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:

AUTHORITY/LOBO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (DC WildStorm)
No, wait, really. I know you want to throw this catch back into the water, but hear this fisherman out. Way back when the creative team of Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, and Simon Bisley debuted the original LOBO mini-series, it took the comics world by surprise at its sheer irreverence and insanity. Now all three members have reunited for the AUTHORITY/LOBO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, where baby Jenny Quantum has found a copy of the previous LOBO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL where Lobo killed Santa Claus. Vowing revenge, the Authority and Lobo go head-to-head... and somehow I doubt this is going to be one of those stories where they have to unite to fight a greater evil halfway through. We're expecting blood, violence, mayhem, and all the gore we can imagine. In other words, a perfect antidote to the Christmas season. Show your loved ones you really care. Get them the AUTHORITY/LOBO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. [Plymouth]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

DEMO #2 (Ait/PlanetLar)
DEMO might be seen as the book that was NYX(ed). It is not. It might start from the same high concept that Brian Wood was given by Marvel editorial after his excellent take on GENERATION X, but the X-continuity, the X-mythology and the ex-president of Marvel have been removed from the equation. Issue #1 set out the stall for the format - and I don't just mean the higher than usual production values. DEMO, with art by Becky Cloonan, is twelve single issue tales of people who have super-powers, but these are more like real people than four-colour heroes. DEMO is about choices above and beyond the usual "good or evil" of the genre. Each of the preview synopses released so far suggest catharsis of some kind. Issue #1 saw a couple of teenagers choose each other despite the girl's 'explosive' nature - remove the 'power' and you have a straightforward romance. Issue #2 introduces Emmy, a girl whose words make people do what she wants. So she?s chosen to keep quiet. Until now. Some may not expect DEMO to fall far from the tree of Marvel Mutant Mayhem, but this book is about the character's reactions before or after the action. [Forties]

POWERS VOL 5: ANARCHY TP (Image)
I'm told that POWERS reads better in trades. That's good news for me, because I find it terrifically entertaining in issue format. That said, some of the stories can feel a little piecemeal, and that was especially true of ANARCHY. Reading it all together, one might get a better sense that there's a super-structure to this whole story, as my fellow issue-by-issue readers will already know, and if it seems like anarchy, that's all part of the plan. This fifth volume in the series sees a return of that Kaotic Chic business you'd probably thought was done, and Deena teaming up with a new partner to deal with it. And this being a Bendis trade, there's also a whole slew of bonus materials, best of which will likely be creators Bendis and Oeming interviewing each other. Sort of like a DVD commentary, except they won't beep out the swearing, like they did on that LION KING special edition, the bastards. [Fisher]

LOST AT SEA (Oni Press)
First, let's get one thing straight. There is no sea in this book. No ships, either, but quite a few people adrift. Raleigh is a shy, quiet girl just graduated from high school, who is convinced a cat stole her soul. She is driving home from California to Vancouver with Dave, Ian and Steph - three kids from her school who she doesn't know very well. The story unravels from there as Raleigh gets to know the cliquey little trio of hooligans who share the car, and the reader gradually gets to know what they were doing in California. Written and drawn by Bryan Lee O'Malley, the artist on HOPELESS SAVAGES: GROUND ZERO, LOST AT SEA is a quiet little road story perfect to curl up with on a cold winter night. O'Malley captures the automatic cruelty, confusion and self-consciousness of high school with perfect accuracy. [Shannon]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR DECEMBER 10th:

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

DARK HORSE

OCT030049 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #85: MIRROR OF THE SOUL (PT 1 OF 3) (MR $2.99
OCT030024 HELLBOY: WEIRD TALES #6 $2.99
OCT030051 OH MY GODDESS #104: DR MOREAU (PT 5 OF 5) $3.50
MAY030039 SHREK #2 (Of 4) $2.99
OCT030016 TALES OF THE VAMPIRES #1 $2.99

DC COMICS

OCT030297 100 BULLETS #48 (MR) $2.50
OCT030224 ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #623 $2.25
OCT030232 AQUAMAN #13 $2.50
OCT030274 AUTHORITY/LOBO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (MR) $4.95
OCT030215 BATMAN: DEATH AND THE MAIDENS #5 (Of 9) $2.95
OCT030210 BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #174 $2.50
OCT030238 DOCTOR FATE #5 (Of 5) $2.50
OCT030300 FABLES #20 (MR) $2.50
OCT030240 FALLEN ANGEL #6 (MR) $2.50
OCT030218 GOTHAM CENTRAL #14 $2.50
OCT030247 HERO #11 $2.50
OCT030250 JSA #55 $2.50
OCT030272 SCOOBY DOO #79 $2.25
OCT030284 STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES #18 (MR) $2.95
OCT030229 SUPERMAN & BATMAN: GENERATIONS III #12 (Of 12) $2.95
OCT030287 THUNDERCATS: HAMMERHAND'S REVENGE #3 (Of 5) $2.95

IMAGE

OCT031264 FEATHER #3 (Of 6) $2.95
OCT031265 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER WHEATLEY CVR A #1 $2.95
OCT031266 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER WIERINGO CVR B #1 $2.95
OCT031271 GI JOE: FRONTLINE NORTON CVR B #18 $2.95
OCT031270 GI JOE: FRONTLINE SEELEY CVR A #18 $2.95
SEP031276 HEAVEN'S WAR GN $12.95
SEP031294 POWERS VOL 5: ANARCHY TP (MR) $14.95
OCT031307 SWORD OF DRACULA #2 $2.95

MARVEL

OCT031589 AVENGERS #75 (RES) $2.25
OCT031587 IRON MAN #75 $2.99
OCT031546 MARVEL 1602 #5 (Of 8) $3.50
SEP031530 NEW MUTANTS #8 $2.99
OCT031563 NYX #3 $2.99
OCT031554 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #8 $2.25
OCT031618 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN VOL 1: THE HUNGER TP $11.99
OCT031597 THOR #72 $2.99
OCT031545 ULTIMATE X-MEN #40 $2.25
SEP031543 UNCANNY X-MEN #434 $2.25
OCT031625 WOLVERINE VOL 1: THE BROTHERS TP $12.99
OCT031573 X-TREME X-MEN #36 (Note Price) $3.50

OTHER PUBLISHERS

OCT032024 A SORT OF HOMECOMING #2 (Of 3) $3.50
SEP032453 ANGEL'S WING #6 $2.99
SEP032291 APE ONE SHOT (MR) $4.95
SEP032061 ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #78 $2.19
SEP032064 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #148 $3.59
OCT032779 BASTARD VOL 2 TP 2ND ED (MR) $9.95
OCT032784 BATTLE ANGEL ALITA VOL 1 TP 2ND ED $9.95
SEP032072 BETTY #133 $2.19
OCT032538 DARK DAYS #6: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT SEQUEL (OF 6) (MR) $3.99
OCT032016 DEMO #2 (Of 12) (MR) $2.95
SEP031999 FURTHER GRICKLE TP $14.95
SEP032545 HERO GETS GIRL TP $14.95
OCT032796 INU YASHA VOL 7 TP 2ND ED $8.95
OCT032797 INU YASHA VOL 8 TP 2ND ED $8.95
OCT032502 JANE'S WORLD #9 $2.95
AUG032130 JOHN CARPENTER'S SNAKE PLISSKEN RODRIGUEZ CVR ED #3 $2.99
AUG032131 JOHN CARPENTER'S SNAKE PLISSKEN SMITH CVR ED #3 $2.99
SEP032076 JUGHEAD #155 $2.19
OCT032801 JUNKO MIZUNO'S PRINCESS MERMAID GN $15.95
OCT032033 LITTLE SCROWLIE #4 $2.95
AUG032416 LOST AT SEA GN $11.95
JUL032217 MABEL NORMAND & HER FUNNY FRIENDS $4.95
SEP032354 METAL HURLANT #9 (MR) $3.95
MAY032024 MICHAEL TURNER PRESENTS ASPEN #3 (Of 3) $2.99
SEP032415 MOONSTONE NOIR: LONE WOLF #1 $4.95
OCT032276 MYSTIC #43 $2.95
OCT032277 NEGATION #25 $2.95
JUL032151 NODWICK #23 $2.99
OCT032026 PATTY CAKE & FRIENDS VOL 2 #10 $4.95
SEP032561 SHONEN JUMP VOL 2 #1 JAN 2004 $4.95
OCT032376 TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA #18 $2.95
OCT032380 TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN VOL 2 #3 $2.95
AUG032389 VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE VOL 3 TP: FIVE UNDEAD (MR) $20.95

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.