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:

COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE COVEN OF MYSTICS TP (Oni Press)
What can we say? The crew here at the Lighthouse just loves COURTNEY CRUMRIN. As wonderful as Ted Naifeh's THE NIGHT THINGS was, though, we think that THE COVEN OF MYSTICS might be even better. Maybe it's because while THE NIGHT THINGS had four fun individual stories that introduced us to Courtney's world, THE COVEN OF MYSTICS is Courtney's first 'epic', as she has to deal with a new teacher at school, a goblin friend being accused of a crime he didn't commit, and the corrupt Coven of Mystics... of which Courtney's Uncle Aloysius is a member. Courtney's dry wit and attitude is still ready to match the twists and turns that Naifeh has in store for her, and the art is gorgeous as always. If you haven't read the first volume, you'll still enjoy this one, but if you pick both up at the same time, we at the Lighthouse can almost guarantee that we've guided you to safe harbour. [Plymouth]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

HOW LOATHSOME #4 (NBM)
There's a double helping of Ted Naifeh this week with the final issue of this shameless, indulgent and deliciously depraved little series, co-written by promising up-and-comer Tristan Crane. Normally we avoid mentioning final issues on the Forecast, but with a HOW LOATHSOME trade almost certain to follow, it's never too late to get your attention - and since every issue of HOW LOATHSOME can be enjoyed as a single story, you can pick this up as a taster to see if the series is to your tastes. Naifeh and Crane, elegant wasters of the finest pedigree, have perfectly combined their filthy talents to create one of the most strikingly original and gorgeously subversive books of the past year. [Fisher]

FABLES: THE LAST CASTLE (DC Vertigo)
Those who have been reading FABLES know the book's basic premise; someone or something known as the Adversary drove all the various fairy tale characters out of their world of the Homelands to seek refuge in our world. The series takes place in the present day, but here, writer Bill Willingham and artists Craig Hamilton and P Craig Russell jump back a bit in time to when one final castle was still held by the Fables in the Homelands. Only that's about to change. If you've never read FABLES before, this prestige-format one-shot should be a great way to jump on board; those who are already reading the series will know to expect a strong story full of drama and humour. And when you've got Hamilton and Russell as your art team, it's certain to be a seriously gorgeous book. Prestige format books, once they go out of print, have a disturbing tendency to never show up again, so may be wise to snag this right away. [Plymouth]

ONE PLUS ONE VOL 1 TP (Oni Press)
Do you like tragedies? Do you like Faustian tales of doomed no-gooders? Do you like stories that leave you asking questions long after you finish reading them? Then you should read ONE PLUS ONE, the collection of last year's stellar debut from Neal Shaffer and Daniel Krall. It's a story about three people, and how their lives collide: Leonard, who can see how people are going to die; David, the only person Leonard's ever met who gives off no such image; and Eddie, a young card shark who's trying to escape from life, town and a pregnant girlfriend. ONE PLUS ONE is grim, downbeat and fatalistic. It's also a real page-turner. [Cromarty]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR SEPTEMBER 24th:

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

DARK HORSE

JUL030024 BTVS #61: A STAKE TO THE HEART (PART 2 OF 4) ART CVR $2.99
JUL030029 GRENDEL: GOD & THE DEVIL #8 (Of 10) (MR) $3.50
MAR030042 LONE WOLF 2100 #9 $2.99
JUN030064 SUPER MANGA BLAST #35 $5.99
JUL030033 USAGI YOJIMBO #69 $2.99

DC COMICS

JUL030145 BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #171 $2.50
JUL030158 BATMAN: TENSES #2 (Of 2) $6.95
JUL030214 CARTOON CARTOONS #22 $2.25
JUL030160 CATWOMAN #23 $2.50
JUL030184 EMPIRE #3 (Of 6) (MR) $2.50
JUL030245 FABLES: THE LAST CASTLE (MR) $5.95
JUL030186 FLASH #202 $2.25
JUL030189 GREEN LANTERN #169 $2.25
JUL030247 HELLBLAZER #188 (MR) $2.75
JUL030197 JLA #87 $2.25
JUL030205 LEGION #24 $2.50
JUL030249 LOSERS #4 (MR) $2.95
MAY030222 PROMETHEA #27 $2.95
JUL030209 REIGN OF THE ZODIAC #2 $2.75
JUL030167 SUPERMAN #197 $2.25
JUL030172 SUPERMAN: DAY OF DOOM TP $9.95
JUL030210 SWEATSHOP #6 $2.95
JUL030240 TERRA OBSCURA #4 (Of 6) $2.95
JUL030236 THUNDERCATS: DOGS OF WAR #4 (Of 5) $2.95
JUL030237 WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #14 (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

MAY031210 DISTANT SOIL #36 $4.50
JUL031193 HEAVEN'S DEVILS #1 (Of 4) $2.95
JUL031199 KORE #5 $2.95
JUL031204 MICRONAUTS #11 $2.95
JUN031303 PARADIGM VOL 1: SEGUE TO AN INTERLUDE TP $13.95
JUL035171 PVP REPLAY $4.95
SEP021208 SPAWN #128 $2.50
JUL031258 WITCHBLADE #69 $2.99

MARVEL

JUL031504 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #58 $2.25
JUL031505 BORN #4 (Of 4) (MR) $3.50
JUL031480 CAPTAIN AMERICA #18 $2.99
JUN031610 DOMINO #4 (Of 4) $2.50
JUL031527 EXILES #34 $2.99
JUL031487 FANTASTIC FOUR #504 (#75) $2.25
JUL031485 HULK: NIGHTMERICA #4 (Of 6) $2.99
JUL031494 HUMAN TORCH #6 $2.50
JUL031484 INCREDIBLE HULK #61 $2.25
JUL031493 INHUMANS #5 $2.50
SEP031592 MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL 4: SPIDER-MAN HC $24.99
JUL031524 MYSTIQUE #6 $2.99
JUL031514 PUNISHER #32 $2.99
JUL031506 THOR: VIKINGS #3 (Of 5) (MR) $3.50
JUL031499 ULTIMATE SIX #2 (Of 6) $2.25
JUL031529 X-TREME X-MEN #31 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

JUN032297 ANGELS WING #3 $2.99
JUN031970 ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE TP $16.95
JUL032532 BOYS OVER FLOWERS VOL 2 TP: HANA YORI DANGO $9.95
JUN032168 BRATH #7 $2.95
JUL032402 COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE COVEN OF MYSTICS TP $11.95
JUN032374 DI-GI-CHARAT VOL 1 GN $10.95
JUL032534 DRAGONBALL Z VOL 13 TP SHONEN J ED $7.95
JUL032380 DUNGEON #8 (Of 8) $2.95
JUL032117 ELVIRA #125 $2.50
JUL031933 GLOOM COOKIE #17 (MR) $2.95
JUL032067 HEROES ANONYMOUS #2 (Of 6) (MR) $2.99
JUL031924 HICKEE VOL 2 #1 $4.95
JUL032408 HOPELESS SAVAGES VOL 1 TP CURR PRTG $11.95
JUL032385 HOW LOATHSOME #4 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
JUN031975 HUMOR CAN BE FUNNY TP (RES) (MR) $11.95
JUL032001 JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #187 $2.39
JUL032409 LOVE FIGHTS #4 $2.99
APR032407 MIDNIGHT MOVER #3 (Of 4) (MR) $2.99
APR032499 NIGHTSTAND CHILLERS SC $16.95
JUL032406 ONE PLUS ONE VOL 1 TP (MR) $14.95
JUL032003 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #79 $3.59
JUN032179 PATH #18 $2.95
JUL032005 SABRINA VOL 2 #50 $2.19
JUL032099 SILKEN GHOST #5 (Of 5) $2.95
JUL031940 SKULLY UNDERPANTS #1 $2.95
JUN032187 SOLUS #6 $2.95
JUN031960 STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III #60 $2.95
JUL032072 TAROT, WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #22 (MR) $2.95
JUL032164 TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS EYE OFFICIAL GUIDE #6 (Of 8) $5.25
JUL032542 TUXEDO GIN VOL 2 TP $9.95
JUL032261 UNCLE SCROOGE #322 $6.95
JUL032330 WAKE THE DEAD #1 (Of 5) (MR) $3.99
JUL032262 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #637 $6.95
JUL032545 X/1999 VOL 11 TP: INTERLUDE $9.95

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.