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: THE CUTE MANIFESTO

For me, James Kochalka exemplifies the most important reason why comics should exist. And not just 'biff! bang! pow!' comics as the public sees them, but the works that actually further the genre and provide a unique experience not to be found anywhere else. The vast majority of mainstream comics could quite easily be made as films (see the success of SPIDER-MAN 2) or in prose (the Pulitzer-prize bothering work of Michael Chabon) without losing anything. But the works, such as Kochalka's, that are so very uniquely and singularly of the medium are the continuing proof I need that it's not all for nought and I'd be better off writing for www.needlecraft.com (for the discerning cross stitcher).

Collecting several of Kochalka's most thought-provoking works is this week's THE CUTE MANIFESTO (Top Shelf). It includes - deep breath - 'The Horrible Truth About Comics', 'Reinventing Everything Part 1 & 2', 'Sunburn' and even the 'Craft Is The Enemy' essays.

If you've not read any Kochalka before, this is a rare treat. It's a book that will alter your life and answer some of the unanswered questions about the human spirit. Or maybe it's just going to be a series of pictures featuring frogs tugging themselves off. Either way, it's deep and meaningful and something belonging uniquely to us - the comics fans.

I've never been one for works that set out with the singular goal of Changing Your Life, but that's probably because they're usually written by egotistical cock-knockers with ulterior motives. But Kochalka is one creator I would trust to be telling the God's Honest Truth.

If you enjoyed FANCY FROGLIN then you needn't have read this endorsement, you already know God's Honest Truth. If you've never even heard of Kochalka before, or fear he's going to deluge you with insurmountably obtuse indie spirit gazing, then fear not. This one will change your life. [John Fellows]

DIAMOND DAYS

The Black Diamond is an eight-lane, elevated highway that runs from the East Coast of the US to the West. Created to curb dangerous driving through suburbs by going over them, it soon becomes home to drug runners and dealers, a haven for criminals. Communities spring up at off ramps and the emergency lane grows shanty towns. MAD MAX on asphalt, instead of red dirt. Beneath the Black Diamond, however, life goes on as normal. So, what happens when an ordinary joe has to tackle the Black Diamond?

For BLACK DIAMOND ON RAMP (AiT/PlanetLar) writer Larry Young, who can tell a ripping good tale, is joined by John Proctor. who you may remember from the short lived GUN THEORY from Marvel. Proctor's art (judging by this .pdf preview) looks suitably cinematic. And the colour (yes, colour, in an AiT/PlanetLar book!) works wonderfully: soft for the world beneath the Black Diamond, with hard shadows and murky oranges and reds for the highway.

As an added bonus, flip the book over and you get a preview of the noir-ish SMOKE & GUNS by Kirsten Baldock and Brazilian artist Fabio Moon. Muscle cars on one side, uzi-toting cigarette girls on the other. What's not to like? [Ben Wooller]

A HARD REIGN'S A GONNA FALL

JSA: BLACK REIGN (DC Comics) collects together the epic saga that took place in the pages of JSA and HAWKMAN. Black Adam is an ancient superhuman whose powers were granted by the same Wizard who created Captain Marvel, and his mission is to liberate his homeland from the bootheels of an evil dictator. To do this he has infiltrated the Justice Society of America and recruited several members to his cause, and thus begins a bloody confrontation between one group of champions that use their powers to protect the world, and another that use their powers to change it.

Got all that? Good. By now it is perhaps apparent that this is a thinly veiled allegory about the second invasion of Iraq, but it's also a story exploring the moral uncertainties that arise from times of war and political strife. And of course, being a spandex title, there's lots of punching and kicking and gouging of eyeballs, including a climatic battle that takes place on the bones of the dead. How's about that for symbolism? Kudos to Geoff Johns, Don Kramer and Rags Morales for producing such an excellent story. [Bulent Yusuf]

HORRORSHOW

Horror is a tricky genre for comics. In fact, it's a tricky genre in most media, since instilling a genuine sense of creeping fear in the audience requires a rare kind of wicked insight. In film, at least, it's easy enough to get the audience to jump when you can't get them to shudder. In comics it's easier to try to disgust the reader than to scare him. But comics don't easily lend themselves to horror.

For that reason, LITTLE BOOKS OF HORROR sounds like a tricky proposition. Published by IDW, it's a line of beautiful little hardbacks adapting classic horror tales in panel-a-page illustrated prose. The first volume was Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN, and the second is HG Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS, and in neither case is the book likely to recreate whatever horror the original authors were able to generate.

But that's not the appeal here, at least, not for me. Horror is the connecting theme, and IDW certainly likes to tout 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles as a modern horror master, but what IDW really has here is a line of prestige art books.

Niles is really only here to abridge the original texts. No doubt his real value here is as a 'name' writer. But it's the artists who make the line, or so the first two volumes seem to indicate. Scott Morse provided a lurid kaleidoscope of jagged Victorian figures for FRANKENSTEIN. Ted McKeever looks set to up the ante with some of his best work on WAR OF THE WORLDS, presenting a visceral portrait of a Martian invasion of Earth. In fact, it even looks a little... well, creepy.

If you're a horror lover, be warned that these books probably won't give you nightmares. But if you're an art lover, they're well worth checking out. I only hope IDW can keep up the standard with the rest of the line. [Andrew Wheeler]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR JUNE 15th 2005:

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

DARK HORSE

APR050022D CONAN & THE JEWELS OF GWAHLUR #3 (OF 3) $2.99
MAR050058 SUPER MANGA BLAST #52 (MR) $5.99
MAR050047 USAGI YOJIMBO #84 $2.99

DC COMICS

APR050318D ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #641 $2.50
APR050392D AUTHORITY REVOLUTION #9 (OF 12) (MR) $2.99
MAR050351 BATMAN BEGINS MOVIE ADAPTATION $6.99
MAR050352 BATMAN BEGINS THE MOVIE & OTHER TALES OF THE DARK KNIGHT TP $12.99
APR050312D BATMAN DARK DETECTIVE #4 (OF 6) $2.99
APR050303D BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #66 $2.50
APR050328D BIRDS OF PREY #83 $2.50
APR050363D BUGS BUNNY VOL 1 WHATS UP DOC TP $6.99
APR050364D DAFFY DUCK VOL 1 YOURE DESPICABLE TP $6.99
APR050332D DAY OF VENGEANCE #3 (OF 6) $2.50
APR050393D EX MACHINA #12 (MR) $2.99
APR050337D HAWKMAN #41 $2.50
APR050339D JLA CLASSIFIED #8 $2.99
APR050341D JSA VOL 8 BLACK REIGN TP $12.99
APR050405D LUCIFER #63 (MR) $2.75
APR050348D MANHUNTER #11 $2.50
APR050411D MNEMOVORE #3 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99
APR050415D SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE VOL 3 VAMP TP (MR) $12.99
APR050368D SCOOBY DOO #97 $2.25
APR050350D SEVEN SOLDIERS KLARION THE WITCH BOY #2 (OF 4) $2.99
APR050322D SUPERMAN GODFALL TP $9.99
APR050418D TRIGGER #7 (MR) $2.99
FEB050362D VIMANARAMA #3 (OF 3) (MR) $2.99
APR050399D WILDSIDERZ #0 $1.99
APR050299D YEAR ONE BATMAN RAS AL GHUL #1 (OF 2) $5.99

IMAGE

FEB051578D GRAY AREA VOL 1 ALL OF THIS CAN BE YOURS HC SGN $39.95
APR051678D HERO CAMP #2 (OF 4) $2.95

MARVEL

APR051939D CABLE DEADPOOL #16 $2.99
APR051889D DAREDEVIL #74 $2.99
APR051950D FANTASTIC FOUR THE MOVIE TP $12.99
APR051934D GAMBIT #12 $2.99
MAR051919 GIANT SIZE X-MEN #3 $4.99
APR051903D GLA #3 (OF 4) $2.99
APR051891D HERCULES #3 (OF 5) $2.99
APR051879D LAST HERO STANDING #3 (OF 5) $2.99
APR051917D MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #1 $2.50
APR051957D MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP VOL 1 HELP FRIENDS DIGEST TP $7.99
APR051896D MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 #19 $2.99
APR051913D POWER PACK #4 (OF 4) $2.99
MAR051940 POWERS #11 (MR) $2.95
APR051886D SPIDER-MAN BREAKOUT #3 (OF 5) $2.99
APR051904D STORMBREAKER SAGA OF BETA RAY BILL #6 (OF 6) $2.99
APR051919D ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE #1 $3.99
APR051921D ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #1 $3.99
APR051937D UNCANNY X-MEN #461 $2.50
MAR058208 UNCANNY X-MEN ADAM KUBERT VARIANT COVER #461 $2.50
APR051895D WOLVERINE #29 $2.50

OTHER PUBLISHERS

APR052985F A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #15 (A) $4.99
APR053183F AEIOU GN $12.00
APR052636E ARCHIE & FRIENDS #92 $2.25
APR052637E ARCHIE DIGEST #217 $2.39
DEC042525J ARMY OF DARKNESS SHOP TIL YOU DROP DEAD GLOW #3 PI
APR052731F BEAUTIFUL THINGS GN $13.99
APR052642E BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #134 $3.59
APR052536F BLACK DIAMOND ON RAMP $2.95
APR052555F CUTE MANIFESTO TP $19.95
JUN042097E DESERT CORAL MANGA VOL 2 TP $9.99
JAN052708I DFE ARMY OF DARKNESS SHOP TIL YOU DROP DEAD FOIL CVR #3 $14.99
APR052911E DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #329 $2.95
APR053237E INU YASHA VOL 22 TP $8.95
MAR058142E LITTLE BOOK OF HORROR WAR OF THE WORLDS HC $15.99
APR052572E LITTLE SCROWLIE #10 $2.95
APR053250E MAR VOL 2 GN $9.99
APR052914E MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS #278 $2.95
APR052533E ORPHEN MANGA VOL 2 TP $9.99
APR053254E SEXY VOICE AND ROBO VOL 1 GN $19.99
APR052720E SIMPSONS COMICS #107 $2.99
APR052517F SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST #2 $5.00
APR052648E SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #150 $2.25
APR052505E STRANGERS IN PARADISE #74 $2.95
SEP042268E STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL 3 PKT TP $17.95
APR052576E STREET ANGEL VOL 1 TP $14.95
FEB042041E TO HEART MANGA VOL 1 TP $9.99
APR052651E VERONICA #162 $2.25

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.