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:

PRIVATE BEACH VOL 2: SECRET MESSAGES (Slave Labor Graphics)
What do you get when you merge a headstrong protagonist, a magic 8-ball, hostess clubs connected to strange cults, and a world that seems determined to throw the unexpected in people's lives? With almost any other creator, the answer would be "a mess", but David Hahn's PRIVATE BEACH is anything but. Collecting the first six issues of this ongoing series (the collection of the mini-series is fun but not essential), this is a book that'll have you alternating from laughing hysterically to biting your lip as you turn the pages. The characters are sarcastic without being annoying, and often seem like people you actually know instead of super-idealised creations. Hahn's art is as accomplished as his writing; he's been favourably compared to Jaime Hernandez, with his ability to draw beautiful but realistic women, and each issue just looks nicer and nicer. Is it a comedy? Drama? Mystery? Thriller? There are only a handful of comics that defy categorisation, and PRIVATE BEACH is one of them. I think his characters would approve. [Plymouth]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

HEROBEAR AND THE KID VOL 1: INHERITANCE TP (Astonish Comics) Mike Kunkel's wonderful tale of childhood adventure perfectly expresses the magic of fantasy for kids and perfectly recaptures it for grown-ups. At once wistful and optimistic, HEROBEAR has firmly established itself as one of my favourite series of the past few years in spite of its plodding schedule. This trade collects the first five-issue story, which is all the issues to date - and who knows what format the series will take in future, as the guys at the Astonish Factory always seem to be experimenting. Kunkel's rough-cut cartoon style is full of fluency and wit, and the story he weaves has something to teach both children and adults alike. [Fisher]

KING VOL 3 TP (Fantagraphics)
After more than a decade of toil, KING volume three represents the conclusion of Ho Che Anderson's interpretive biography of civil rights activist and social visionary Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Anderson's chunky yet expressive artwork is a perfect complement to the narrative, which seeks to know the man first, and then the myth, placing it within the context of both the historical events to which he was catalyst, and those events by which he was ultimately consumed. Expect this book to become a much bigger deal now that it's finally finished. [Trafalgar]

JAX EPOCH AND THE QUICKEN FORBIDDEN VOL 1: BORROWED MAGIC TP (AiT/PlanetLar)
If Jax Epoch had listened to Alice, she'd have known not to chase after white rabbits. Now that Jax has gone to another reality and back, it seems that bringing back things she found there wasn't such a good idea. Now there's other worlds bleeding into ours, a trial that could result in the destruction of Jax, and a force called the Quicken burrowing through the dimensions that's prophesied to wipe out all reality. Dave Roman and John Green's originally self-published QUICKEN FORBIDDEN comic has always been a joy to read - one of the few all-ages books that really is guaranteed to entertain people of all ages. With fun concepts, plot twists, and a greater mystery waiting to be solved, this new collection will hopefully get this story the larger audience it deserves. [Plymouth]

WOLVERINE/DOOP #1 (Marvel)
Movie fans, feed your rekindled adoration for Marvel's most wascally psychopath with this two-part team-up with a mutant media darling of a very different stripe. While X-STATIX takes a two-month sabbatical, the team's most mysterious member, living beanie Doop, gets to steal the spotlight for what promises to be a rather extraordinary little comic. After all, it's written by regular X-STATIX writer Peter Milligan, one of the most subversive talents in the mainstream, and illustrated by the gloriously talented Darwyn Cooke, seemingly pulling out all the stops to create a work of extraordinary visual flamboyance. Expect crime noir tinged with more than a hint of pink. [Fisher]

HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND TPB (DC Vertigo)
A mere three years after its first incarnation as a hardcover edition, HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND - adapted from a story by William Hope by writer Simon Revelstroke and artist Richard Corben - is finally released this week into a softcover edition, though at $19.95 for a mere 96 pages of story, this fisherman is led to wonder why DC bothered with so little, so late. Featuring an improbable introduction from Alan Moore in this edition, HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND is actually a pretty good read, a Gothic horror with a noticeable emphasis on the sex and gore, courtesy of Corben's signature artwork. Read it at 3 am, home alone, when you ought to be sleeping, and you are almost guaranteed a chill or three. [Trafalgar]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR MAY 7th:

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

DARK HORSE

MAR030033 BLACKBURNE COVENANT #2 (Of 4) $2.99
JAN030070 NEVERMEN: STREETS OF BLOOD #3 (Of 3) $2.99
MAR030044 OH MY GODDESS #97: THE PHANTOM RACER (PART 2 OF 4) $2.99
MAR030022 TONY MILLIONAIRE'S SOCK MONKEY #1 (Of 2) $2.99

DC COMICS

MAR030262 100 BULLETS #44 (RES) (MR) $2.50
DEC020811 100% #5 (Of 5) (RES) (MR) $5.95
MAR030244 21 DOWN #9 $2.95
MAR030196 ACTION COMICS #803 $2.25
MAR030245 AUTHORITY VOL 2 #1 (MR) $2.95
MAR030188 BATMAN CONTAGION TP NEW PRTG $19.95
MAR030190 BATMAN: NEVERMORE #2 (Of 5) $2.50
MAR030178 DETECTIVE COMICS #782 $2.75
MAR030206 DOOM PATROL #20 $2.50
DEC020815 FIGHT FOR TOMORROW #6 (Of 6) (MR) $2.50
FEB030221 FILTH #10 (Of 13) (MR) $2.95
MAR030208 GREEN ARROW #25 $2.50
MAR030193 HARLEY QUINN #32 $2.50
MAR030212 HAWKMAN #15 $2.50
MAR030274 HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND SC (MR) $19.95
MAR030222 JSA: ALL STARS #1 (Of 8) $2.50
MAR030223 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #19 $2.25
OCT020806 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL II #5 (Of 6) $3.50
MAR030240 LOONEY TUNES #102 $2.25
FEB030212 RELOAD #2 (Of 3) $2.95
MAR030249 ROBOTECH #6 (Of 6) $2.95
MAR030280 VERTIGO POP!: BANGKOK #1 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

DEC021781 ATHENA INC CVR B #6 $4.95
FEB031252 BATTLE OF THE PLANETS #9 $2.99
FEB031251 BATTLE OF THE PLANETS THUNDERCATS ONE SHOT $4.99
FEB031199 CLOCKMAKER #3 (Of 12) $2.50
FEB031214 KARZA #3 (Of 4) $2.95
MAR031300 PVP #2 $2.95
FEB031236 SAMMY: TOURIST TRAP #3 (Of 4) $2.95
MAR031311 VOLTRON DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE #0 $2.50

MARVEL

MAR031556 ALIAS #22 (MR) $2.99
MAR031565 CAPTAIN MARVEL #9 $2.99
MAR031553 ELEKTRA #23 $2.99
MAR031538 EXILES #26 $2.99
APR031568 HULK: THE MOVIE TP $12.99
MAR035026 MARVEL MUST HAVES: INCREDIBLE HULK #50-52 (PU#569) $3.99
MAR031523 SENTINEL #2 $2.99
MAR031575 SPIDER-GIRL #60 $2.99
MAR031549 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #40 $2.25
MAR031534 UNCANNY X-MEN #423 PI
FEB031328 VENOM #1 $2.25
MAR031527 WOLVERINE/DOOP #1 (Of 2) $2.99
MAR031526 WOLVERINE: SNIKT #1 (Of 6) $2.99
MAR031529 X-TREME X-MEN #25 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

FEB031761 ARCHIE DIGEST #198 $2.39
FEB031768 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #60 $2.19
MAR032075 FIRST #31 $2.95
JAN031968 HEROBEAR AND THE KID VOL 1: INHERITANCE TP $19.95
FEB031697 JAX EPOCH AND QUICKEN FORBIDDEN VOL 1: BORROWED MAGIC TP $12.95
MAR032213 KING VOL 3 TP $11.95
FEB032174 MONKEY VS ROBOT AND CRYSTAL OF POWER GN $14.95
FEB032086 MR GUM ONE SHOT $2.99
MAR032077 MYSTIC #36 $2.95
JAN032123 NODWICK #20 $2.99
MAR031904 OUTLOOK GRIM #1 (MR) $2.95
MAR031925 PRIVATE BEACH VOL 2: SECRET MESSAGES $13.95
MAR032068 R A SALVATORE'S DEMON WARS VOL 2 #1: EYE FOR AN EYE (Of 5) $2.95
FEB031772 SABRINA VOL 2 #45 $2.19
JAN032391 SCHISM NIGHT CROSSING #1 (Of 4) $2.95
FEB032191 SHONEN JUMP VOL 1 #6 JUNE 2003 $4.95
STAR10631 USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 3 SC $15.95
JAN032133 WARLANDS VOL 3 #5 $2.95
MAR032095 WAY OF THE RAT #13 $2.95
FEB031726 XIN: JOURNEY OF THE MONKEY KING #1 LAU CVR $2.99

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.