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:

QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED VOL 1 TP & HC (Oni Press)
By now, this is something of a no-brainer. No, not QUEEN & COUNTRY itself, which is one of the smartest books out there, but our regular recommendations of it. If, for some utterly unfathomable reason, you still haven't checked it out, then this is a great place to start. Set a couple of decades before the regular series, the first DECLASSIFIED looks at the field agent days of Paul Crocker, now director of operations for Britain's Special Intelligence Services. Greg Rucka does his very best work on Q&C, and the storytelling is especially tight here, while artist Brian Hurtt has provided my favourite pencils for the series so far. Given the other artists who have tackled the book, that's a damn fine boast. [Fisher]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

EMPIRE #1 (DC Comics)
What if the bad guys won? In Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's EMPIRE, that's exactly what you're in store for. Almost two years ago, the dictator Golgoth and his followers took over the entire planet. Now the world continues in the grip of Golgoth, even as his lieutenants struggle for their own power within the empire. Waid and Kitson did a great job with the original two issues of EMPIRE, published by Image a couple of years ago (and republished by DC Comics last month as EMPIRE #0), creating a world where Golgoth's power is convincingly absolute, and the only hope for his undoing comes from his lieutenants' pettiness and greed. It's a lot darker than anything Waid has written before, and Kitson's art has really come alive to bring this story to the page. Those who had written these creators off for only creating light, happy stories should definitely take a look at this; easily, some of the finest work of their careers. [Plymouth]

THOR: VIKINGS #1 (Marvel Max)
Darling, zombie pirates are just so five minutes ago. Zombie vikings, that's the in thing now. Expect plenty of brutality and gore as Garth Ennis unleashes his latest miniseries from the Max imprint, featuring art from the always worryingly visceral Glenn Fabry. Thor and Dr Strange team up to take on the undead as the necrotised Norsemen try to take Manhattan. I've always found Thor to be a pretty dull character, but the prospect of unbridled carnage and sexy axe-versus-hammer action in this five issue series certainly sounds a little more interesting than your average cod-Shakespearean sturm-und-drang. [Fisher]

SWAMP THING VOL 6: REUNION TP (DC Vertigo)
And there was much rejoicing - for the final collection of Alan Moore's SWAMP THING issues hit the stands. Until now, readers were forced to read these groundbreaking books by going back-issue-bin diving, or scrounging up out-of-print trade paperbacks from Titan. It's hard to believe, in retrospect, that stories about Swamp Thing floating through space were able to grip readers so easily... but not so hard to believe if you've actually read the stories in question. Moore's writing is almost like poetry (admittedly, poetry with big green swamp creatures), and there's a reason why artists like Bissette, Totleben, and Veitch are still so very sought after to this day. With Moore's run drawn to a close, one hopes we'll get some Veitch/Alfredo Alcala and Mark Millar/Phil Hester SWAMP THING collections down the line. Hey, in a world where SWAMP THING was one of the most creative books of its day, anything can happen. [Plymouth]

TOMORROW STORIES BOOK 1 TP (DC Wildstorm/ABC)
There's nothing like the empty promise of a film made from Alan Moore's work to bring out the best in DC. This week, a mere five years after the title launched, we see the release of TOMORROW STORIES BOOK 1 in softcover form (in comparison, PROMETHEA is up to vol 3 in TPB and vol 4 in HC). TOMORROW STORIES, an anthology of short stories featuring recurring characters, was the lowest selling ABC book, but produced some eminently readable material, much of which is collected here. Highlights include 'Greyshirt', a SPIRIT-inspired strip created in collaboration with Rick Veitch, and 'Jack B Quick', with Kevin Nowlan. While TOMORROW STORIES may not carry the heft of PROMETHEA or TOP TEN, it's a reminder of another age, when few comics aspired to be much more than disposable entertainment, yet so many managed to be so much more by virtue of the irrepressible imaginations of those who wrote and drew them. [Trafalgar]

BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

Because we can't always give you the most up-to-date shipping information, we'll also give you an occasional look at some of the best books that have recently shipped or are expected to ship in the coming weeks.

SAME DIFFERENCE AND OTHER STORIES (Small Stories/Alternative Comics)
Among the many small pleasures that life affords, there is, for me, the thrill of having a webcomic that you love held in a lovely papery form in your hands. You can keep it on your shelf and take it down at any time, even during a power cut. You can read it in the bath. You can read it repeatedly and not irradiate your eyes. So I'm all aquiver about Derek Kirk Kim's latest venture into print. A few years ago there was CELLS from Caliber, which (if I remember this rightly) Kirk Kim wound up after three issues because he wasn't satisfied with it. Then he reappeared online, more confident and even better at this comics thing. 'Same Difference' is the long-form piece; a small-scale story in which two people confront mis-steps they've made. The rest of the book contains short pieces that showcase Kirk Kim's versatile art style and writing skills. He's an excellent draftsman who has a fantastic grip on body language and facial expression, not to mention an ear for dialogue that is naturalistic without being dull. Rather delightfully, this seems to be one of the indy buzzes du jour. Derek Kirk Kim deserves to have a big fuss made about his comics. He's good now, and will get a whole lot better, so pick up this book and see why the attention is justified. [German Bight]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR JULY 30th:

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

DC COMICS

MAY0 30142 BATGIRL: DEATH WISH TP $14.95
MAY0 30139 BATMAN #617 $2.25
MAY0 30169 BATMAN/SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN: TRINITY #2 (Of 3) $6.95
MAY0 30235 BEWARE THE CREEPER #4 (Of 5) (MR) $2.95
MAY0 30150 CATWOMAN #21 $2.50
MAY0 30173 EMPIRE #1 (Of 6) $2.50
MAY0 30174 FLASH #200 (Note Price) $3.50
MAY0 30214 GLOBAL FREQUENCY #10 (Of 12) $2.95
MAY0 30180 GREEN LANTERN #167 $2.25
MAY0 30241 HELLBLAZER #186 (MR) $2.75
MAY0 30186 JLA #83 $2.25
MAY0 30195 LEGION #22 $2.50
MAY0 30243 LOSERS #2 (MR) $2.95
MAY0 30230 RED #1 (Of 3) $2.95
MAY0 30246 SWAMP THING VOL 6: REUNION TP (MR) $19.95
MAY0 30200 SWEATSHOP #4 $2.95
MAY0 30227 TOMORROW STORIES BOOK 1 TP $17.95

IMAGE

APR0 35182 GI JOE/TRANSFORMERS #1 2ND PTG $2.95
APR0 31284 LIBERTY MEADOWS #32 $2.95
MAY0 31231 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE VOL 2 #5 $2.95
MAY0 31252 POWERS #33 (MR) $2.95
MAY0 31257 SAVAGE DRAGON #109 (RES) $2.95
APR0 31301 SOUL OF A SAMURAI #2 (Of 4) $5.95
APR0 31312 TOMB RAIDER: EPIPHANY $4.99
MAY0 31270 VOLTRON, DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE #3 $2.95

MARVEL

MAY0 31496 BORN #2 (Of 4) (MR) $3.50
MAY0 31526 FANTASTIC FOUR #501 (#72) $2.25
MAY0 31531 MARVEL MUST HAVES: ULTIMATES #1-3 $3.99
MAY0 31523 SILVER SURFER #1 $2.25
MAY0 31484 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #2 $2.25
MAY0 31495 THOR: VIKINGS #1 (Of 5) (MR) $3.50
MAY0 31530 ULTIMATES #11 $2.25
MAY0 31519 WEAPON X #11 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

MAY0 32503 BASARA VOL 1 TP (MR) $9.95
MAY0 32002 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #117 $3.59
MAY0 32504 BOYS OVER FLOWERS VOL 1 TP: HANA YORI DANGO $9.95
MAY0 32306 CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION: THICKER THAN BLOOD (MR) $6.99
APR0 32135 DEADBEATS #60 $2.50
JUN032266 DFE WITCHBLADE DEMON #1 $6.99
MAY0 32260 DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES VOL 1 $7.95
MAY0 32505 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 12 TP $7.95
MAY0 32344 DUNGEON #7 $2.95
MAY0 32506 EXCEL SAGA VOL 1 TP $9.95
MAY0 32359 KISSING CHAOS: 1000 WORDS ONE SHOT (MR) $2.99
MAY0 32011 LAUGH DIGEST #186 $2.39
JUN031974 MY UNCLE JEFF ALTERNATIVE COMICS ED $3.95
MAY0 32518 NARUTO VOL 1 TP: TESTS OF THE NINJA $7.95
MAY0 32363 QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED VOL 1 HC (MR) $20.00
MAY0 32362 QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED VOL 1 TP (MR) $8.95
MAY0 32013 SABRINA VOL 2 #48 $2.19
MAY0 32085 TAROT, WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #21 (MR) $2.95
MAY0 32192 TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE VOL 2 #4 (Of 6) $2.95
MAY0 32191 TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS EYE OFFICIAL GUIDE #4 (Of 8) $5.25
APR0 32188 TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN TP $15.95
MAY0 32522 TUXEDO GIN VOL 1 TP $9.95
APR0 32304 VAMPIRELLA/WITCHBLADE #1 REG CVR $2.99
MAY0 31912 YELLOW BABY #1 $3.95

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.