Between the Lines

ROCK & TELL He’s not the best known of the Eagles. In fact, he’s not even an Eagle anymore (he was fired from the band last year by founders Don Henley and Glenn Frey). Which may be why Hyperion is betting — for a rumored $250,000 — that Don Felder, the group’s longtime guitarist and the cowriter of ”Hotel California,” is the best one to tell the story behind the music. Peternelle van Arsdale, the Hyperion exec editor who will be working with Felder, says that while ”the relationship [with the band members] was always tumultuous,” the tentatively titled The Long Run: My Life as an Eagle won’t be just about payback. Expect to hear more in fall ’03.

THIRD WATCH Green Arrow is getting another life — again. Last year, Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith resurrected the comic book, which had been canceled in 1998, about a crime-fighting superarcher (also known as Ollie Queen). Now legal-thriller writer Brad Meltzer (The Millionaires) is taking the helm, as of issue No. 16 in July. ”It was clear from his books he was a comics fan,” says DC Comics group editor Bob Schreck, explaining why he approached Meltzer. No word on what the novelist has in store for Ollie, but Schreck does share this: ”Kevin’s first arc had this sardonic back story, and Brad’s dealing more on earthly planes.”

THE SKINNY James Jewel Osterberg — that’s Iggy Pop to you — is prepared to tell all about his life as the forefather of punk. Jim Fitzgerald, the veteran rocker’s New York agent, had already lined up meetings with six publishers when he spoke to EW. ”I’m sure he’ll be fully clothed,” jokes Fitzgerald, ”but maybe he’ll take his shirt off…. It’ll be interesting to see what each of these publishers wants the book to be — one sees Iggy as a logical extension of [Naked Lunch author] William Burroughs, another sees him as the progenitor of Marilyn Manson. As far as Iggy’s concerned, he just wants to tell his story.”