The Shipping Forecast for June 26th

Discover the talents of the very European Lewis Trondheim, rediscover the joy of DEADPOOL, and dabble in a little web fluid from the pen of Paul Pope in this week's forecast!
24 June 2002

The Shipping Forecast is Ninth Art's pick of the best and most notable new releases hitting comic stores each week, courtesy of the fishing crew at the Ninth Art lighthouse. Shipping details come courtesy of Diamond. Check out the Diamond website for the latest information, as the list is subject to change.

GERMAN BIGHT PICKS:

ODDBALLZ #2 (NBM)
The first issue of this was a pleasant surprise for me when it turned up at the lighthouse. I must have overlooked it on the shipping list due to its rather dull title, but then it arrived and blow me down if someone hasn't started publishing Lewis Trondheim on a regular basis. As someone who relishes good bandes dessinées it was a pleasure to be introduced to the works of Manu Larcenet as well. ODDBALLZ gives half of each issue to each creator, giving us a lot of good reading for our money. There's a serialisation of a new McConey story from Trondheim (a character previously published in albums from Fantagraphics) and Larcenet's "Astronauts of the Future", a tale of two intelligent kids who, with typical kid logic, set out to discover whether all other people are robots or aliens. For comics that are low-key, dialogue-led and oh-so-European, you should read ODDBALLZ and expand your horizons.

PINKY & STINKY GN (Top Shelf)
James Kochalka once again makes a bid for the King of Cute crown, this time with a story of two little piglets who set off on a mission to Pluto but crash land on the Moon. Will th- What? Okay everyone, let's get it out of our systems right now, shall we? Ready? Altogether now -Piiiiigs iiiiin spaaaaace! Now let's get on with the review proper. Will they get off the moon and get safely home? Will they ever get to Pluto? Will it all go a bit LORD OF THE FLIES, and if it does, which one's Piggy? Not all of these questions will be answered, but I'll be buying the book anyway, because of the way Kochalka manages to quietly make brilliant observations about the human condition in every story he publishes. And the art's lovely. And it's pigs. In spaaaaace! Sorry, couldn't help it, just an involuntary reaction.

PLYMOUTH PICKS:

CHARM SCHOOL #5 (Slave Labor Graphics)
You've got a witch, a vampire, and a faerie. Sounds like a fight waiting to happen, isn't it? Well, it is in CHARM SCHOOL... but it's of the romantic triangle variety. Elizabeth Watasin's managed to sneak a supernatural romance comic in under most people's radar, which is a little mind-boggling; you'd think fans of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER would be all over this title. With crisp, clean artwork, some incredible character designs, and just the right amount of dramatic tension, a new issue of CHARM SCHOOL is always a reason to celebrate.

DEADPOOL #68 $2.25 (Marvel Universe)
It's not fair, really. You know when you've finally washed your hands of a book, decided it wasn't worth it, no one else was doing a good job, that's it... and then suddenly it gets good again? That's what happened with DEADPOOL, thanks to Gail Simone and Udon Studios. For the first time since Joe Kelly's initial year on the title, it's a drop-down funny book, but manages to balance a level of drama and intrigue in there as well. Udon Studios' anime-influenced art is lovely to boot, reminding me for the first time in a while why this style can be so popular, and also being a perfect match for Simone's fast-paced scripts. You really don't want to miss out on this any longer.

FISHER PICKS:

SPIDER-MAN: TANGLED WEB #15 THE COLLABORATOR (Marvel Comics)
I'm on a Spidey kick this week, what with two intriguing books out, and the movie still buzzing through my cranium. First up is the latest TANGLED WEB. This series has been a very pleasant surprise - every month I've been expecting a bomb, and every month it's been one of the best comics out there. With so many creators telling so many stories, you'd expect the quality to be hugely variable, but it's actually a really consistent and enormously gratifying read. Even Ron Zimmerman and Wizard award winner Zeb Wells were able to impress, while Kaare Andrews and Darwyn Cooke excelled. This month it's the turn of 100%'s Paul Pope, who tells the tale of a girl with a crush on the webslinger - and a father who wants to see the spider smashed. As is so often the case with TANGLED WEB, it's a stand-alone story, so check it out.

SPIDER-MAN/BLACK CAT: THE EVIL THAT MEN DO #1 (Marvel Comics)
OK, so this book's going to sell no matter what I say. It's Kevin Smith, and Kevin Smith sells books. He's a strong and talented writer, although not as great as his sales would seem to suggest. Indeed, he's known for being exceedingly wordy and occasionally self-righteous, so it's good that he's got a strong editorial hand in the form of Axel Alonso to guide him here (see this week's interview. Art comes from the cheesecake team supreme of Terry and Rachel Dodson, whom I freely admit to being something of a fan of. Smith is set to take on monthly titles for both of the lead characters in this mini-series, so this is probably a good taster for those books. Not that it matters if you buy it. This book's going to sell no matter what you do.

DOGGER PICKS:

LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 22 HEAVEN & EARTH (Dark Horse)
I know we're 22 volumes in, and, yeah by this point, it's not exactly going to be easy for a newcomer to follow what's going on. Still, all the previous 21 volumes are available, and for well under a tenner a pop for three hundred pages at a time, these are about the best value collections on the market. And indeed, they're some of the best books on the market. Utterly gripping and visually stunning, this tale of honour, vengeance and family ties in feudal Japan is one of the most stunning achievements in the comics medium, and Dark Horse is to be thanked for bringing it back into print in English. No comics bookshelf is complete without this amazing series.

PROMETHEA #21 (DC Wildstorm/ABC)
And here's another stunner. I say this every time: This is, for me, the best comic current being published. Alan Moore and JH Williams manage to astound me every time with this book, both with the beauty of the pages and the narrative they unfold. This is the only comics series I have ever been tempted to buy in hardcover - the sheer beauty of the work demands the solid permanence of a hardcover collection. We're halfway through a story that isn't everyone's cup of tea here, but if you can enjoy it on no other level, then the technical skill on display here is just mind-blowing. This is worth buying just to watch these masters of the form put everyone else to shame.

Comics shipping in the US on June 26th:

DARK HORSE

APR020050 BTVS #46 WITHDRAWAL $2.99
APR020051 BTVS #46 WITHDRAWAL PHOTO CVR $2.99
MAR020065 LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 22 HEAVEN & EARTH TP $9.95
APR020055 LONE WOLF 2100 #2 (Of 4) $2.99
MAR020049 SPYBOY SPECIAL ONE SHOT $4.99
APR020029 USAGI YOJIMBO #58 $2.99

DC COMICS

MAR020428 100 BULLETS #36 (MR) $2.50
APR020430 ACTION COMICS #792 $2.25
APR020417 BATMAN #604 $2.25
MAR025039 BATMAN BRUCE WAYNE MURDERER TP $19.95
APR020422 BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES #51 $1.99
APR020421 CATWOMAN #8 $2.50
APR020485 CODENAME KNOCKOUT #14 (MR) $2.50
APR020461 DEXTERS LABORATORY #30 $1.99
APR020471 EVERQUEST TRANFORMATION $5.95
APR020434 FLASH #187 $2.25
FEB020599 GREEN ARROW #14 $2.50
MAR020434 HELLBLAZER #174 (MR) $2.50
APR020448 JIST CREATING THE DC UNIVERSE BOOK ONE TP $19.95
APR020450 JIST WITH WALTER SIMONSON CREATING SANDMAN $5.95
APR020443 JLA #67 $2.25
APR020452 LEGION #9 $2.50
APR020474 OUT THERE #12 $2.95
APR020478 PROMETHEA #21 (MR) $2.95
APR020467 SCOOBY DOO SUPER SCAREFEST #1 $3.95
APR020457 TITANS #42 $2.50
APR020458 WONDER WOMAN #182 $2.25

IMAGE

APR021451 UNIVERSE #8 (Note Price) $4.95

MARVEL

APR021725 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #42 $2.25
APR021770 BLACK PANTHER #46 $2.50
MAY025027 CALL OF DUTY BROTHERHOOD #1 MIGHTY MARVEL MUST HAVES $2.99
APR021749 CAPTAIN AMERICA #3 $2.99
APR021744 DEADPOOL #68 $2.25
MAR021703 GHOST RIDER THE HAMMER LANE TP $15.95
APR021771 INCREDIBLE HULK #42 $2.25
MAR021772 INCREDIBLE HULK TRANSFORMATIONS TP (STAR13288) $17.95
APR021773 INFINITY ABYSS #2 (Of 6) $2.99
APR021774 PARADISE X #3 $2.99
APR021731 SPIDER-MAN BLACK CAT THE EVIL THAT MEN DO #1 (Of 4) $2.99
APR021730 SPIDER-MAN TANGLED WEB #15 THE COLLABORATOR $2.99
APR021743 WOLVERINE #178 $2.25
APR021746 X-MEN EVOLUTION #8 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS:

MAR022379 AMELIA RULES #6 $2.95
APR022039 ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #59 $1.99
APR022040 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #135 $3.29
APR022041 ARCHIES WEIRD MYSTERIES #22 $1.99
APR022042 BETTY #114 $1.99
APR022009 CHARM SCHOOL #5 (MR) $2.95
APR022190 CROSSGEN CHRONICLES #8 $3.95
APR022191 CRUX #15 $2.95
APR022198 EDGE #3 $9.95
FEB022554F ELECTRIC GIRL VOL 2 TP $13.95
MAR022293 FUTABAKUN CHANGE VOL 8 #4 $2.95
APR022173 GENERIC COMIC BOOK #8 $1.95
APR022001 GIRL GENIUS #6 (RES) $3.95
APR022599 MEDABOTS PART 2 #2 (Of 4) $2.75
MAY021946 MERIDIAN VOL 3 TP TAKING THE SKIES $15.95
APR022439 ODDBALLZ #2 $2.95
MAR022296 OGENKI CLINIC VOL 9 #2 (A) $2.95
APR022436 PHANTOM VOL 2 GN SINGH WEB $6.95
APR022555 PINKY & STINKY GN $17.95
APR022575 POKEMON ADVS PART 7 #3 (Of 5) $4.95
APR022182 ROUTE 666 #1 $2.95
MAY021943 RUSE VOL 1 TP ENTER THE DETECTIVE $15.95
APR022193 SCION #25 $2.95
APR022604 SHORT CUTS VOL 1 TP $12.95
APR022459 SHOT CALLERZ #2 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
APR022457 SIDEKICKS TP $8.95
APR022180 SLAYERS SUPER EXPLOSIVE DEMON STORY VOL 1 TP LEGEND DARKNESS $15.95
MAY021733 TERRY MOORES PARADISE TOO #8 $2.95
MAR025135 TRANSFORMERS GENERATION ONE #1 3RD PRTG (PU#526) $2.95
APR025105 TRANSFORMERS GENERATION ONE #2 2ND PRTG (PU#527) $2.95
MAR022294 VAMPIRE YUI VOL 4 #4 $2.95
APR022608 ZOIDS #5 $5.95

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

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.