The Shipping Forecast for February 5th

Graham Annable leads the charge in the new HICKEE collection, and there's a chance to meet the family in the first picture novella from Damon Hurd in this week's round-up of the best new comics.
03 February 2003

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:

HICKEE ANTHOLOGY (Alternative Comics)
What is it about animators turning to comics? There's a lot of it about these days, and I can't think of any that are rubbish. The MONKEYSUIT anthologies are one of my favourite annual events, and now the occasional HICKEE anthology issues have birthed a 128 page TPB. There are ten creators involved, and the conception of this project is rooted in their coffee shop meetings and doodle sessions. For me the real draw is cover artist Graham Annable, whose string-limbed characters look retro yet oh-so-now, and who produces lovely comic vignettes. Ashamed, I will admit that his is actually the only name that I recognise. Still, past experience with animators' comics leads me to hope for great things from the HICKEE ANTHOLOGY, and I'm eager to get my hands on it. [German Bight]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

MY UNCLE JEFF (Origin Comics)
This is the first of a planned series of original 'picture novellas' by Damon Hurd, who should be something of an inspiration to any wannabe writers out there who remain wary about how they'd be received in a small press market dominated by writer/artists. Here, Hurd has teamed with Spanish artist Pedro Camello to tell a fairly intimate story, about a reunion with the uncle he worshipped as a child - the free-spirited black sheep of the family who, in his eyes, was actually the best of a bad bunch. If you're wondering why you should give a damn about someone else's uncle, well, the advantage of self-publishing means the author can tell whatever story he wants, and it's just fortunate in this case that the author has the talent to make it worth your while. So, you can pick this up for Camello's instantly appealing thick-lined art (reminiscent of the excellent Leandro Ferandez), but you'll stay for the cathartic narrative. Hurd's second picture novella, A SORT OF HOMECOMING, with artist Carlos Lima, will be out this summer. [Fisher]

CLOCK MAKER #1 (Image Comics)
One of the last of Image's new "superhero" line is CLOCK MAKER by Jim Krueger and Matt Smith... which, oddly, doesn't seem to be a superhero book at all. In the depths of a mountain is a mammoth clockworks that keeps the world moving and is the gateway to Heaven. Then the keepers are slaughtered and the daughter of the last keeper has to abandon her life to protect the clockworks. Now you see, right there I'm sold with Krueger's sharp concept. What makes it even better is seeing some of the pages of art by Smith, where the panels angle themselves across the page in an intriguing manner. Atmosphere is almost literally dripping off these pages, which apparently will fold out to be double sized. With all this potential, even if it's only half as good as it sounds, it's bound to be a winner. (There's a five-page preview at the Image Comics website, too.) [Plymouth]

RAWHIDE KID #1 (Marvel Max)
Here it is, the comic that stirred up that media blitz a few weeks back. You'll remember the headlines: "Western Legend John Severin Returns To Classic Character". That was how it went, right? No? Oh, OK, so there was something about them making the cowboy gay, and, what a hoot, instead of directly addressing the character's sexuality, or even mentioning it, they're just going to make jokes about it, and won't that be empowering? It's written by noted Friend Of Joe Quesada, Ron Zimmerman, who isn't as bad as people say, but God knows his name isn't much of a draw, so here's a word of advice: Unless you're buying this book out of morbid curiosity, there's only one good reason to pick it up, and that's John Severin. [Fisher]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR FEBRUARY 5th:

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

DARK HORSE

NOV020024 BTVS #53: VIVA LAS BUFFY (PART 3 OF 4) $2.99
NOV020025 BTVS #53: VIVA LAS BUFFY (PART 3 OF 4) PHOTO CVR $2.99

DC COMICS

DEC020785 21 DOWN #6 $2.95
OCT020814 AMERICAN CENTURY #21 (MR) $2.75
DEC020730 BATGIRL YEAR ONE #3 (Of 9) $2.95
NOV020724 BATMAN/ALIENS II #2 (Of 3) $5.95
DEC020733 BATMAN: BRUCE WAYNE, FUGITIVE VOL 2 TP $12.95
DEC020756 BIG DADDY DANGER #7 (Of 9) $2.95
DEC020737 BIRDS OF PREY: CATWOMAN/BATGIRL #1 (Of 2) $5.95
DEC020813 CODENAME: KNOCKOUT #21 (MR) $2.75
DEC020757 COSMIC ODYSSEY TP NEW ED $19.95
DEC020724 DETECTIVE COMICS #779 $2.75
DEC020758 DOOM PATROL #17 $2.50
DEC020774 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #16 $2.25
DEC020782 LOONEY TUNES #99 $2.25
DEC020794 ROBOTECH #3 (Of 6) $2.95
DEC020822 SANDMAN PRESENTS: BAST #2 (Of 3) (MR) $2.95
DEC020777 SPECTRE #26 $2.75
DEC020825 VERTIGO POP!: LONDON #4 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
NOV020809 WITCHING HOUR TP (MR) $19.95
DEC020780 YOUNG JUSTICE #54 $2.75
DEC020809 ZERO GIRL: FULL CIRCLE #4 (Of 5) $2.95

IMAGE
NOV021786 BATTLE OF THE PLANETS/WITCHBLADE #1 $6.99
NOV021752 CLOCK MAKER #1 (Of 12) $2.50
SEP021210 EVO #1 $2.99
DEC021843 FATHOM #1/2 $2.99
NOV021761 HAWAIIAN DICK #2 $2.95
OCT021773 TOMB RAIDER #26 $2.99

MARVEL

DEC022092 ALIAS #19 (RES) (MR) $2.99
DEC022131 APACHE SKIES TP (MR) $12.99
DEC022108 EDEN'S TRAIL #4 (Of 5) $2.99
DEC022073 EXILES #22 $2.25
DEC022103 FANTASTIC FOUR: UNSTABLE MOLECULES #2 (Of 4) $2.99
NOV022017 PUNISHER #21 $2.99
DEC022090 RAWHIDE KID #1 (Of 5) (MR) $2.99
DEC022083 SPIDER-GIRL #57 $2.25
DEC022098 THOR #59 $2.25
DEC022080 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #36 $2.25
DEC022111 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 5: PUBLIC SCRUTINY TP $11.99
NOV022033 X-MEN UNLIMITED #41 $3.50

OTHER PUBLISHERS

NOV022614 30 DAYS OF NIGHT TP (MR) $17.99
NOV022340 ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #67 $2.19
NOV022344 BETTY #122 $2.19
NOV022346 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #136 $2.39
JAN032170F BLACK HOLE #5 (O/A) (MR) $3.95
NOV022799 CERES, CELESTIAL LEGEND PART 4 #4 (Of 4) $3.50
NOV022672 COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE COVEN OF MYSTICS #2 (Of 4) $2.95
OCT022447 DEADBEATS #57 $2.50
DEC022570 FIRST #28 $2.95
NOV022401 FUTURAMA COMICS #11 $2.50
DEC022409 HICKEE ANTHOLOGY TP (MR) $12.95
NOV022347 JUGHEAD #149 $2.19
NOV022349 JUGHEAD'S DOUBLE DIGEST #92 $3.59
OCT022291 MAGIC WHISTLE #8 (MR) $2.95
NOV022641 MOONSTONE NOIR: JACK HAGEE, PRIVATE EYE GN (MR) $5.50
NOV022305 MY MONKEYS NAME IS JENNIFER #6 $2.95
DEC022862 MY UNCLE JEFF $3.95
DEC022574 MYSTIC #33 $2.95
NOV022529 NIGHTMARE ALLEY SC $14.95
NOV022483 NODWICK #19 $2.99
NOV022673 ONE PLUS ONE #4 (Of 5) (MR) $2.95
NOV022671 QUEEN & COUNTRY:
DECLASSIFIED #3 (Of 3) (MR) $2.95
DEC022566 R A SALVATORE'S DEMON WARS: TRIAL BY FIRE #3 (Of 5) $2.95
DEC022615 RECORD LODOSS WAR CHRONICLES HEROIC KNIGHT BOOK 4 $15.95
NOV022788 SHONEN JUMP VOL 1 #3 MARCH 2003 $4.95
DEC022699 SHOULDN'T YOU BE WORKING #1 (MR) $5.95
NOV022402 SIMPSONS COMICS #78 $2.50
NOV022267 STEWART THE RAT #1 (MR) $3.95
NOV022531 STORYLINES #1 (MR) $4.95
DEC022416 URBAN HIPSTER #2 $2.95
DEC022415 URBAN HIPSTER CURR PRTG #1 $2.95
DEC022583 WAY OF THE RAT #10 $2.95
NOV022319 XIN: LEGEND OF THE MONKEY KING #3 LTD CVR $9.95
NOV022318 XIN: LEGEND OF THE MONKEY KING #3 REG CVR $2.99

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.