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: SOLO

Issue #6 of DC's showcase anthology SOLO hits stores this week, and I'm champing at the bit to read it. The series has been everything you might want from such an anthology: a sumptuous melange of DC miscellania, moving autobiography, and Batman by the shed load.

(The emphasis on Batman in this series - driven, perhaps, by a desire to include a crowd-pleasing strip, as much as by any affection that the artists have for the character - will no doubt result in a new trade paperback a year or two down the line.)

This month's SOLO marks a departure from previous issues. Where the first five books featured artists who are probably well known to a wide cross-section of the readership, #6 features the work of European comics creator Jordi Bernet - an artist who, one Batman back-up strip aside, is new to... well, me, at least. Editor Mark Chiarello's decision to bring in artists from the entire comics spectrum, rather than relying solely on the obvious big-sellers, is going to make for some genuinely novel reading experiences.

Bernet's art - what I've been able to find of it - is very much in the Wood/Toth/Kubert/Moebius/Lark mode. His characters are expressive without being cartoony, the men are 'distinguished' (with crow's feet and wrinkles gouging a lifetime of experience onto every face) and the women look like they stepped out of a Humphrey Bogart movie.

In fact, judging by the (rather adult) content of this page, Bernet is something of a master of drawing beautiful women. This makes a refreshing change to the antiseptic RealDoll bimboism that passes (by a country mile) for sexy in modern American comics. Naturally, Bernet makes good use of this bowstring: the cover aside, one of his stories features sultry Bat-foe Poison Ivy. SOLO #6 sees Bernet teamed with a group of writers that includes Chuck Dixon, Brian Azzarello and John Arcudi. One suspects that this book won't be full of heart-wrenching tales of broken toys or lost loves. And while it probably won't drive masses of readers to plunder Bernet's back catalogue (most of which hasn't been translated into English), it will be a fantastic showcase for a largely unsung (at least in our earshot) master.

The next issue will feature Mike Allred (MADMAN). With any luck, Bernet won't be the last 'foreign' creator to get the DC star treatment. [Matthew Craig]

THE VISION THING

Jamie Delano's 2020 VISIONS broke a lot of ground when it came to science fiction comics and artists, but as usual, being a Jamie Delano book, no one paid any attention. This isn't said in spite, more in a shaking-of-the-head, "When will people learn?" sense.

2020 VISIONS pre-empted Warren Ellis's and Darick Robertson's messy politico-future series TRANSMETROPOLITAN by about a year, and it was actually a lot more focused. The twelve issue miniseries was broken into four thematically linked stories, described by Delano as, "about fear, murder, sex, hatred and love ... the things that people do ... because, however radically our technologies and cultures change, people still make the best stories".

Each story is illustrated by a different artist, most notably Frank Quitely, in his second big DC art chore (the first being the infamous FLEX MENTALLO). He was followed by Warren Pleece (DEADENDERS), James Romberger (WW3) and Steve Pugh (ANIMAL MAN).

DC didn't seem to treat this series well, and that seems to be the norm for most of Delano's work with them. That they named one of the TRANSMETROPOLITAN trades after the first story arc of 2020 VISIONS (ok, it was an Iggy Pop song first), 'Lust for Life', shows that they were never going to collect it. Instead, Cyberosia took up the challenge, and after putting out a hardcover edition, they've now co-produced this paperback edition, alongside new kid on the block Speakeasy.

At nearly 300 pages, with an intro by post-cyberpunk author Richard Kadrey and an afterword by Delano, which should make for interesting reading, it's well worth checking out. [Ben Wooller]

INEXPLICABLY YOURS

WHA... HUH? Not a parody of PJ Harvey's last album, but a Marvel Comic parodying an old Marvel Comics publication format to parody DC Comics through Marvel Comics characters. Hey you in the cheap seats! Pay attention! There'll be a test!

You may have missed WHA... HUH? in Marvel's great round-up of WHAT IF...? books that came out earlier in the year. You missed it because it's been delayed for as yet and probably forever-to-remain unexplained 'publication problems'. Stories of legal problems regarding some pointed piss-takes of Marvel's arch-rival have proven unfounded. However, preview pages would seem to suggest that if this is the stuff that made it past the lawyers, I'm glad they removed the 'Mark Millar bitch-slaps Dan DiDio to death with RED SON trades' pin-up. Pointed jabs at IDENTITY CRISIS and the aborted DAREDEVIL/BATMAN series show a level of maturity usually found scrawled on toilet walls at high schools.

Written by an all-star cast of Brian Bendis, Mark Millar, Garth Ennis and some other people who aren't so funny, these are gags so embedded in nerd hivemind that you're going to need to pick up an UNDERSTANDING NERDS trade paperback just to decipher it. The one shining light of the whole 48-page jamboree is Jim Mahfood's skatepunk graffiti cartoonery. If you're not reading STUPID COMICS over at Image, you're making a terrible mistake, it will reward you with kudos and respect as well as a shiny head of hair and enough chutzpah to light up New Jersey for a week. It's the dogs'. [John Fellows]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR AUGUST 31st 2005:

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

DARK HORSE

JUN050014 BPRD THE BLACK FLAME #1 (OF 6) $2.99
JUN050013 REVELATIONS #1 (OF 6) $2.99
MAY05001 SERENITY CASSADAY CVR #1 (OF 3) (NEW PRTG) $2.99
MAY05001 SERENITY HITCH CVR #1 (OF 3) (NEW PRTG) $2.99
MAY05001 SERENITY J G JONES CVR #1 (OF 3) (NEW PRTG) $2.99
JUN050039 USAGI YOJIMBO #86 $2.99

DC COMICS

JUN050420 ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE #3 (OF 16) $2.99
JUN050331 BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #68 $2.50
JUN050338 CATWOMAN #46 $2.50
JUN050362 DOOM PATROL #15 $2.50
JUN050399 ELFQUEST THE GRAND QUEST VOL 10 TP $9.99
JUN050373 JLA CLASSIFIED #11 $2.99
JUN050442 LOSERS #27 (MR) $2.99
JUN050403 MAD ABOUT THE FIFTIES TP NEW EDITION $12.99
JUN050445 NEIL GAIMANS NEVERWHERE #3 (OF 9) (MR) $2.99
JUN050385 SEVEN SOLDIERS SHINING KNIGHT #4 (OF 4) $2.99
JUN050432 SILENT DRAGON #2 (OF 6) $2.99
JUN050386 SOLO #6 $4.99
JUN050394 TEEN TITANS GO #22 $2.25
JUN058253 TEEN TITANS GO VOL 1 TRUTH JUSTICE PIZZA TP NEW PTG $6.99
JUN050436 TOM STRONGS TERRIFIC TALES BOOK ONE TP $17.99

IMAGE

MAY05155 DAWN THREE TIERS #6 (OF 6) $2.99

MARVEL

JUN051995 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #523 $2.50
APR051926D ASTONISHING X-MEN #12 $2.99
JUN052025 CAPTAIN AMERICA #9 $2.99
JUN052002 DAREDEVIL FATHER #2 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN052071 ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL 6 TP $16.99
JUN058266 INCREDIBLE HULK LTD ED VARIANT #84 $2.99
JUN052010 MARVEL 1602 NEW WORLD #2 (OF 5) $3.50
JUN052046 MARVEL ADVENTURES FLIP MAGAZINE #3 $3.99
MAY05177 NEW AVENGERS #9 $2.50
FEB058379 NEW AVENGERS TRIMPE VARIANT #9 (PP #679) $2.50
JUN058267 NEW X-MEN LTD ED VARIANT #16 $2.99
JUN051994 OFFICIAL HANDBOOK ULTIMATE MARVEL UNIVERSE 2005 $3.99
APR051946D POWERS BENDIS COVER #12 (MR) $3.95
APR051947D POWERS OEMING VARIANT #12 (MR) $3.95
JUN058268 PULSE LTD ED VARIANT #10 $2.99
JUN052019 RUNAWAYS #7 $2.99
JUN058269 SPIDER-MAN HOUSE OF M LTD ED VARIANT #2 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN052070 STRANGE BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS TP $17.99
JUN052042 SUPREME POWER #18 (MR) $2.99
JUN052062 ULTIMATES 2 VOL 1 GODS AND MONSTERS TP $15.99
JUN052014 WHA HUH (RES) $3.99
JUN052039 X-MEN KITTY PRYDE SHADOW & FLAME #3 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN052035 X-MEN THE END HEROES AND MARTYRS #6 (OF 6) $2.99
MAY05178 YOUNG AVENGERS #6 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

JUN053149 2020 VISIONS TP $19.95
JUN053126 AMELIA RULES #14 (RES) $2.95
MAY05243 AUTUMN #4 $2.95
JUN052849 BART SIMPSON COMICS #25 $2.99
MAY05293 BEOWULF #4 $2.99
JUN052776 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #136 $3.59
JUN053110 BLACKPOOL #2 $2.95
JUN052919 FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF HOMELAND CVR A #3 (OF 3) $4.95
JUN052920 FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF HOMELAND CVR B #3 (OF 3) $8.95
JUN052918 GI JOE AMERICAS ELITE #2 $2.95
MAY05293 GRIMOIRE #5 $2.99
MAY05286 KHAN #1 $2.95
JUN052708 LITTLE SCROWLIE VOL 2 DAWN OF FASHION VICTIMS TP (MR) $12.95
JUL052656 LOST DOGS VOL 1 GN (MR) $13.00
JUN052990 MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES VOL 5 TP $7.95
SEP032578 NARUTO VOL 2 TP $7.95
JUL053227 RUROUNI KENSHIN VOL 3 TP (NOV032660) $7.95
JUN052659 SALAMANDER DREAM GN $15.00
NOV042423E SOULFIRE #5 $2.99
MAY05310 TUXEDO GIN VOL 13 TP $9.99
JUN052782 VERONICA #164 $2.25
JUN052988 WALT DISNEYS WORLD OF THE DRAGONLORDS GN $12.99

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.