The Shipping Forecast for September 4th 2003

MADMAN is back, in super groovy colour - but you'll have to wait an extra day for this week's comics, which also include the latest 100 BULLETS trade, and the first collection of YUYU HAKUSHO from the pages of SHONEN JUMP.
01 September 2003

Welcome to the Shipping Forecast, Ninth Art's pick of the best and most notable new releases expected to ship each week. Please note that this week's comics will arrive in US stores on Thursday 4th September due to the Labor Day holiday, and may also be delayed outside the US.

COMIC OF THE WEEK:

MADMAN: SUPER GROOVY KING SIZE SPECIAL #1 (Oni)
There's no ONI COLOR SPECIAL this year (sniffle, whinge), but Oni's colourful one-off piece of the season is grand compensation. MADMAN has an exceedingly stop/start production schedule, due to Mike Allred's enthusiasm for many other projects (movies and THE ATOMICS, to name a couple) so it's always a treat to see his original breakthrough character return. Frank Einstein and his milieu have almost limitless possibilities, and Allred plays around in his self-created universe like a gleeful kid, letting that glee seep off the page and infect the reader. So, for our delight and delectation, Oni is giving us a proper trade paperback, in full colour, with a brand new 24-page Allred story and 8-page back-ups from Daniel Krall, Steve Weissman, and Nick Derington. To which I can only add - yippee! [German Bight]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

FUZZ & PLUCK #3 (Fantagraphics)
This week's forecast heralds the return of Ted Stearn's FUZZ AND PLUCK. Although Stearn usually only manages to get one new issue out a year, the intensely detailed line work and biting satire of the story make for a dense and satisfying read. With one foot in the underground of yesteryear and an eye on today's art-comics fringe, Stearn fuses an almost Zen philosophy with uproarious social commentary and, oh yes, don't forget the stuffed bear and the plucked duck, either. [Trafalgar]

YUYU HAKUSHO VOL 1 TP: GOODBYE MATERIAL WORLD (Viz)
What happens when the school bully performs a sudden selfless act of sacrifice to try to protect someone else? The afterlife isn't sure either, because it's never happened before Yusuke Urameshi came along. Now Yusuke is stuck in a strange form of limbo where his ghostly form needs to help other ghosts move in to the afterlife, not knowing that if he screws up he'll get devoured by a demonic being. Nothing at all like the hit anime series (the ghost-hunting aspect doesn't show up for another couple of volumes), YUYU HAKUSHO (which essentially means "ghost files") is a fun little series of one-off stories about Yusuke helping others, with art that quietly shifts from average to beautiful grayscale washes. Probably the SHONEN JUMP title that gets the least amount of attention; it's well worth taking a look at. [Plymouth]

DAVID AND GOLIATH #1 (Image Comics)
As is often the case with Image, the creators of this new series - writer and originator Jay Lu and artist Leonel Castellani - are completely unknown to me. I've no precedent to judge their work; only the solicitation copy and a five page preview. The solicitation copy tells me this is the story of a ten-year-old boy in 1940s America who becomes bound to an Ancient Egyptian winged lion and is hunted by a curvaceous Nazi cyborg. Sounds like fun! But it's the preview that's persuaded me to check out this debut issue. Castellani is the latest in a long line of animation-inspired comic artists, and his work screams Disney, but in a good way. The art, inked by Griffo, is bold, dynamic, and full of humour. Castellani may be an unfamiliar name right now, but I don't think that'll be true for long. [Fisher]

100 BULLETS VOL 6: SIX FEET UNDER THE GUN TP (Vertigo/DC Comics)
How do you follow up a densely-plotted, quite possibly confusing six-part saga? With six one-shot stories that each focus on a different character, of course. Brian Azzarello's and Eduardo Risso's SIX FEET UNDER THE GUN stories are in many ways a back-to-basics turn for 100 BULLETS, reminding us where the main characters all are, as well as continuing to move the different plots forward. 100 BULLETS's crime noir stories are unpredictable, stylish, and breathtaking, and SIX FEET UNDER THE GUN holds that fine tradition high. [Plymouth]

DEBUTING AT SPX:

SOUTHPAW GN (AdHouse Books)
It's been a banner year for Scott Morse fans, with the publication of the extraordinary BAREFOOT SERPENT from Top Shelf, the recent reprinting of VISITATIONS and the forthcoming new edition of SOULWIND from Oni Press, and the arrival of monthly Morse in Image's SAM & TWITCH: CASEFILES. Add to the pile this delightful one-off from AdHouse, starring the robot-fighting tiger that made his debut in the PROJECT: TELSTAR anthology. Southpaw may look like a cutie, but he's a scrappy little fighter; Morse has suggested that he's his take on the classic Hemingway hero. Only, you know, with stripes and a tail. Diamond has it on this week's Shipping List, but unless you're at SPX in Bethesda this coming weekend, you may well have to wait a couple of weeks to get your hands on a copy. [Fisher]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR SEPTEMBER 4th:

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

DARK HORSE

JUL030047 OH MY GODDESS #101: DR MOREAU (PART 2 OF 5) $2.99

DC COMICS

JUL030243 100 BULLETS VOL 6: SIX FEET UNDER THE GUN TP (MR) $12.95
JUN030212 21 DOWN #12 $2.95
JUN030241 AMERICAN CENTURY #27 (MR) $2.75
JUL030149 ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL #5 (Of 6) $2.50
JUL030225 AUTHORITY VOL 2 #5 (MR) $2.95
JUL030178 BAD GIRLS #2 (Of 6) $2.50
JUN030155 CATWOMAN #22 $2.50
JUL030144 DETECTIVE COMICS #786 $2.75
JUL030226 EXTINCTION EVENT #3 (Of 5) $2.50
JUL030187 FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #3 (Of 6) $2.50
JUL030190 GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD TWILIGHT/NEW DAWN TP $19.95
JUL030162 HARLEY QUINN #36 $2.50
JUL030192 HAWKMAN #19 $2.50
JUL030216 LOONEY TUNES #106 $2.25
APR030199 OUTSIDERS #1 $2.50
JUL030231 ROBOTECH: LOVE AND WAR #4 (Of 6) $2.95
JUL030173 SUPERMAN: END OF THE CENTURY TP $17.95
JUL030241 TOM STRONG: BOOK TWO TP $14.95
JUL030213 WONDER WOMAN: THE BLUE AMAZON $6.95

IMAGE

JUL031177 DAVID & GOLIATH #1 $2.95
JUN031245 GI JOE: FRONTLINE #14 $2.95
JUN031247 GRRL SCOUTS VOL 1 TP $12.95
JUN031271 KORE #4 $2.95
JUN031321 SAVAGE DRAGON #110 (RES) $2.95
JUL031232 STREET FIGHTER MADUREIRA CVR #1 $2.95
JAN031307 VIOLENT MESSIAHS: LAMENTING PAIN CVR #4 (Of 4) $2.95
JUN031334 VOLTRON, DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE #4 $2.95
JUN031335 WHISKEY DICKEL: INTERNATIONAL COWGIRL GN $12.95

MARVEL

JUL031509 ALIAS #26 (MR) $2.99
JUL031559 AVENGERS LEGENDS VOL 3: GEORGE PEREZ BOOK 1 TP $16.99
JUN031589 BORN #3 (Of 4) (MR) $3.50
MAY031482 CRIMSON DYNAMO #1 $2.50
JUL031510 DAREDEVIL #51 $2.99
JUL031515 ELEKTRA #27 $2.99
JUL031508 ETERNAL #4 (MR) $2.99
JUL031526 EXILES #33 $2.99
JUL031473 JLA/AVENGERS #1 (OF 4) $5.95
JUN031562 NEW MUTANTS #4 $2.50
JUN031601 NEW X-MEN #145 $2.25
STAR17034 ORIGIN TP $14.99
JUL031496 SENTINEL #6 (Note Price) $2.50
JUL031502 SPIDER-GIRL #64 $2.99
JUN031575 STARTLING STORIES: THING: NIGHT FALLS ON YANCY ST #4 (Of 4) $3.50
JUL031477 THOR #68 $2.99
JUL031491 TROUBLE #3 (Of 5) $2.99
JUN031607 UNCANNY X-MEN #430 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS

JUL031929 BEAR #2 $2.95
JUN032071 BETTY & VERONICA #192 $2.19
JUN032072 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #118 $3.59
JUN032073 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #62 $2.19
JUN032160 BRIAN PULIDO'S LADY DEATH #7 $2.95
JUN032158 CROSSOVERS #8 $2.95
JUN032170 CRUX #29 $2.95
JUL032326 DARK DAYS #3: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT SEQUEL (OF 6) (MR) $3.99
JUL032168 DARKMINDS: MACROPOLIS VOL 2 #1 $2.95
JUL031930 EVENFALL #4 (MR) $2.95
MAY031909 FANCY FROGLIN VOL 1: SEXY FOREST GN (MR) $12.95
JUN032305 FUZZ & PLUCK #3 (Of 4) $4.95
MAY032358 MADMAN: SUPER GROOVY KING SIZE SP #1 $6.95
JUL031928 PATTY CAKE & FRIENDS VOL 2 #9 $4.95
APR032180 PS238 #3 $2.99
JUN032589 RANMA 1/2 TP VOL 3 2ND ED $9.95
JUL032141 RECORD OF LODOSS WAR CHRONICLES: HEROIC KNIGHT BOOK 6 $15.95
JUN032180 ROUTE 666 #15 $2.95
JUN032182 SCION #39 $2.95
JUN032187 SOLUS #6 $2.95
JUN032080 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #127 $2.19
MAY032138 SOULSEARCHERS #61 $2.50
AUG031938 SOUTHPAW GN $9.95
JUN032156 SPACE ACE: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE #1 (Of 6) $2.95
JUN032458 THREE STRIKES #4 (Of 5) (MR) $2.99
JUL032167 TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA VOL 2 TP $15.95
JUN032249 TRANSFORMERS/GI JOE #1 (OF 6) $2.95
JUN032256 TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS EYE OFFICIAL GUIDE #5 (Of 8) $5.25
JUL031941 TUPELO #2 (MR) $2.95
STAR19178 TUXEDO GIN VOL 1 TP $9.95
JUN032593 YU-GI-OH! VOL 2 TP: CARDS WITH TEETH $7.95
JUN035059 YUYU HAKUSHO VOL 1 TP: GOODBYE MATERIAL WORLD (RES) $7.95

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

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