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: DEFENDERS

Comics fans love Golden Ages. Not just the '30s and '40s, where Captain America could be seen slugging Hitler in the chops on the front cover of his mag, but periods in an ongoing comic's history that can be looked back at fondly and reflected on with other fans many years down the line. Most characters have had at least one such Golden Age. Walt Simonson will always be remembered for producing the greatest THOR comics ever made. Frank Miller's DAREDEVIL is going to be a textbook in how to write ol' Hornhead for years to come. Stan and Jack's FANTASTIC FOUR set an almost unreachably high standard for others to achieve.

Characters like the Justice League of America, having gone through so many iterations and line-ups over the years, are more difficult to pin down, but few would doubt the greatness of the action/comedy stylings of Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis's work with the characters. Working first with the ridiculously talented Kevin Maguire and later with other funnybook luminaries such as Linda Medley, Adam Hughes and Ty Templeton, the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold/Guy Gardner/Oreos/KooeyKooeyKooey/bwah-ha-ha era saw them give us some of the best superhero comics of the 1980s.

Now, after the rather ignominious disassembly of their work at DC, Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire have made the jump to Marvel, giving us a new look at one of the few teams Marvel has that could handle the trademark bickering that these guys' super-characters tend to indulge in - the Defenders. An arrogant prince, a raging mass of muscle, a spaced-out surfer and a supercilious sorcerer, the Defenders are a concept that is difficult to make work well (just ask DeMatteis, whose previous stint on the title wasn't his finest moment). If anyone can handle the task, though, it's these three fellas - the preview pages released by Marvel some weeks back showed that the script is as sharp as expected and Maguire's pencils are as expressive as they've ever been.

After their recent failed ongoing series, DEFENDERS is going to be a tough sell. Marvel appear to have realised that in these days of superhero saturation, if anything will bring the punters in, it's going to have to be the creative team. With a bit of luck and a following wind, Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire could well give us a series that'll be talked about in years to come. [Alistair Kennedy]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY

Power Girl is the poster child for Dead Horse Floggage. Basically a grown-up badgeless Supergirl with backbreaking breasts, Power Girl has had more retcons, revamps, rethinks and bites of the cherry than any second-rate superclone has any right to expect. In short, she refuses to die.

And I can only think of two reasons why.

Seriously: what's the point of her, beyond the inevitable Russ Meyer jokes? She's not as iconic as other superheroes, and I doubt she even has the cult following of that other perennial fixer-upper, Donna Troy (although, no doubt this fan would disagree...).

So why is she the focus of so much attention? Why, for example, is she the focus of the first four issues of the new JSA: CLASSIFIED? It's a series that, like its counterpart JLA: CLASSIFIED seeks to act as a rolling trade paperback factory, allowing bespoke creators to tell the Justice Society stories they've always wanted to tell without all that needless faffing about with continuity.

The answer comes down to two words: Geoff Johns. Johns has long been the king of DC continuity, a position that was recently formalised when he was charged with guiding the DCU through the Infinite Crisis superstory. He's been almost singlehandedly responsible for keeping the Old Duffers Brigade (or the JSA, if you like) alive over the last few years, and Power Girl is only the latest in a long line of characters that Johns has tried to rescue.

But leaving aside the intellectual curiosity that might be satiated by watching Johns jump through hoops trying to make people give a damn, Power Girl's story is illustrated by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. Conner's projects, from THE PRO to TWO-STEP, have been characterised by a supreme insouciance that, combined with her strong anatomy and storytelling skills make her one of the best character artists in comics today. It's hard to poo-poo a comic that has this sort of artwork in it.

JSA CLASSIFIED #1 hits stores this week with two covers, by Conner and Adam Hughes. If the series can match the high standard set by JLA: CLASSIFIED, it should do just fine. Hopefully, not all stories will be about cleaning up other writers' continuity gaffes. [Matthew Craig]

FLASH IN THE PAN

Of course, the greatest avatar of the Never Dead Enough Brigade is Barry "The Silver Age Flash" Allen. Despite having died like a fiend almost twenty years ago, and despite having passed The Flash identity on to his protégé Wally West, poor old Barrington Montgomery Allen just won't stay buried. If it's not a flashback or an Elseworlds or a miniseries set a nebulous "ten years ago", it's a visit to the future where he shacked up with his dead wife (don't ask) or a voyeuristic trip back to the Crisis where the superspeed CSI finally bit the dust.

To be fair, nobody really expected him to stay Bucky Barnes dead... err, Jason Todd dead... err, Gwen Stacy dea - er, let's try this again.

Nobody expected Barry Allen to stay dead. He was a Proper Super Hero, after all, just like The Blessed Saint Hal of Jordan, and it seemed inevitable that someday, he'd do what Hal did - to wit, return to active duty, and bugger what the sidekick wanted. And there are people out there, I'm sure, who are still lighting candles for the buzzcut bastard to this very day. Which is why THE RETURN OF BARRY ALLEN is so very very cruel. And very very wonderful.

Not to be confused with this week's new Flash trade, THE SECRET OF BARRY ALLEN, RETURN opens with the fulfilment of Wally West's heart's desire: his idol, mentor and favourite uncle fetched up on the doorstep, looking somewhat more corporeal than when last they spoke. It soon becomes clear that all is not well with The Scarlet Speedster - his legendary even temper isn't what it was, and his memory of the events surrounding his "death" is hazy - and events soon take a heartbreaking turn for the worse when Wally-Flash is incapacitated in battle.

THE RETURN OF BARRY ALLEN is one of Mark Waid's finest Flash stories: gripping, superbly paced, and with a moment or two of genuine poignancy, it's a book that really hammers home that old axiom, "be careful what you wish for." [Matthew Craig]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR JULY 20th 2005:

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

DARK HORSE

MAY050040 HELLBOY THE ISLAND #2 (OF 2) $2.99

DC COMICS

MAY050289 100 BULLETS VOL 8 THE HARD WAY TP (MR) $14.99
MAY050272 AUTHORITY REVOLUTION #10 (OF 12) (MR) $2.99
MAY050199 BATGIRL #66 $2.50
MAY050200 BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #67 $2.50
MAY050201 BATMAN JEKYLL AND HYDE #4 (OF 6) $2.99
MAY050221 BIRDS OF PREY #84 $2.50
MAY050259 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY VOL 1 BRING IT ON TP $6.99
MAY050224 DAY OF VENGEANCE #4 (OF 6) $2.50
MAY050198 DETECTIVE COMICS #808 $2.99
MAY050275 EX MACHINA #13 (MR) $2.99
MAY050230 FLASH THE SECRET OF BARRY ALLEN TP $19.99
MAY050234 HUMAN RACE #5 (OF 7) $2.99
MAY050239 JSA CLASSIFIED #1 $2.50
MAY050296 LUCIFER #64 (MR) $2.75
MAY050241 MANHUNTER #12 $2.50
MAY050246 PLASTIC MAN #17 $2.99
MAY050263 POWERPUFF GIRLS #64 $2.25
MAY050206 ROBIN #140 $2.50
MAY050253 TEEN TITANS #26 $2.50
MAY050258 TEEN TITANS GO VOL 3 BRING IT ON TP $6.99

IMAGE

FEB051583D ATHEIST #2 $3.50
MAY051528 BODY BAGS FATHERS DAY SGN #1 (OF 2) (MR) $19.99
MAY051558 GIRLS #3 (MR) $2.95
MAY051530 GROUNDED #1 (OF 6) $2.95
MAY051532 GUNCANDY SGN #1 (OF 2) (MR) $19.99
APR051666D INVINCIBLE VOL 1 ULTIMATE COLL HC $34.95
JAN041300D INVINCIBLE VOL 2 EIGHT IS ENOUGH TP $12.95
FEB041329D MAGE VOL 1 THE HERO DISCOVERED HC $49.95
FEB045201D MAGE VOL 1 THE HERO DISCOVERED TP $29.99
MAR051702 PIGTALE #3 $2.95
MAR051679 PVP #0 $0.50
MAY051540 WILDGUARD FOOLS GOLD #2 (OF 2) $3.50

MARVEL

MAR051920 ASTONISHING X-MEN #11 $2.99
MAY051749 CABLE DEADPOOL #17 $2.99
MAY051764 DAREDEVIL #75 $3.99
MAY051773 DEFENDERS #1 (OF 5) $2.99
MAY051825 DOCTOR SPECTRUM FULL SPECTRUM TP (MR) $16.99
APR051976D ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN VOL 2 TP NEW PRINTING $16.99
APR051977D ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN VOL 3 TP NEW PRINTING $16.99
MAY051807 EXILES #67 $2.99
MAY051782 GLA #4 (OF 4) $2.99
MAY051737 HOUSE OF M #4 (OF 8) $2.99
FEB058520D HOUSE OF M DIRECTORS CUT #1 (OF 8) (PP #676) $3.99
JAN058163D HOUSE OF M PETERSON VARIANT COVER #4 (OF 8) $2.99
MAY051745 INCREDIBLE HULK #84 $2.99
MAY051793 MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #2 $2.50
MAY051794 MARVEL ADVENTURES FLIP MAGAZINE #2 $3.99
MAY051771 MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 #20 $2.99
MAY051762 MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #16 $2.99
MAY051814 MARVEL MASTERWORKS X-MEN VOL 5 HC VARIANT ED $54.99
MAY051813 MARVEL MASTERWORKS X-MEN VOL 5 NEW ED HC $49.99
MAY051774 MARVEL MILESTONES DR STRANGE SILVER SURFER SUB-MARINER HULK $3.99
APR051922D MARVEL TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #1 $3.99
MAY051805 ORORO BEFORE THE STORM #2 (OF 4) $2.99
MAY051740 SECRETS OF THE HOUSE OF M #1 $3.99
MAY051746 SPIDER-MAN HOUSE OF M #2 (OF 5) $2.99
MAY051818 THE PULSE VOL 2 SECRET WAR TP $11.99
MAY051753 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #80 $2.50
MAY051751 ULTIMATES 2 #7 $2.99
MAY051763 WOLVERINE #30 $2.50
MAY051823 X-FORCE SHATTERSTAR TP $16.99
MAY051804 X-MEN KITTY PRYDE SHADOW & FLAME #2 (OF 5) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

MAY053134E ANGEL SANCTUARY VOL 9 GN $9.99
MAY052498E ARCHIE & FRIENDS #93 $2.25
MAY052499E ARCHIE DIGEST #218 $2.39
MAY053136E BANANA FISH VOL 9 TP $9.95
MAY053143E BASARA VOL 13 TP $9.99
MAY052503E BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #135 $3.59
AUG042366E BILL & TEDS MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURES VOL 2 TP $13.95
MAY053144E BOYS OVER FLOWERS VOL 13 TP $9.99
MAY053155E CERES CELESTIAL LEGEND VOL 12 TP $9.95
JAN052387E CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL MANGA VOL 1 TP $10.95
APR052555F CUTE MANIFESTO TP $19.95
APR052924F DEAD WEST VOL 1 GN $14.95
MAY052775E DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #330 $2.95
MAY053091E EXCEL SAGA VOL 13 TP $9.99
MAY058044E GI JOE AMERICAS ELITE #1 2ND PRTG $2.95
SEP048103E HANA KIMI VOL 3 GN (PU #646) $9.95
MAY053094E KEKKAISHI VOL 2 GN $9.99
JUN053054F LEVEL C VOL 3 GN (A) $9.99
MAY052749F LOVE & ROCKETS VOL 2 #14 (MR) $4.50
MAY053114E MAISON IKKOKU VOL 12 2ND ED TP $9.95
MAY052777E MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS #279 $2.95
JAN052628E MU MARK LEE CVR A #4 $2.95
JAN052629E MU MINWOO HYUNG CVR B #4 $2.95
MAY053099E RANMA 1/2 VOL 20 2ND ED TP $9.95
MAY053097E RANMA 1/2 VOL 31 TP $9.95
MAY052512F SATANS 3 RING CIRCUS OF H$$$ TP (MR) $19.95
MAY052599E SIMPSONS COMICS #108 $2.99
JUN042642F SKYSCRAPERS OF OZ GN (A) $9.99
MAY052516E SOULFIRE DYING OF THE LIGHT #0 $2.50
MAY052517E SOULFIRE DYING OF THE LIGHT SIGNED ED #0 $19.99
DEC032546F TABLE FOR ONE GN (MR) $9.95
MAY052757F TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #1 (MR) $4.50
JUN053055F THRILLS & CHILLS GN (MR) $9.95
MAY052509E VERONICA #163 $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.