The Shipping Forecast for December 26th

Sometimes, those things going bump in the night aren't Santa Clause. Get ready for some bleak midwinter chills on the racks this week, courtesy of COURTNEY CRUMRIN and DARKNESS FALLS.
23 December 2002

Welcome to the Shipping Forecast, Ninth Art's pick of the best and most notable new releases hitting comic stores each week.

COMIC OF THE WEEK:

COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE COVEN OF MYSTICS #1 (Oni Press)
When COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE NIGHT THINGS #1 hit comic stores back in March, the response was immediate. Creator Ted Naifeh's story of a young sarcastic girl finding her world colliding with that of the supernatural was a fast success, and Naifeh enchanted readers with his witty situations and appealing art. Now, as the end of the year approaches, Naifeh's decided to give us a special holiday gift in the form of the all-new COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE COVEN OF MYSTICS mini-series. Where the first COURTNEY CRUMRIN mini-series featured four self-contained stories, this new adventure promises to turn up the intensity, with a longer-reaching storyline that moves through all four issues. Add in Courtney's smart mouth and unique solutions to perplexing problems, and Naifeh's always gorgeous art, and you can see why THE COVEN OF MYSTICS is promising to be such a draw. If that's not enough, you can download the first issue of the original mini-series from the Oni Press website. What are you waiting for? [Plymouth]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE NIGHT THINGS TP (Oni Press)
Of course, if you find the first issue of either COURTNEY CRUMRIN series to be right up your street, you're lucky to be on the receiving end of a double dose of Naifeh's fantastic fable this week, thanks to the release of the trade paperback collection of that first four issue series. Fans of GLOOMCOOKIE won't be disappointed by these hugely entertaining stories, but those of you not of a Gothic bent needn't steer clear. Anyone who ever jumped in the night because they thought that dressing gown hanging on the door was a monster coming to get them will appreciate Courtney's adventures. [Fisher]

DARKNESS FALLS: TOOTH FAIRY: TRAGIC LIFE OF MATILDA DIXON (Dark Horse)
Another movie tie-in from Dark Horse, but one with the potential to be better then you'd expect. This takes the unusual route of acting as a prequel for the film DARKNESS FALLS, which hasn't been released yet. Although Oni made a success of BLAIR WITCH PROJECT prequel comics, they were sold on the strength of the film. So to make any impact, this book really has to stand on its own as a one-shot horror comic. Can it? The art alone presents cause for optimism, as Charlie Adlard has a good track record with spooky. Being allergic to X-Books, I can't comment on Joe Harris's talent as a writer, but the premise of the story flows nicely (although if you are planning to pick this book up, avoid the plot summaries online as they give away the entire plot). It would be interesting to see if Harris can work in a subtle comment on contemporary paedophile hysteria, as TOOTH FAIRY tells the tale of a reclusive widow whose kindliness towards the children of the town of Darkness Falls backfires on her in a very nasty fashion. [German Bight]

BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

Because we can't always give you the most up-to-date shipping information, we'll also give you an occasional look at some of the best books that have recently shipped or are expected to ship in the coming weeks.

THE YELLOW JAR HC (NBM Publishing)
Slogging through the independents section of Previews can sometimes be a bit of a chore, so it's always a real pleasure when a book you've never heard of catches your eye and cries out, 'buy me'. Of course, when the publisher buys a full page ad, that kind of helps, but it shows confidence in the product, right? THE YELLOW JAR is the lavishly beautiful first volume of Patrick Atangan's adaptations of traditional Asian tales (starting with Japan, but he's promised future volumes looking at India, Korea, Thailand, and more). Apparently, it's drawn in the ukiyo-e style, which we're told signifies a flowing line and a layered, precise composition, but also describes the story's informal settings and themes of reverence for nature and love of beauty. You don't need to know all that, though. What you need to know is that this is a stunningly attractive work from a seriously gifted new artist. An artist so good that P Craig Russell has tipped him as one of the next big things. That's a commendation not to be sniffed at, but just one look at the pages in this book should be all the persuasion you need. [Fisher]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR DECEMBER 26th:

Shipping details come courtesy of Diamond. Visit the Diamond website for the latest information, as the list is subject to change.

DARK HORSE

OCT020026 BTVS #52L VIVA LAS BUFFY (PART 2 OF 4) $2.99
OCT020027 BTVS #52L VIVA LAS BUFFY (PART 2 OF 4) PHOTO CVR $2.99
OCT020031 CANNON GOD EXAXXION STAGE 2 (PART 4 OF 5) #12 (MR) (Note Price) $3.99
OCT020025 DARKNESS FALLS: TOOTH FAIRY: TRAGIC LIFE OF MATILDA DIXON $2.99

DC COMICS

OCT020758 ACTION COMICS #798 $2.25
OCT020739 BATMAN #610 $2.25
OCT020744 BATMAN/ALIENS II #1 (Of 3) $5.95
OCT020734 BATMAN FAMILY #8: BLACKOUT (Of 8) $2.95
OCT020745 BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #57 $2.25
OCT020747 CATWOMAN #14 $2.50
OCT020785 DEXTER'S LABORATORY #33 $2.25
OCT020819 FIGHT FOR TOMORROW #4 (Of 6) (MR) $2.50
OCT020820 FILTH #7 (Of 13) (MR) $2.95
OCT020765 FLASH #193 $2.25
OCT020794 GLOBAL FREQUENCY #3 (Of 12) $2.95
OCT020750 GOTHAM CENTRAL #2 $2.50
OCT020752 GOTHAM GIRLS #5 (Of 5) $2.25
OCT020821 HELLBLAZER #179 (MR) $2.75
OCT020795 J SCOTT CAMPBELL: DANGER GIRL SKETCHBOOK NEW PRTG $6.95
AUG020281 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL II #4 (OF 6) $3.50
OCT020774 LEGION #15 $2.50
OCT020796 OUT THERE #15 $2.95
OCT020776 POWER COMPANY #11 $2.75
OCT020799 RESISTANCE #4 $2.95
OCT020777 TITANS #48 $2.75
OCT020804 WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #5 (MR) $2.95
NOV020770 WONDER WOMAN #187 (RES) $2.25

IMAGE

SEP021164 GOLDFISH: THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY HC $49.95
OCT021760 PARADIGM #4 $3.50
OCT021772 TOM JUDGE: END OF DAYS #1 $3.99

MARVEL

OCT022036 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #48 $2.25
OCT022045 AVENGERS #62 $2.25
OCT022031 CAPTAIN AMERICA #7 (RES) $2.99
NOV022064 DAREDEVIL LEGENDS VOL 1: YELLOW TP $14.99
OCT022046 FANTASTIC FOUR #64 $2.25
OCT022051 IRON MAN #63 $2.25
SEP021492 SPIDER-MAN: GET KRAVEN #6 (Of 7) $2.25
OCT022027 ULTIMATE DAREDEVIL & ELEKTRA #3 (Of 4) $2.25
NOV022063 ULTIMATE DAREDEVIL AND ELEKTRA TP $11.99
OCT022010 ULTIMATE WAR #2 (Of 4) $2.25
OCT022017 WOLVERINE #184 $2.25
OCT022016 X-STATIX #6 $2.25
OCT022023 X-TREME X-MEN: X-POSE #2 (Of 2) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

OCT022287 ANNOTATED MANTOOTH TP $12.95
OCT022436 ARCHARD'S AGENTS #1 $2.95
OCT022838 BASTARD!! #13: EMPRESS (MR) $3.95
OCT022339 BETTY & VERONICA #183 $2.19
OCT022340 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #135 $2.39
OCT022342 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #58 $2.19
OCT022842 CERES, CELESTIAL LEGEND PART 4 #3 (Of 4) $3.50
SEP022313 CICI MINI SERIES #4 (Of 4) (MR) $2.50
OCT022722 COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE COVEN OF MYSTICS #1 (Of 4) $2.95
OCT022723 COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE NIGHT THINGS TP $11.95
MAY022005 DARKMINDS: MACROPOLIS #4 $2.95
AUG022038 DORK TOWER #21 $2.99
STAR13675 DORK TOWER COLL TP VOL 2: DORK SHADOWS $15.95
SEP022031 DORK TOWER: LORD OF THE RINGS SPECIAL $2.99
NOV022418 FORGE #10 $7.95
NOV022783 INQUISITOR #1 FAN CLUB CVR ED (MR) $5.00
OCT022344 JUGHEAD'S DOUBLE DIGEST #91 $3.59
OCT022429 MERIDIAN #31 $2.95
OCT022606 OPPOSITE FORCES #2 $2.95
OCT022439 PATH #10 $2.95
OCT022728 QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED #2 (Of 3) (MR) $2.95
OCT022434 RUSE #15 $2.95
OCT022827 SHONEN JUMP VOL 1 #2 FEBRUARY 2003 $4.95
OCT022851 SILENT MOBIUS PART 12 HELL #1 (Of 5) $2.95
OCT022408 SIMPSONS COMICS #77 $2.50
OCT022349 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #118 $2.19
OCT022519 TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA #6 $2.95
OCT022855 VAGABOND VOL 4 TP $12.95

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.