Welcome to The Forecast. Every Monday, Ninth Art's core team of comment writers, the Ninth Eight, will be your guides to the best, worst, weirdest and most noteworthy books on the shelves of your local comic shop.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS

In Image's continuing tradition of publishing some of the best "wha-ha-huh?" comics of recent months, here comes a new series about a travelling rock band, their mythical Mexican wrestler, and tales of the supernatural. Yes, really.

Sounding dangerously like he takes the blender approach to creativity, writer Mark Andrew Smith recently compared the book in a press release to SCOOBY DOO. As every kid knows, the best parts of Scooby Doo were the bits without any Scrappy Doo. AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS? No Scrappy Doo in sight.

It seems to me that one of the big things missing from comics these days is joie de vivre, mired as they are in the swirling sludge of the post-grim 'n' gritty age, which attempted to equate realism with profundity, and led to a flood of rapists and trenchcoats. Even today, after the worst has passed, the problems still linger. In this context, any work that attempts to bring joy to your soul should be admired.

AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS should sit well beside stable mates like JACK STAFF and INVINCIBLE, at a company that is increasingly finding a home for some of the most stubbornly homeless projects on the shelves.

The art is by Dan Hipp and you can see a rather sizeable preview over here. It mixes a faux-indie cred approach with the thank-god-it's-not-manga cartoon look that has been all but subverted beneath the hooves of another bout of industry bandwagoneering. The covers are pop glory and the book looks fit to brimming with story - another trend-bucker in today's decompressed market.

It's always a risk to try out new projects, especially ones from new creators with such a wacky concept, but it's also nice to discover something unexpectedly good out there. [John Fellows]

WEIRD WILD WEST

Warren Ellis and John Cassaday return with the first PLANETARY of 2005, and a brand-new tale of secret mysteries and hidden answers.

The worst thing about PLANETARY is, of course, the torturous wait between issues. However, when it arrives, it arrives in style. John Cassaday's Grand Unified Art Theory, which imbues Godzilla with the same gravitas as Green Lantern, continues to delight the reader with its versatility. And while one might wonder if Ellis is ever going to get to tying all the disparate threads of the series together, at least his meanderings through the archaeology of the fantastic make for interesting reading.

This issue, which takes a trip back to the days of the Pulp Western (and specifically, the 'Lone Ranger' masked gunslinger archetype), looks to be more of the same information-gathering. The title, 'The Torture of William Leather', probably gives as much away to regular readers as necessary. But one suspects that the end of the series is nigh - or as nigh as the creators' Marvel schedules will allow.

PLANETARY #22 marks Cassaday's return to the genre that made his name. If you find yourself in the comic shop with money burning a hole in your pocket, you could do a hell of a lot worse than the Weird Western novel Cassaday created with John Layman, DESPERADOES. It should help kill a little time while you wait for the next issue of PLANETARY... [Matthew Craig]

THE LITTLE DEATH OF GWEN STACY

This collected trade of the 'Sins Past' storyline from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is about as welcome as a lobotomy, and there're several reasons why. First, it hinges on a piece of retroactive continuity, proposing that Peter Parker's first love, Gwen Stacy, had an affair with his arch-nemesis Norman Osborn (aka The Green Goblin). These events by themselves are not objectionable, but to ask readers to suppose that they happened in the background to issues of ASM originally published over forty years ago is stretching credibility somewhat.

For this flight of fancy we can forgive JM Straczynski, since he probably thought it would make for a genuinely compelling drama; the editor, meanwhile, should have his wrists slapped for greenlighting a story that's so structurally weak and wholly unengaging.

There appears to be a trend in the industry in which established histories are tinkered with to the point of collapse, and women are blamed for everything bad that happens. It's there in Sins Past, and it's there in both the AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED and IDENTITY CRISIS events. What women have done to provoke these attacks is unclear. Perhaps it's an unfortunate by-product of a medium dominated by adolescent males?

The worst part of the story is the sight of Norman Osborn 'mid-climax'. Mike Deodato Jr has seen fit to draw the moment in extreme close-up,. with bulging-eyes, beads of sweat, and quivering hairy warts. There are things in life that I never thought I'd see, much less imagine, and seeing a super-villain making an 'o' face is one of them. Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn could be rutting like rabbits for all I care, but the way it was revealed was toe curling. It's like catching your uncle wearing a dress; faintly embarrassing for all concerned. [Bulent Yusuf]

FALSE REDEEMER

David Hine is one of Marvel's best new writers. Well, "new" in a way, in that he's spent 18 years in comics before getting the call from Joe Quesada to go play in the Marvel sandbox. He excels in slow-burn mystery stories, and his DAREDEVIL: REDEMPTION miniseries should be one of the standout books of the year. Michael Gaydos doing a Maleev-lite on art certainly doesn't hurt, either.

In short: Matt Murdock and his big red pyjamas go to deepest Alabama to defend a teenager accused of brutally murdering a young boy in a "satanist" ritual. Is the boy really a murderer, or are he and his two friends being made scapegoats because they wear black leather coats and listen to heavy metal? The first issue is available free online.

However, I can't bring myself to buy this. The first, minor quibble, is that it's shaping up to be Smart Yankee Lawyer Comes To Teach Dumb Southern Hicks A Lesson. This is Stereotype Gothic, where everyone looks inbred and insane relatives are always tumbling out of closets.

The second, and more major issue that I have with DAREDEVIL: REDEMPTION, is that it rips off the stories of the real-life West Memphis Three, currently on death row or facing life in prison in Arkansas. Details of the story conform startlingly, to the point of Gaydos seemingly using photographs of West Memphis Three member Damain Echols to base the look of fictitious murder suspect Joel Flood.

Marvel doesn't hide this, instead trumpeting in solicitation copy that the story is based on the "real-life Robin Hood Hills murders". Of course, there's really nothing to stop Marvel ripping off the tragic story of the West Memphis Three for fun and profit. But it really sticks in my craw, and the story is cold comfort to the three boys who many believe are falsely accused of the crime.

That Marvel haven't made even a token effort to direct people to the West Memphis Three appeal fund beggars belief. Instead of buying this comic, may I suggest the marvellous RISE ABOVE album, sales of which go towards the West Memphis Three's appeal effort? Ice T, Lemmy, Slipknot, Queens of the Stone Age, Slayer, Iggy Pop, Mars Volta, Hank Williams III, Exene Cervenka, Chuck D and the lads from Black Flag do it up, all for a very worthy cause. Which is more than I can say for DAREDEVIL: REDEMPTION. [Alex de Campi]

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MOORE!

This week's episode of BBC Radio 4's round-robin interview series, CHAIN REACTION, features Stewart Lee's conversation with Alan Moore. Stewart Lee is a fan of comics, and an interesting and articulate fellow to boot. Consequently, one might hope that he avoids the slightly over-congratulatory tone of the rest of the series (which has thus far consisted of comedians interviewing other comedians).

The interview is streamed off the BBC website from 6.30pm GMT on Thursday 27th January, until the following week, when it will be replaced by Alan Moore's interview with Brian Eno.

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR JANUARY 26th 2005:

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

DARK HORSE

OCT040044 BERSERK VOL 6 TP (MR) $13.95
NOV040017D CONAN #12 $2.99
JUN040024 SHI JU NEN #3 (Of 4) $2.99
NOV040025D USAGI YOJIMBO #81 $2.99

DC COMICS

NOV040306D ABC WARRIORS THE MEKNIFICENT SEVEN TP $12.95
NOV040237D BATMAN #636 $2.25
NOV040297D CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #5 $2.25
NOV040311D CHALAND ANTHOLOGY VOL 2 FREDDY LOMBARD TP (MR) $14.95
NOV040259D DOOM PATROL #8 $2.50
NOV040270D FLASH #218 $2.25
NOV040346D HELLBLAZER #204 (MR) $2.75
NOV040276D JSA STRANGE ADVENTURES #6 (OF 6) $3.50
NOV040280D LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #2 $2.95
NOV040351D LOSERS #20 (MR) $2.95
NOV040282D MIGHTY LOVE SC (MR) $17.95
NOV040245D NIGHTWING #102 $2.25
NOV040323D PLANETARY #22 $2.95
NOV040287D RICHARD DRAGON #9 $2.50
NOV040325D SLEEPER SEASON TWO #8 (OF 12) (MR) $2.95
NOV040296D TEEN TITANS GO #15 $2.25
NOV040361D WITCHING #8 (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

OCT041503 AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS #1 $2.95
NOV041548D SPAWN #142 (RES) $2.50
OCT041554 WITCHBLADE #82 $2.99

MARVEL

NOV041772D AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #516 $2.25
NOV041839D AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL 8 SINS PAST TP $12.99
NOV041761D ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #1 $2.99
OCT048044 ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #1 VARIANT $2.99
NOV041791D AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES #6 (OF 8) $3.50
NOV041779D BLACK WIDOW #5 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV041799D FANTASTIC FOUR #522 $2.99
NOV041828D HULK VOL 1 INVINCIBLE DIGEST TP $5.99
NOV041809D MARVEL AGE FANTASTIC FOUR #12 $2.25
NOV041819D MYSTIQUE #23 $2.99
NOV041817D NEW X-MEN #9 $2.99
NOV041804D OFFICIAL HANDBOOK MARVEL UNIVERSE WOMEN OF MARVEL 2005 $3.99
NOV041771D SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #24 $2.25
NOV041783D STOKERS DRACULA #3 (OF 4) $3.99
NOV041764D ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #15 $2.25
NOV041767D ULTIMATE X-MEN #55 $2.25
NOV041810D UNCANNY X-MEN #454 $2.25
NOV041763D X 23 #2 (OF 6) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

OCT048138 AFTERMATH DEFEX #3 2ND PRTG $2.95
SEP042600E ARMY OF DARKNESS ASHES TO ASHES DIRECTORS FOIL #1 $19.99
NOV043064 BASARA VOL 10 TP $9.99
NOV042404 BETTY #144 $2.19
NOV043066 CERES CELESTIAL LEGEND VOL 10 TP $9.95
NOV042833 CRYPTOZOO CREW #1 $2.95
NOV042564 DARK ANGEL VOL 5 TP NEW PTG $9.99
NOV042543 ELVIRA #141 $2.50
NOV043049 FLOWERS AND BEES VOL 6 TP (MR) $9.99
JAN052555E FUTURAMA SIMPSONS CROSSOVER CRISIS PART 2 #2 (OF 2) $2.99
NOV048034 GI JOE #38 2ND PRTG $2.95
DEC042518 GI JOE #39 $2.95
OCT048047 GI JOE RELOADED #10 2ND PRTG $2.95
NOV048033 GI JOE RELOADED #11 2ND PRTG $2.95
JUL042708E GOLDEN CAIN GN (A) $15.99
NOV042408 JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #199 $2.39
JUL042710E KIZUNA BONDS OF LOVE BOOK 2 GN (A) $15.99
NOV042410 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #91 $3.59
NOV043041 RANMA 1/2 VOL 16 SECOND ED) TP $9.95
NOV043039 RANMA 1/2 VOL 29 TP $9.95
JUL042711F SELFISH LOVE BOOK 1 GN (A) $15.99
SEP042470E SELFISH LOVE BOOK 2 GN (A) $15.99
NOV042512 SIMPSONS CLASSICS #3 $3.99
NOV042415 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #145 $2.19
AUG042474 SOULFIRE #3 $2.99
NOV042277 STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL 4 POCKET TP $17.95
JUL046210E STUDIO ICE MEGACITY 909 #1 2ND PRTG $2.95
NOV042526 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #30 (MR) $2.95
NOV042527 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE DLX ED #30 (MR) $19.99
SEP042526F TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD #12 $2.95
NOV043046 TUXEDO GIN VOL 10 GN $9.95
OCT048191 UDON DARKSTALKERS #2 2ND PRTG $2.95
SEP042587J UDON DARKSTALKERS CVR C POWER FOIL #1 PI
OCT042600J UDON DARKSTALKERS POWER FOIL CVR C #2 PI
NOV042720 UNCLE SCROOGE #338 $6.95
NOV043057 VAGABOND VOL 19 TP (MR) $9.95
NOV042721 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #653 $6.95
NOV043069 X/1999 VOL 17 SUITE TP $9.95

The Ninth Eight are Matthew Craig, John Fellows, Kieron Gillen, Alistair Kennedy, Zack Smith, Andrew Wheeler, Ben Wooller and Bulent Yusuf.

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.