Welcome to The Forecast. Every Monday, Ninth Art's hand-picked team of crack comic pundits offer a rundown of some of the best, worst and most noteworthy books on the shelves of your local comic shop.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: THE EXTERMINATORS

DC's 'Mature Readers' imprint Vertigo appears to be branching out lately. THE EXTERMINATORS marks its fourth new monthly ongoing series in as many months, and AMERICAN VIRGIN and JACK OF FABLES still lie in the future.

This is a good thing; for all the quality work the line puts out, it's been a while since it's successfully launched an ongoing series (Y: THE LAST MAN and FABLES were the last ones, and they're nearly four years old). More importantly, Vertigo is trying out different genres instead of limiting itself to fantasy and horror. The best Vertigo series have been the ones that stood out from what came before - and THE EXTERMINATORS looks like it could follow in the footsteps of promising newcomers like LOVELESS, DMZ and TESTAMENT.

Described as "SIX FEET UNDER with cockroaches", THE EXTERMINATORS chronicles the misadventures of Henry James, the newest in a group of Los Angeles pest controllers. Henry acts as our guide in a strange land of pesticides and racoon-catches, though the press materials indicate that he's about to find himself on the strangest trip an exterminator has taken since NAKED LUNCH.

Writer Simon Oliver is a newcomer, but there's an already-proven talent on art: Tony Moore, whose gritty, pulptastic pencils also adorn FEAR AGENT over at Image. Add to that the gloriously creepy covers by Phillip Bond, and you have a book loaded with potential. Here's hoping that potential is realised. [Zack Smith]

GUMSHOE SHUFFLE

Peter Snejbjerg has carved out a nice little niche for himself over the last ten years or so. A versatile character artist, Snejbjerg has plied his trade on such venerable titles as STARMAN, PREACHER, and BOOKS OF MAGIC. Snejbjerg's art utilises heavy blacks and strong, expressive characters - a combination that makes him ideal for noirish detective stories like this week's MARLENE.

Originally published in Danish with the title 'Mareridt', or 'Nightmare', MARLENE is a dark tale of obsession and horror focusing on one woman and the (dead) men who love her. Into this mess strides Detective Michael Joergensen, whose own growing obsession with the woman looks set to lead him to disaster.

MARLENE is Snejbjerg's first graphic novel to be translated into English (published, in this instance, by Slave Labor Graphics), and going by these preview pages, one hopes that it is not the last. Detective stories don't enjoy the same popularity in comics that they do in other media, but between this, FELL, DESOLATION JONES, and IDW's CSI line, thrill-o-philes everywhere should be able to find a comic to suit them. [Matthew Craig]

SHAUN'S SHOW

In the days before file sharing opened a whole universe of free films, TV shows and smut, a chap might have to wait months, even years to see a film in his own home that he had first enjoyed at the cinema. Before DVDs, before we had a VCR in every room, if you wanted to relive the giddy thrills of THE LAST STARFIGHTER or KRULL, you would have to go out and buy the comic book adaptation (or possibly the novel, but who reads books anymore?).

Most film-to-comic adaptations are faithful to the original screenplay, for better or worse. And it used to be the case that the artist would try hard - more often than not, too hard - to make the characters resemble their movie counterparts. At best, such comics are a neat little diversion; at worst, they are a slapdash, shameless attempt to bilk money out of the completist. Most adaptations lie somewhere in between, but a few manage to rise above the rest.

2004's "zom rom com" SHAUN OF THE DEAD was a surprise to everyone who hadn't already enjoyed the cult sitcom SPACED. Both SPACED and SHAUN were heavily dosed with nerd-friendly references, so it's not entirely surprising that SHAUN should make the jump to comics. Indeed, director Edgar Wright's directorial slate includes a possible adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's SCOTT PILGRIM.

The comic book adaptation of SHAUN OF THE DEAD is collected in an IDW trade paperback that hits American stores this week (UK stores have been selling the Titan Books edition for some time). Written by Chris Ryall, the book expands on the screen story by restoring elements of the script that were cut from the theatrical version, creating a four-colour 'director's cut' of the movie. The art, by Zach Howard, manages to capture the spirit of the actors (click here for samples) without aiming for the sort of slavish photo realism that robs many such comics of their life.

There are really only two kinds of comics in the world: good ones and bad ones. IDW's SHAUN OF THE DEAD aims squarely for the former category by remembering that it's supposed to be a comic first and a marketing opportunity second. [Matthew Craig]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR JANUARY 5th 2006:

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

DARK HORSE

OCT050023 13TH SON WORSE THING WAITING #3 (OF 4) $2.99
OCT050016 AEON FLUX #4 (OF 4) $2.99

DC COMICS

NOV050232 BATMAN AND THE MONSTER MEN #3 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV050253 BLOOD OF THE DEMON #11 $2.50
NOV050227 DETECTIVE COMICS #815 $2.50
NOV050320 EXTERMINATORS #1 (MR) $2.99
NOV050236 GOTHAM CENTRAL #39 $2.50
NOV050270 HARD TIME SEASON TWO #2 $2.50
NOV050325 HELLBLAZER STARING AT THE WALL TP (MR) $14.99
NOV050277 JONAH HEX #3 $2.99
NOV050293 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #17 $2.25
NOV050297 LOONEY TUNES #134 $2.25
NOV050282 SEVEN SOLDIERS FRANKENSTEIN #2 (OF 4) $2.99
NOV050249 SUPERMAN SACRIFICE TP $14.99
SEP050224D SUPERMAN SHAZAM FIRST THUNDER #3 (OF 4) $3.50
NOV050331 SWAMP THING #23 (MR) $2.99
NOV050313 TEAM ZERO #2 (OF 6) $2.99

IMAGE

NOV051734 BONE REST #7 (MR) $2.99
NOV051783 CITY OF HEROES #9 $2.99
NOV051782 DOWN #3 (OF 4) $2.99
OCT051736 GODLAND #6 $2.99
SEP051680D KABUKI VOL 5 METAMORPHOSIS TP (NEW PRTG) $24.99
NOV051712 RUNES OF RAGNAN #2 (OF 4) $3.50
AUG051642 SPAWN COLLECTION VOL 1 LTD ED HC $59.95
OCT051763 WITCHBLADE #93 $2.99

MARVEL

OCT058106 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN SECOND PTG VARIANT #526 (PP #696) $2.50
NOV051984 ASTONISHING X-MEN SAGA #1 $3.99
NOV051959 DOC SAMSON #1 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV052037 ESSENTIAL OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE VOL 1 TP $16.99
AUG051916 IRON MAN #5 $2.99
NOV052031 MARVEL 1602 NEW WORLD TP $14.99
NOV051964 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #11 $2.50
NOV051968 MARVEL TEAM-UP #16 $2.99
NOV051967 MARVEL ZOMBIES #2 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV051990 MYTHOS X-MEN $3.99
NOV052020 NEW AVENGERS VOL 1 BREAKOUT TP $14.99
NOV051989 NEW EXCALIBUR #3 $2.99
NOV052003 PUNISHER #29 (MR) $2.99
NOV051983 SABLE & FORTUNE #1 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV051977 SENTINEL #3 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV051943 SPIDER-GIRL #94 $2.99
NOV051944 SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED #13 $2.99
NOV052005 SUPREME POWER NIGHTHAWK #5 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99
NOV052024 ULTIMATE ANNUALS VOL 1 TP $13.99
NOV052010 ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE #8 $3.99
NOV052011 ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #8 $3.99
DEC041807 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 10 CRY WOLF TP $8.99
OCT041803 WOLVERINE THE END TP $14.99
NOV051998 X-MEN COLOSSUS BLOODLINE #5 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV051996 X-MEN THE 198 FILES $3.99
NOV052001 X-MEN THE END MEN AND X-MEN #1 (OF 6) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

OCT053024 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #25 (A) $4.99
OCT052778 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #97 $2.25
OCT053356 BASTARD VOL 10 TP (MR) $9.99
OCT052782 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #139 $3.59
NOV052712 DEAD EYES OPEN #3 $2.95
OCT053372 FROM FAR AWAY VOL 8 GN $9.99
OCT053373 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 17 GN $9.95
OCT053363 INU YASHA VOL 24 TP $8.95
OCT053009 JANES WORLD VOL 4 TP $15.00
OCT053364 MAR VOL 5 GN $7.99
NOV052718 MARLENE #1 (MR) $3.95
OCT053000 MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES VOL 7 TP $7.95
OCT053375 PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH VOL 14 TP $9.99
OCT053365 PROJECT ARMS VOL 11 TP $9.99
OCT052933 PURGATORI (DDP) #3 (MR) $2.95
OCT053376 RED RIVER VOL 10 GN $9.99
SEP052825F SHYGIRL VOL 2 GN $13.99
SEP052767E SOULFIRE VOL 1 SLIPCASE ED HC $69.99
SEP052854F SOULSEARCHERS #75 $2.50
OCT053369 TOUGH VOL 5 GN (MR) $9.99
JUL053248E VIDEO GIRL AI VOL 13 TP $9.99
OCT053377 W JULIET VOL 8 GN $9.99

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.