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:

FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER #0 (Image Comics)
Mark Wheatley is one of the under-appreciated geniuses of comics. He's worked for just about every major company and a lot of the smaller ones, always bringing a great deal of creativity and fun to whatever he works on. It's been a while since we've seen his work in colour, though, so it's a real joy to see FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER #0 on the horizon. Mixing police procedurals, mob bosses, and classic monsters all into one story, FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER has an almost instant hook for readers, and at the same time it's going to look really pretty. There's almost nothing that Wheatley hasn't proven himself adept at, and this isn't likely to break that streak. If you're not convinced, the five page online preview probably will. [Plymouth]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

BLUE MONDAY VOL 3: INBETWEEN DAYS TPB (Oni Press)
Remember holidays when you were at school? Those special days that were different to the other humdrum days of the year, when you could guarantee that all sorts of crazy stuff was bound to happen? No? Well, it's fortunate, then, that Chynna Clugston-Major is here to let you know what you missed! Those crazy kids from Jefferson High return for more anarchic adventures, including the first blossoms of love, the sweet taste of brains, and the shocking revelations of someone's hidden past - as a goth! Clugston-Major's script bristles with exuberant wit, and her art has no peer at conveying the manic energy of teens being, well, teens. Make sure that your very own Inbetween Days are full of fun, and don't miss out on this book! [Finisterre]

THUNDERBOLTS VOL 1: HOW TO LOSE TP (Marvel)
How to lose? That's simple. Take a fan-favourite book, like THUNDERBOLTS, whose sales are tanking. Bring in an entirely new creative team that drops everything but the basic idea that THUNDERBOLTS should be about former super-villains struggling to make it in the Marvel Universe. Announce the new changes will happen with THUNDERBOLTS #76 and make sure to only talk about the book in the most general terms possible, referencing movies like FIGHT CLUB. Don't emphasize the strong scripts by John Arcudi about illegal boxing rings and blackmail, or the beautiful character designs and finished art by Francisco Ruiz Velasco that looks almost like it was painted. Put strange taglines on your covers like "Marvel Comics For Real Men". Stop promoting it the minute the first issue is published, and make sure that even if this quite good book did catch on, retailers are not able to order additional copies. Cancel it in six issues. Yeah, that's how to lose. At least this time readers get one more chance to see just what they missed. [Plymouth]

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.

DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY #1 (Varmint Press)
Sometimes it's worth making a bit of an extra effort to seek out a comic. The first issue of DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY is one such case. Writer/artist Jim Massey started drawing the bloke in the cowl with the skeleton hands (one of which seems permanently attached to a pint of beer rather than a scythe) as an experiment in "superfast" cartooning, but the jokes kept coming... and Jim put more and more Death strips online. Now Death takes the big jump to paper, in a 48-page first issue chock full of political incorrectness and other good things. There are no duff moments in the book, but standing out in the laugh-out-loud stakes are Angel strip, "Phlegm for oil" and the series on "The War Against Evil". Oh, and did I mention there's a lovely Death pinup by John Totleben in it? Pester your retailer to order DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY via Cold Cut Distribution's Channel X online advance order catalogue, or check out Death online. [Shannon]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR OCTOBER 1st:

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

DARK HORSE

JUL030016 GALACTIC #2 $2.99
JUL030017 GO BOY 7: HUMAN ACTION MACHINE #3 $2.99
JUL030020 SYN #2 $2.99
JUL030034 ULTRAMAN: TIGA #2 (Of 10) $3.99

DC COMICS

AUG030190 ACTION COMICS #808 $2.25
AUG030173 ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL #6 (Of 6) $2.50
JUN030214 ASTRO CITY: LOCAL HEROES #4 (Of 5) $2.95
AUG030252 AUTHORITY VOL 2 #6 (MR) $2.95
AUG030202 BAD GIRLS #3 (Of 6) $2.50
AUG030178 BATMAN: CITY OF LIGHT #1 (Of 8) $2.95
AUG030169 DETECTIVE COMICS #787 $2.75
AUG030254 EXTINCTION EVENT #4 (Of 5) $2.50
AUG030216 FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #4 (Of 6) $2.50
AUG030187 HARLEY QUINN #37 $2.50
AUG030220 HAWKMAN #20 $2.50
AUG030233 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #24 $2.25
AUG030246 LOONEY TUNES #107 $2.25
AUG030260 ROBOTECH: LOVE AND WAR #5 (Of 6) $2.95
JUL030234 SLEEPER #9 (MR) $2.95
JUL030168 SUPERMAN/BATMAN SECRET FILES 2003 $4.95
AUG030194 SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT #4 (Of 12) $2.95
JUN035296 TEEN TITANS #2 SECOND PRINTING (PU#589) $2.50

IMAGE

AUG031267 CURSED #1 (Of 4) $2.99
AUG031207 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER HUGHES CVR #0 $2.95
AUG031206 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER WHEATLEY CVR #0 $2.95
JUL031188 GI JOE TRANSFORMERS BROOKS CVR #4 (Of 6) $2.95
JUL031187 GI JOE TRANSFORMERS MILLER CVR #4 (Of 6) $2.95
JUL031193 HEAVEN'S DEVILS #1 (Of 4) $2.95
JUN031308 POWERS #34 (MR) $2.95
JUN011312 SAM AND TWITCH #25 $2.50
JUL031221 SAVAGE DRAGON #111 (RES) $2.95
AUG031261 SWORD OF DRACULA #1 $2.95

MARVEL

AUG031552 ALIAS #27 (MR) $2.99
JUN031565 AVENGERS #70 $2.25
AUG031516 DR OCTOPUS: NEGATIVE EXPOSURE #1 (Of 5) $2.99
AUG031550 ELEKTRA #28 $2.99
AUG031507 EXILES #35 $2.99
SEP031592 MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL 4: SPIDER-MAN HC $24.99
JUL031523 NEW MUTANTS #5 $2.50
JUL031520 NEW X-MEN #147 $2.25
AUG031518 SPIDER-GIRL #65 $2.99
AUG031520 THANOS #1 $2.99
JUL031478 THOR #69 $2.99
JUL031579 THUNDERBOLTS VOL 1: HOW TO LOSE TP $14.99
JUL031499 ULTIMATE SIX #2 (Of 6) $2.25
AUG031513 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #47 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS

JUN031970 ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE TP $16.95
JUL032062 BART SIMPSON'S TREEHOUSE OF HORROR #9 $4.99
JUL032530 BASARA VOL 2 TP (MR) $9.95
JUL031997 BETTY & VERONICA #193 $2.19
JUL031998 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #142 $2.39
JUL032403 BLUE MONDAY VOL 3: INBETWEEN DAYS TP (MR) $9.95
DEC022551 BONE #52 $2.95
JUL032103 BRIAN PULIDO'S LADY DEATH #8 $2.95
JUL032325 CSI: BAD RAP #2 (OF 5) (MR) $3.99
JUL032533 DANCE TILL TOMORROW VOL 7 TP (MR) $12.95
AUG032182 DARKMINDS: MACROPOLIS VOL 2 #2 $2.95
JUL032260 DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES VOL 2 TP $7.95
JUN032369 GIANT THB VOL 2 #1 $6.97
JUL032067 HEROES ANONYMOUS #2 (Of 6) (MR) $2.99
JUL032537 INU YASHA VOL 15 TP $8.95
JUL032464 JALILA #1 $2.95
JUL032002 JUGHEAD'S DOUBLE DIGEST #98 $3.59
JUL032540 MAISON IKKOKU VOL 1 TP 2ND ED (NOTE PRICE) $9.95
JUL032370 MR KEEN TRACER OF LOST PERSONS #1 (Of 3) (MR) $2.95
MAY032364 QUEEN & COUNTRY #18 (MR) $2.99
JUL035105 RAHXEPHON BIBLE FILM BOOK SC (PU#587) $19.98
JUN032181 RUSE #23 $2.95
AUG031956 SERENITY ROSE #1 $2.95
JUL032004 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #128 $2.19
JUL032467 THE NORM MAGAZINE #1 $4.95
MAY032366 TOO MUCH HOPELESS SAVAGES #2 (Of 4) $2.99
AUG032190 TRANSFORMERS WAR WITHIN VOL 2 #1 $2.95
JUL032543 VAGABOND VOL 7 TP $9.95
JUL032100 WAY OF THE RAT #17 $2.95
JUL032465 ZEIN GHOSTS OF HELIOPOLIS #1 $2.95

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.