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: X-FACTOR

For those of you who think that there are too many X-Men titles on the market today, the early 1990s must seem like paradise. Five regular ongoing team-book series, plus WOLVERINE. It wouldn't be long before everyone and their time-lost cloned son had their own book, of course, but for a while there it was a manageable little empire.

When Jim Lee and Chris Claremont launched their sales-record-breaking adjectiveless X-MEN, they pulled together the lion's share of existing X-Men to form the team. Where, then, did this leave X-FACTOR, the book whose cast of mutants had just been yanked out of their own title? In the capable hands of Peter David, thankfully.

This week, Marvel publish X-FACTOR VISIONARIES: PETER DAVID VOLUME ONE, a title which is head-scratchingly baffling until you realise that it's not the X-FACTOR side of it that's the important bit, but rather the PETER DAVID side. This is the latest in a series of measures taken by Marvel to rehabilitate David within the company, along with giving him HULK to write, X-FACTOR to relaunch, a line of trade paperbacks of his initial HULK run, and so on. Roll on ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN 2099.

When David took over X-FACTOR with issue 70, the various X-teams had been splintered, with the intention of reconstituting them in different places. David ended up with a cast to work with that should have been more 'litter tray' than 'pick of the litter' - Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Quicksilver, Jamie Madrox and the appallingly/brilliantly named Strong Guy.

This group of mainly no-marks and losers were ideal for David's writing style, cracking wise and bickering as they faced the hand they'd been dealt as Xavier's representatives in the public eye. David also got lucky with his pencilers, working with the brilliantly off-kilter Larry Stroman and some young fellow who went on to draw ASH. Whatever happened to that guy, eh?

This book only collects the first five issues of the 'All-New, All-Different' X-FACTOR, but they're comics that Marvel would be justifiably proud to publish today, and the trade is well worth it just to reassure yourself that you're not imagining it - things really were better back in the day. [Alistair Kennedy]

ALL RIGHT FOR FIGHTING

War, huh? What is it... No, not even I would start this pick in such a cheesy way. Having just seen the rather wonderful LORD OF WAR, I was in a war kind of mood, and along comes a big fat first issue from Image exclaiming "war"! Jordan Raskin's 72-page one-shot INDUSTRY OF WAR is but the start of this story, conceived as a screenplay. Raskin's devotion to getting it out in nice neat packages with so much material is highly industrious and... No, if I'm not making 'war' jokes, then no 'industrious' jokes either.

Originally published as a series of back-ups in the almost-and-hopefully forgotten PSCYTHE by Mark Texeira, this volume collects those 32 pages along with a whole bundle of new stuff. Raskin's creation of the concept as a screenplay is evident in the way he's choosing to release it - an act at a time - and it's a testament to Image's growing creative experimentation that they'd release it that way.

The premise would seem to be classic days-of-old Image material; a gang-banger is accidentally merged with a piece of lost government weaponry that had been deemed unfit for use - said weapon being bladed and nigh unstoppable. However, the execution of the idea - featuring two secret agents tasked with tracking down said weapons - in combination with Raskin's massively detailed Gene Ha-esque art gives it a completely different feel. While Image has come on in leaps and bounds, if it has to continue the 90s twaddle, I'd rather it was along these lines than, say, PSCYTHE.

The screenplay on which this is based was co-written by one of my screenwriting heroes, Ron Shusset, responsible for ALIEN, among other things. However, even without Shusset's guiding hand, Raskin seems highly confident with both script and art. The art, especially, demonstrates how his work for animation has leant him a keen professional eye. I hope that we get to see a lot more of Raskin's art, not just in the continuing story of INDUSTRY OF WAR, but elsewhere too. [John Fellows]

RIGHT ON TARGET

The problem with being a veteran superhero reader is that there are few real surprises to be had. You know that Captain America is going to beat the Red Skull. You know that Sue Richards is never going to run off with Prince Namor (Mister Darcy never smelt of kippers, after all). And you know, right down to your bones, that if anything significant does happen, some clodhopping Captain Yesterday is going to come along and undo it, just as soon as they can.

It can make for very depressing reading - especially when a character, setting or costume you like is wiped out in favour of an earlier/inferior iteration - but it can also be strangely comforting, in a life of constant flux, to have something so stable and undemanding to rely on.

So when Marvel tries to convince me that only one of their headliners will be left standing at the end of the new miniseries PUNISHER VS BULLSEYE, my first thought isn't "where can I buy a wreath?"

Daniel Way and Steve Dillon's BULLSEYE: GREATEST HITS was a surprisingly good read. A homage to thrillers like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and THE USUAL SUSPECTS, Way's script took advantage of Dillon's skills as a character artist (as well as his black sense of humour) to create a compelling origin story for the popular villain. This sequel looks to be more of the same, picking up on a thread from GREATEST HITS and pitting Marvel's premier soldier of vengeance against its most amoral assassin.

And therein lies the problem. Because these characters are so popular, both in comics and out (Avi Arad's probably still hoping to get Colin Farrell back for DAREDEVIL 2: PIGS MIGHT FLY), it's hard to imagine either of them ending up dead. The trick is going to be in how Way and Dillon manage to keep two such relentless, dyed-in-the-wool killers alive without emasculating them.

But given the pedigree of the creators, and the potential chemistry between the deadpan vigilante and the deadshot lunatic, I doubt I'm going to bother getting upset over a little bit of false advertising. [Matthew Craig]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR NOVEMBER 23rd 2005:

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

DARK HORSE

DEC040034D BMW FILMS THE HIRE #4 (OF 6) $2.99

DC COMICS

SEP050290D AUTHORITY THE MAGNIFICIENT KEVIN #4 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99
SEP050213D BATGIRL #70 $2.50
SEP050208D BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #71 $2.50
SEP050273D CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #15 $2.25
SEP050214D CATWOMAN #49 $2.50
SEP058282D DANGER GIRL THE ULTIMATE COLL TP $19.99
AUG050264D EX MACHINA #16 (MR) $2.99
SEP050235D FLASH #228 $2.50
SEP050245D I CANT BELIEVE ITS NOT THE JUSTICE LEAGUE TP $12.99
SEP050247D JACK CROSS #4 $2.50
SEP050249D JSA CLASSIFIED #5 $2.50
SEP050313D LOVELESS #2 (MR) $2.99
SEP050312D LUCIFER #68 (MR) $2.75
SEP050217D ROBIN #144 $2.50
AUG050273D TOM STRONG #35 $2.99
SEP050265D VIGILANTE #3 (OF 6) $2.99
SEP050300D WRAITHBORN #3 (OF 6) $2.99
SEP050317D Y THE LAST MAN VOL 6 GIRL ON GIRL TP (MR) $12.99
SEP050282D YOUNG MAGICIAN VOL 2 (MR) $9.99

IMAGE

SEP051682D AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS VOL 2 #2 $2.99
SEP051692D FERRO CITY #4 $2.99
SEP051667D INDUSTRY OF WAR ONE SHOT (MR) $7.99
FEB045201D MAGE VOL 1 THE HERO DISCOVERED TP $29.99
JUL051632D PVP VOL 3 PVP RIDES AGAIN TP $11.99
JUL051636D SAINT GERMAINE VOL 1 SHADOWS FALL TP $14.99

MARVEL

SEP051908D AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #526 $2.50
SEP051912D ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #11 $2.99
SEP051915D BLACK WIDOW 2 #3 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG051922D CAPTAIN AMERICA #12 $2.99
SEP051951D CAPTAIN UNIVERSE INVISIBLE WOMAN $2.99
SEP051919D DAREDEVIL #79 $2.99
SEP051953D MARVEL 1602 NEW WORLD #5 (OF 5) $3.50
SEP051980D MARVEL ADVENTURES FLIP MAGAZINE #6 $3.99
SEP051981D MARVEL HEROES FLIP MAGAZINE #6 $3.99
SEP058169D MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN SECOND PTG VARIANT #19 $2.99
SEP051933D NICK FURY HOWLING COMMANDOS #2 $2.99
SEP051934D NICK FURYS HOWLING COMMANDOS #1 DIRECTORS CUT $3.99
SEP052006D PUNISHER MAX VOL 4 UP IS DOWN AND BLACK IS WHITE TP (MR) $14.99
SEP051920D PUNISHER VS BULLSEYE #1 (OF 5) $2.99
SEP051946D SHE-HULK 2 #2 $2.99
SEP051905D ULTIMATE X-MEN #65 $2.50
SEP051966D UNCANNY X-MEN #466 $2.50
SEP052003D X-FACTOR VISIONARIES PETER DAVID VOL 1 TP $15.99
AUG051919D YOUNG AVENGERS #9 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

AUG053317E 1 WORLD MANGA VOL 2 TP $3.99
MAR042866E ANGEL SANCTUARY VOL 2 GN $9.95
SEP052748E ARCHIE & FRIENDS #96 $2.25
FEB042724E BATTLE ANGEL ALITA VOL 3 2ND ED KILLING ANGEL TP $9.95
SEP052753E BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #138 $3.59
AUG052834F ELVIRA #150 $2.50
SEP053014F EVENT HORIZON VOL 2 TP (OF 12) (MR) $19.95
AUG053244J EXALTED #1 POWER FOIL CVR ED PI
AUG053243F EXALTED #1 REG ED $3.49
APR042993E FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 11 TP VETERAN $9.95
SEP052832E FUTURAMA COMICS #22 $2.99
AUG052644E GLOOMCOOKIE #25 (MR) $2.95
APR052802E HACK SLASH VS EVIL ERNIE CRANK CVR B $4.95
APR052801E HACK SLASH VS EVIL ERNIE SEELEY CVR A $4.95
SEP032578E NARUTO VOL 2 TP $7.95
MAR042882E NEON GENESIS EVANGELION VOL 3 2ND ED TP $9.95
NOV032656E RANMA 1/2 VOL 25 TP $9.95
SEP053080F SILENT SCREAMS TP (MR) $5.95
AUG052662E VAMPIRELLA WITCHBLADE FEAST #1 $2.99

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.