s a real attraction... They actually like each other. There’s a lot of possibility and potential there, but with the situation, you know… How clean is he? How good is he going to be at managing his father’s alliances and the rest of the business, because they’re not all gonna want to switch their ways? They have a good life, and they have it working pretty smoothly. So things could always change. I think as it unravels, we’ll see how it goes. Peter [Lenkov] has a few things up his sleeve, which I’m really excited about. I mean, it’s fine that it’s smooth, but they’re certainly not the type to just stay at home and watch movies and just eat pizza.

Ian Anthony Dale and Grace Park in Hawaii Five-0

IGN: That’d be an interesting episode though.

Park: [Laughs] For sure! People would be like, “What’s going on with that relationship? Shouldn’t they have guns and be kicking people?” [Laughs]

IGN: They’re watching Real Housewives or something.

Park: Yeah! [Laughs] I’m making a phone call. “Oh... be right there!”

IGN: Yeah. “Gotta do some cop stuff.” “Gotta do some mob stuff.”

Park: Yeah, that would be hilarious, actually. I did tell the other actor, Ian [Anthony Dale], “Yeah, Peter wants us to reflect on the nature of real relationships, and so he wants you to gain 25 pounds. He says I’m fine.”

Grace Park, Daniel Dae Kim and Scott Caan in Hawaii Five-0

IGN: [Laughs] You’ve been the constant female presence on this show, but this season you’ve got Christine Lahti recurring and now Michelle Borth as a regular.

Park: And Taryn [Manning] is coming back! Yeah, the thing is, it’s such a male-dominated show, on screen and on set as well. So it’s not a show where the women really bond with each other. I even think that has something to do with Lauren German’s character, Lori Weston, leaving, because they didn’t establish the females with each other. Not that we didn’t want it. I even asked for it right off the top. And by the end, we were having this great rapport, and I think they’ve learned now how important that is. To be able to have more of a female presence adds a duality and a complexity. That doesn’t mean we need to have them equal number, but that always changes things up. That’s why I think they didn’t keep Kono a dude. That’s why we didn’t just have five dudes. That would be a totally different show. Then we would have The Hangover... But I haven’t seen The Hangover, so I don’t even know if that’s accurate. [Laughs]

I think it’s just going to keep allowing every character like McGarrett or Danny to show other facets of their personality and their characters. People want to know more about the story, but they also want to know more about the characters they’ve been following for years.

Hawaii Five-0 airs Mondays at 10pm ET/PT on CBS.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

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Police search woods for New York man, 73, wanted in murder of daughter-in-law

A search is ongoing for an elderly New York man wanted for allegedly shooting his daughter-in-law to death early Monday, relatives and police told FoxNews.com.

Eugene Palmer, 73, of Haverstraw, admitted to relatives that he killed Tammy Palmer, 39, after shooting her at about 7:40 a.m. Monday, minutes after putting her two children on a school bus, according to Tammy Palmer’s father, John Pannirello.

“He admitted it, he admitted it to his sister,” Pannirello told FoxNews.com. “He said, ‘I just shot Tammy.’”

Palmer reportedly then told his sister, Elaine Babcock, who could not be reached for comment, to “give [him] an hour to get away” before calling police to report the crime. Babcock told The Journal News she then called 911 and went to Palmer’s home, where police investigators had already found her body.

“He admitted it, he admitted it to his sister. He said, ‘I just shot Tammy.’”

- John Pannirello

Palmer, a retired truck driver and seasoned outdoorsman, is now being sought by police and may be hiding out in the woods near Willow Grove Road or in nearby Harriman State Park, a vast wooded area, police and relatives told FoxNews.com.

“They think he’s up in Harriman, they’re all out looking for him,” Pannirello said. “But he’s a woodsman and he has plenty of guns.”

Babcock said her brother, who left money to pay property taxes before fleeing, was caught in the middle of domestic problems between Tammy Palmer and his son, John, who had been estranged after 17 years of marriage.

“She was aggravating the crap out of him, tormenting him,” Babcock told The Journal News. “They were pushing each other’s buttons. One or the other is going to snap. He’s the one that obviously snapped.”

Haverstraw Police Chief Charles Miller, who did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday, has said Miller fled in his green 1996 Dodge Ram pickup truck — likely toward the 46,000-acre state park — and has been labeled as possibly armed and dangerous in an arrest bulletin.

Tammy Palmer’s cause of death had not yet been determined of as midday Tuesday, according to the Rockland Medical Examiner’s Office. Calls seeking additional comment from the district attorney’s office were not immediately returned.

Palmer lived with her two children, John, 12, and Rosemarie, 16, in separate homes on the same parcel of land as her father-in-law. She had obtained an order of protection against Palmer’s son, barring him from the property, Pannirello said.

Palmer endured the imperfect living situation to best provide for her children and the family’s dog, her father said.

“She had nowhere else to go,” he said. “It was a mess; it was so bad. Thank god she put the kids on the bus that morning. After that, she went to hang some clothes and he came down with a gun.”

Palmer’s mother, Violet Pannirello, said her daughter suffered through an “abusive” marriage and painfully tried to save the relationship by losing nearly 200 pounds.

“She wasn’t happy for a long, long time,” Violet Pannirello told FoxNews.com. “She had been abused and knocked down by his family.”

Pannirello said her daughter had feared the worst but knew no way out of her living situation.

“She was afraid for her life,” she said. “He was always a very difficult man to get along with. I don’t think any woman was good enough for his son.”

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Germany launches Nazi war crimes probe against Philadelphia man

BERLIN –  Germany has launched a war crimes investigation against an 87-year-old Philadelphia man it accuses of serving as an SS guard at the Auschwitz death camp, The Associated Press has learned, following years of failed U.S. Justice Department efforts to have the man stripped of his American citizenship and deported.

Johann "Hans" Breyer, a retired toolmaker, admits he was a guard at Auschwitz during World War II, but told the AP he was stationed outside the facility and had nothing to do with the wholesale slaughter of some 1.5 million Jews and others behind the gates.

The special German office that investigates Nazi war crimes has recommended that prosecutors charge him with accessory to murder and extradite him to Germany for trial on suspicion of involvement in the killing of at least 344,000 Jews at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in occupied Poland.

The AP also has obtained documents that raise doubts about Breyer's testimony about the timing of his departure from Auschwitz.

The case is being pursued on the same legal theory used to prosecute late Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk, who died in March while appealing his conviction in Germany on charges he served as a guard at the notorious Sobibor death camp, also in occupied Poland.

The conviction was not considered legally binding because Demjanjuk died before his appeals were exhausted. But prosecutors maintain they can still use the same legal argument to pursue Breyer. Under that line of thinking -- even without proof of participation in any specific crime -- a person who served as a death camp guard can be charged with accessory to murder because the camp's sole function was to kill people.

Experts estimate that at least 80 former camp guards or others who would fall into the same category are likely still alive today, almost 70 years after the end of the war.

Authorities in the Bavarian town of Weiden, who have jurisdiction, are currently trying to determine if the evidence is sufficient for prosecution. A German official working on the case confirmed that Breyer was the target of the probe; he spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Breyer acknowledged in an interview in his modest row house in northeastern Philadelphia that he was in the Waffen SS at Auschwitz but that he never served at the part of the camp responsible for the extermination of Jews.

"I didn't kill anybody, I didn't rape anybody -- and I don't even have a traffic ticket here," he told the AP. "I didn't do anything wrong."

He said he was aware of what was going on inside the death camp, but did not witness it himself. "We could only see the outside, the gates," he said.

Breyer said he had recently suffered three "mini-strokes." But he was cogent and clear as he talked about his past for more than an hour, sitting in his living room.

For more than a decade, the Justice Department waged court battles to try to have Breyer deported. They largely revolved around whether Breyer had lied about his Nazi past in applying for immigration or whether he could have citizenship through his American-born mother. That legal saga ended in 2003, with a ruling that allowed him to stay in the United States, mainly on the grounds that he had joined the SS as a minor and could therefore not be held legally responsible for participation in it.

Breyer testified in U.S. court that he served as a perimeter guard at Auschwitz I, which was largely for prisoners used as slave laborers, though it also had a makeshift gas chamber used early in the war; it was also the camp where SS doctor Josef Mengele carried out sadistic experiments on inmates.

But he denied ever serving in Auschwitz II, better known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, the death camp area where the bulk of the people were killed. He also said he deserted in August, 1944 and never returned to the camp, though eventually rejoined his unit fighting outside Berlin in the final weeks of the war.

A U.S. Army intelligence file on Breyer, obtained by the AP, calls that statement into question.

In 1951, American military authorities in Germany carried out a background check on Breyer when he first applied for a visa to the U.S. The file from that investigation lists him as being with a SS Totenkopf, or "Death's Head," battalion in Auschwitz as late as Dec. 29, 1944 -- four months after he said he deserted. The Army Investigative Records Repository file was obtained by the AP from the National Archives through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The document is significant because judges in 2003 said Breyer's testimony on desertion was part of what convinced them that his service with the Waffen SS after turning 18 might not have been voluntary, further mitigating his wartime responsibility.

Also weighing in Breyer's favor with the judges was his testimony that he refused to have the SS tattoo; he does not have such a mark today or evidence that one was removed.

Kurt Schrimm, the head of the specials prosecutors' office in Ludwigsburg, which carried out the Breyer probe before it was turned over to Weiden prosecutors, said he felt there was sufficient evidence to bring charges against Breyer, although he declined to discuss details.

"All of these guards were stationed at times on the ramps (where train transports of prisoners were unloaded), at times at the gas chambers and at times in the towers," he said.

Weiden prosecutors, who were chosen because the office is nearest where Breyer last lived in Germany, say it could take several months before deciding whether to file charges.

A former prosecutor in Schrimm's office, Thomas Walther, said he had known of the file on Breyer from his time there. He is now already representing, pro bono, a woman who lost her two siblings in Auschwitz at the time that Breyer is alleged to have been there. The woman will join any prosecution as a co-plaintiff as allowed under German law. Walther said he has established the email address auschwitz.coplaintiff(at)gmail.com for other victims' families.

"Time is swiftly running out to bring Nazi criminals to justice," Walther said. "I hope that prosecutors in Weiden will act soon on this case."

The Breyer case was handled in the U.S. by the Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations. Eli Rosenbaum, who previously headed the office, would not comment on any details of evidence that had been collected against him, nor say whether American agencies were involved in helping with the German probe. Rosenbaum is now with the Justice Department's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, into which the OSI was merged.

Breyer was born in 1925 in what was then Czechoslovakia to an ethnic German father and an American mother, Katharina, who was born in Philadelphia. Slovakia became a separate state in 1939 under the influence of Nazi Germany. In 1942, the Waffen SS embarked on a drive to recruit ethnic Germans there and Breyer joined at age 17. The fact he was a minor at the time was critical in the 2003 decision to allow him to stay in the United States.

Called up to duty in 1943, Breyer said he was shipped off the same day to Buchenwald -- in Germany -- where he was assigned to the Totenkopf.

By treaty, the U.S. can extradite its citizens to Germany. But Breyer said he would fight any attempts to take him away from the U.S. and his wife and family.

"I'm an American citizen, just as if I had been born here," he said in his Philadelphia home. "They can't deport me."

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Major Death in Store for Thor: The Dark World?

Marvel Comics fans learned this week of the death of a superhero in the comics. Now it appears that death is also coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

We're putting a big ol' SPOILER ALERT here in case this rumor pans out.

Still here?

You're sure, right?

OK, well, don't blame us then.

Bleeding Cool reports that the All-Father himself, Odin (played by Sir Anthony Hopkins), might very well perish in Thor: The Dark World, which is now filming in England.

Obviously, this is just a rumor for now, but considering Odin was killed off in the comics then the film following suit shouldn't be that shocking.

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Why Dishonored is my Most Anticipated Game This Year

If you’ve been following Dishonored on IGN, you probably read Charles’ “Death at a Dinner Party” adventures earlier this year, in which he crashed a masked ball and caused total chaos, attracting the whole city’s attention by murdering guests and throwing canisters of explosive whale oil at guards. I sat down with the exact same mission recently, and was a bit concerned that I’d have nothing new to write about. How wrong I was.

Everything was different. For me and Charles, literally not one single thing, apart from the mission itself, was the same. This has instantly made Dishonored my most-anticipated game of this year. This is the first game I’ve played since Dark Souls last year that hasn’t patronised or restricted me for one second, instead just pushing a set of tools and powers into my hands with an avuncular wink and leaving me to do what I want with them. It gives you freedom, it gives you options, and it lets you work things out for yourself.

Here’s the first difference: I made it through the whole scenario without killing anyone. Not even my assassination target. (Well, I did kill a few rats by possessing them for so long that their tiny brains exploded, but that doesn’t count.) Here’s the second: I didn’t find the equipment menu, so I played for more than an hour without the incredibly useful instant-teleport Blink power or any weapons. Here’s the third: because I took a wrong turn on my way to the mansion garden party I was supposed to be infiltrating (my sense of direction is legendarily awful, in games as in real life), I discovered a whole neighbouring area of slum-houses that I wouldn’t otherwise have known existed.

“

I like to play Dishonored like a spy, rather than a superhero

I like to play Dishonored like a spy, rather than a superhero. That’s in line with how I approach most open-world games - I like digging around in people’s diaries for information in Skyrim (and digging around their houses for possessions to liberate. I hacked into and read several thousand mundane emails on the computers of corporation employees in Deus Ex. I like to explore a place and hunt for the tiny details hidden in basements and dusty old books and peeling propaganda posters on the walls. Dishonored’s Dunwall is rich with this detail. If you take your time, avoid attention and keep your eyes open, you can really drink it in.

The premise of this mission – the same one shown at Quakecon and Gamescom – is an assassination during am exclusive masked ball hosted at the Boyle family mansion. Lady Boyle is your target, but the problem is, there are three Lady Boyle’s and all of them are in similar creepy porcelain-doll costumes of different colours (the game randomises the mission each time, too, so you can never be 100% sure which Lady Boyle should be the object of your stabby assassin affections.) There are three options (that I could work out, anyway): find out which is guilty, kill all of them, or kill one at random and hope for the best.

Infiltrating the mansion’s grounds is a mission in itself; the night streets are patrolled by police and Tall Boys, those heavily-armoured striders with the power to vaporise you on sight. You begin the mission on a boat in the nearby canal, and you have to work out how to get in by yourself. It’s gratifying that the game doesn’t give you hints; it doesn’t tell you which way to go, and no button brings up a magic light-trail showing you the best way in. You can swim through the sewers and try to find an inlet to the mansion. Getting up to the rooftops and climbing the fence is a more obvious solution.

I got chased into an alleyway after being spotted in the water by guards and accidentally discovered a slum-house with stairs leading promisingly upwards. Upon entering, I noticed a few prone bodies in the neighbouring room; I did not expect them to suddenly spring to life, run at me and cough black plague-goop into my face whilst blood streamed from their eyes. These people are the Weepers, the diseased poor of Dunwall whom the government has been systematically exterminating. You won’t find them in the opulent mansions where the rich are hiding away – they hide in the slums, evading the Tall Boys.

“

You can never be 100% sure which Lady Boyle should be the object of your stabby assassin affections

You’re supposed to feel sorry for these guys, but man, they behave a LOT like zombies, with all the moaning and the stumbling and the blood and the spontaneous attacking – not that you can’t empathise with zombies, but they’re terrifying. I ran away upstairs and climbed out of a window, taking in as much of the decaying building as I could. Soiled mattresses were lying about everywhere, with plague information pamphlets and posters trodden into the floorboards. When I got into the roof, I realised that – fortuitously – I was right opposite the Boyle mansion, and one of the windows was open. Leaping between the windowsills, I climbed into the guardhouse and scouted it out. I’d managed to make my way in without having to scale any walls, swim through any sewers, steal an invitation or kill anyone. And now, after stealing them from a hook on the wall, I had the keys to the whole place.

You’re undercover at the party, where your masked-assassin outfit blends into the other guests’ fancy-dress ensembles. You can walk around more-or-less freely, listening to conversations (apparently one of the absent society ladies likes to get carnal with her male siblings and nephews) and scoping out your potential targets. The first Lady Boyle I meet is rather… over-friendly, leading me willingly away to a secluded assassination-friendly bedroom after a glass of punch on the promise of some drunk party-sex. Feeling massively uncomfortable about either murdering her without proof or jumping into her bed (the game wouldn’t let me, anyway), she eventually got bored with the masked guy hanging awkwardly around in her room and wandered off, at which point I read through her diary and stole some jewellery. The diary contains no allusions to illicit murder-worthy activity, making me think she probably wasn’t my target after all.

The other rooms upstairs are locked, so I head back downstairs to look for a way in. There’s a rat scuttling about in the grand ballroom; after possessing it, I head into the first vent I can find and emerge in a room that controls the giant security forcefield barring the way up the grand stairway. If I could find a hacking module, I could modify it to fry anyone who walks through it, which sounds massively entertaining but not enormously helpful to my goal of causing as little chaos as possible.

It’s after I’ve met all of the Lady Boyles stalking the party in red, black and white costume that a guest in a scarecrow-esque mask approaches me and whispers that he knows who I’m looking for – and that he’s in love with her, and understandably would rather I didn’t stab her to death. He promises to take her away and keep her safe if I deliver her unharmed to the basement. It doesn’t sound… entirely above-board, but at least I wouldn’t have to kill anyone.

Getting into the other Lady Boyles’ bedrooms is easy once I’ve found some more rats in the cellar to possess and scuttled through the mansion’s network of vents. Another diary reveals my true target: it’s the Boyle in black. Now I just have to get her to the basement and send her away with her lover without alerting anyone by striding through the party with an unconscious body draped across my shoulders.

“

Oh. Well. It looks like I’ve accidentally delivered someone into a life of imprisonment and possible sex-slavery

This turns out to be pretty easy. I just walk straight up to the Boyle in question and tell her I’m out to murder her unless she comes to the basement, right now, a request to which she acquiesces with surprisingly little consternation. I knock her out in a quiet spot and sprint the rest of the way down to the basement before the guards stroll past. Once we’re there, the masked guy from earlier is waiting on a barge to take her back out into the canal. “She’ll have a long time to learn to love me back, now,” he says, calmly sailing away to wherever on earth he’s going with the unconscious Lady Boyle prone on his boat. Oh. Well. It looks like I’ve accidentally delivered someone into a life of imprisonment and possible sex-slavery. But at least I didn’t kill anyone.

It’s only when I’m comparing experiences with others later on that it becomes clear how unusual this experience of Dishonored was. Some players were relying on magic to teleport them across rooftops, facilitate an escape from the Tall Boys or possess guards to open doors for them. Others got eaten by fish in the canal. Most were causing violent chaos, turning the party into a colourful disaster, summoning hordes of voracious rats to nibble at the attendees. Not one other person found the slums, or the force-shield hack, or managed to make it through without killing. You could play that same mission five or six times and never do anything the same.

And that is exactly why this is the most interesting game of this year.

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN's games coverage in the UK, and expects the end of her year to be totally dominated by supernatural assassination (and probably a bit of Wii U). Follow her on Twitter and IGN.

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CDC: Tainted cheese linked to death, illnesses

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says ricotta cheese tainted with listeria bacteria is linked to 14 illnesses and at least one death.

The imported Italian ricotta salata cheese distributed by Forever Cheese, Inc., of New York is linked to illnesses in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Forever Cheese issued a recall of one lot-- 800 wheels of ricotta salata, or roughly 4,800 pounds -- on Monday.

The cheese was distributed to retail stores and restaurants in California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington between June 20 and August 9.

Jeff DiMeo of Forever Cheese said the recalled Frescolina brand ricotta salata cheese is from one batch manufactured in Italy's Puglia region but would not name the Italian company that manufactured it. The Food and Drug Administration identified the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in an uncut sample of the cheese.

Most people who consumed the cheese would not know where it came from because it was distributed in large wheels for retailers or restaurants to break down into smaller servings or packages. Ricotta salata is a salty, white cheese made from pasteurized sheep's milk. It is not the same as soft ricotta cheese sold in tubs and used to make lasagna.

DiMeo said he would generally advise his customers not to hold on to the cheese for more than 30 days.

The CDC, however, said the ricotta can have up to a four-month shelf life, so some consumers may still have it in their homes. The company and the government advised consumers who may still have the cheese to ask retailers where it came from or just throw it out to be safe.

Listeria is rare but deadlier than well-known pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. It is most dangerous to pregnant women, the elderly and others with compromised immune systems.

It was not immediately clear how many deaths were caused by the listeria outbreak. The CDC said listeriosis contributed to "at least one" of two deaths in New York and Nebraska but did not elaborate. A third deceased person in Minnesota was infected with listeriosis linked to the cheese but that is not thought to be the primary cause of death, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health said.

Three people from Maryland reported becoming ill from the strain of listeria linked to the ricotta. One person each from California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia also reported an illness. Two of the illnesses were in newborn babies, the CDC said.

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Comic Book Reviews for 9/12/12

It was inevitable, really. Death was going to strike Avengers vs. X-Men sooner or later, and so here we are. We won't spoil it here, but head over to our big interview with Brian Bendis if you want to get the scoop on the events of AvX #11. If you want to know if it's any good, well then keep on truckin'.

Also this week: the Bat-family gets a whole bunch of issue zeroes, the Rocketeer continues to amaze, and Uncanny X-Force continues to depress. What a week.

DC COMICS

Batgirl #0

Written by Gail Simone | Art by Ed Benes

"Right off the bat (heh) I can say that Batgirl #0 is chock full of fan-service moments, but I’m pleased to say that it’s not at the expense of the story. You’ll see Dick Grayson as Robin, references to Killing Joke, and even some delicious creeper moments for James Jr., but Gail Simone never once loses site of Babs and her motivations for becoming Batgirl in the first place. She creates a refreshing scenario in which we get to see her birth as a crime fighter, all the while lacing the issue with a strong thematic hook that culminates in one hell of a punchline." -Joey

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Final Score:

7.5

Batman #0

Written by Scott Snyder | Art by Greg Capullo

"Batman #0 is kind of a strange beast. It seems to serve as a precursor to the upcoming Death of the Family in that it explores the old Red Hood and his gang – where Scott Snyder suggests that this is indeed a pre-chemical bath Joker -- but it ends with a disappointing 'to be continued in 2013' without any resolution. To that end, on its own, Batman #0 doesn’t really feel like a complete story, instead just snippets of some great character moments for Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and Jim Gordon. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in here, but I suspect this issue will read better once the full context is known." -Joey

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Final Score:

8.0

Batman and Robin #0

Written by Peter Tomasi | Art by Patrick Gleason

"Before we begin, let me just say that if you’re focused on figuring out how Damian could be 10 when Batman’s only been operating for 5-6 years, then stop. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Batman and Robin #0 is an endearing look at young Damian’s early days under the tutelage of his mother, leading directly into the events of Grant Morrison’s Batman and Son. It’s not exactly a fresh start for new readers, but longtime fans that hold Morrison’s work close to their heart will get goosebumps hitting this issue’s final page to relive one his run’s best moments." -Joey

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Final Score:

8.0

Before Watchmen: Comedian #3

Written by Brian Azzarello | Art by J.G. Jones

"For better or worse, Brain Azzarello seems less interested in replicating the tone and feel of the original Watchmen series with his two Before Watchmen books. But while Before Watchmen: Comedian is less redundant than it might have been, it also isn't managing to provide a compelling narrative or a cohesive look at what makes this dark vigilante tick." -Jesse

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Final Score:

6.0

Demon Knights #0

Written by Paul Cornell | Art by Bernard Chang

"Demon Knights #0 is not technically a bad comic book. It's well written and nicely drawn. It boasts a nice flow, with some interesting scenes. Unfortunately, it is also completely and totally unnecessary. It jumps back in time, like most of these DC zero issues, and gives us a glimpse into a time before The Demon Knights story started. This means that the book is devoid of some of the series' best characters and lacks any kind of meaningful story. It feels like an editorial mandate, and that's probably because it no doubt was." -Benjamin

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Final Score:

7.0

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #0

Written by Matt Kindt | Art by Alberto Ponticelli

"Frankenstein is a series I enjoyed as the New 52 relaunch kicked off but eventually fell behind on. Luckily, Matt Kindt's approach to issue #0 is one that welcomes new and lapsed readers. This completely standalone tale focuses on the creation of Victor Frankenstein's monster and the early battles that shaped him into the sword-slinging hero he is today." -Jesse

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Final Score:

8.0

Green Lantern Corps #0

Written by Peter Tomasi | Art by Fernando Pasarin

"'I’ve seen more blood and guts and severed heads in the DC Universe in the past year than I have in quite some time.' That’s what my editor Joey Esposito said in his retrospective on DC’s New 52, a sentiment that couldn’t be felt more in Green Lantern Corps and bears exceptional truth in this zero issue. But after the beheadings, impalings, and bisections, Peter J. Tomasi writes one hell of a Guy Gardner origin story." -Joshua

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Final Score:

8.0

Grifter #0

Written by Rob Liefeld | Art by Scott Clark

"This book could be made into a four-page short. It also happens to be approximately the same plot of this month’s Superboy #0. In all honesty, the most entertainment that I mined from this book was Rob Liefeld’s hilariously bad cover. For a good laugh, find a copy and check out Grifter’s left thumb, right triceps, right legs, and right hand. Just don’t buy it." -Poet

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Final Score:

4.0

Legion Lost #0

Written by Tom DeFalco | Art by Pete Woods

"Legion Lost #0 is a pretty standard origin story for the most interesting character in the title, supplying enough action and drama for the title to transition smoothly into its next issue. Timber Wolf receives a solid retelling of his backstory and motivation for his career as a vigilante/Legion member. In the end, Tom DeFalco’s story is enough to justify this issue’s existence, but it’s unlikely to be your favorite book this week." -Poet

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Final Score:

7.0

The Ravagers #0

Written by Howard Mackie | Art by Ian Churchill

"Ravagers #0 takes the more straightforward approach to the Zero Month concept, flashing back to Beast Boy and Terra's origins as prisoners in the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. program. Howard Mackie aims to reveal how their bond developed in the face of great hardship and suffering. It's a nice idea, but the issue fails to offer any sense of progression. The characters barely encounter each other before Terra is throwing herself in the line of fire to protect Garth. There should have been more focus on the duo and less on Harvest and his minions explaining the nature of Garth and Tara's powers. Generally, Mackie's writing style is best suited to more family-friendly superhero fare. The pointless exposition and the overuse of technical jargon and scientific buzzwords do little to make this feel like a smart, science fiction-oriented superhero book." -Jesse

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Final Score:

5.0

Resurrection Man #0

Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning | Art by Ramon Bachs & Jesus Saiz

"It's a fair question to ask why Resurrection Man needs a #0 issue when the entire series has been devoted to slowly shedding light on Mitch Shelley's mysterious past and the nature of his powers. But with DC bringing the series to an end this month, Resurrection Man #0 is more a patch designed to tie up all the loose ends as quickly and neatly as possible. Unsurprisingly, that makes for an underwhelming finish to the series." -Jesse

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Final Score:

5.0

Suicide Squad #0

Written by Adam Glass | Art by Fernando Dagnino

"Amanda Waller is certainly getting a lot of attention in the New 52. Though her old Team 7 is making its debut this week as well, Suicide Squad #0 picks up promptly after that team meets its end – something that apparently rubs The Wall the wrong way. While we presumably have quite a while to see the events referenced play out, writer Adam Glass makes it clear that Team 7 didn’t exactly leave Waller in a good place. For its length, Glass does a fair job of establishing the setting of this issue and the relationship of Waller and new character Duren. The book is brisk, but uses careful dialogue to allot for space constraints. However, as solid as the setup might be, the conclusion is lacking." -Joey

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Final Score:

6.5

Superboy #0

Written by Tom DeFalco | Art by RB Silva & Rob Lean

"Fans of exposition and recapitulation get ready. This book is chock full of it. If you’ve followed the series, you will learn next to nothing. Superboy #0 is a filler issue if ever there was one. Yes, Tom DeFalco’s script does add a bit of backstory, strange as it is. Sadly, the greater part of the book is a rehash of the first few issues of the series. Worse, there is an epic, grating voiceover/monologue by Harvest that lasts almost the entire issue. It does explain how Harvest fits into the whole convoluted scheme, but it fails to register as interesting." -Poet

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Final Score:

5.0

Team 7 #0

Written by Justin Jordan | Art by Jesus Merino

"The original Team 7 series is a book I have fond memories of. It's probably not quite as good as I remember it, but it was a cool little series that explored the nasty roots of the Wildstorm Universe. It showed that everything was connected and that many of the characters had darker, more violent pasts than we had previously imagined. The new Team 7 book is nothing like that. It's generic, sluggish, and boring. It really shares only one thing with the original book and that's the title." -Benjamin

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Final Score:

5.0

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Batman #0 Review

Batman #0 is kind of a strange beast. It seems to serve as a precursor to the upcoming Death of the Family in that it explores the old Red Hood and his gang – where Scott Snyder suggests that this is indeed a pre-chemical bath Joker -- but it ends with a disappointing “to be continued in 2013” without any resolution. To that end, on its own, Batman #0 doesn’t really feel like a complete story, instead just snippets of some great character moments for Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and Jim Gordon. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in here, but I suspect this issue will read better once the full context is known.

That said, Snyder has a lot of fun with pre-Batman (and pre-Matches Malone, it seems) Bruce Wayne. The opening infiltration sequence is fantastic, exciting fun that is rendered with intensity by Greg Capullo, and Bruce’s musings to Alfred that he needs to do more for Gotham will give you that tingly “man, I love Batman” feeling in your guts. Especially amusing is the scene between Gordon and Wayne, each of them just as cautious as the other, both conversing rather cordially with vastly different motivations spurring them on.

This conversation plays out like the most well-acted dialogue scenes in a movie, with each character working towards a clearly defined goal regardless of the words they are actually saying. Wayne is seeking an ally on the force, and Gordon is trying to find Wayne’s involvement with shady business dealings. It’s a tense but endearing scene that showcases Snyder’s knack for scene construction.

Capullo shines once again, but is able to stretch some different muscles due to the lack of actual Batman in this issue. The bank heist, as I mentioned, is thrilling, but he also gets to dabble in some subtle character work in the aforementioned Bruce/Gordon scene. There are a lot of little facial emotions that go a long way to selling Snyder’s words, and that doesn’t go unappreciated. Also, Capullo’s inclusion of Joker’s patented flower on the jacket of Red Hood is a clever and inspired way to underline Snyder’s suggestion of who this man will become.

However, my favorite portion of this issue is actually the back-up tale by James Tynion IV and Andy Clarke. While continuity hounds will likely rub their temples at the further complication of the Robin timelines (not to mention potential ties to Killing Joke in the main story), Tynion effectively uses one of the most underappreciated elements of the Batman world – the Bat-signal – to frame a brief but impactful tale about the Batman’s influence and inspiration on these kids.

We get to see how Batman inspired the Bat-family – Dick, Jason, Tim, and Barbara – before ever actually meeting them. It’s a great framing device that works on multiple levels, including giving Tim Drake his only worthwhile, significant moment since the New 52 launched last year. Plus, Clarke’s nod to the original Nightwing costume is fantastic.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.

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