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

BAREFOOT SERPENT GN (Top Shelf Productions)
While discriminating comics fans that visited San Diego this weekend no doubt have already gotten their copy of Scott Morse?s newest original graphic novel, those of us stuck in Direct Market land will have to wait until this Wednesday at the very earliest to check it out for themselves. Purporting to blend "a full-color rumination on the life and work of legendary Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa" with the experiences of a little girl vacationing in Hawaii after a family tragedy, THE BAREFOOT SERPENT promises fans of Morse?s more experimental works like SOULWIND and ANCIENT JOE something substantive upon which to feast. With the current manga boom unfurling in the Direct Market and beyond, it'll be interesting to see whether the manga influences that Morse has proudly worn for some time carry this one further than some might suspect. [Trafalgar]

ALSO THIS WEEK

NARUTO VOL 1 TP: TESTS OF THE NINJA (Viz)
In any other book, Naruto would be the bizarre sidekick, the bumbling ninja student targeted as comic relief while our hero goes about his business. That's probably why Masashi Kishimoto made him the hero instead. Naruto is anything but your ordinary coming-of-age story, taking a decidedly different turn down the typical training saga. It's funny, it's irreverant, and it's got a really sharp look at how teamwork and ambition really can drive people. Add in some wonderfully energetic art, strange squiggly details in the background, and a really different origin story than most heroes could dream of, this first collection of NARUTO from the pages of SHONEN JUMP is top-quality stuff. [Plymouth]

CBLDF SPX 2003 TRAVEL GN (CBLDF)
Hot on the heels of being awarded an Eisner for the 2002 version, here comes Team Comix?s favorite son, the 2003 SPX anthology. Originally envisioned as an extended program for fans visiting the Small Press Expo, the SPX anthology has become not only one of the more visible places for alt-comics aspirants to make a strong showing but, in recent years, a primer for the many facets of this imaginative but often underfunded segment of the comics industry. This year?s edition bears the theme of 'Travel', and features a lovely cover from Jaime Hernandez as well as contributions from all your indy comics favorites. [Trafalgar]

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE TP (TwoMorrows Publishing)
As Alan Moore turns fifty, it seems like everyone and their dog is trying to profit from this, or at least pay some form of fitting tribute. I confidently expect to see memorial plates, cheap t-shirts, and nasty bits of touristy gimcrackery featuring the bearded gent springing up in my comic shop some time in the next six months. What's most annoying about them is that they're all bloody good, as one would expect from a book of rare works, pieces from his early career, and a few things that never previously saw the light of day, fleshed out by extensive interviews with both the man himself, and his closest collaborators. [Dogger]

FABLES VOL 2: ANIMAL FARM (DC Vertigo)
Another Eisner award winner, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham's charming tale of exiled fairytale creatures living in modern New York goes upstate in this second collection, to show us where the fairytales that can't pass for human are kept, in the Farm that was hinted at in the first storyline. This is one of the strongest new series from Vertigo in a long time, and I'm delighted to see that the publisher has recognised this, and produced another collected edition. Willingham's grasp of the history of the fairytale is assured - these aren't sanitised children's stories, but something dark and a little disturbing hiding under an innocent exterior, and Buckingham's art and clear storytelling make this book a visual joy. [Dogger]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR JULY 23rd

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

DARK HORSE
MAY030030 BTVS #59: SLAYER INTERRUPTED (PART 4 OF 4) ART CVR $2.99
MAY030017 HELL #1 $2.99
MAY030032 USAGI YOJIMBO #68 $2.99

DC COMICS
MAY030233 AMERICAN CENTURY #26 (MR) $2.75
MAY030141 BATGIRL #42 $2.50
MAY030149 BIRDS OF PREY #57 $2.50
MAY030205 CARTOON CARTOONS #20 $2.25
MAY030212 EYE OF THE STORM ANNUAL (MR) $4.95
MAY030238 FABLES VOL 2: ANIMAL FARM TP (MR) $12.95
MAY030160 JIMMY OLSEN ADVENTURES BY JACK KIRBY TP $19.95
MAY030187 JLA: SCARY MONSTERS #5 (Of 6) $2.50
OCT020806 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL II #5 2ND PTG $3.50
MAY030245 LUCIFER #40 (MR) $2.50
MAY030198 OUTSIDERS #2 $2.50
MAY030156 ROBIN #116 $2.25
MAY030216 ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA VOL 3 TP $14.95
MAY030159 SUPERMAN #195 $2.25
MAY030225 TERRA OBSCURA #2 (Of 6) $2.95
MAY030220 TOKYO STORM WARNING #2 (Of 3) $2.95
MAY030221 WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #12 (MR) $2.95
MAY030202 WONDER WOMAN #194 $2.25

IMAGE
APR031269 GI JOE #19 $2.95
APR031270 GI JOE FRONTLINE #9 $2.95
MAY031221 GI JOE TRANSFORMERS #2 (Of 6) $2.95
MAY031229 LEGACY #2 $2.95
APR031292 PARADIGM #10 $3.50
MAY031253 PUFFED CROSLAND CVR #1 (Of 3) (MR) $2.95
MAY031255 PVP #3 $2.95

MARVEL
MAY031541 BLACK PANTHER #62 $2.99
MAY031525 FANTASTIC FOUR #500 (#71) DIRECTORS CUT ED $4.99
MAY031532 HULK: NIGHTMERICA #2 (Of 6) $2.99
MAY031534 INCREDIBLE HULK #58 $2.25
MAY031573 INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 4: ABOMINABLE TP $11.99
MAY031529 INHUMANS #3 $2.50
MAY031490 MARVEL MUST HAVES: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #30-32 $3.99
MAY031513 MARVEL MUST HAVES: NEW X-MEN #114-116 $3.99
MAY031505 MYSTIQUE #4 $2.99
MAY031528 STARTLING STORIES: THING: NIGHT FALLS ON YANCY ST #3 (Of 4) $3.50
MAY031481 TROUBLE #1 (Of 5) $2.99
MAY031486 VENOM #3 (RES) $2.25
MAY031517 X-MEN UNLIMITED #50 $2.50
MAY031509 X-STATIX #11 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS
JUL032215 ANGRY YOUTH COMIX #5 (MR) $2.95
MAY031996 ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #73 $2.19
MAY031998 ARCHIE DIGEST #200 $2.39
JUL032515 BAREFOOT SERPENT GN $14.95
MAY031999 BETTY #128 $2.19
MAY032342 BONEYARD #11 $2.95
MAY032504 BOYS OVER FLOWERS VOL 1 TP: HANA YORI DANGO $9.95
MAY032139 CBLDF SPX 2003 TRAVEL GN $9.95
MAY032103 CROSSOVERS #7 $2.95
MAY032107 CRUX #28 $2.95
MAY032505 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 12 TP $7.95
MAY032137 ELVIRA #123 $2.50
MAY032562 EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE TP $24.95
MAY032076 FUTURAMA COMICS #14 $2.50
MAY032484 GROWING UP ENCHANTED #4 $2.95
JUN032114 GUN FU: LOST CITY #1 $3.50
MAY032512 GUNDAM WING: EPISODE ZERO 2ND ED $9.95
JUL021822 HEROBEAR AND THE KID CURR PRTG #1 (O/A) $2.95
MAY032343 HOW LOATHSOME #3 (MR) $2.95
JUN032346 JANES WORLD VOL 1 TP $14.95
JUN032402 KOMIKWERKS VOL 1 TP $9.95
MAY031922 LENORE #10 $2.95
MAY032231 LOVE & ROCKETS VOL 2 #8 (MR) $3.95
JUN032306 LUBA #7 (MR) $3.50
DEC022893 MOONLIGHT CUTTER #2 (MR) $5.50
MAY032518 NARUTO VOL 1 TP: TESTS OF THE NINJA $7.95
MAR032143 NODWICK #21 $2.99
MAY032227 NOZOMI VOL 1 GN $5.95
JUL032243 OPPOSITE FORCES #3 $2.95
MAY032118 ROUTE 666 #14 $2.95
MAY032119 SCION #38 $2.95
MAY032411 SHIVER IN THE DARK #2 $2.95
MAY032521 SILENT MOBIUS VOL 11 TP: HELL $12.95
MAY032121 SOLUS #5 $2.95
FEB032001 TERATOID HEIGHTS GN $12.95
MAY032361 THREE STRIKES #3 (Of 5) (MR) $2.99
MAY032259 UNCLE SCROOGE #320 $6.95
MAY031954 VAMPI VICIOUS #1 $2.99
MAY032261 WALT DISNEY'S COMICS & STORIES #635 $6.95
APR032316 YEAST HOIST GN $8.95

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.