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:

PEANUTBUTTER & JEREMY'S BEST BOOK EVER TP (Alternative Comics)
Peanutbutter is a little cat who lives in an office. Jeremy is a crow who lives to trick Peanutbutter. James Kochalka is, as I think we might have mentioned in previous forecasts, the king of cute indy comics and the creator of these two characters. They've already starred in three one-off issues over the last few years, but at 280 pages there's plenty more than reprints in this not-exactly-slim-volume. Ostensibly a kids' book, with sprightly tales of the average working Joe cat versus the wily trickster crow outside her window, there's plenty here to keep the inner child of all but the most surly of grown-ups amused. Another great present for quirky kids and chirpy adults. [German Bight]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

AUTOBIOGRAPHIX TP (Dark Horse)
Autobiographical stories in comics are a dime a dozen these days. The secret, then, is to find a book where creators might have something interesting to say. Dark Horse certainly kept that in mind when rounding up creators for their AUTOBIOGRAPHIX graphic novel this year. Dark Horse stalwarts like Frank Miller, Paul Chadwick, Sergio Aragones, and Stan Sakai are reason enough to want to take a look... but Dark Horse also went a little further afield to get contributions by comics greats like Will Eisner, Matt Wagner, Jason Lutes, Linda Medley, and William Stout. Based on the talent alone, you're promised to get a lot of bang for your buck. When the book is advertised as having stories like Frank Miller's experiences on the ROBOCOP 2 set, though, or Matt Wagner's "secret dream", you know you're in for a fun time. The ideological sequel to last year's HAPPY ENDINGS anthology, AUTOBIOGRAPHIX promises to be worth your time. [Plymouth]

HALO & SPROCKET VOL 1 TP: WELCOME TO HUMANITY (Slave Labor Graphics)
As the season turns ever faster towards Christmas, it's time to think about angels. And robots. What more could a girl need? Katie, an ordinary girl in an ordinary world, shares her apartment with an angel and a robot. HALO & SPROCKET is an odd little sitcom of a comic, as the angel (omnipotent, metaphysical) and the robot (naïve, logical) try to understand her very human life. Kerry Callen's style as both an artist and writer is simple and bold but never simplistic, which serves the somewhat complex ideas underlying the stories rather well. There's no underlying plot arc, no origin story, just a series of vignettes that add up to an appealing, uncynical read. So, as Christmas also makes thoughts turn towards presents, there are plenty of people who HALO & SPROCKET could appeal to. Even non-comics readers. [German Bight]

PLASTIC MAN #1 (DC Comics)
Now that the thing of joy and wonder called FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE is drawing to a close, you may be looking for more happy spandex to entertain you as the cold winter nights draw in. Unfortunately, PLASTIC MAN is not the answer. Kyle Baker has written and drawn something that looks like a pile of leftover cels from an old Saturday morning cartoon. Three panel pages with very little backgrounds to speak of, and humour that wouldn't make the grade in a SCOOBY DOO rerun. As a comic aimed at eight year olds, it may be successful, but I'd like to think most eight year olds have more sophistication than this. A huge disappointment from Baker. Don't even wait for the trade - just wait for the cartoon. And pray it's better than this. [Shannon]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR DECEMBER 3rd:

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

DARK HORSE

AUG030037 AUTOBIOGRAPHIX TP $14.95
SEP030028 CRUSH #2 $2.99
SEP030043 HELLSING VOL 1 TP $13.95

DC COMICS

OCT030223 ACTION COMICS #810 $2.25
OCT030275 AUTHORITY VOL 2 #8 (MR) $2.95
OCT030234 BAD GIRLS #5 (Of 6) $2.50
OCT030214 BATMAN: CITY OF LIGHT #3 (Of 8) $2.95
SEP030223 BATMAN: HUSH VOL 2 HC $19.95
OCT030204 DETECTIVE COMICS #789 $2.75
OCT030242 FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #6 (Of 6) $2.50
OCT030246 HAWKMAN #22 $2.50
OCT030251 JSA: ALL STARS #8 (Of 8) $2.50
OCT030252 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #26 $2.25
OCT030270 LOONEY TUNES #109 $2.25
OCT030256 PLASTIC MAN #1 $2.50
AUG030268 PROMETHEA #28 $2.95
OCT030288 THUNDERCATS ORIGINS: HEROES AND VILLAINS #1 $3.50
OCT030308 Y: THE LAST MAN #17 (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

SEP031257 40 OZ COLLECTED TP (MR) $9.95
OCT031265 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER WHEATLEY CVR A #1 $2.95
OCT031266 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER WIERINGO CVR B #1 $2.95
AUG031212 GI JOE TRANSFORMERS MILLER CVR #5 (Of 6) $2.95
AUG031213 GI JOE TRANSFORMERS NORTON CVR #5 (Of 6) $2.95
SEP031276 HEAVEN'S WAR GN $12.95
JUL031210 PARADIGM #12 (Note Price) $3.95
SEP031294 POWERS VOL 5: ANARCHY TP (MR) $14.95
JUL031238 TRAKK: MONSTER HUNTER STAN WINSTON STUDIO ED #1 $14.95

MARVEL

OCT031547 CAPTAIN AMERICA #21 $2.99
SEP031570 CREW #7 $2.99
SEP031572 CRIMSON DYNAMO #4 $2.50
OCT031550 ELEKTRA #30 $2.99
SEP031588 ETERNAL #6 (MR) $2.99
OCT031571 EXILES #38 $2.99
OCT031586 INCREDIBLE HULK #64 $2.25
OCT031578 SENTINEL #10 $2.99
OCT031559 SPIDER-GIRL #67 $2.99
OCT031556 SPIDER-MAN & DR OCTOPUS: NEGATIVE EXPOSURE #3 $2.99
OCT031552 SUPREME POWER #5 (MR) $2.99
OCT031592 THANOS #3 $2.99
OCT031544 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR POSTER $5.95
OCT031540 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #50 (Note Price) $2.99
JUL031476 ULTIMATES #12 $2.25
SEP031552 X-TREME X-MEN #35 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

SEP032060 ARCHIE #543 $2.19
OCT032027 BEAR #3 $2.95
OCT032029 CHI TP VOL 1 $8.95
OCT032030 CHIMNEY 25 $3.95
SEP032367 CSI: BAD RAP #4 (OF 5) (MR) $3.99
OCT032384 DARKMINDS: MACROPOLIS VOL 2 #3 $2.95
AUG032138 DEADBEATS #62 $2.50
SEP032321 DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES VOL 3 TP $7.95
SEP032238 DREW STRUZAN OEUVRE ART BOOK HC $59.95
SEP032165 EL CAZADOR #3 $2.95
OCT032025 HALO & SPROCKET VOL 1 TP: WELCOME TO HUMANITY $12.95
SEP032075 LAUGH DIGEST #189 $2.39
AUG032095 MERIDIAN #41 $2.95
SEP032415 MOONSTONE NOIR LONE WOLF #1 $4.95
SEP032416 MR KEEN, TRACER OF LOST PERSONS #2 (Of 3) $2.95
OCT032036 OUTLOOK GRIM #3 (MR) $2.95
SEP031997 PEANUTBUTTER & JEREMY'S BEST BOOK EVER TP $14.95
AUG032478 RAKAN #1 $2.95
SEP032159 RUSE #26 $2.95
OCT032266 SLAYERS: SUPER EXPLOSIVE DEMON STORY VOL 3 TP $15.95
OCT032283 SOJOURN #30 $2.95
JUL031897 STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III #61 $2.95
SEP032244 TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS EYE OFFICIAL GUIDE #8 (Of 8) $5.25
SEP032083 VERONICA #147 $2.19
SEP032370 WAKE THE DEAD #2 (Of 5) (MR) $3.99

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.