Welcome to The Forecast. Every Monday, Ninth Art's core team of comment writers, the Ninth Eight, will be your guides to the best, worst, weirdest and most noteworthy books on the shelves of your local comic shop.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: MAD ABOUT THE NINETIES

Ah, that freckled nose, the gap-toothed smile, the curiously mismatched eyes and those jug-handle ears... How is it not possible to love Tom DeFalco? For he's just been appointed the new editor for CRACKED magazine, a purported 'specialist' in American satire. A word to the wise, Tom; if you really want to know how it's done, then I suggest you have a read of MAD ABOUT THE NINETIES (DC Comics). This compendium highlights all the best material from MAD magazine throughout that exciting decade, and no one from the realms of popular culture and politics escapes a dunking in scorn.

Take a look at the cover, for instance. That's Alfred E Neuman dressed to look like Kurt Cobain as he appeared on the MTV Unplugged special way back in 1993. It's hilarious, it's shocking, and it makes you wonder what the hell Cobain's fans are going to make of it. That one image goes some way to deflate the still-prevalent and incomprehensible idolatry of someone who, at most, was a mildly talented musician with suicidal tendencies. And that's what good satire is, a sharp needle poked into the plump balloon of self-importance.

Other targets include the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinksy scandal, the first Gulf War, and the arrival of the Internet(s), all of it rendered by the "usual gang of idiots". By idiots, they mean legendary cartoonists like Sergio Aragones, Al Jaffe, Dave Berg, Mort Drucker and Don Martin. If I were Tom DeFalco and faced with such formidable competition, I'd be quaking in my patent leather boots. But then again, DeFalco is a veteran of the business (his greatest achievement being SPIDER-GIRL), so his reaction might be something along the lines of "What, me worry?" [Bulent Yusuf]

KIRBY FOR A DAY

One of Scott McCloud's many contributions to the landscape of the ninth art is the 24 Hour Comics Challenge. Originally a gentleman's bet between McCloud and Steve Bissette, 24 Hour Comics were soon picked up by the wider comics community (including this very site in 2002).

2004 saw the very first 24 Hour Comics Day, in which people from all over the world, from seven year-old boys to Sean McKeever, gathered to pit their wits against Time and The Bleak Blank Page. From solitary souls, scribbling away on their own in the kitchen, to comic shops and schools full of eager beavers, last year's 24 Hour Comics Day had it all.

And on April 23rd, they're going to do it all over again. Fortunately, they're not without inspiration.

24 HOUR COMICS ALL-STARS is the third in About Comics' series of 24 Hour anthologies. Previous editions have featured highlights of last year's event, and a collection of comics by Neil Gaiman, Steve Bissette, Al Davison and more. ALL-STARS is more in line with the latter than the former, in that it features comics by established creators such as Paul Smith (X-MEN), Chris Eliopoulos (DESPERATE TIMES), and Dave Sim (CEREBUS). The collection also includes the very first 24-Hour Comic, Scott McCloud's "A Day's Work."

Part of the attraction of the 24 Hour Comics challenge is that it appeals to people across the comics spectrum, from old masters to novices. Whether it's a stick figure adaptation of Hansel and Gretel or a photocomic set in a 24-hour supermarket, the point of the exercise is to encourage people to get stuck in. With any luck, All-Stars will inspire a few armchair Alan Moores to finally pick up a pen. Who knows: for some, it might be the start of a whole new career. [Matthew Craig]

MONKEY JOE SAYS "BUY THIS COMIC"

You may already know that I'm a huge fan of Giffen and DeMatteis' JLI, so you might think I'd have worked up a good head of Nerdrage over the rape of Sue Dibny and the treatment of Blue Beetle and Maxwell Lord in COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE MEDIOCRITY. But no. My inner geek remains unperturbed. Why? Simple. I'm not reading any DC comics at the moment other than SLEEPER, THE LOSERS and the SEVEN SOLDIERS books. I also know a secret: GLA is the new JLI.

I laughed more over the first five pages of Dan Slott and Paul Pelletier's new GREAT LAKES AVENGERS miniseries than I have over anything since FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. Page one has Grasshopper Man show up to insult fanboys, and ends with Squirrel Girl's animal sidekick Monkey Joe exhorting incensed nerds to write angry letters to Marvel. It's genius, it's lovely, it's very very rude. Dan Slott takes his gloves off and delivers a no-holds-barred comedy superteam blast that makes his SHE HULK seem sweet and tame by comparison. Pelletier's clean, sharp art combines Superhero and Comedy perfectly, and even makes Grasshopper Man look cool. That has to be some sort of achievement.

If you too miss the days of "fun" comics, and were planning to sit out this Summer of Tedious Cross-Overs, run to your local dealer of fine sequential crack, and buy GLA #1. And remember, as Monkey Joe says, "Child Endangerment is Never Funny". [Alex de Campi]

THE FIRST HIT IS ABOUT FIVE BUCKS

DC has been in a rather generous mood of late, with the recent release of COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS containing 80 pages for a mere dollar, and now FIRST TASTE from Vertigo. 168 pages for $4.99 - a trade paperback at the price of a couple of issues of the regular series. Not only is it good value for money, it's good reading and a nice idea. Of course, the world is filled with good ideas that have fallen by the wayside - and comics even more so.

The volume includes - deep breath - Vaughan and Guerra's Y: THE LAST MAN #1, Azzarello and Risso's 100 BULLETS #1, Spencer and Ormston's THE BOOKS OF MAGICK: LIFE DURING WARTIME #1, Moore and Bissette's SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #21 (not a first issue, but Moore's first on the title), Ellis and Robertson's TRANSMETROPOLITAN #1, and finally, Gaiman, Bachalo and Buckingham's DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING #1. Exhale...

Whilst it's a little too heavily slanted towards the goff elfin types, it's a nice representation of what Vertigo does. 100 BULLETS is one of Vertigo's breakout successes of late, and the most likely to attract non-comics readers. TRANSMETROPOLITAN and Y: THE LAST MAN cater to the science-fiction crowd and both have extensive trade paperback collections (especially TRANSMET). The rest are all horror and magic/k and titles that anybody who's even vaguely aware of Vertigo will think of when they see the name.

There are obvious problems with the collection - of the series included, only three are actually still going. It would seem that a "taster" collection such as this would be better off showing people what they're missing at the moment. Where's THE LOSERS? Or FABLES? Or, most egregiously, where is HELLBLAZER after the success of the recent movie adaptation? But the inclusion of the black fishnet-brigade-pleasing titles like DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING may just be there as the crowd-pleasers.

It remains to be seen whether this will actually serve as an outreach title or just end up in the hands of completist collectors, but it's a good step in the right direction, and it's something anybody who's trying to get the attention of non-comics readers can push onto others. [John Fellows]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR APRIL 6th 2005:

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

DC COMICS

FEB050331 AUTHORITY KEV TP (MR) $14.99
FEB050269 BLOOD OF THE DEMON #2 $2.50
DEC030259D DC THE NEW FRONTIER #2 (Of 6) $6.95
FEB050280 DEADSHOT #5 (OF 5) $2.99
FEB050245 DETECTIVE COMICS #805 $2.99
FEB050318 ELFQUEST SEARCHER AND THE SWORD SC $14.99
FEB050278 FIRESTORM #12 $2.50
FEB050337 INTIMATES #6 (MR) $2.99
FEB050350 JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER SPECIAL PAPA MIDNITE #3 (OF 5) $2.99
FEB050296 JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #10 (OF 12) $2.50
FEB050309 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #8 $2.25
FEB050264 LEX LUTHOR MAN OF STEEL #2 (OF 5) $2.99
FEB050313 LOONEY TUNES #125 $2.25
JAN050376 LOSERS #22 (MR) $2.99
JAN050337 MAD ABOUT THE NINETIES TP $9.99
FEB050305 SEVEN SOLDIERS ZATANNA #1 (OF 4) $2.99
FEB050359 SWAMP THING #14 (MR) $2.99
FEB050342 TWILIGHT EXPERIMENT #3 (OF 6) $2.99
FEB050361 VERTIGO FIRST TASTE TP (MR) $4.99
JAN050381 WITCHING #10 (MR) $2.99
FEB050363 Y THE LAST MAN #32 (RES) (MR) $2.99

IMAGE

FEB051571 DEATH JR #1 (OF 3) $4.99
FEB051595 MORA #2 $2.95
JUL041774 SAVAGE DRAGON VOL 10 ENDGAME HC $49.95
JAN051615 SEA OF RED #1 (MR) $2.95
DEC041531D THE GIFT DIRECTORS CUT #1 $3.99
DEC041546D WALKING DEAD #17 (MR) $2.95
JAN051655 WITCHBLADE #84 $2.99

MARVEL

FEB051954 ALPHA FLIGHT VOL 2 WAXING POETIC TP $14.99
FEB051871 AMAZING FANTASY #7 $2.99
FEB051952 FANTASTIC FOUR SPIDER-MAN CLASSIC TP $16.99
FEB051908 GLA #1 (OF 4) $2.99
FEB051905 INCREDIBLE HULK #80 $2.99
FEB051917 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #2 $2.50
FEB051913 MARVEL TEAM-UP #7 $2.25
FEB051949 MYSTIQUE VOL 4 QUIET TP $14.99
FEB051874 POWER PACK #1 (OF 4) $2.99
FEB051897 SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #3 (OF 7) $3.50
FEB051887 SPIDER-GIRL #85 $2.99
FEB051950 SPIDER-MAN DOCTOR OCTOPUS YEAR ONE TP $13.99
FEB051894 STRANGE #5 (OF 6) $3.50
FEB051934 THE PUNISHER #19 (MR) $2.99
JAN051813 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #17 $2.25
FEB051876 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #75 $2.25
FEB051911 X-MEN FANTASTIC FOUR #5 (OF 5) $3.50
FEB051932 X-MEN UNLIMITED #8 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

FEB052440F 24 HOUR COMICS ALL STARS TP (MR) $12.95
FEB052827F ACTION PHILOSOPHERS #1 $2.95
FEB052719 AFTERMATH INFANTRY #4 $2.95
JAN052417 AUTUMN #3 $2.95
FEB052496 BEAR #8 $2.95
FEB052537 DRAGON ARMS PKT MANGA VOL 1 BLOOD & STEEL TP NEW PTG $9.99
JAN052634 GI JOE MASTER & APPRENTICE VOL 1 TP $12.95
FEB052965F HOAX #1 (MR) $2.95
DEC042665 JERK THE RABBIT #1 (OF 5) (NOTE PRICE) $2.95
JAN052483 JUGHEAD #164 $2.19
FEB053151 KEKKAISHI VOL 1 GN $9.99
FEB053152 MAR VOL 1 GN $9.99
FEB053089F MOSQUITO GN $12.95
FEB053091F SCALAWAG GN $12.95
DEC042274 STRANGERS IN PARADISE #72 $2.95
JAN052488 TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #1 $2.39
DEC042481 TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD #13 $2.95
DEC042536J UDON DARKSTALKERS JOE MAD CVR C POWER FOIL #4 PI
DEC042538 UDON STREET FIGHTER BABERI CVR B #14 $2.95
OCT042603J UDON STREET FIGHTER POWER FOIL CVR C #13 PI
DEC042539J UDON STREET FIGHTER POWER FOIL TSANG CVR C #14 PI
DEC042537 UDON STREET FIGHTER REY CVR A #14 $2.95

The Ninth Eight are Matthew Craig, John Fellows, Kieron Gillen, Alistair Kennedy, Zack Smith, Andrew Wheeler, Ben Wooller and Bulent Yusuf.

This article is Ideological Freeware. The author grants permission for its reproduction and redistribution 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.