The Shipping Forecast for November 5th

True crime, false endings and real talent are all on the menu with this week's Diamond shipping list. Ninth Art presents its weekly pick of the new books, including a trip to UNION STATION and a visit to the AQUARIUM.
03 November 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:

UNION STATION (Oni Press)
Considering how popular true crime stories are in other media, their scarcity in comics is something we have to put down to one of those quirks of the industry. I can only think of Brian Bendis's TORSO as a previous example, but now Ande Parks and Eduardo Barreto have come up with another, and it looks like a winner. It's 1933; small-time hood Frank Nash is on his way to prison, and the authorities are planning to make an example of him as he's transported through Kansas. But Frank's the kind of guy who makes friends, and one of them plans to bust him as he's transferred at Union Station. Into the mix come a fed, a reporter and his son, plus the rather grander plans of J Edgar Hoover, all coming together at once. Ande Parks, better known as an artist, takes the known facts as the bare bones and fleshes them out with consummate characterisation and pacing to make a compelling story. Barreto's love for the setting come through in art that's both pulpy and perfect. There's a substantial preview at Artbomb, which should give you a good taste of the book and make you want to know what the hell is going to happen. Thankfully, Oni Press has put this out as part of their series of original graphic novels, so at least no-one's going to die of suspense. [German Bight]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

AQUARIUM VOL 1 TP NEW PTG (CPM Manga)
One of the best things about bookstores whole-heartedly embracing the 5x7" size of manga graphic novels is that it gives some overlooked works a second chance. Take Tomoko Taniguchi's AQUARIUM, originally published a couple of years ago by CPM Manga as a full-sized comic book trade paperback. Now with a smaller size and price tag, more people get a chance to read about Taniguchi's three female protagonists who are all at crossroads involving their careers and their lives. The stories in AQUARIUM will make you think even as you're plunged into three strangers' worlds, from the despair of not getting into the school of one's choice to the highs and lows of being an airline stewardess, and the quiet, graceful art is so enchanting that you'll quickly see why Taniguchi is so popular in Japan. You don't always get second chances in life, so make sure this one doesn't pass you by. [Plymouth]

POINT BLANK TP (DC WildStorm)
Do you remember, when you were a kid, the first time you saw an action scene in a comic book that made you stop and say, "Wow"? And when you first looked to see who drew the scene, because you wanted to remember their name? If you grew up in the US reading superhero comics, that name may have been Jim Lee or John Byrne, or maybe Jim Steranko. If you grew up in the UK reading 2000AD, chances are that name was Colin Wilson, and the story was 'Rogue Trooper'. Wilson has done very little work for US companies, having instead gone to the nirvana of great comic book artists (Europe, where a single book can sell 400,000 copies in its first weekend). So don't miss this rare chance to see his work in the POINT BLANK trade, collecting the five-issue WildStorm miniseries from last year. There's a scene of gun and motorcycle mayhem in there that ranks among Wilson's finest. Ed Brubaker tells a good little noir whodunit with a nice twist ending, starring Grifter from WILDCATS. It doesn't reach the heights achieved in SLEEPER, and it's a bit mired in WildStorm continuity, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. If you like what you see, you should search out some of the BLUEBERRY series Wilson did for French publisher Dargaud/Dupuis - classic cowboy goodness. [Shannon]

WOLVERINE: THE END #1 (Marvel)
The End? If only it were true. If only this proliferation of mediocre versions of major franchises could end. Imagine if, instead of NEW X-MEN, UNCANNY X-MEN, X-TREME X-MEN, ULTIMATE X-MEN, plus the various WOLVERINE series and spin off books like EXILES, NEW MUTANTS and WEAPON X, Marvel only put out two or three X titles with the absolute top writers and artists on them? Alas we can but dream - major publishers have become too enamoured of the shotgun approach to success. Paul Jenkins and Claudio Castellini's six-issue WOLVERINE: THE END is an averagely pretty, acceptably written and entirely predictable miniseries. Sabretooth dies, and an old, white-haired Wolverine is prompted to discover Even More About His Mysterious Past. Angst, suffering and adamantium-related violence ensue. Nothing we could possibly say about this will change your mind about this comic. Either you're a loyal Wolverine fan and you'll be rushing to buy it, or you'll just roll your eyes and walk on by. [Shannon]

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.

BUTTON MAN HC (Rebellion/2000AD)
If you're feel the least bit jaded about the lack of new ideas in comics, go buy BUTTON MAN. This 1992 series from 2000AD, written by John Wagner and drawn by Arthur Ransom, is such a simple, plausible concept, so well executed, that it still feels entirely original some 11 years on. Harry Exton is an ex-mercenary who gets drawn into something called "The Game". Wealthy punters, the "Voices", set up matches to the death between their hired fighters, or "Button Men". These matches could be going on anywhere, anytime, from the streets of East London to the Brecon Beacons in Wales. But after 19 kills, Harry wants out. His Voice has other ideas. Wagner's writing is spare and suspenseful, and is well matched by Ransom's moody, highly photo-realistic art. The book feels perfectly natural as a graphic novel; if you didn't know it had been serialised in 7-page chunks beforehand, you'd never guess. Now that 2000AD has brought its trade publishing in-house, the quality of its reprints has gone up immensely. BUTTON MAN is a gorgeous hardcover with fantastic print quality, and it's well worth its £18/$28 price tag. [Shannon]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR NOVEMBER 5th:

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

DARK HORSE

SEP030042 OH MY GODDESS #103: DR MOREAU (PART 4 OF 5) $2.99
JUL030049 SUPER MANGA BLAST #36 (MR) $5.99
AUG030036 USAGI YOJIMBO #70 $2.99

DC COMICS

SEP030231 ACTION COMICS #809 $2.25
AUG030251 ARROWSMITH #4 (Of 6) $2.95
SEP030293 AUTHORITY VOL 2 #7 (MR) $2.95
SEP030242 BAD GIRLS #4 (Of 6) $2.50
SEP030219 BATMAN: CITY OF LIGHT #2 (Of 8) $2.95
SEP030217 BATMAN: THE ARROW, THE RING, AND THE BAT $19.95
SEP030208 DETECTIVE COMICS #788 $2.75
SEP030296 EXTINCTION EVENT #5 (Of 5) $2.50
SEP030250 FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #5 (Of 6) $2.50
SEP030228 HARLEY QUINN #38 $2.50
SEP030256 HAWKMAN #21 $2.50
AUG030227 JLA-Z #2 (Of 3) $2.50
SEP030268 JSA: ALL STARS #7 (Of 8) (Note Price) $3.50
SEP030270 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #25 $2.25
SEP030269 JUSTICE SOCIETY RETURNS TP $19.95
SEP030285 LOONEY TUNES #108 $2.25
SEP030325 MAD ABOUT THE COMIC STRIPS TP $12.95
SEP030299 POINT BLANK TP (MR) $14.95
SEP030301 ROBOTECH: FROM THE STARS TP $9.95
SEP030302 ROBOTECH: LOVE AND WAR #6 (Of 6) $2.95
SEP030317 SANDMAN PRESENTS: THE FURIES SC (MR) $17.95
SEP030289 SCOOBY-DOO VOL 1: YOU MEDDLING KIDS TP $6.95
SEP030290 SCOOBY-DOO VOL 2: RUH ROH TP $6.95
SEP030236 SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT #5 (Of 12) $2.95
AUG030270 TOM STRONG #23 $2.95
SEP030319 Y: THE LAST MAN #16 (RES) (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

JUL035251 GI JOE #22 2ND PRTG $2.95
AUG031210 GI JOE: FRONTLINE RODRIGUEZ CVR #16 $2.95
AUG031211 GI JOE: FRONTLINE SEELEY CVR #16 $2.95
JUL031212 POWERS #35 (MR) $2.95
AUG031234 REALM OF THE CLAW JUNGLE CVR #1 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG031235 REALM OF THE CLAW WHITE CVR #1 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG031243 SAVAGE DRAGON #112 (RES) $2.95
AUG031245 SOMETHING WICKED #1 (Of 4) $2.95
AUG035108 STREET FIGHTER #2 2ND PTG $2.95

MARVEL

SEP031587 ALIAS #28 (MR) $2.99
AUG031521 CRIMSON DYNAMO #3 (RES) (Note Price) $2.50
SEP031581 ELEKTRA #29 $2.99
SEP031553 EXILES #37 $2.99
SEP031535 SENTINEL #9 (Note Price) $2.99
SEP031555 SPIDER-GIRL #66 $2.99
SEP031554 SPIDER-MAN & DR OCTOPUS: NEGATIVE EXPOSURE #2 $2.99
SEP031589 SUPREME POWER #4 (MR) $2.99
SEP031578 THANOS #2 $2.99
SEP031561 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #49 $2.25
AUG031505 WEAPON X #15 $2.99
SEP031546 WOLVERINE #7 $2.25
SEP031539 WOLVERINE: THE END #1 (Of 6) $2.99
AUG031500 X-STATIX #15 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

SEP032226 AQUARIUM VOL 1 TP NEW PTG $9.99
AUG032005 ARCHIE #542 $2.19
AUG032090 BRATH #9 $2.95
JUL032105 CROSSOVERS #9 $2.95
AUG032092 CRUX #31 $2.95
SEP032227 DARK ANGEL VOL 1 TP NEW PTG $9.99
SEP032369 DARK DAYS #5: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT SEQUEL (OF 6) (MR) $3.99
SEP031995 DEMO #1 (Of 12) (MR) $2.95
AUG032094 FIRST #36 $2.95
JUL031924 HICKEE VOL 2 #1 $4.95
AUG032015 JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #188 $2.39
JUL032089 MERIDIAN #40 $2.95
JUN001651 NODWICK #4 $2.95
AUG032018 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #80 $3.59
AUG032112 ROUTE 666 #17 $2.95
SEP032009 SEAMONSTERS & SUPERHEROES #1 (Of 3) $2.95
AUG032550 SHONEN JUMP VOL 1 #12 DEC 2003 $4.95
AUG031957 SKAGGY THE LOST #4 (OF 4) (MR) $3.50
AUG032417 UNION STATION GN (MR) $11.95
AUG032026 VERONICA #146 $2.19

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.