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: I (HEART) MARVEL

It's that time of year again. Time for all of you (okay, us) who are currently unattached to seethe with burning rage at all the smug, outlandish and just plain desperate overtures of affection that accompany Valentine's Day. Yes, there's nothing like Valentine's Day to make all the idiots who usually take their significant others for granted empty their wallets like it's going out of fashion. And finally - finally - Marvel Comics has gotten in on the scam.

February is I (HEART) MARVEL month, a celebration of all the weird, wacky and just plain wanton ways in which one man/mutant/robot/woman can love another. From the relatively innocent love of Peter Parker for Mary Jane Watson to the heartbreaking question of how you can show someone you love them when you can't even say their name, no stone will be left unturned - except all the icky gay ones, obviously.

It's a step up from Marvel's last romantic escapade, which involved hiring Greg Horn to paint Elektra covers for people to masturbate over - no, really - but will it be any good?

This week's offering is three-fold: first, MY MUTANT HEART features X-Men mainstays Wolverine and Cannonball as they deal with the memory of lost love and rockstar girlfriends respectively, and asks the question on everybody's lips; does Doop "do the do," and if he do, how do he?

Second, there's MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX: BUT HE SAID HE LOVED ME, the first in a five-part series where classic romance comics by past masters John Buscema, Jack Kirby and Gene Colan are rescripted by the likes of Roger Langridge, Keith Giffen and Jimmy Palmiotti, with hilarious consequences. Fans of Jeanne Martinet's TRUER THAN TRUE ROMANCE may wish to wait for the trade.

Or they could just pick up MARVEL ROMANCE, which collects unadulterated stories by Stan Lee, Gray Morrow, and others, including the groovy "It Happened At Woodstock!" - presumably a tale of love on the lavatory line - and, for all you Hellstorm fanboys, a pre-Hellcat Patsy Walker story!

The talent assembled to tell these stories is pretty damn impressive, with established mainstream creators, self-publishers and manga superstars all telling some fairly unconventional stories. It should be a whole lot of fun, and the perfect way to round off a nerd=centric Valentine's Day (or the perfect thing to send you over the edge, I suppose).

But with all the mutants, synthezoids, aliens, wasters and wanderers on display in the Marvel Universe, it seems a shame that there isn't room for a single gay love story in the run - even in the openly mangabaiting MARVEL AI (due 15th Feb). With gay characters on the roster, and gay creators in the line-up, it seems like a rather obvious omission - and one that raises a number of uncomfortable questions. [Matthew Craig]

NEWCASTLE STATE OF MIND

It's got to the point now where I'd actually be disappointed if, upon visiting New York, I didn't immediately see a Fantastic Four/Spider-Man team-up happening right there in Times Square. I know it's not real, but then to most people, New York isn't really real. It's a quasi-fictional dreamscape where everything and anything is possible.

I've seen it rendered so many times in movies and on TV (KING OF NEW YORK, GANGS OF NEW YORK, SEX & THE CITY. I was forced to watch the last one) that I've mentally detached from it as a real location that I could actually visit. Comics only help to reinforce this bizarre mental state, with very nearly every Marvel comic ever set in New York, and now Seven Soldiers giving the DCU's version a boost. I'm sometimes glad that my hometown is so resolutely grounded and normal.

Until now! For now Dave Gibbons and John Higgins have chosen to set a superhero comic in the place I call home. Well, almost, as Gibbons is quick to point out that the locale for THUNDERBOLT JAXON #1 (DC WildStorm) is "a Northern town that could be Newcastle-Upon-Tyne", either to save himself and Higgins the bother of researching their chosen setting or to avoid having me from run down Northumberland Street at three in the morning wearing my girlfriend's nicest belt screaming "I'm Thor! I'm Thor!" Of course, it's not the first time Newcastle's shown up in comics, there was that fabled early arc of HELLBLAZER where Constantine had a nightmarish experience. Obviously Jamie Delano had done his research.

But anyway, enough about me (I can never get enough about me, but I'm realising that others are more quickly sated), Gibbons and Higgins' five-issue mini reinvigorating the IPC line's Thor's belt-empowered superhero is out this week.

John Higgins' artwork is always worth getting out of bed for. The last time I saw his work was with Garth Ennis in WAR STORIES and I'm just drooling at the thought. Gibbons seems to have found a quite natural niche for his work, with a very English story with some very Nordic roots. The near-dead English super-hero market (Paul Grist! We love you!) was long due a revamp, and it's lucky for all of us that the talented Englanders working in America haven't forgotten. Whether this will be a sales success is another matter, but I doubt Alan Moore and friends are that fussed when they're having this much fun. [John Fellows]

GOTHAM PD BLUE

If Alan Moore's TOP TEN was HILL STREET BLUES with superheroes and POWERS is NYPD BLUE, then GOTHAM CENTRAL was surely the HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET of funnybooks. Taking a premise that was at once both silly and brilliant - how ordinary police dealt with costumed criminals - it was a dark, often heartbreaking metaphor for the personal toll taken by dealing with violent crime.

Batman was only an occasional presence in the stories, but one strongly felt, and every case had a way of tying back to his list of foes. From the Penguin to the Mad Hatter to a horrifying encounter with the Joker, writers Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker found unexpected ways to weave the super into the everyday. It wasn't merely a gimmick, though - no one got away clean, from the cop who was shattered by Mr Freeze in the first storyline, to Rene Montoya, who was outed by Two-Face, to Harvey Bullock, whose grudge against the Penguin cost him his last chance at redemption.

As the series closes, good cop and family man Crispus Allen has suffered a terrible encounter with Jimmy Corrigan, the corrupt medical examiner he was determined to put away, and his partner, Montoya, may be about to cross the line. That Allen's subsequent fate has been shown in the already-published INFINITE CRISIS #4 only serves as an ironic coda to a series that emphasized the difference between those in costumes and those in uniforms.

Though the series never got the sales it deserved, and was far behind in trade paperback collections, credit goes to DC for keeping it around as long as it did, and to the creators for knowing when to fold 'em. While the cops of the title often had to deal with corruption and compromise in getting the job done, this was a book that never held back, and one of the best DC titles of the last five years. [Zack Smith]

SCI-FI NOW AND THEN

SERENITY (the comic) is the prequel to SERENITY (the movie), which was the big screen continuation of the cancelled FIREFLY (the TV show). The purpose of the three issue miniseries, collected last week by Dark Horse, is to tie up a major loose end of the TV show. Writers Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews do this in a nice cyclical way, by bringing in an element from the pilot episode to help with the thread wrangling.

Unfortunately it all falls a bit flat for long-time fans. The threats are dealt with all a bit too easily, especially when the "big bads" (God, how I hate that term) that dogged our intrepid space heroes throughout the TV show are dismissed as mere "independent contractors". Still, the trademark Whedon dialogue is there, most loose ends are tied up, and it explains where the characters are and why when SERENITY (the film) starts. Kudos to Dark Horse for allowing the FIREFLY/SERENITY story to continue (the trade is subtitled "Those Left Behind", and has a big number one on the spine).

Of course, Dark Horse has always provided stories for movie franchises that go beyond what we see on the silver screen, STAR WARS being the obvious example. When they created the idea of TALES OF THE JEDI over ten years ago, a completely new storyline set 4000 years before Luke Skywalker, I don't think they had any idea that the basic premise would spin off into what's probably the best STAR WARS game ever, KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC (which was, confusingly, the name of the first TALES collection).

So it makes perfect sense that there's now a comic spinning out of the computer game that spun out of the comic. The comic is set about eight years before the first game, and follows the adventure of Jedi 'intern' Zayne. He's not a very good Jedi, and is trying to prove himself to his Master. The first issue introduces all of the main players, and the worlds of that era (as well as some tasty links to the games). If you like the game, or if you're a bit jaded after the decline of the movies, then give the comic a look. [Ben Wooller]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR FEBRUARY 1st 2006:

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

DARK HORSE

NOV050016D CONAN & THE DEMONS OF KHITAI #4 (OF 4) $2.99
DEC050013D HELLBOY MAKOMA #1 (OF 2) $2.99

DC COMICS

NOV050317D ABC A-Z TERRA OBSCURA AND SPLASH BRANNIGAN $3.99
DEC050250D AQUAMAN #39 $2.50
DEC050230D BATMAN AND THE MONSTER MEN #4 (OF 6) $2.99
DEC050251D BLOOD OF THE DEMON #12 $2.50
NOV050301D CIPHER VOL 2 $9.99
FEB050335 CITY OF TOMORROW #1 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99
DEC050225D DETECTIVE COMICS #816 $2.50
DEC050328D EXTERMINATORS #2 (MR) $2.99
DEC050303D FROM EROICA WITH LOVE VOL 6 $9.99
DEC050233D GOTHAM CENTRAL #40 $2.50
DEC050258D GREEN ARROW MOVING TARGETS TP $17.99
DEC050259D HARD TIME SEASON TWO #3 $2.50
DEC050267D JSA CLASSIFIED #8 $2.50
DEC050287D JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #18 $2.25
NOV050278D LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #14 $2.99
DEC050291D LOONEY TUNES #135 $2.25
NOV050329D LUCIFER VOL 9 CRUX TP $14.99
DEC050306D MUSASHI #9 VOL 6 $9.99
DEC050273D OUTSIDERS #33 $2.50
DEC050245D RANN THANAGAR WAR INFINITE CRISIS SPECIAL $4.99
DEC050276D SEVEN SOLDIERS BULLETEER #3 (OF 4) $2.99
DEC050324D TEAM ZERO #3 (OF 6) $2.99
OCT058228 TENJHO TENGE VOL 1 $9.99
JUN050407 TESTAROTHO VOL 1 (MR) $9.99
DEC050326D THUNDERBOLT JAXON #1 (OF 5) $2.99
DEC050308D TOWER OF THE FUTURE VOL 2 $9.99
DEC050299D WILL EISNER COMPANION SC $12.99
DEC050338D Y THE LAST MAN #42 (MR) $2.99

IMAGE

AUG051649D ARTHUR SUYDAM POSTER BOOK $38.99
DEC051765D BONE REST #8 (MR) $2.99
DEC051760D DAWN VOL 2 RETURN OF GODDESS NEW ED TP $13.99
NOV051748D INTIMIDATORS #2 (MR) $3.50
AUG051685D INVINCIBLE #28 $2.99
OCT051768 NECROMANCER #4 $2.99
OCT051745 PVP #22 $2.99
AUG051642D SPAWN COLLECTION VOL 1 LTD ED HC $59.95

MARVEL

SEP051993 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL 10 NEW AVENGERS TP $14.99
DEC052082D AVENGERS GALACTIC STORM VOL 1 TP $29.99
DEC051996D CAPTAIN AMERICA #14 $2.99
DEC051999D DOC SAMSON #2 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV051960D FANTASTIC FOUR #534 $2.99
NOV051961D FANTASTIC FOUR IRON MAN BIG IN JAPAN #4 (OF 4) $3.50
DEC051990D FURY PEACEMAKER #1 (OF 6) $3.50
DEC052073D HOUSE OF M INCREDIBLE HULK TP $13.99
DEC052071D HOUSE OF M TP $24.99
DEC052006D I HEART MARVEL MY MUTANT HEART $2.99
DEC052008D MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #12 $2.50
DEC052021D MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX BUT HE SAID HE LOVED ME #1 (OF 5) $2.99
DEC052081D MARVEL ROMANCE TP $19.99
DEC052019D MARVEL TEAM-UP #17 $2.99
DEC052041D NEW EXCALIBUR #4 $2.99
SEP051979 POWERS #16 (MR) $2.95
DEC052057D PUNISHER #30 (MR) $2.99
DEC052029D SABLE & FORTUNE #2 (OF 4) $2.99
DEC051991D SAGA OF SQUADRON SUPREME $3.99
DEC052031D SENTINEL #4 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV051979D SENTRY #5 (OF 8) $2.99
DEC051979D SPIDER-GIRL #95 $2.99
SEP051976 SUPREME POWER HYPERION #3 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99
DEC052058D SUPREME POWER NIGHTHAWK #6 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99
DEC052014D ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE #9 $3.99
DEC052012D ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #9 $3.99
DEC052046D UNCANNY X-MEN #469 $2.50
DEC052035D UNDERWORLD #1 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV052000D X-FACTOR #3 $2.99
NOV058124D X-FACTOR 2ND PTG VAR #2 $2.99
OCT052028 X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG TP $14.99
DEC052054D X-MEN THE END MEN AND X-MEN #2 (OF 6) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

NOV052976F A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #27 (A) $4.99
OCT053194 ADVENT RISING ROCK THE PLANET #3 $2.25
AUG053069F ALEX TOTH READER VOL 2 TP (RES) $25.00
AUG053270E ALL NEW TENCHI MUYO VOL 7 TP $8.95
NOV053110E ATHENA VOLTAIRE FLIGHT OF THE FALCON #1 $2.99
JUL053055E BEOWULF #6 $2.99
NOV052760E BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #163 $2.39
NOV052891E BLACK HARVEST #3 (OF 6) $3.25
OCT053103 BUCKAROO BANZAI PREVIEW $0.50
NOV052952E DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES VOL 16 TP $7.95
NOV052844F ELVIRA #153 $2.50
AUG053243F EXALTED #1 REG ED $3.49
OCT053178 FLYING FRIAR #1 $4.95
MAY052795H FOGELS UNDERGROUND COMIX PRICE GUIDE (A) $29.95
NOV052822E FUTURAMA COMICS #23 $2.99
NOV052899E GI JOE SNAKE-EYES DECLASSIFIED #6 (OF 6) $2.95
SEP053089 HELIOS IN WITH THE NEW #2 (OF 4) $2.99
OCT053181 HUNGER #6 (MR) $2.99
NOV052765E JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #119 $3.59
NOV052968F LIVING WITH ZOMBIES #5 (MR) $2.95
OCT052946 NODWICK #31 $2.99
DEC052776 PIRATE CLUB #9 $2.95
NOV052890E PURGATORI (DDP) #4 (MR) $2.95
DEC052778 REX LIBRIS #3 $2.95
NOV052766E SABRINA VOL 2 #73 $2.25
NOV052823E SIMPSONS CLASSICS #7 $3.99
OCT052856 SIMPSONS SUPER SPECTACULAR #2 $2.99
SEP052767 SOULFIRE VOL 1 SLIPCASE ED HC $69.99
OCT058234 STREET FIGHTER II #1 2ND PTG (PP #697) $3.95

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.