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.

Please note that this week's comics will hit US stores a day late due to the public holiday on Monday.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: MOPED ARMY

There's something of a tradition of engine love in my family. My Dad is a self-taught mechanical genius, or so he claims before cheerfully breaking cars with gay abandon and a spanner. My eldest brother drives his cars like he rode his motorbikes: with a terrifying blind disregard for his own mortality. And my younger-older brother used to serve his country by fixing the engines of impossibly huge aeroplanes, in order that they might transport machines of war, much-needed food aid, or on one notable occasion, a drunk medical student from Manchester to the Falkland Isles.

I don't share my family's fascination, but I can't say that I'm completely immune to the combustion engine's charms: there's a Chrysler dealership in Bishop's Stortford with an indelible, Turinesque mark on the window, where I spent many a day staring at the 1996 Dodge Viper and weeping into my empty wallet.

Man's love for all things greasy extends into the realm of comics in a number of different ways, from the fast and furious world of INITIAL D to the suspiciously transparent joys of the TRANSFORMERS (car with boobies, that's all I'm saying). And beyond that, there's a sub-genre of 'Motor Comics' that deals with the communities that spring up around the vehicles as readily as any other obsession.

Paul Sizer's MOPED ARMY (Café Digital Studios) deals with just such a community, a real-life organization of Vespaphiles and scootaholics that's more Honda Addicts than Hell's Angels. The book projects the gang two hundred years into tomorrow, into a world of sharp suits and sharper class divides. It's a cyberpunky backdrop familiar to fans of Marvel's long-forgotten 2099 imprint and Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA.

Judging by the extensive previews here (in PDF) and here (non-PDF), MOPED ARMY will have much the same spirit of Youth Solidarity as AKIRA or Dave Gibbons' THE ORIGINALS. However, the cast (and their vehicles) have a kitbashed look that distinguishes them from the slick future-Mod aesthetic of Gibbons' earlier work.

The preview pages also remind me of Brian Wood's counter-cultural comics POUNDED and THE COURIERS, but with a purer moral dichotomy, reminiscent of a hundred high school dramas. The Moped Army are The Nerds, picked on (and off) by the unexpectedly vicious Rich Kids. Browbeaten central character Simone is caught between both worlds. But for how long?

Sizer's graphic novel boasts appealing character art and a solid (future) worldview. I'm sure that MOPED ARMY will transcend the familiarity of the core premise, doing both creator and community proud. [Matthew Craig]

ENNIS RACKET

You may have heard that Nicolas 'named after Luke' Cage finally achieved his lifelong dream of playing a superhero on the big-screen. Not Tony Stark, nor Superman, nor even Wonder Woman. No, he's going to be Ghost Rider. Yes, he'll spend 75% of the film wandering around as a hapless leather-jacketed hard-ass, and the remaining 25% with his head on CGI fire. And because Marvel at least operates under the pretence of publishing knowledge, it's marking the occasion with a new GHOST RIDER #1.

Traditionally, GHOST RIDER is not a big seller. He's a character that holds the peculiar position of being both beloved and utterly unable to sell comics. He shares this distinction with the likes of Blade and Doctor Strange, but GHOST RIDER is a special case in that he suffered from '90s burn-out, starring in more series than Wolverine at some points, and has been licking his wounds ever since.

This is his first attempt at a new series since his Marvel Knights run, and like that other recent successful revamp of a burned-out 90s character, The Punisher, he's now been handed over to the king of bloke comics, Garth Ennis. However, this time it's not just Ennis that's the draw, but the utterly gorgeous artwork of Clayton Crain.

Ennis has become somewhat of a stealth branch for Marvel Comics, seeing as his favoured work falls within a very narrow boundary (and not one Marvel has a habit of catering for). But GHOST RIDER seems almost as custom-fitted for him as THE PUNISHER is. A tormented biker possessed by a demonic flaming skull-headed monster who rides a giant hellish motorcycle... it's a biker's wet dream. And with demons, angels, hard drinking, masculinity a-go-go and no spandex in sight, it's the closest thing Marvel publishes to Ennis' ideal project.

Meanwhile, Ennis also begins a new arc on PUNISHER this week with artist Leo Fernandez, which will hopefully continue the previous arc's momentum. THE PUNISHER seems to be less Ennis-lite than Ennis-stripped. It's free from the buddy-buddy clichés and drinking and smoking... it's just pure man comics. Guns, explosions, death, gore - the sheer lack of emotion from the lead character means he can be treated solely as a walking flesh tank.

The stories revolve around vigilante Frank Castle's targets, with Castle becoming a foreboding angel of death. The possibility always lurks that Ennis' PUNISHER is a one-trick-pony, or that the next arc could get bogged down in wishy-washy humanitarian issues, but the Marvel Max revamp of the series has been going from strength-to-strength.

If you're looking for more in the way of personality and possibly a sense of humour, Ennis also has the latest update in his KEV series for Wildstorm, AUTHORITY: THE MAGNIFICENT KEVIN. This time he's joined by Carlos Ezquerra, as Glenn Fabry is working on Vertigo's NEVERWHERE adaptation.

Undoubtedly, the weak spot in the previous KEV series were the hamfisted way Wildstorm's super-hero squad THE AUTHORITY were squeezed into the series. It's obvious - and has been for some time - that Ennis hates superheroes more, even, than Warren Ellis. But whereas Ellis' hatred masks a worryingly good understanding of the genre, Ennis has no such advantage. His superhero writing has always seemed wide of the point, although admittedly interesting to read.

If KEV were just about an ex-SAS bloke unable to live through retirement because he's always being dragged into stupid situations, it would play better. But it would also sell far worse, so it's attached to WildStorm's ex-money magnet.

While it may seem that Ennis is becoming a man less and less bothered with expanding his oeuvre, when you're as good at what you do as he is, there's little incentive. But there are three variations on the Ennis brand this week, and you really should try at least one. [John Fellows]

HIT & MISS

Anthologies are funny beasts. When they're good, they're great; but too often they become hastily-assembled projects where theme and quality become subsumed in the race to make page count (cough, FLIGHT 2, cough) and by one's mates' plaintive cries of, "Oh but please can I be in it? Can I? Can I?"

Which brings us to the newly-launched Pictures & Words anthology. It aims to be a compendium of new comic art and narrative illustration. But no new work was commissioned for it, and it contains almost no complete stories - just one- to four-page excerpts of longer works. It's published by UK art-books publisher Laurence King, so don't expect to see this at your local comic shop; it's clearly aimed at the bookstore market.

And it's an anthology that drives me crazy. Part of me wants to scream "Best! Anthology! Ever!" because of some of the amazing artists it's introduced me to. But part of me wants to howl in rage at its pandering to UK mates and its seeming indecisiveness about whether to stick to less well known indie artists or to feature crossover successes.

Rage first. Tom Gault. He and publishing partner Simone Lia are hugely over-represented in the book, bagging the front cover, back cover, and over 10% of the interior to display their work. They are included in every one of the book's three sections (silent, single-panel and text + image). Their work is simply not varied enough to withstand that huge volume of exposure. Lia draws saccharine and faux-naïve stories about bunnies, and Gault does "oh gee, isn't life just so banal?" tales.

I suppose I'm overly annoyed about the mass of styrofoam Lia and Gault work (the anthology is also a bit heavy on David Shrigley, another one-trick pony) because those pages could have been used to show more of the actually innovative, exciting work by the likes of Lorenzo Mattotti (he of pages so beautiful I would chew my right arm off to draw like that), Fredrik von Blixen, Martin tom Dieck, Barnaby Richards, Jochen Gerner, Mr Clement and Nikhil Singh.

The book also mis-steps slightly in including work by Marjane Satrapi, Joe Sacco, and Jason. Is PICTURES & WORDS simply Indie Cartooning For Dummies? If so, where are Jeffrey Brown, Chris Ware, Seth, Craig Thompson, David B, Art Spiegelman and some of the other breakout successes? Or is PICTURES & WORDS about exposing the more avant-garde cartoonists to a wider and much-deserved audience? I'm not sure it knows. [Alex de Campi]

KNOCKING IT FOR SIX

Yep, it's UK indie anthology week here at Ninth Art. See, this is what I get for complaining when I reviewed Brendan McCarthy's excellent (and now sold out) SWIMINI PURPOSE about the state of the UK indie scene: Two anthologies in a week. (Don't hold your breath for more.)

STURGEON WHITE MOSS is the more or less annual anthology magazine that first featured much of the work later reprinted in (the totally unrelated) PICTURES & WORDS BOOK. There's some real thought and effort to diversify in Sturgeon White Moss; I remember my surprise at opening Issue #2 and seeing a cartoon by musician Daniel Johnston on the inside front cover. The anthology has also featured Dave Cooper, Sophie Crumb, Charles Burns, Killoffer, and Ivan Brunetti, right alongside less well-known artists whose work is equally impressive.

Each issue of SWM has been 'sponsored' by a large company and is limited to a 1,000 copy print run. Issue #5 was sponsored (if I recall correctly) by Reebok; Issue #6 is Paul Smith Jeans. The sponsorship is done with a feather touch: there are no advertisements or brand promos tarting up the magazine. For Issue #6, Barnaby Richards simply drew a clever inside front cover with his characters Art and Agatha, which at the bottom says, 'Art and Agatha do Paul Smith Jeans'. This is a very clever move by editor Sylvia Farago; it gives cartooning greater exposure within the corporate and advertising world, and it presumably means that the artists get paid - something that never normally happens with anthologies.

The standout from Issue #6's dozen stories is Knut Hamson and Liam Sparkes' freakadelic 'Hunger', which reads like a story made of punk- or burlesque-show flyers. I also loved Michael Golan's 'At the Party', which is the sort of cruel story where you know you shouldn't laugh, but you do anyway. Barnaby Richards' 'After Tea' is wonderful and sweet, and Fudge Factory's gleeful series of one-page strips, 'Naked Lady', is wonderful and not sweet at all.

I liked Matt Broersma's auto/desolation illustrations to the blues song 'Goodnight Irene', but that might just be because it's one of my favourite songs. I also liked Rui Tenreiro's beautifully bizarre 'Guests', a series of one-page illustrations of quotes from George Kuchar and Henry Miller, but I have a fondness for any art that hits in the Edward Gorey/Aubrey Beardsley mode. Less successful are Alice Lorenzi's 'Beside My Chair', and the too-goth-for-thou 'Dissect the Living' by French. Alexander Tucker's 'Furrowed Brow' also elicited a bit of a "whatever" from me.

Overall, I like STURGEON WHITE MOSS #6 a lot. It's short, it's sharp, it's well thought-out, and it succeeds a whole lot more times than it fails. And with an anthology, that's all you can hope for. [Alex de Campi]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR SEPTEMBER 8th 2005:

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

DC COMICS

JUL050217 AQUAMAN #34 $2.50
JUL050279 AUTHORITY THE MAGNIFICIENT KEVIN #1 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99
APR050327D BATMAN SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN TRINITY TP $17.99
JUL050218 BLOOD OF THE DEMON #7 $2.50
JUL050266 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY VOL 2 READ ALL ABOUT IT TP $6.99
JUL050281 CITY OF TOMORROW #6 (OF 6) $2.99
JUL050191 DETECTIVE COMICS #811 $2.50
JUL050285 EX MACHINA VOL 2 TAG TP (MR) $12.99
JAN050373 FABLES VOL 5 THE MEAN SEASONS TP (MR) $14.99
JUL050200 GOTHAM CENTRAL #35 $2.50
JUL050283 INTIMATES #11 $2.99
JUL050236 JLA VOL 17 SYNDICATE RULES TP $17.99
JUL050261 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #13 $2.25
JUL050265 LOONEY TUNES #130 $2.25
JUN050404 MAD ABOUT THE SIXTIES TP NEW EDITION $9.99
JUL050242 OUTSIDERS #28 $2.50
JUL050248 SEVEN SOLDIERS GUARDIAN #4 (OF 4) $2.99
JUL050208 SHAZAM SUPERMAN FIRST THUNDER #1 (OF 4) $3.50
JUL050252 SON OF VULCAN #4 (OF 6) $2.99
JUL050213 SUPERMAN #221 $2.50
JUL050309 SWAMP THING #19 (MR) $2.99
JUL050254 VILLAINS UNITED #5 (OF 6) $2.50
JUL050310 Y THE LAST MAN #37 (MR) $2.99

IMAGE

MAY05154 BAD IDEAS COLL TP $12.95
JUL051705 CITY OF HEROES #5 $2.99
JUN051759 COYOTE VOL 1 TP $14.99
JAN051598 FLIGHT VOL 2 GN $24.95
APR051687D PVP #18 $2.99
JUN051801 PVP #19 $2.99
APR051688D SEA OF RED #4 (MR) $2.99
MAY05157 STARDUST KID #2 (OF 4) $3.50

MARVEL

JUL051888 AMAZING FANTASY #12 $2.99
JUN041639 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL 7 BOOK OF EZEKIEL TP $12.99
JUN051996 ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #8 $2.99
JUL051934 AVENGERS SERPENT CROWN TP $15.99
JUL051907 CABLE DEADPOOL #19 $2.99
JUL051853 EXILES #69 $2.99
JUL051850 FANTASTIC FOUR HOUSE OF M #3 (OF 3) $2.99
JUL051868 GHOST RIDER #1 (OF 6) $2.99
JUN051976 HOUSE OF M #6 (OF 8) $2.99
JAN058165 HOUSE OF M LAND VARIANT COVER #6 (OF 8) (PP #680) $2.99
JUL051849 INCREDIBLE HULK #86 $2.99
JUL051848 IRON MAN HOUSE OF M #3 (OF 3) $2.99
JUL051899 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #7 $2.50
JUN052056 MARVEL MASTERWORKS DOCTOR STRANGE VOL 2 HC VARIANT ED $54.99
JUN052055 MARVEL MASTERWORKS DOCTOR STRANGE VOL 2 NEW ED HC $49.99
JUL051881 MARVEL TEAM-UP #12 $2.99
JUL051906 ORORO BEFORE THE STORM #4 (OF 4) $2.99
JUL051911 PUNISHER #25 (MR) $2.99
JUL051865 SPIDER-GIRL #90 $2.99
JUL051926 SPIDER-GIRL VOL 4 TURNING POINT DIGEST TP $7.99
JUL051910 SUPREME POWER NIGHTHAWK #1 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99
JUL051915 ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE #4 $3.99
JUL051860 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #82 $2.50
JUL051916 ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #4 $3.99
JUL051847 UNCANNY X-MEN #464 $2.50
JUL051901 X-MEN COLOSSUS BLOODLINE #1 (OF 5) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

APR053003F BAKERS #1 $3.00
JUN053110 BLACKPOOL #2 $2.95
JAN052391 CHRONO CRUSADE MANGA VOL 4 TP $9.99
APR052522E CHRONO CRUSADE MANGA VOL 5 TP $9.99
JUN052918 GI JOE AMERICAS ELITE #2 $2.95
JAN052389 GUNSLINGER GIRL MANGA VOL 2 TP (MR) $9.99
JUN052777 JUGHEAD #168 $2.25
JUL052738 MOPED ARMY VOL 1 GN (MR) $12.95
JUN052659 SALAMANDER DREAM GN $15.00
JUN052856 SIMPSONS SUPER SPECTACULAR #1 $4.99
JUN052780 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #153 $2.25
NOV042423E SOULFIRE #5 $2.99
MAY05263 SOULSEARCHERS #73 $2.50
JUN052781 TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #5 $2.39
MAY05310 TUXEDO GIN VOL 13 TP $9.99
JUL052578 VAISTRON #1 $2.95
JUN052660 YOTSUBA MANGA VOL 2 TP $9.99
JUN053088 ZORRO #4 $0.99

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.