The Shipping Forecast is Ninth Art's pick of the best and most notable new releases hitting comic stores each week, courtesy of the fishing crew at the Ninth Art lighthouse. Shipping details come courtesy of Diamond. Check out the Diamond website for the latest information, as the list is subject to change.

FASTNET PICKS:

THE AMAZING SCREW ON HEAD (Dark Horse)
Here's the good news - there's going to be a HELLBOY movie, and Mike Mignola is going to be closely involved in the production. Here's the bad news - that means that most of the HELLBOY projects scheduled for the next twelve months have been shelved. All the more reason, then, to pick up THE AMAZING SCREW ON HEAD, a 32-page one-shot story written and drawn by Mignola. It's completely non-HELLBOY, but also, from the sound of it, completely mad. Mignola promises flying machines, tomb robbery, weird alien menaces and talking dogs - not to mention, of course, a mechanical screw-on head. Pure lunacy? Perhaps. But I'm having some of it, and so should you.

POWERS #20 (Image)
The Superteams arc comes to an end with this issue, and to my mind, this has been the best POWERS story so far. It's added depth and resonance to the main characters, increased the tension between them, given us an insight into the politics of superpowers in this setting, and developed some of the plot points planted in the somewhat lacklustre previous stories. For my money, this is the best work that Brian Bendis has done since TORSO (barring the standard quibble about the editing and proofreading), and Mike Oeming's art more than matches the quality of the writing. In the absence of PLANETARY and TOP TEN, this is my favourite superhero book.

GERMAN BIGHT PICKS:

SERGIO ARAGONES' ACTIONS SPEAK TP (Dark Horse)
There's something compelling about Sergio Aragones' gag comics. Maybe it's because his art style gives the impression that he's managing to make a decent living out of doodling really, really well. Maybe it's because there's so much detail crammed into each panel that it can take as long to read a strip as it can to read a page of an average superhero book. Maybe it's because a lot of the jokes are actually quite funny. It's entirely visual too, the "high concept" being that no words are spoken. Marvel gimmickry, eat your heart out. Back in the days when you bought MAD magazine, did you find one of the best bits was finding tiny little Aragones gags in between the larger cartoon strips? Well, this is like that, only without the squinting and the larger, unfunny cartoons to distract you.

TRUTH SERUM #3 (Slave Labor Graphics)
A while back I highlighted the first issue of this series, and I'm just doing it again to remind you to check this out. There's a kind of ongoing plot thread, but you don't need to be following it to appreciate TRUTH SERUM. This is a delightfully odd comic with a self-published feel, even if it is coming through a well-established small-press publishing house. The approximate size and shape of a seven-inch single (to explain to our younger readers - a relic from the days when music was fragile but smelt nice), it has a decidedly offbeat vibe to it, presenting vignettes from a town where down-at-heel superheroes and supervillains bicker among themselves and with civil servants. A quirky book, so give it a spin.

FISHER PICKS:

SPIDER-MAN: QUALITY OF LIFE #1 (Marvel Universe)
Apparently there's some movie came out recently that's doing quite well. Don't ask me what it's all about - we don't have a multiplex out here on the lighthouse. But Marvel's wisely cashing in by having several trades out there, making this month's ongoing books 'jumping on' points (Green Goblin's back in both ULTIMATE and this week's PETER PARKER, which is potentially confusing), and launching a couple of miniseries. One Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's SPIDER-MAN: BLUE, which doesn't inspire me any more than DAREDEVIL: YELLOW did. The other is QUALITY OF LIFE, which sees Greg Rucka getting to grips with the webslinger, with completely digital art from Scott Sava, previously seen on Astonish Comics' THE LAB. It's a very different look, and it could take some getting used to, but with Rucka writing The Lizard in this story, I know I'll be checking it out.

DAREDEVIL #33 (Marvel Knights)
If you're still not reading this, one of the very best noir books on the market, then more fool you. The Underboss storyline ended with a major cliffhanger that has left fans itching to pick up the next issue of this brilliant series. Bendis' writing is as strong as it's ever been, and Alex Maleev's dark, detailed art is flawless. It's a shame that the Underboss trade won't be out until August, because with everything in flux, this is a bit of an odd jumping on point. Still, with the story-so-far updated at the start of each issue, new readers won't be left behind, and what little work it takes to catch up will be more than rewarded. This is good stuff. This is really good stuff.

DOGGER PICKS:

BLACK WIDOW PALE LITTLE SPIDER #2 (Marvel Max)
If you're reading QUEEN & COUNTRY, you ought to be reading this. (And if you're reading this, you ought to be reading QUEEN & COUNTRY.) This is not conventional superheroes, and it's very, very good. I know nothing about the Marvel Black Widow character, and I really don't need to in order to enjoy this - just that our lead character here is the second to bear the name, and has issues about measuring up to her predecessor. Her quest to feel secure in her assumed identity took something of a knock in issue one when she discovered that her mentor figure has been murdered in a Moscow fetish club; one that seems to specialise in BDSM role-play featuring women pretending to be her. Sordid, twisted, unpleasant, and very, very good.

PLYMOUTH PICKS:

WAY OF THE RAT #1 $2.95 (CrossGen)
After a bit of an underwhelming debut as a company, CrossGen seems to be making up for lost time. Its latest title, WAY OF THE RAT, is no exception. Set in a facsimile medieval Chinese land, it tells the tale of Jade Rat, a young thief who discovers the hard way that some mystical artefacts were not meant to be stolen. A fast-paced martial arts adventure, Chuck Dixon's written an entertaining script, with gorgeous and fluid art by Jeff Johnson and Tom Ryder. The best part about this book? You can read the entire first issue, for a limited time only, on CrossGen's Comics on the Web site. CrossGen's confidence in WAY OF THE RAT is well-placed; this fisher is already bating a hook for the second issue.

Comics shipping in the US on May 15th:

DARK HORSE

MAR020030 AMAZING SCREW ON HEAD $2.99
MAR020068 CANNON GOD EXAXXION #7 STAGE 1 (7 OF 8) (MR) $2.99
FEB020037 SERGIO ARAGONES ACTIONS SPEAK TP (C: 2) $13.95
FEB020073 SUPER MANGA BLAST #21 (MR) $5.99
MAR020023 SUPERMAN ALIENS II #1 (Of 4) $2.99

DC COMICS

OCT010612 AUTHORITY #29 $2.50
MAR020372 BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #29 $2.50
MAR020386 DEADMAN #6 $2.50
MAR020416 ESTABLISHMENT #9 $2.50
MAR020420 GEN 13 #77 (Note Price) $3.50
MAR020378 HARLEY QUINN #20 $2.25
FEB020641 HELLBLAZER #173 (MR) $2.50
MAR020400 JIST WITH CHRIS BACHALO CREATING CATWOMAN $5.95
MAR020402 LAB RATS #2 $2.50
MAR020438 LUCIFER #26 (MR) $2.50
MAR020404 POWER COMPANY #4 $2.50
MAR020413 POWERPUFF GIRLS #27 $1.99
MAR020383 SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL #126 $2.25

IMAGE

FEB021554 MIDNIGHT NATION #11 (RES) $2.50
MAR021381 NOBLE CAUSES CHRIS CROSS CVR #3 $2.95
MAR021380 NOBLE CAUSES GLEASON CVR #3 $2.95
FEB021556 POWERS #20 (MR) $2.95 JAN021569 SAVAGE DRAGON #97 $2.95

MARVEL

MAR021644 BLACK WIDOW PALE LITTLE SPIDER #2 (MR) $2.99
MAR021677 DAREDEVIL #33 $2.99
MAR021688 INCREDIBLE HULK #40 $2.25
MAR021681 IRON MAN #55 (#400 SPECIAL ISSUE) (Note Price) $3.50
JAN022029 MARVEL MASTERWORKS FANTASTIC FOUR #1-10 HC (STAR07263) $29.99
MAR021665 MUTIES #4 $2.50
MAR021666 NEW X-MEN #126 $3.25
MAR021676 PUNISHER #12 $2.99
MAR021657 SPIDER-MAN PETER PARKER #44 $2.25
MAR021656 SPIDER-MAN QUALITY OF LIFE #1 (Of 4) $2.99
MAR021690 TASKMASTER #4 (Of 4) $2.99
MAR021697 THUNDERBOLTS #64 $2.25
MAR021655 ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM UP #16 $2.25
MAR021667 ULTIMATE X-MEN #18 $2.25
FEB021905 X-FORCE #127 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS

MAR022479 ALL NEW TENCHI MUYO PART 1 #1 (Of 7) $2.95
FEB022218 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #134 $3.29
MAR021867 BEAUTIFUL KILLER LTD PREVIEW ED #1 $5.00
FEB022221 BETTY & VERONICA #175 $1.99
JAN022558 CASTLE WAITING #14 (RES) $2.95
MAR022484 DRAGONBALL PART 4 #10 (Of 10) (C: 3) $2.95
MAR022485 DRAGONBALL Z PART 5 #5 (Of 12) (C: 3) $2.95
MAR022112 FORGE #2 $9.95
FEB022526F FUTABAKUN CHANGE VOL 8 #3 $2.95
MAR022059 INSANE CLOWN POSSE DARK CARNIVAL #1 $2.99
JAN022565 MARQUIS DEVILS REIGN HELLS COURTESAN #2 (Of 2) (MR) $2.95
MAR022487 MEDABOTS PART 1 #3 (Of 4) $2.75
MAR022110 MYSTIC #24 $2.95
MAR022493 NO NEED FOR TENCHI VOL 12 NO NEED FOR ENDINGS TP $15.95
FEB022529F OGENKI CLINIC VOL 9 #1 (A) (C: 3) $2.95
JAN022266 RADIOACTIVE MAN #575 $2.50
FEB022229 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #110 $1.99
MAR021894 STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III #50 $2.95
MAR021934 TRUTH SERUM #3 $2.95
JAN022503F VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU ARTBOOK $24.99
FEB022528F VAMPIRE YUI VOL 4 #3 $2.95
MAR022289 VANISHERS GN $12.99
MAR022129 VAULT #1 LEGENDS DARK CITY ANGEL PREVIEW $2.50
MAR022146 WARLANDS VOL 2 TP $11.95
MAR022108 WAY OF THE RAT #1 $2.95
MAR022497 X 1999 VOL 7 RHAPSODY TP $15.95

The 9A Lighthouse Crew are Trafalgar, Shannon, Fastnet, Plymouth, Viking, German Bight, Finisterre, Forties, Dogger, Cromarty and Fisher.

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.