The Shipping Forecast for August 28th

It's a bumper week for Mike Carey fans, with the fully painted LUCIFER: NIRVANA and the long-awaited start of his run on HELLBLAZER. There's also a few gems Carey isn't writing, such as ROUTE 666 and WILDCATS 3.0.
26 August 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.

VIKING PICKS:

WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #1 (DC/Wildstorm)
WILDCATS - or WILDC.A.T.S., to give it it's original and slightly stupid name - started out as a rather poxy and dull knock-off of the X-MEN circa the mid-90s. When Joe Casey took over, on volume 2, it became more than that, as the team members started acting with their own realistic and believable agendas. Team leader and sophisticated android Spartan merged with weird alien parasite Void to gain power over a sort of other dimension, and - here's the good bit - used the substances he discovered there to research a highly efficient battery for his humanitarian corporate conglomerate, Halo. This revolutionary battery appears to be one of the central concepts of the new series. Dustin Nguyen, one of the fastest-improving artists around, is on art chores this volume, and I personally can't wait.

HELLBLAZER #175 (DC Vertigo)
Azzarello out, Carey in. Azzarello's run on HELLBLAZER has been met with mixed feelings by readers - this particular fisherman felt it was a largely inappropriate take on Constantine that didn't really grasp the central concepts. It brings joy to my heart, then, that Mike Carey, writer of the near-impossibly brilliant LUCIFER - and a Briton (in some people's minds a requirement to write Hellblazer) - is taking over as of this issue. What's the story about? Who knows? I can't say I've even checked, as I have enough faith in Carey that I'll read just about anything he writes regardless. And as a bonus, we're also getting another stint on HELLBLAZER by the definitive Constantine artist, Steve Dillon.

PLYMOUTH PICKS:

LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 24 (Dark Horse)
LONE WOLF & CUB may be nearing its final days, but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy one of Japan's finest comics to be translated into English. Ogami Itto's quest nears its completion, and long-time readers will enjoy watching all the plot threads pull together. At the same time, new readers can enjoy the action, the drama, and the raw emotion on display here. Kazuo Koiki and Goseki Kojima's 28-volume epic is astounding on so many levels, it should be a crime to not be reading this.

ROUTE 666 #3 (CrossGen)
When CrossGen first came on the scene a little over two years ago, most people didn't even bat an eye - but this latest school of fish to come out of their waters is proving to be quite the catch! Take 1950s America with the "Red Scare" of Communism, then add in the supernatural and undead, and you've got ROUTE 666. Tony Bedard's stories for the first two issues were a lot of fun, and Karl Moline's pencils are absolutely gorgeous to look at. Seeing the undead may be a nightmare for ROUTE 666's protagonist Cassie, but for readers, it's a delight.

GERMAN BIGHT PICKS:

LUCIFER: NIRVANA (DC Vertigo)
Mike Carey is turning into one of the most productive men at Vertigo, which is no bad thing. There seems to have been no corresponding reduction in the quality of his work, which is up there with Vertigo's best. Moreover, I've found the stand-alone issues of LUCIFER to be his best in the series, so the prospect of a one-shot special has me positively skipping about the lighthouse with glee. This is a stand-alone story with more pages to play with, and the painted art comes from Jon J Muth, so this really can't fail. What with his first issue of HELLBLAZER also finally making its long-awaited appearance this week, picking up LUCIFER: NIRVANA will double - nay, triple! - your Mike Carey joy.

FISHER PICKS:

DAREDEVIL: UNDERBOSS TP (Marvel Knights)
You've heard the hype - now check it out for yourself. Brian Michael Bendis has ensured that DAREDEVIL is one of the best monthly books on the shelves at the moment - many of my discerning landlubber friends rate it as their favourite. This first collection makes it clear why: The dialogue is crackling, the characterisation is superb, and the gorgeously moody noir art from Alex Maleev will take your breath away. The story sees recently blinded mob boss Wilson Fisk overthrown by an upstart 'underboss' from his organisation - a move that also has a dramatic and life-changing impact on Daredevil. Sterling stuff that you really don't want to miss.

Comics shipping in the US on August 28th:

DARK HORSE

JUN020026 BTVS #48: HELLMOUTH TO MOUTH (PART 2 OF 4) $2.99
JUN020027 BTVS #48: HELLMOUTH TO MOUTH (PART 2 OF 4) PHOTO CVR $2.99
MAY020065 LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 24: IN THESE SMALL HANDS TP (MR) $9.95
JUN020019 USAGI YOJIMBO #60 $2.99

DC COMICS

JUN020414 ACTION COMICS #794 $2.25
JUN020394 BATMAN #606 $2.25
JUN020403 BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #53 $2.25
JUN020405 CATWOMAN #10 $2.50
JUN020476 CODENAME: KNOCKOUT #16 (MR) $2.75
JUN020450 DEXTER'S LABORATORY #31 $2.25
JUN020423 FLASH #189 $2.25
JUN020433 HAWKMAN: SECRET FILES #1 $4.95
JUN020480 HELLBLAZER #175 (RES) (MR) $2.50
JUN020435 JLA #70 $2.25
JUL020202 LAB RATS #6 $2.50
JUN020468 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL II #2 (Of 6) $3.50
JUN020422 LEGION #11 $2.50
JUN020484 LUCIFER: NIRVANA (MR) $5.95
JUN020459 OUT THERE #13 $2.95
JUN020446 TITANS #44 $2.75
JUN020465 WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #1 (MR) $2.95
JUN020447 WONDER WOMAN #184 $2.25

IMAGE

JUN021389 LIBERTY MEADOWS #27 $2.95

MARVEL

JUN021743 AGENT X #2 $2.25
JUN021709 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #44 $2.25
JUN021693 APACHE SKIES #2 (MR) $2.99
JUN021726 AVENGERS #57 $2.25
JUN021690 BLADE #6 (MR) $2.99
JUN021706 CALL OF DUTY: THE BROTHERHOOD #3 (Of 6) $2.25
MAY021539 DAREDEVIL: UNDERBOSS TP $14.99
MAY021504 PUNISHER #14 $2.99
JUN021716 SPIDER-MAN: TANGLED WEB #17 $2.99
JUN021745 WOLVERINE #180 $2.25
JUN021738 X-STATIX #2 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS

JUN022104F 3 LITTLE KITTENS #1 (Of 3) $2.95
JUN022014 ARCHIE DIGEST #192 $2.19
JUN022019 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #56 $1.99
JUN022561 CERES, CELESTIAL LEGEND PART 3 #3 (Of 4) $3.50
JUN022177 CRUX #17 $2.95
JUN022220F DORK TOWER #20 $2.99
JUN022397F DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: BLACK AND WHITE #2 (Of 8) $2.99
JUN022237 FATE OF THE BLADE #1 (MR) $2.95
MAY021752 GIRL GENIUS #7 (RES) $3.95
APR022000 GIRL GENIUS VOL 1 HC $25.00
JUN022162 MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO BOOK 4 $15.95
JUN022553 MEDABOTS PART 3 #2 (Of 4) $2.75
JUN022547 POKEMON ADVS PART 7 #5 (Of 5) $4.95
JUN022441 QUEEN & COUNTRY #11 (MR) $2.95
JUN022179 ROUTE 666 #3 $2.95
JUN022024 SABRINA VOL 2 #36 $1.99
JUN022180 SCION #27 $2.95
JUL021960E SCION VOL 3 TP: DIVIDED LOYALTIES $15.95
MAR022415 SMILE VOL 4 #6 $5.99
APR022518 SMILE VOL 4 #7 $4.99
JUN022232 TRANSFORMERS ARMADA #2 $2.95
AUG022047 TRANSFORMERS THE WAR WITHIN #1 $2.95
APR022021I VAMPI #20 DLX ED $9.95
APR022020 VAMPI #20 REG ED $2.99
JUN022556 ZOIDS #7 $5.95

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

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