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:

PROMETHEA BOOK THREE TP (DC Wildstorm/ABC)
This trade paperback collects issues 13-18 of PROMETHEA, and represents the first half of the long journey up the Tree of Life. Some fans expressed dismay during these first few issues of "PROMETHEA: Year Two" at the more didactic tone of these stories as Moore and his artistic collaborators, JH Williams III and Mick Gray plunged headlong into the most exhaustive and sumptuous study of magic yet conceived in the comics form. Ritual magicians across the world rejoiced, but, of course, they couldn't tell anyone about it except each other. As a result, opinions about these issues are about as polarised as can be. There is no denying the majesty and artistry that goes into each of these vignettes about the nature of Life, the Universe, and Everything, but Alan Moore fans looking mostly for entertainment might be better advised to look elsewhere. Unless they worship pagan gods. [Trafalgar]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

NEW MUTANTS #1 (Marvel)
Another new x-book for that oh-so-pared down mutant line! But this one stands a better than average chance of surviving for a number of reasons. First of all, look at the title. OK, the original NEW MUTANTS book was well off the boil by the time it became X-FORCE, but many long time x-books fans still remember the title's early years as some of their all time favourite comics. Secondly, the concept is sound; four former NEW MUTANTS return to the school as teachers, including fan favourites Dani Moonstar and Rahne Sinclair. Third, it's by SKINWALKER writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with art by the very promising Keron Grant - a team with a better than average chance of making this title sing. [Fisher]

SPIDER-MAN: LEGEND OF THE SPIDER-CLAN TPB (Marvel)
Although the monthly Mangaverse title written and illustrated by Ben Dunn is no more, Marvel has thankfully decided to collect all the relevant material in trade form, including this five-issue miniseries. The Mangaverse was a breath of fresh air for relatively stale characters, and allowed the creators involved with the project to go wild with their favourite Marvel characters without upsetting the 'official' canon. In this case, Kaare Andrews expands his take on Spider-Man as a youthful ninja sworn to uphold the honour of his clan following the murder of his sensei, this time with Skottie Young providing the visuals. This should be a lot of fun for Marvel and Manga fans alike, although it might be said that the appeal lies mostly in the concept rather than its execution. [Finisterre]

YU-GI-OH! VOL 1 TP: MILLENNIUM PUZZLE (Viz Communications)
Most people who are familiar with the hit cartoon YU-GI-OH can tell you instantly what it's about. "Card games," they'd say, "it's about a bunch of kids playing a massive card game." What most people don't realise, though, is that the manga it's based on started out completely different. Instead it's about young and innocent Yugi, who solves an ancient Egyptian puzzle known as the Millennium Puzzle and gains a second personality, a dark and malevolent force that makes people play deadly games as penance for their mistakes. It actually brings to mind Michael Fleisher's old SPECTRE series for DC Comics, where strange punishments to fit the crime were the name of the game. It's no wonder that creator Kazuki Takahashi changed the tone and plot of the series before long; Yugi alternates between annoyingly innocent and stupid, and a vindictive spoiled brat that uses his powers above and beyond the call of duty. This is an interesting curiosity, to see how the hit series began, but even die-hard YU-GI-OH! fans should take a close look before buying, so they know just what they're getting into. [Plymouth]

CREW #1 (Marvel)
Touted in certain corners as 'the black Avengers', this is another of those Marvel books - like the relaunched THUNDERBOLTS or the recent RAWHIDE KID - that's going to have to fight against its daft publicity to get audiences on side. (For the record, I've heard that the now cancelled THUNDERBOLTS was worth the struggle. RAWHIDE was not.) Christopher Priest's BLACK PANTHER is one book feeding in to this series, and that bodes well. The 'black Captain America' mini TRUTH is the other, but speaking as a passionate Kyle Baker fan, even I gave up on that series at issue three. I recommended TRUTH here, and I regret it, so I'll leave this one up to you, with this proviso; if anyone can get a minority superteam book rise above tokenism, it's Priest. [Fisher]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR MAY 21st:

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

DARK HORSE

MAR030020 BPRD: THE SOUL OF VENICE ONE SHOT $2.99
MAR030034 DEVIL'S FOOTPRINTS #3 (Of 4) $2.99
MAR030025 JUDGE DREDD VS ALIENS: INCUBUS #3 (Of 4) $2.99
DEC020032 LONE WOLF 2100 #8 $2.99

DC COMICS

MAR030183 ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL #1 (Of 6) $2.50
MAR030184 BATGIRL #40 $2.50
JAN030202 BATMAN ADVENTURES #2 $2.25
MAR030181 BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #41 $2.75
MAR030266 BEWARE THE CREEPER #2 (Of 5) (MR) $2.95
MAR030189 BIRDS OF PREY #55 $2.50
MAR030210 GREEN ARROW #26 $2.50
MAR030276 LUCIFER #38 (MR) $2.50
MAR030242 POWERPUFF GIRLS #38 $2.25
MAR030260 PROMETHEA BOOK THREE TP $14.95
MAR030195 ROBIN #114 $2.25
MAR030251 SLEEPER #5 (MR) $2.95
MAR030204 SMALLVILLE #2 $3.50
MAR030199 SUPERMAN: METROPOLIS #4 (Of 12) $2.95
MAR030253 THUNDERCATS: THE RETURN #4 (Of 5) $2.95
MAR030278 TRANSMETROPOLITAN VOL 8: DIRGE TP (MR) $14.95
MAR030235 WONDER WOMAN #192 $2.25
MAR030281 Y: THE LAST MAN #11 (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

MAR031271 GI JOE #7 (O/A) $2.95
MAR031284 LEGACY #1 $2.95
MAR031291 MICRONAUTS VOL 1: REBELLION TP $10.95
FEB031259 WITCHBLADE #64 $2.99

MARVEL

MAR031548 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #53 $2.25
MAR031520 CREW #1 $2.50
MAR031552 DAREDEVIL #47 $2.99
MAR031594 DAREDEVIL VOL 6: LOWLIFE TP $13.99
MAR031539 EXILES #27 $2.99
MAR031604 MARVEL MANGAVERSE VOL 3: SPIDER-MAN, LEGEND OF THE SPIDER-CLAN TP$11.99
MAR031546 MARVILLE #7 (Note Price) $2.99
MAR031518 NEW MUTANTS #1 $2.50
MAR031531 NEW X-MEN #141 $2.25
MAR031525 RUNAWAYS #2 $2.50
MAR031545 SOLDIER X #11 $2.99
MAR031562 THUNDERBOLTS #79 $2.25
MAR031550 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #41 $2.25
MAR031532 ULTIMATE X-MEN #33 $2.25
MAR031592 UNCANNY X-MEN VOL 2: DOMINENT SPECIES TP $11.99
MAR031517 WOLVERINE #1 $2.25
MAR031536 X-MEN UNLIMITED #47 $2.50

OTHER PUBLISHERS

MAR032134 ADVENTURE KID BOOK 2: HARD DRIVE GN (A) $16.95
MAR031978 ARCHIE #536 $2.19
APR032064 BIG BAD BOOK OF BART SIMPSON TP $12.95
MAR032487 CERES, CELESTIAL LEGEND VOL 4 TP: CHIDORI $9.95
MAR032066 CROSSOVERS #5 $2.95
MAR032071 CRUX #26 $2.95
MAR032489 DRAGONBALL VOL 8 TP SHONEN J ED $7.95
MAR032488 DRAGONBALL VOL 11 TP $7.95
MAR032493 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 8 TP SHONEN J ED $7.95
MAR032494 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 9 TP SHONEN J ED $7.95
MAR032495 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 10 TP SHONEN J ED $7.95
MAR032492 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 11 TP $7.95
MAR032333 DUNGEON #6 $2.95
FEB031977 FREEMIND #6 $3.50
MAR032496 GUNDAM WING: GROUND ZERO TP 2ND ED (RES) $9.95
MAR032334 HOW LOATHSOME #2 (MR) $2.95
MAR031988 LAUGH DIGEST #184 $2.39
MAR032246 METALLIX #0 $3.50
MAR032318 MOONSTONE NOIR: JOHNNY DOLLAR (MR) $4.95
MAR032317 PHANTOM VOL 1 TP: GHOST WHO WALKS $16.95
MAR032081 ROUTE 666 #12 $2.95
MAR032083 SCION #36 $2.95
MAR032084 SIGIL VOL 4 TP: HOSTAGE PLANET $15.95
MAR032048 SIMPSONS COMICS #82 $2.50
MAR032093 SOLUS #3 $2.95
MAR032361 THREE STRIKES #2 (Of 5) (MR) $2.99
MAR032150 TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE VOL 2 #2 (Of 6) $2.95
MAR031992 VERONICA #140 $2.19
MAR032483 YU-GI-OH VOL 1 TP: MILLENNIUM PUZZLE $7.95

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.