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The Forecast for March 13th 2005
Welcome to The Forecast. Every Monday, Ninth Art's core team of comment writers, the Ninth Eight, will be your guides to the best, worst, weirdest and most noteworthy books on the shelves of your local comic shop. BOOK OF THE WEEK: PROJECT: SUPERIOR PROJECT: SUPERIOR is the second anthology from AdHouse after 2003's award winning PROJECT: TELSTAR. Where the theme of TELSTAR was robots and space, the theme this time around is, well, it's of those men and women in brightly coloured, tightly hugging bodysuits who fly around doing good. You know, that word that's a shared copyright between Marvel and DC. The word that caused HERO HAPPY HOUR to shorten its name? Sounds like "superior". Kind of. PROJECT: TELSTAR featured contributions from a fine list of A-grade indie talent, with the likes of Jeffery Brown, Scott Mills, Scott Morse, Bernie Mireault and Laurenn McCubbin. For SUPERIOR, published last week, AdHouse doubled the number of contributors, assembling a mighty impressive line-up including a few you wouldn't expect for this kind of book. Or, given the theme, maybe you would. John Cassaday and Brian Wood have worked in the field of the superh... uh, superior before, as have Paul Pope and Jim Mahfood. Add to this work by Farel Dalrymple (POP GUN WAR), Brian Lee O'Malley (SCOTT PILGRIM), James Jean, and STREET ANGEL's Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca among others, and this is one fine looking book. Don't believe me? Check out some of the previews. [Ben Wooller] TALE SPINNERS Marvel Comics' latest attempt to scare up some genuinely new writers, in the wake of the aborted Epic line, has been the bimonthly X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED series. Each comic has sought to pair new writers with established artists, in order to tell short stories with Marvel's Most Marketables. While I have yet to read X-MEN UNLIMITED, I have found the Spider-Man series most palatable - even if their definition of "new writer" was stretched a bit thin by including Robert 'Ten Books' Kirkman. The latest issue in this time-share series hits stands this week, and it looks jolly good. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED #8 pairs Joe Hill with Seth Fisher (HAPPYDALE, WILLWORLD) for a goofy tale of home video halfwits in the JACKASS/DIRTY SANCHEZ mould, who spend a day trying to copy the Web-Slinger's superhuman feats for fun and profit. Next, Ryan Sook of ARKHAM ASYLUM and HAWKMAN fame teams up with Joshua Ortega for an earthshaking Spidey adventure in the city by the Bay. Click here and here for previews of both stories. Marvel's decision to pair new(ish) writers with more experienced artists has paid off in spades, giving even the flimsiest stories a slick sense of style and a level of quality that will appeal to the casual browser. With any luck, the very best of these stories will find a second home in a nice trade paperback some months down the line. [Matthew Craig] PARTS OF THE PROCESS In an astoundingly short period of time, James Jean has become one of the most distinctive and prolific cover artists in the business. The next time you find yourself browsing the racks of your local comics store, see if you can count how many covers he's drawn that month. It's going to be a lot. A flourishing career, then, and one celebrated by PROCESS RECESS (AdHouse Books), a coffee-table book for the discerning comic-book connoisseur who doesn't own a coffee-table. The thing about Jean, as evinced by the sketches, travelogues, paintings and illustrations contained in the collection, is that he brings something exciting and fresh to the medium, paradoxically because his influences lean more towards traditional fine art than comic book art. Watercolours, oils, computer work, pencils, all of it comes together to form dynamic and eye-catching images that are truly unlike any other. The crazy thing is, Jean has yet to try his hand at drawing the stuff between the covers. Until he does, one suspects that his best work is yet to come. [Bulent Yusuf] LAST STARFIGHTER DC Comics' mufti superhero saga STARMAN reaches the end of its TPB run this week with the publication of SONS OF THE FATHER. Inelegant title aside (confusingly but doubtless deliberately similar to the title of the first trade, SINS OF THE FATHER), the book looks set to tie up the remaining loose threads from the series, after the climactic events of the previous volume. Amongst other things, this final volume will reveal the identity of the mysterious "Starman of 1951", show what happened when the son of Ted Knight met the son of Jor-El, and explore Jack Knight's relationship with his own child. Looking back on the series as a whole, STARMAN has been a largely satisfying work. James Robinson's exploration of the relationship between an alienated father and son is anchored in the sort of unspoken regret and poignancy that comics could always use more of. The series continued Robinson's crusade to restore the dignity of the Golden Age DC superheroes, and crossed into some of the more fallow regions of the continuum to incorporate such Z-listers (at the time) as Adam Strange and Tigorr of the Omega Men. Fortunately, the strength of the characters offset any sense of mawkish nostalgia about the series, despite Robinson's occasionally awkward and ostentatious dialogue. Peter Snejberg is the artist on this final volume, as he has been for much of the last half of the series. While not as sharp or as photoperfect as Jack Knight's co-creator Tony Harris, Snejberg's flair for lighting and his understated observational skills have provided STARMAN with a strong visual identity. While not as epic or as experimental as some other books on the shelves, James Robinson's STARMAN has been a solid family drama set against a backdrop of charm and complexity, and is at least one reason to be grateful for the healthy trade paperback market. [Matthew Craig] THE SHIPPING LIST FOR MARCH 13th 2005: Shipping details come courtesy of Diamond. Visit the Diamond website for the latest information, as the list is subject to change. DARK HORSE OCT040018D SAMURAI HEAVEN & EARTH #1 $2.99 DC COMICS JAN050367D 100 PERCENT TP (MR) $24.99
IMAGE DEC041581D BATTLE OF THE PLANETS PRINCESS #5 (OF 6) $2.99
MARVEL JAN058035D BLACK PANTHER #1 LTD ED VARIANT $2.99
OTHER PUBLISHERS JAN052619E AFTERMATH BLADE OF KUMORI #4 $2.95
The Ninth Eight are Matthew Craig, John Fellows, Kieron Gillen, Alistair Kennedy, Zack Smith, Andrew Wheeler, Ben Wooller and Bulent Yusuf. Ninth Art endorses the principle of Ideological Freeware. The author permits distribution of this article by private individuals, on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice. Back. |