Recall the career of one of Britain's artistic greats with Brendan McCarthy's limited edition SWIMINI PURPOSE, relive your childhood geekery with the new POWER PACK, and revisit Neopolis with Paul Di Filippo's TOP TEN.
15 August 2005

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: SWIMINI PURPOSE

Every so often, something comes along to remind you how wonderful comics can be. Amidst all this cross-over, corporate-trademark, summer of mediocrity, as if to save us all, a book flies out of a setting sun: SWIMINI PURPOSE, Brendan McCarthy's 'visual autobiography', a testament to 30 years in comics and illustration.

For the Americans in the audience, McCarthy is one of the most pervasively influential British comic artists of the past 20 years. He has more good ideas on one page of his sketchbook than some people have in their entire career, and as you page through SWIMINI PURPOSE you'll see how many of those ideas other people picked up and ran with. Grant Morrison stands out as the most obviously inspired by McCarthy, but he's far from alone.

Although McCarthy is an effortlessly talented artist, a great deal of the charm of SWIMINI PURPOSE comes from the quotes and cryptic comments that dot the book. These counterpoint a mix of pages and collages from comic work such as SKIN, ROGAN GOSH, PARADAX, FREAKWAVE (the Mad Hatter's Head flying pirate ship is worth the cover price alone).

And then there were the might-have-beens: Z-MEN, a Vertigo pitch that never came off, and numerous character doodles that just scream to have stories written for them (my favourites being The Three Tired Men, Napoleon NoNo, the AntiClaus and Doctor Klokkter). Throw in photos of old performance art exhibitions, paintings, sketches, concept art, and self-published punk fanzines and you have a big pile of lovely that you'll return to again and again.

SWIMINI PURPOSE is also a testament to the genius of McCarthy's frequent collaborators, artist Brett Ewins and writer Pete Milligan. Medical issues forced Ewins to give up comics work, although he remains beloved in the UK as the co-creator of 2000AD's BAD COMPANY series. Pete Milligan has gone on to fame and, if not fortune, at least a living wage doing work for Marvel and DC. There's only McCarthy left to carry the torch of their mad, absurd, marvellous visions - and he is mainly doing so as a designer and concept artist for film.

I hope, somewhere in a front room in Hackney, there's a new Ewins/McCarthy/Milligan mafia of delinquent art students scribbling crazed and wonderful comic ideas across cheap notebooks. But while we wait for them to appear, get your hands on a copy of SWIMINI PURPOSE and feel good again about what comics can do when you throw the 'rules' out the window. Only 500 copies of SWIMINI PURPOSE were printed for this UK edition, so don't hesitate - though a US edition should be available next year. [Alex de Campi]

BACK PACK

The original POWER PACK comic could so easily have been a 1980s kids] sci-fi movie: a space horse falls to Earth in his living ship and tells four plucky urchins that not only is their Dad about to destroy the planet, but that Space Lizards have nabbed him - and their mother - in order to learn his secrets. Star Dobbin promptly dies, but not before giving each child superpowers.

And that's when it gets complicated.

Actually, POWER PACK was rather good, kids' comic or otherwise. Co-creators Louise Simonson and June Brigman ensured that the children had strong individual voices, and looked and acted like kids, instead of small adults. The sense of threat - to the parents, the family and the Earth as a whole - was similarly well played. One suspects that, had POWER PACK been made into a movie rather than an aborted TV series - it would have done good business.

I drifted away from POWER PACK when I went up to Big School, but I have nothing but fond memories for those early stories. And clearly, I'm not the only one.

This week sees the first POWER PACK digest hit shelves, collecting the first four issues of Marc Sumerak and Gurihiru's recent revival. This version of POWER PACK eschews the post-Simonson/Brigman continuity - as well as that of the modern Marvel Universe at large - and is aimed squarely at the same young audience as the original series. To be fair, it rather had to be: one of the Power kids had been both a New Warrior and a horse, and neither direction worked particularly well.

Sumerak is well-suited to a book like this: his back catalogue includes other titles in the Marvel Adventures range, as well as the GUARDIANS miniseries, a cross between '80's movie classics THE LAST STARFIGHTER and STAND BY ME. Gurihiru's manga-styled artwork (as seen in previews here, here and here) is as charming and delightful as it was in the pages of Gail Simone's hilarious GUS BEEZER (which must also be due for a digest, surely). The book promises to mix family farce with action and adventure in the classic Marvel style.

While Power Pack may not be aimed at the sophisticated readership of VIZ, IDENTITY CRISIS or LADY DEATH, it may have the sort of broad pre- teen or ''tween' appeal that so many modern comics lack. If you have a child or young relative who's dying to see what all the fuss is about - but you don't want them getting jam and bogeys all over your back issues of SOLAR - then this might be the comic to give them. [Matthew Craig]

TEN MORE, NO MOORE

The knives came out when it was announced someone other than Alan Moore was writing a TOP TEN series. Never mind that Paul Di Filippo, a long time comic fan, brought to the attention of DC by Harlan Ellison and Warren Ellis, was probably shitting himself at having to follow Moore's lead.

The first question, of course, is, "Who is this guy?" Di Filippo's a fairly noted science fiction author, one who, according to his message board, has been wanting to write comics for some time. He recently wrote a story for X-MEN UNLIMITED, and he has a BATMAN tale in the works. Editor Scott Dunbier had a corporate mandate to extend the TOP TEN series (after last week's FORTY-NINERS, and the rumoured Gene Ha/Zander Cannon second season), and Ellison and Ellis recommended Di Filippo for the job. I recommend his excellent novella A YEAR IN THE LINEAR CITY for a taste of his work.

Second question: "I wonder what Moore thinks of this guy?" Given than Moore personally vetted the scripts, it would seem he's OK with Di Filippo's take on Neopolis and the crew of Precinct 10. His one edit: Di Filippo couldn't kill off a particular character. He was even allowed to create some new characters. And titling Part 1, 'A Screaming Comes Across the Sky' show's a touch of Pynchon that I'm sure Moore approves of.

Rather than being billed as 'Season Two', TOP TEN: BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT (DC WildStorm/ABC) picks up the action five years after the SMAX mini-series. While I'm sure it won't be held to the standards of Moore and Ha's original work, if the PDF preview pages are anything to go by, Jerry Ordway's work is looking good, even squeezing as many 'eyekicks' in as possible, surpassing the deliberate ones Di Filippo scripted. Hey look, it's the Beagle Boys! [Ben Wooller]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR AUGUST 17th 2005:

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

DC COMICS

JUN050421 AUTHORITY REVOLUTION #11 (OF 12) (MR) $2.99
JUN050330 BATGIRL #67 $2.50
JUN050325 BATMAN JOURNEY INTO KNIGHT #1 (OF 12) $2.50
JUN050392 BATMAN STRIKES #12 $2.25
JUN050356 BIRDS OF PREY #85 $2.50
JUN050439 BOOKS OF MAGICK LIFE DURING WARTIME #13 (MR) $2.75
JUN050328 DETECTIVE COMICS #810 $2.99
JUN050368 HUMAN RACE #6 (OF 7) $2.99
OCT040287D JLA ANOTHER NAIL TP $12.95
JUN050376 JSA VOL 9 LOST TP $19.99
JUN050443 LUCIFER #65 (MR) $2.75
JUN050379 MANHUNTER #13 $2.50
JUN050427 MAXX BOOK FIVE TP (MR) $19.99
JUN050397 POWERPUFF GIRLS #65 $2.25
JUN050384 SEVEN SOLDIERS KLARION THE WITCH BOY #3 (OF 4) $2.99
JUN050449 SWAMP THING BOOK 2 LOVE IN VAIN TP (MR) $14.99
JUN050433 TERRA OBSCURA VOL 2 TP $14.99
JUN050437 TOP TEN BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT #1 (OF 5) $2.99

IMAGE

JUN051773 BONE REST #2 (MR) $2.95
MAY05157 SMALL GODS #10 $2.95
MAY05159 TOMB RAIDER WITCHBLADE MAGDALENA VAMPIRELLA ONE SHOT $2.99

MARVEL

MAY05175 ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #7 $2.99
JUN052041 CABLE DEADPOOL #18 $2.99
JUN052020 DEFENDERS #2 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN052074 GHOST RIDER #1 POSTER $5.95
MAY05178 LIVEWIRES #6 (OF 6) $2.99
JUN052028 MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #3 $2.50
JUN052006 MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 #21 $2.99
JUN052040 MARVEL MILESTONES CAPTAIN BRITAIN PSYLOCKE GOLDEN AGE SUB $3.99
MAY05179 MARVEL TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #2 $3.99
JUN051983 MUTOPIA X #2 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN051980 NEW THUNDERBOLTS #11 $2.99
JUN052032 NEW X-MEN HELLIONS #4 (OF 4) $2.99
JUN052060 POWER PACK DIGEST TP $6.99
JUN051986 SPIDER-MAN HOUSE OF M #3 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN052067 STORMBREAKER SAGA OF BETA RAY BILL TP $16.99
JUN051989 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 $3.99
JUN051993 ULTIMATE X-MEN #62 $2.50
JUN052031 WEAPON X DAYS OF FUTURE NOW #2 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN052061 WOLVERINE SOULTAKER TP $13.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

MAY05280 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #17 (A) $4.99
JUN052775 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #159 $2.39
JUN052774 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #71 $2.25
JUN052987 DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #331 $2.95
APR052826F DORK TOWER COLL VOL 1 DORK COVENANT TP NEW PTG $15.99
MAY05263 ELVIRA #147 $2.50
JUN053310 FIREFIGHTER DAIGO OF FIRE COMPANY M VOL 12 TP $9.95
JUN053328 FROM FAR AWAY VOL 6 GN $9.99
JUN052918 GI JOE AMERICAS ELITE #2 $2.95
MAY05242 HUMOR CAN BE FUNNY TP (RES) (MR) $11.95
MAY05293 HUNGER #3 (MR) $2.99
JUN053318 INU YASHA VOL 23 TP $8.95
JUN052778 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #115 $3.59
JUN053320 MAR VOL 3 GN $7.99
JUN052989 MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS #280 $2.95
MAY05244 NEXT EXIT #5 $2.95
JUN053156 OF BITTER SOULS #1 $2.99
JUN052710 PIRATE CLUB #7 $2.95
JUN053332 PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH VOL 12 TP $9.99
JUN053333 RED RIVER VOL 8 GN $9.99
JUN052711 REX LIBRIS #1 $2.95
JUN052779 SABRINA VOL 2 #69 $2.25
JUN052924 TWILIGHT OF THE DARK MASTER GN VOL 1 (MR) $12.95
JUN053334 W JULIET VOL 6 GN $9.99

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