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:

HARD TIME #1 (DC Focus)
HARD TIME, by Steve Gerber and Brian Hurtt, is the first in DC's new DC Focus line, an imprint that for all intents and purposes seems like a right-coast version of WildStorm's Eye Of The Storm titles. Edgier concepts, less spandex, more slice-of-life. But the difference with FOCUS is that it seems to be skating just shy of the Mature Readers stamp. So, what's it all about? Teenager Ethan Chiles pulls a prank that goes horribly wrong and kills four other teenagers, and he gets sent down. Once in jail, he meets mysterious cockney magician John Constantine... no, wait. That's another HARD TIME. No, what happens here is that Ethan meets cruel professor Thomas Gradgrind, who forces him to memorise reams of pointless facts. No, wait. That's Dickens' HARD TIMES. Okay. Dude goes to jail, gains weird powers, complications ensue. This issue comes with previews of KINETIC, FRACTION, and TOUCH, the other Focus titles coming out over the next few months. [Shannon]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

LOVE FIGHTS #7 (Oni Press)
Do you like quality comics? Do you like superheroes? Do you love beautiful and stylish romantic comedy stories? If any or all of the above is true, you ought to love LOVE FIGHTS. Hell, you'll probably be well disposed to it even if none of that applies to you. Andi Watson's ongoing masterpiece is a wry look at the themes and tropes of the superhero genre, and of comics as a business, with all his trademark artistic panache and tales of bittersweet relationships. In this issue, Guthrie, the super-powered and envy-stricken cat (complete with feline-sized mask and cape) attempts to thwart his 'master' Jack's burgeoning romance with Nora. If that sounds as great to you as it does to me, give this book a try. You'll love it. [Finisterre]

LOVECRAFT HC (DC Vertigo)
If you shell out your twenty-five Earth dollars for this book expecting Lovecraft's excellent stories in graphic novel form, you will be disappointed. The basic principle of Hans Rodionoff's screenplay (what, couldn't find a producer?), adapted by Keith Giffen (best known for his... er... comedy), is that young Howard Lovecraft comes into possession of the nasty Necronomicon - a word you should never try to say when drunk - and it gives him bad nightmares and visions that gradually interfere with his reality. Unfortunately, those familiar with Lovecraft's mastery of atmosphere and suspense are likely to find Rodionoff's writing flabby. The one, the only, Enrique Breccia's watercolours are lovely, but somehow come across as unsuited to the dense, dark world of Lovecraftian horror. Breccia's legions of fans might be better off waiting for his upcoming SWAMP THING miniseries, rather than springing for this. [Shannon]

MONOLITH #1 (DC Comics)
Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have been doing sterling work together on 21 DOWN, one of those WildStorm books that travels under the radar of popular acclaim, but gets good reviews wherever it goes. Here they are bumped up to 'proper' DC and their words combined with the delightful pencils of Phil Winslade. The introductory issue is an over-sized one, with a flashback to establish the central character. But is the focus the Monolith - a Golem created to protect a community from crime and depravity - or is the community itself the central character? It's certainly a good time for the DCU to look at the city of New York, previously known as Marvel Comics' New York City. The style is pretty much the pinnacle of superhero format: ordinary people powerless in the face of villainy, no stylised scratchy art, plenty of dynamic action, and a hulking great hero to enact revenge on the bad guys. You will believe a man can fall from a window realistically. [Forties]

X-MEN UNLIMITED #1 (Marvel)
Bet this won't last four issues. Although with the proliferation of Chuck Austen-penned X-Men comics coming our way in the next few months, UNLIMITED may be bought by X-fans desperate for their mutant fix but unable to bring themselves to buy Austen's atrocities. Hmm, Shannon senses a cunning plan on Marvel's part. Anyhow, this is two 11-page stories, the first of which stars Sage, a character whose mutant power seems to be bludgeoning readers to death with exposition. In her off time, she masquerades as a cooking ingredient, often found in the company of Chicken or Lamb. The second story features a student at Xavier's academy who looks all horrible and can only go out among the normal humans on Halloween Night. All together now: Awwwww. While it's nice for Marvel to offer a helping hand to up and coming writers, putting untried talents on also-run X-Men characters isn't much of a sales pitch. [Shannon]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR FEBRUARY 4th:

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

DARK HORSE

OCT030041 CRUSH #3 $2.99
NOV030016 FUSED #2 $2.99
OCT030052 SUPER MANGA BLAST #38 (MR) $5.99
NOV030043 USAGI YOJIMBO #72 $2.99

DC COMICS

DEC030239 BATMAN CITY OF LIGHT #5 (Of 8) $2.95
DEC030299 COUP DETAT SLEEPER #1 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
DEC030230 DETECTIVE COMICS #791 $2.75
DEC030267 HARD TIME #1 $2.50
DEC030277 JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES #28 $2.25
NOV030242 LOBO UNBOUND #5 (Of 6) (RES) (MR) $2.95
DEC030293 LOONEY TUNES #111 $2.25
NOV030275 LOVECRAFT HC (MR) $24.95
DEC030283 MONOLITH #1 $3.50
DEC030319 MY FAITH IN FRANKIE #2 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
DEC030284 PLASTIC MAN #3 $2.95
DEC030305 ROBOTECH INVASION #2 (Of 5) $2.95
DEC030320 SANDMAN PRESENTS THESALY WITCH FOR HIRE #1 (Of 4) (MR) $2.95
DEC030250 SUPERMAN BIRTHRIGHT #7 (Of 12) $2.95
OCT030295 TOM STRONGS TERRIFIC TALES #9 $2.95
DEC030322 Y THE LAST MAN #19 (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

DEC031318 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER OEMING CVR B #2 $2.95
DEC031317 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER WHEATLEY CVR A #2 $2.95
JUL011266 SAM AND TWITCH #26 $2.50

MARVEL

DEC031575 EXILES #42 $2.99
JAN041629 FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 3 AUTHORITATIVE ACTION TP $12.99
OCT035239 HULK UNCHAINED #2 (OF 3) (PU#602) $2.99
NOV031541 INHUMANS #9 $2.99
DEC031612 PUNISHER VOL 6 CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES TP $13.99
DEC031601 RUNAWAYS #11 $2.99
DEC031606 SUPREME POWER #7 (MR) $2.99
DEC031568 THANOS #6 $2.99
DEC031555 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #53 $2.25
DEC031577 UNCANNY X-MEN #439 $2.25
DEC031580 WOLVERINE CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 $2.99
DEC031589 X-MEN UNLIMITED #1 $2.99
NOV031519 X-TREME X-MEN #41 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

DEC032292 ALIEN NINE EMULATORS VOL 1 GN $9.99
NOV032052 ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #80 $2.19
OCT032685 AYA #2 ZERO TOLERANCE $2.95
DEC032034 AZUMANGA DAIOH MANGA VOL 3 TP $9.99
DEC032064 BABYSITTER #3 (Of 3) $3.50
DEC032717 BE A MAN #1 $3.00
NOV032056 BETTY #135 $2.19
NOV032058 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #145 $2.39
NOV032641 BOYS OVER FLOWERS VOL 4 TP HANA YORI DANGO $9.95
OCT032285 BRIAN PULIDO LADY DEATH #11 $2.95
NOV032496 COURTNEY CRUMRIN IN THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM #2 (Of 4) $2.99
OCT032233 DEADBEATS #63 $2.50
NOV032242 DRAGONLANCE THE LEGEND OF HUMA BENNETT CVR #1 $2.95
NOV032241 DRAGONLANCE THE LEGEND OF HUMA MILLER CVR #1 $2.95
JUN032575 EDGE 10TH ANNIVERSARY ED MCKEAN CVR ED (RES) $19.95
JUN032576 EDGE 10TH ANNIVERSARY ED STERANKO CVR ED (RES) $19.95
DEC032037 FULL METAL PANIC MANGA VOL 3 TP $9.99
NOV032126 FUTURAMA COMICS #16 $2.99
NOV032061 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #101 $3.59
NOV032499 LOVE FIGHTS #7 (MR) $2.99
OCT032275 MERIDIAN #43 $2.95
OCT032686 RAKAN #2 DEN OF THIEVES (OF 2) $2.95
NOV032195 ROUTE 666 #20 $2.95
AUG032372 RPG WORLD VOL 1 TP $9.95
NOV032637 SHONEN JUMP VOL 2 #3 MAR 2004 $4.99
DEC032039 THOSE WHO HUNT ELVES MANGA VOL 2 TP $9.99
NOV032272 TRANSFORMERS GENERATION ONE VOL 3 #1 $2.95
NOV032666 YU YU HAKUSHO VOL 3 TP $7.95

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.