The Shipping Forecast for October 24th

Take a trip to Indigo City or a ride on the Galaxy Express with the most exciting new comics reaching stores this week, as detailed by the Ninth Art fishing crew.
22 October 2001

Every Monday the Ninth Art Shipping Forecast will give you a heads up on the best or most noteworthy monthlies, trade paperbacks and original graphic novels hitting the shelves that week. Please note, though, that the list is subject to change. For the latest details on what's shipping, please visit the Diamond website.

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PLYMOUTH PICKS:

NIGHTSIDE #1 (Marvel Comics)
With Halloween just around the corner, it's time for another glut of horror/occult/generally odd comics. In the case of NIGHTSIDE, though, we might have a real keeper. Robert Weinberg's been the vice president of the Horror Writers of America, has edited more horror anthologies than most people will buy in their lives, and single-handedly saved White Wolf's horror novel publishing program with six books that knocked people's socks off. After a really strange run on CABLE, which Marvel seemed determined to sabotage (inappropriate artist, no publicity, continual editorial interference), they've inexplicably turned the other cheek and let Weinberg debut the creator-owned NIGHTSIDE. A sharp woman in a horror-filled world up against impossible odds and succeeding? Now that's what I've grown to expect from Weinberg. Even better, Thomas Denerick's art is absolutely gorgeous. It's coloured directly off his pencils, and unlike the x-tremely bad results of X-TREME X-MEN, Marvel's made a good decision here. Trick or treat? Treat, definitely.

FLASH #179 (DC Comics)
I only just became a convert to Geoff Johns's and Scott Kolins's FLASH. I'd planned on checking this issue out, but on a whim borrowed the last six issues from a friend to see just what all the buzz is about. The answer? Really smart stories coupled with some of the nicest work I've ever seen from Kolins. (If you blew up Geof Darrow's hyper-detailed art into something that the human eye can actually comprehend, it would be Kolins's art on FLASH. All the great detail but without the need for a magnifying glass.) Johns is managing to take old goofball villains like the Weather Wizard and Gorilla Grodd and not only make them threatening, but downright creepy. Waid and Augustyn managed to kill any momentum this book had before they finally left. Johns and Kolins haven't just put the book back on track, they're picking up speed.

LEGION #1 (DC Comics)
Speaking of books that managed to kill themselves quite nicely, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES certainly fits the bill. After a wildly successful post-ZERO HOUR reinvention of the concept, someone managed to fall asleep at the switch and let a lot of tired, stretched out stories plod along for a thousand years. Well, it felt like it, anyway. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have managed to turn that around; with an initial "Earth is invaded" storyline that actually had far-reaching consequences, followed up by a 12-issue mini-series that really needed to be 12 issues (all the pieces come together at the end perfectly! Shocking!), it suddenly became clear that we had something special here. With LEGION LOST and LEGION WORLDS both over, Abnett and Lanning are allowed to give this 31st century team another shot at their own ongoing series. Two years ago, I'd have been thrilled to see DC put this tired group to rest. Now, I can't wait to see what happens next.

FISHER PICKS:

GREYSHIRT: INDIGO SUNSET #1 (DC Wildstorm/ABC)
The first ABC series not written by Alan Moore sees the TOMORROW STORIES Spirit-riffing star thrown headlong into his own six part adventure. Whether the character will be as much fun without Moore around all depends on whether Greyshirt artist Rick Veitch - now also on writing duties - can maintain the Eisneresque spirit (pardon the pun) of narrative innovation, and whether the mysterious lead character can actually support anything larger than an eight page short story. Apparently this series uses pages torn from the fictional Indigo City Sunset newspaper to help the story along, which is an idea with promise. I've got high hopes for this one.

ZERO GIRL TP (DC Wildstorm/Homage)
Surrealism and puppy love are the driving forces behind this excellent Sam Kieth miniseries, which sees schoolgirl Amy Smootster fall for her guidance councillor while fending off bullies and demon squares with the power of wet feet and protective circles. See, I've read it, and I still don't understand it, but I know I liked it a whole heck of a lot. Not to everyone's tastes, maybe, but the art is gloriously quirky and the story is engagingly weird. It certainly stands out from the crowd, and it proves that DC is still making exciting, convention-defying comics. It just doesn't like to shout about them. Or "promote" them, as I believe it's known in the industry.

X-FORCE: NEW BEGINNINGS TP (Marvel Comics)
The jewel in New Marvel's crown gets its first trade paperback, and it's just a shame they couldn't come up with a more exciting title than 'New Beginnings', which makes this sound like a wholesome, uplifting tale of good folks forging a bold new future. It isn't. NEW BEGINNINGS tells the tale of a team of mutants who have been packaged as media darlings, but they're more interested in celebrity than in saving the world, and their masters are more interested in merchandising than in keeping them alive. Peter Milligan tells the twisted tale, and Mike Allred is the artist, bringing his considerable talents to a wider audience. This is one of the best 'new' books of 2001, and with U-Go Girl it also has one of the best new characters. Go get it. (Also out this week from Marvel is the first SPIDER-MAN: TANGLED WEB trade, featuring stories by Garth Ennis and John McCrea, Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso, and Milligan again, teaming with his old partner-in-crime Duncan Fegredo. Definitely worth a look.)

GERMAN BIGHT PICKS:

USAGI YOJIMBO #52 (Dark Horse)
I've recommended this before, I know, but if Dark Horse will put it out on slow weeks and Stan Sakai will carry on being so damn good at what he does, I don't have much of a choice. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ignore this book at your peril. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, then what you're missing is so much better than you could ever suspect. USAGI YOJIMBO deals with epic themes - love, honour, friendship, evil - on a mostly intimate scale. Everything you'd ever find in a Garth Ennis comic, but without the scatology. It's been going for well over a decade now, and is still fresher than most books on the market. Learn to love it now and you won't be kicking yourselves later.

GREYSHIRT: INDIGO SUNSET #1 (Of 6) (ABC/Wildstorm)
Alan Moore's Spirit homage becomes Rick Veitch's Spirit homage. It wouldn't be much of one if all it did was steal ideas, because (as if you needed reminding) Eisner's SPIRIT was all about experimenting with the comics form. Thankfully it looks as though the grand tradition of experimentation is being faithfully carried on. Rick Veitch's RAREBIT FIENDS showed us that he had a strong interest in psychedelic comics, and 'psychedelic' (as if you needed telling) just means 'mind expanding'. Both comic nostalgia and evolution, GREYSHIRT is going to be a real treat for your brain.

GALAXY EXPRESS 999 VOL 4 TP (Viz)
Onward into the worlds of the strange. GALAXY EXPRESS TPs are being released on an excruciatingly slow schedule. Many will appreciate the irony of this, as the stories are centred on the journey of an interspace craft in the shape of a classic old steam engine. The main protagonists are the boy hero Tetsuro and his friend, the beautiful Maetel, with many more of the Galaxy Express' staff and passengers playing their parts. Deeply strange, even for manga, Leiji Matsumoto's story unwinds at a stately yet seductive pace. Each story has a sweet, sometimes elegiac atmosphere to it, and although you might be left wondering if you've missed something, you'll also feel a little better about the world. An odd journey, but I'm really looking forward to buying this and taking my next trip.

DOGGER PICKS:

THE ESTABLISHMENT #2 (DC Wildstorm)
I picked this up last month, not really sure what to expect. THE MONARCHY had been a huge disappointment to me, so my expectations weren't high. I was very pleasantly surprised. Good, solid storytelling here, with what promises to be an interesting cast of characters from Edgington and Adlard. Like THE MONARCHY, it's in no hurry to explain everything. Unlike THE MONARCHY, there is the sense that the writer knows what the explanation for everything is. And, as I said last month, this has sod-all to do with THE AUTHORITY, so god knows why they attempted to make it sound like it did in the pre-launch hype.

HOPELESS SAVAGES #3 (Oni Press)
There's a reason I keep going on about this. It's because it's bloody good. One of the most refreshingly different comics I've seen in a while, telling a fun and different story while talking about the relationships that make a family, and the struggles a family has. The art's bloody lovely, the characters are interesting, and the plot is nicely off-the-wall. You won't find anything else quite like it out there, which is a shame. Buy this, and hope they make more.

Comics shipping in the US on October 24th:

DARK HORSE

AUG010023 USAGI YOJIMBO #52 $2.99

DC COMICS

AUG010264 ANGEL AND THE APE #3 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
AUG010215 BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES #43 $1.99
AUG010269 CODENAME KNOCKOUT #6 (MR) $2.50
AUG010244 CYBERNARY 2.0 #4 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG010249 ESTABLISHMENT #2 $2.50
AUG010198 FLASH #179 $2.25
AUG010200 GREEN LANTERN #143 $2.25
AUG010254 GREYSHIRT INDIGO SUNSET #1 (Of 6) $3.50
AUG010199 JOKER LAST L
AUGH #4 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG010236 LEGION #1 $2.50
AUG010239 STARMAN VOL 2 NIGHT AND DAY TP NEW PRTG $17.95
AUG010201 SUPERGIRL #63 $2.25
AUG010225 SUPERMAN & BATMAN GENERATIONS II #3 (Of 4) $5.95
AUG010202 SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL #119 $2.25
AUG010260 ZERO GIRL TP $14.95

IMAGE

MAY011385 FATHOM KILLIANS TIDE #4 $2.95
MAY011334 SPAWN #112 $2.50
APR011361 TELLOS THE LAST HEIST $5.95
AUG011145 WITCHBLADE LADY DEATH SPECIAL $4.95

MARVEL

AUG011469 AVENGERS #47 $2.25
AUG011426 DEADPOOL AGENT OF WEAPON X #3 $2.25
AUG011456 DEFENDERS #10 $2.25
AUG011461 FANTASTIC FOUR WORLDS GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE #11 $2.99
AUG011449 NIGHTSIDE #1 $2.99
AUG011467 PARADISE X THE HERALDS #1 $3.50
AUG011444 PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #36 $2.25
JUL011573 SPIDER-MAN TANGLED WEB TP (C: 2) $15.95
JUL011576 X-FORCE NEW BEGININGS TP (C: 2) $12.95
JUL011575 X-MEN POPTOPIA TP (C: 2) $16.95
AUG011427 X-TREME X-MEN SAVAGE LAND #2 $2.99

WIZARD

AUG011666 SHADOW REAVERS #3 $2.99
AUG015174 SHADOW REAVERS #3 DERENICK COVER $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

AUG011833 BAD KITTY MISCHIEF NIGHT #1 $2.99
AUG011756 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #51 $1.99
AUG012220 CERES CELESTIAL LEGEND #5 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG011912 CRUX #7 $2.95
AUG011737 CYBERTRONIAN TRG UNOFFICIAL TRANSFORMERS GD VOL 3 $24.95
AUG012204 EAGLE VOL 21 END OF THE TRAIL $6.95
AUG012226 GALAXY EXPRESS VOL 4 TP $16.95
AUG012227 GUNDAM WING EPISODE ZERO #7 (Of 8) $2.95
AUG012107 GUNWITCH OUTSKIRTS OF DOOM #3 (Of 3) $2.95
AUG012105 HOPELESS SAVAGES #3 (Of 4) $2.95
AUG011757 JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #170 $2.19
AUG011842 LADY DEATH MISCHIEF NIGHT PREMIUM ED #1 $12.99
JUL011975F LODOSS WAR CHRONICLES HEROIC KNIGHT #13 $2.95
AUG011900 MAXION #23 (MR) $2.95
AUG012228 NEON GENESIS BOOK 6 #4 (Of 4) $3.50
AUG012229 NEON GENESIS BOOK 6 COLL ED #4 (Of 4) $3.50
AUG012230 NO NEED FOR TENCHI PART 12 #3 (Of 6) (Note Price) $2.95
JUN012085 OPTIC NERVE #8 (MR) $3.50
AUG011759 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #62 $3.29
AUG011760 SABRINA VOL 2 #25 (Net) PI
AUG011911 SCION #17 $2.95
JUL011953F SOULSEARCHERS #50 $2.50
JUL011814E VAMPI #11 REG ED (Note Price) $2.99
JUL011815I VAMPI #11 DLX ED $9.95

MAGAZINES

AUG012246 COMIC SHOP NEWS #749 (Net) PI
AUG012024 VAMPIRELLA #1 COMMEMORATIVE ED $4.95

The 9A Lighthouse Crew are Trafalgar, Shannon, Fastnet, Plymouth, Viking, German Bight, Finisterre, Forties, Dogger, Cromarty and Fisher.

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