The Shipping Forecast for February 12th

It's Vertigo's tenth birthday, and those generous souls have passed the hat around to Gaiman, Gibbons, Milligan et al to get us a present. So make a party of it, with some fine vintage GRENDEL and a box of GRRL SCOUT cookies.
10 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:

VERTIGO X PREVIEW (DC Vertigo)
It's a puff piece as much as a celebration of ten years of the Vertigo imprint, but don't resent forking over the cash just yet. For starters, you won't have to fork over much cash - just 99c, or 75p in the UK. That's not bad, considering that you get an "exclusive" SHADE THE CHANGING MAN story from Milligan and Allred (exclusive until it gets reprinted in a TPB, so it should be good for about five years at least), plus previews of Jill Thompson's DEATH manga, the new Neil Gaiman-penned ENDLESS project, Dave Gibbons's all-mod OGN and snippets of all sorts of upcoming projects, plus words from some of the imprint's more notable creators and little bits of silliness. All wrapped up in a cover that looks like PJ Harvey made up like Death. Quirky. All in all, a good package for the curious and long-time Vertigo readers. [German Bight]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

GRENDEL: GOD & THE DEVIL #1 (Dark Horse)
Matt Wagner was never afraid of a change of scenery in his popular series GRENDEL. When this issue was first published as GRENDEL #24, readers were greeted with a jump forward into the year 2512, where Pope Innocent XLII holds sway over the decimated United States and the church fights with Big Businesses to see who will rule the entire world. Wagner's story is sharp and cynical, with gorgeous art by John K Snyder III and Jay Geldhof proving to be equally dynamic and exciting. The new Grendel explodes across the page, thanks not only to Snyder and Geldhof's incredible art, but Wagner's exciting story. Those who have never read GRENDEL should make sure it doesn't pass them by again. [Plymouth]

GRRL SCOUTS: WORK SUCKS #1 (Image Comics)
Jim Mahfood's badass drug dealing, gun toting hip hop heroines are back! And this time, they're selling out! Yes, after taking down a major corporation that was quite literally evil on a biblical scale in their original Oni Press series, the girls are now laying low and getting proper jobs. Don't expect them to stay low for long, though. The first GRRL SCOUTS series set the pace at breakneck, and it's not likely to let up here, with Mahfood's dynamic page breakdowns and anvil-fat black inks delivering a top mix of laughs and violence. Just don't expect it to be subtle. [Fisher]

ALIAS VOL 2: COME HOME (Marvel Max)
ALIAS is, quite simply, the best and most interesting Marvel Universe book currently being published, so the release of this second volume is a welcome occurrence. Fans of the Marvel Universe will enjoy the cameos and nods to the rich tapestry of the setting, although the basic 'private eye' story has universal appeal thanks to Brian Bendis' excellent dialogue and plotting, and the art by Michael Gaydos brims with character and a deft touch not usually seen on a superhero title. The arc collected in this volume is perhaps not the strongest ALIAS storyline so far, but it is an intriguing and thoughtful look at alienation in small-town life, and so well worth picking up. [Finisterre]

H-E-R-O #1 (DC Universe)
What if you found a device that could turn you into a superhero just by typing in four letters? Your world would change for the better, right? Don't count on it. Writer Will Pfeifer is best known for his brilliantly satirical mini-series FINALS, and he's promised that H-E-R-O will not be taking the easy route through this set-up. Then again, when your book opens with the protagonist calling a suicide hotline because of finding the mysterious "H Dial", well, you know you're in for something a little different. SUPERMAN artist Kano is on board for interior art, John Van Fleet is providing covers... this is definitely a series to try. [Plymouth]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR FEBRUARY 12th:

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

DARK HORSE

DEC020026 GRENDEL: GOD & THE DEVIL #1 (MR) $3.50
DEC020033 OH MY GODDESS #95: TRAVELER (PART 5 OF 5) $3.50

DC COMICS

DEC020746 ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #613 $2.25
DEC020804 ASTRO CITY: LOCAL HEROES #1 (Of 5) $2.95
DEC020728 AZRAEL: AGENT OF THE BAT #99 $2.95
DEC020725 BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #164 $2.50
DEC020737 BIRDS OF PREY: CATWOMAN/BATGIRL #1 (Of 2) $5.95
DEC020814 FABLES #10 (MR) $2.50
DEC020790 GEN 13 #6 $2.95
DEC020739 GOTHAM CENTRAL #4 $2.50
DEC020762 GREEN LANTERN #159 $2.25
DEC020741 HARLEY QUINN #29 $2.50
DEC020767 HAWKMAN: ENDLESS FLIGHT TP $12.95
DEC020818 HELLBLAZER SPECIAL: LADY CONSTANTINE #3 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
DEC020768 H-E-R-O #1 $2.50
DEC020819 HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC #20 (MR) $2.75
DEC020771 JLA: RIDDLE OF THE BEAST SC $14.95
DEC020772 JSA #45 $2.50
DEC020743 NIGHTWING #78 $2.25
DEC020784 SCOOBY-DOO #69 $2.25
DEC020796 STEAMPUNK: DRAMA OBSCURA $14.95
DEC020798 STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES #8 (MR) $2.95
DEC020754 SUPERMAN & BATMAN: GENERATIONS III #2 (Of 12) $2.95
DEC020752 SUPERMAN: CRITICAL CONDITION TP $14.95
NOV020785 TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES #6 $2.95
DEC020824 VERTIGO X PREVIEW (MR) $0.99

IMAGE

NOV021787 DARKNESS VOL 2 #2 $2.99
NOV021757 GI JOE #14 $2.95
DEC021793 GRRL SCOUTS: WORK SUCKS #1 (Of 4) $2.95
NOV021773 POWERS #28 (MR) $2.95
MAR021390 SPAWN #122 $2.50
SEP021216 WITCHBLADE #61 $2.99

MARVEL

DEC022130 ALIAS VOL 2: COME HOME TP (MR) $13.99
DEC022104 BLACK PANTHER #54 $2.50
DEC022089 CAPTAIN AMERICA #9 $2.99
DEC022085 DAREDEVIL #43 $2.99
DEC022108 EDEN'S TRAIL #4 (Of 5) $2.99
DEC022064 INCREDIBLE HULK #50 (Note Price) $3.50
DEC022100 IRON MAN #65 $2.25
DEC022106 KILLRAVEN #5 (Of 6) $2.99
DEC022078 MEKANIX #5 (Of 6) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

NOV022343 ARCHIE DIGEST #196 $2.39
NOV022341 ARCHIE MYSTERIES #26 $2.19
DEC022983 BIG O PART 3 #4 (Of 4) $3.50
DEC022516 BLACK TIDE CVR A MILLER #4 $3.50
DEC022517 BLACK TIDE CVR B MURPHEY #4 $3.50
DEC022564 BRIAN PULIDO'S LADY DEATH #1: MEDIEVAL TALE $2.95
OCT022512 DORK TOWER #22 $2.99
DEC022991 INU YASHA PART 7 #7 (Of 8) $2.95
NOV022674 KISSING CHAOS: NONSTOP BEAUTY #3 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
DEC022571 NEGATION #15 KEY ISSUE PI
DEC022697 NO MORE SHAVES TP $18.95
DEC022616 PRINCESS PRINCE BOOK 1 GN $15.95
DEC023005 PROJECT ARMS PART 1 #6 (Of 16) $3.25
NOV022351 SABRINA VOL 2 #42 $2.19
DEC022847 SHOT CALLERZ TP (MR) $11.95
DEC022581 SIGIL #33 $2.95
DEC022422 SKAGGY THE LOST #2 (Of 4) (MR) $3.50
DEC022582 SOJOURN #20 $2.95
DEC022647 TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN #5 $2.95
DEC023009 VAGABOND #16 (MR) $4.95
NOV022532 WEASEL CURR PRTG #2 (O/A) (MR) $4.95

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

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