The Shipping Forecast for February 25th

Leland Purvis's VOX may not be pop, but it's a snap to say it crackles with invention. Also making a noise at the lighthouse this week, Mike Allred tackles a different type of madman, and Scott Morse has his own take on Batman.
23 February 2004

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:

VOX VOL 1 TP (Absence of Ink)
Ah, VOX. If ever there was a reason for throwing one's hands up in despair, the resounding lack of response to Leland Purvis' amazing comics debut was it. Self-published with the aid of a Xeric grant, VOX #1 appeared in late 2000 with contents ranging from the surreal to the macabre to the insightful, showcasing intelligent experimentation and remarkably skilled artwork on the part of its creator. Predictably, no bugger bought it. In fact, VOX sold so badly - #4 generated less than five hundred pre-orders, for heaven's sake - that, well, it only ran for four issues. So cheers to Absence of Ink for taking the plunge and reprinting VOX not just in its entirety, but with twenty pages of new material from Purvis. If you're looking for brilliant and beautiful comics that will leave a lasting mark on you, get VOX and let your voice be heard. [Cromarty]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS (Oni Press)
A gem from over a decade ago, possibly re-issued like Tears for Fears albums in the wake of the success of Mad World. That is not to say it is being released because of the film DONNIE DARKO, although it too studies the boundaries on the edge of madness. No, I mean that renewed interest in the early career of Mike Allred (X-STATIX, MADMAN) is the hook. But, whatever the case, it is an excellent story to revisit. Allred's fine lines are there, but the story is, perhaps ironically, not the wild and zany stuff we might expect. ORDINARY MADNESS is the tale of a psychiatrist in a British hospital who begins to over-identify with his patients. What Freud might have said about the transference and counter-transference between patient and therapist is taken one step further here, as the writer of this book is psychiatrist Malcolm Bourne. Reassuringly, Bourne's own obsessions include his excellent and incisive letters about SANDMAN and many other comics back in the days when comics had letter columns. [Forties]

WILDCATS 3.0: FULL DISCLOSURE TP (DC Wildstorm)
Blah blah blah utter genius blah blah stunning Nguyen artwork blah best post-modern superhero comic ever blah issues #7-12 even better than the first six blah blah. Oh, just go buy it. [Shannon]

COURIERS 2: DIRTBIKE MANIFESTO (AiT PlanetLar)
Brian Wood month finally comes to its climactic conclusion! This is the sequel to the spin off of COUSCOUS EXPRESS, with art from Rob G of TEENAGERS FROM MARS. Now, that first book had what I prefer of Wood's writing - a funny slice of life (or slice of kebab?) story with a hint of spicy gun action. The second, COURIERS, took Moustafa and Special, two of the supporting characters who work as "couriers" with various illicit concerns, and sent them off on a Tarantino-esque adventure of preposterous gunfights and evil old businessmen in New York City. In this follow up to COURIERS, they move out of the city into the wilderness towns of upstate New York, where they need the eponymous dirtbikes to get around. This'll be action-packed, fast-talking, wheel-spinning adventure. Fun. And not just for Brian Wood Month. [Forties]

CONAN #1 (Dark Horse)
Kurt Busiek brings us old-skool Conan, taking as his source only the original Robert E Howard stories. Pair this with Cary Nord's truly luscious art, and this has a shot at very quickly becoming the best sword and sorcery comic out there. Okay, so there's not much high-quality competition, but still. When Busiek is on form he's tough to beat, and he's best in situations like this where there is no heavy continuity to wade through. The preview issue admittedly felt like it was written in about five minutes, but issue #1 is much, much stronger. In fact, it's pretty much a masterclass in how to write a first issue of a new series: drop the reader in media res with gruesome baddies and a damsel in distress, and bring in our hero to save the day. All in the first four pages. Heck, it would have taken Bendis an entire issue to do that. [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.

BATMAN: ROOM FULL OF STRANGERS (DC)
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Scott Morse! Though I confess to being a die-hard Scott Morse fan, the sort who'll happily pay ten bucks for the slender SOUTHPAW without blinking, I completely forgot about this Batman one-shot, and failed to recognise it from the title in last week's shipping list. Thankfully, Morse books are pretty easy to recognise on the shelves, but if you're a Morse fan, and you missed it too, this is your polite reminder. Despite the 'BATMAN' title, this isn't a Batman story, nor is it likely to appeal to your average Batman fan, since it's a little low on clinically insane villains and, well, clinically insane heroes. ROOM FULL OF STRANGERS is the story of former police commissioner Jim Gordon retreating from Gotham for a quiet break at a remote hotel, only to find that crime seems to have followed him there, and so has the Bat. Well, some variation thereon. Scott Morse fans will love its atmosphere, its pathos and its quirks, not to mention the beautiful painted artwork. Batman fans... well, let's hope this leads a few of them back to THE BAREFOOT SERPENT or SOULWIND. [Fisher]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR FEBRUARY 25th:

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

DARK HORSE

DEC030014 CONAN #1 $2.99
DEC030043 FUSED #3 $2.99
OCT030043 LONE #4 $2.99
NOV030059 SUPER MANGA BLAST #39 (MR) $5.99
DEC030046 USAGI YOJIMBO #73 $2.99

DC COMICS

DEC030237 BATGIRL #49 $2.50
DEC030232 BATMAN #624 $2.25
DEC030260 CAPER #5 (Of 12) (MR) $2.95
DEC030292 CARTOON CARTOONS #27 $2.25
DEC030244 CATWOMAN #28 $2.50
DEC030302 COUP DETAT AUTHORITY #4 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
DEC030263 FLASH #207 $2.25
DEC030268 GREEN LANTERN #174 $2.25
DEC030273 HAWKMAN ENEMIES AND ALLIES TP $14.95
DEC030275 JLA #93 $2.25
DEC030278 LEGION #30 $2.50
DEC030280 LIGHT BRIGADE #1 (Of 4) (MR) $5.95
DEC030315 LOSERS #9 (MR) $2.95
DEC030317 MIDNIGHT MASS HERE THERE BE MONSTERS #2 (Of 6) (MR) $2.95
DEC030285 REIGN OF THE ZODIAC #7 $2.75
DEC030252 SUPERMAN RETURN TO KRYPTON TP $17.95
DEC030288 TEEN TITANS GO #4 $2.25
DEC030309 TOM STRONG #25 $2.95
DEC030307 WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 FULL DISCLOSURE TP (MR) $14.95

IMAGE

SEP031265 DAWN THREE TIERS #3 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG031216 HEDGE KNIGHT MANDRAKE CVR #3 (Of 6) $5.95
AUG031215 HEDGE KNIGHT MILLER CVR #3 (Of 6) $2.95
DEC031330 PVP VOL 1 DORK AGES TP $11.95

MARVEL

DEC031590 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #504 (#63) $2.25
DEC031566 AVENGERS #79 $2.25
NOV031499 CRIMSON DYNAMO #6 $2.50
DEC035222 HULK GAMMA GAMES #3 (OF 3) (PU#607) $2.99
DEC031596 HUMAN TORCH #10 $2.99
NOV031542 INHUMANS #10 $2.99
DEC031550 KNIGHTS 4 #2 $2.99
DEC031603 MYSTIQUE #11 $2.99
DEC031569 SILVER SURFER #6 $2.25
DEC031591 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #10 $2.25
DEC031592 SPIDER-MAN DOC OCTOPUS OUT OF REACH #4 (Of 5) $2.99
DEC031604 THE PUNISHER #3 (MR) $2.99
DEC031552 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #3 $2.25
DEC031597 VENOM #11 $2.99
DEC031583 WOLVERINE CAPTAIN AMERICA #4 $2.99
DEC031585 X-STATIX #19 $2.99
DEC031624 X-TREME X-MEN VOL 7 STORM THE ARENA TP $16.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

OCT032023 8 1/2 GHOSTS ONE SHOT $3.95
JAN042046 BARAKA & BLACK MAGIC IN MORROCO GN (MR) $11.95
DEC032229 BART SIMPSON COMICS #16 $2.99
DEC032740 BATTLE ANGEL ALITA LAST ORDER VOL 3 TP $9.95
DEC032739 BATTLE ANGEL ALITA VOL 2 TP 2ND ED $9.95
DEC032158 BETTY & VERONICA #198 $2.19
OCT032054 BLACK TIDE BREYFOGLE CVR #9 $2.95
OCT032055 BLACK TIDE RODRIQUEZ CVR #9 $2.95
DEC032573 BONEYARD #13 $2.95
NOV032504 BREAKFAST AFTER NOON TP (STAR13672) $19.95
NOV031968 COURIERS VOL 2 DIRTBIKE MANIFESTO GN (MR) $12.95
DEC032299 EL CAZADOR #5 $2.95
DEC032092 EVENFALL VOL 1 TP LAY ME DOWN $9.95
DEC032349 GI JOE #27 $2.95
DEC032757 GYO VOL 2 TP $12.95
DEC032356 HEDGE KNIGHT COLLECTED EDITION (RES) $8.95
NOV032128 HEROES ANONYMOUS #4 (Of 6) (MR) $2.99
DEC032043 HI HORSE OMNIBUS VOL 1 TP (MR) $11.95
NOV031983 HSU AND CHAN #5 $2.95
DEC032600 HYSTERIA TP (MR) $9.95
DEC032721 JENNIFER DAYDREAMER #1 OLIVER (O/A) (
NOV022770) $4.95
DEC032162 LAUGH DIGEST #191 $2.39
DEC032045 MAGIC WHISTLE #9 (MR) (Note Price) $11.95
NOV032405 METAL HURLANT #10 (MR) $3.95
DEC032764 NAUSICAA OF VALLEY OF WIND VOL 1 TP 2ND ED $9.95
DEC032306 NEGATION #27 $2.95
DEC032602 QUEEN & COUNTRY #23 (MR) $2.99
DEC032772 REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA VOL 2 TP 2ND ED (RES) $9.95
DEC032737 SHONEN JUMP VOL 2 #4 APR 2004 $4.99
NOV032164 SOULSEARCHERS #64 $2.50
NOV031944 STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III #63 $2.95
DEC032546 TABLE FOR ONE GN (MR) $9.95
DEC032597 TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS TP (MR) $11.95
DEC032370 TRANSFORMERS ENERGON #20 $2.95
DEC032368 TRANSFORMERS GENERATION ONE VOL 3 #2 $2.95
DEC032468 UNCLE SCROOGE #327 $6.95
DEC032012 VOX VOL 1 TP $14.95
DEC032466 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #642 $6.95

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.