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: KANE: RABBIT HUNT

There is a certain segment of the comics audience that regards anything describable as a "genre piece" as suspect. And not without some cause, granted. But no prejudice should keep us from delighting in a well-made thing. And one of the accomplishments of Paul Grist's KANE (Image) is to show how elegantly crafted a genre piece can, and ought, to be.

At first blush, KANE looks easy to peg: cops-and-robbers genre; precinct-house drama division. But Grist doesn't hew to the conventions - he just uses them as a structure to play on and around. In the second volume, RABBIT HUNT, Grist brings back a comedy relief character named Mr Floppsie Whoppsie, a down-and-out and slightly cracked entertainer who seems to live in his bunny suit, and puts him at the centre of the action.

Mr F-W is being hunted by somebody even less stable than himself - Fwankie, a hulking mob thug in an old beat-up trenchcoat. He doesn't talk much, mostly to conceal his lisp, but he carries on a running internal monologue, composed entirely of hard-boiled clichés, which instantly fingers him as a spot-on send-up of Marv from Frank Miller's SIN CITY. Throw in a luckless bank teller, a gung-ho exterminator at police headquarters, and an overzealous FBI agent, and what you'd expect to have is a farce - but the book is so deftly choreographed that, despite all the buffoonery, the book's dramatic core remains intact.

Only a master cartoonist could pull off a trick like that, and Grist is a master. He boasts a pared-down, easily-accessible drawing style; a flair for stark black-and-white panel compositions that rivals grand master Alex Toth's; and a talent for storytelling that's often innovative without being showy. His work is never anything less than a pure pleasure.

KANE was originally self-published by Grist, but it was recently picked up by Image, which is reissuing all the collections. There are two more to go after RABBIT HUNT, and once those are out, Grist should have a new KANE trade paperback ready to go. Buy this book and help hasten the day. [Chris Ekman]

THE MONDAY IT?S OK TO LIKE

The first in a four-part mini-series, BLUE MONDAY: PAINTED MOON #1 (Oni Press) is the latest instalment of Chynna Clugston-Major's periodically-ongoing story of adolescents misbehaving. Clugston-Major is fresh from having completed her first major non-BLUE MONDAY solo project, SCOOTER GIRL (also from Oni Press), and so should be on something of a creative high at the moment. It sounds like a potential cracker, too; usually in this title, it's the mischievious male characters that are the badly-behaved ones, but this time round, it's central character Bleu Finnegan that is feeling naughty thanks to the inexorable march of teenage hormonal development.

Clugston-Major's occidental Manga style is flexible enough to veer from voluptuous (and sometimes arguably gratuitous) underwear cheesecake all the way to manic super-deformed hyperactivity, so I'm relishing the prospect of a book that will hopefully be as humorous as it is riotous. As BLUE MONDAY is invariably great fun, it's nice to see it in a slightly larger dose than the past couple of releases, which have been one-shots leaving the reader craving more. Four parts should be just enough to satisfy that hunger. [Lindsay Duff]

GOTHAM BEAT

So you watched HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, right? You caught NYPD BLUE, but that was some major commercial shit which would upset your street cred, so you kept it on the quiet. You have racks of Chandler and McDonald and Ellroy and Hammett on your shelves, all well-thumbed. You've argued that Garner's performance in ROCKFORD FILES makes a far bigger imprint on the crime genre than his turn as Philip Marlowe in MARLOWE. You've read every factual book ever written on the Mafia. But the one thing you haven't done is buy GOTHAM CENTRAL, because it's got Batman in it.

  Or; you love super-heroes. You cried when Superman lay dying in Lois' arms at the end of DEATH OF SUPERMAN. You disliked the idea of Marvel's revamping of its superhero universe with the Ultimate line, but enjoyed Bendis' revamp of SPIDER-MAN. You know the name of every single member of the LEGION OF SUPERHEROES and can debate who would win in a fight until you pass out. You have both the regular and special edition DVDs of every super-hero movie ever made, even that dodgy Video CD copy of Corman's FANTASTIC FOUR (which you secretly enjoy). But the one thing you haven't done is buy GOTHAM CENTRAL, because it's about regular people.

  Starting a new story arc by Ed Brubaker (SLEEPER) and featuring the welcome return of Michael Lark (SCENE OF THE CRIME), this latest issue is begging you to purchase it. The collection of the first arc, IN THE LINE OF DUTY, has just hit shops, so you can even jump in at the start. Whilst it's far from perfect ? Lark's dirty inking often makes it difficult to spot which of the multifarious cast members is speaking ? and is often hindered rather than helped by being slap-bang in the middle of DC's super-hero universe, GOTHAM CENTRAL is an excellent title. Not only that, it's part of the continuing move by the mainstream to bifurcate into other genres, while still using super-heroes as buoyancy. But if sales continue at such a low level, it may not last much longer. With the recent spontaneous combustion of WILDCATS and STORMWATCH, nothing is sacred anymore. So why not try out something a little different? Both of you. [John Fellows]

BISHOP MOVES

In almost one fell swoop, Marvel has remedied its weakness in the police procedural/detective genre by acquiring Bendis' POWERS series and launching DISTRICT X. Personally, I'm over Bendis (too much dialogue, too little plot), but DISTRICT X intrigues me. It seems to be the most interesting thing to have been done with the X-Men concept since, well, since Grant Morrison, who came up with the idea of ?Mutant Town? during the ?Riot at Xavier's? arc in NEW X-MEN. In short, DISTRICT X makes X-Men future-cop-in-residence Bishop into a New York detective, with non mutant partners, in charge of keeping law and order in the mutant ghettoes of New York's Lower East Side.

British writer David Hine is a newcomer to Marvel, having landed the DISTRICT X job off the back of his graphic novel STRANGE EMBRACE - his first major published comics work as a writer rather than an illustrator. Penciller David Yardin is also a relative newcomer, with only a copy of SILVER SURFER, a WONDER WOMAN SECRET FILES and a few Image comics under his belt. It's really nice to see Marvel bringing in new talent, rather than having Brian Bendis and/or Chuck Austen write everything, and both Hine and Yardin sound like they have interesting, fresh ideas for the series.

At first glance it appears that the series will be grittier than POWERS (and hopefully with less monkey-on-monkey action) and less tied up in continuity than GOTHAM CENTRAL. It is a bit of a shame Hine (or Marvel's editorial board) decided to set the series in New York, possibly the most clichéd location for both the superhero and the detective genre. A lead-in story to DISTRICT X, starring Bishop, appears in X-MEN UNLIMITED #2. [Alex de Campi]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR MAY 12th 2004:

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

DARK HORSE

MAR040057D BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #89 (MR) $2.99
FEB040041 CANNON GOD EXAXXION STAGE 3 TP (MR) $15.95
MAR040033D FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND #3 $2.99
FEB040042 SUPER MANGA BLAST #42 (MR) $5.99
JAN040037 ULTRAMAN TIGA #8 (Of 10) $3.99

DC COMICS

MAR040291D ACTION COMICS #815 $2.50
MAR040297D AQUAMAN #18 $2.50
MAR040273D BATMAN #627 $2.25
MAR040281D BATMAN CITY OF LIGHT #8 (Of 8) $2.95
MAR040275D BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #179 $2.50
MAR040357D BITE CLUB #2 (Of 6) (MR) $2.95
MAR040360D FABLES #25 (MR) $2.50
MAR040305D FALLEN ANGEL #11 (MR) $2.95
MAR040287D GOTHAM CENTRAL #19 $2.50
MAR040310D GREEN ARROW #38 $2.50
MAR040339D GREGORY TREASURY VOL 2 TP (MR) $9.95
MAR040316D HERO #16 $2.50
MAR040317D JLA #98 $2.25
MAR040323D JSA #61 $2.50
MAR040328D MONOLITH #4 $2.95
MAR040288D NIGHTWING #93 $2.25
MAR040346D SAMURAI JACK SPECIAL #1 NEW PTG $3.95
MAR040347D SCOOBY DOO #84 $2.25
MAR040296D SMALLVILLE #8 $3.95
FEB040285 SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL 13 HC $49.95
MAR040351D STORMWATCH TEAM ACHILLES #22 (MR) $2.95
FEB040243 SUPERMAN BATMAN PUBLIC ENEMIES HC $19.95
MAR040356D TERRA OBSCURA TP $14.95
MAR040338D TOUCH #2 $2.50
OCT030290 TWO STEP #3 (Of 3) (MR) $2.95

IMAGE

JAN041291 DAVID & GOLIATH #3 $2.95
MAR041393D FEATHER #5 (OF 5) $5.95
FEB041323 KANE VOL 2 RABBIT HUNT TP $12.95
DEC031335D SAVAGE DRAGON VOL 10 ENDGAME TP $15.95

MARVEL

MAR041686D AVENGERS #82 $2.25
MAR041654D DISTRICT X #1 $2.99
MAR041662D EMMA FROST #11 $2.99
MAR041682D INCREDIBLE HULK #72 $2.25
MAR041697D IRON MAN #81 $2.99
MAR041674D MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #2 $2.99
MAR041659D MYSTIQUE #14 $2.99
MAR041683D PULSE #3 $2.99
MAR041690D SHE HULK #3 $2.99
MAR041673D SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #14 $2.25
MAR041693D THOR SON OF ASGARD #4 (Of 6) $2.99
MAR041664D ULTIMATE X-MEN #45 $2.25
MAR041670D VENOM #14 $2.99
MAR041718D VENOM VOL 1 SHIVER TP $13.99
MAR041657D WEAPON X #23 $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

MAR042864E ANIMERICA EXTRA JUNE 2004 VOL 7 #6 $4.99
MAR042868E BASARA VOL 6 TP $9.95
JAN042123 BETTY & VERONICA #200 $2.19
FEB042118 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #124 $3.59
MAR042252E BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #66 $2.19
FEB042551 BLUE MONDAY PAINTED MOON #1 (Of 4) (MR) $2.99
FEB042288 HEDGE KNIGHT ANDERS FINER CVR #6 (Of 6) $5.95
FEB042287 HEDGE KNIGHT MIKE S MILLER CVR #6 (Of 6) $2.95
FEB042075 HSU AND CHAN VOL 1 TP $13.95
MAR042406E JUST A GIRL BOOK 2 GN (Of 2) $9.99
JAN042508F METAL HURLANT #11 (MR) $3.95
MAR042882E NEON GENESIS EVANGELION VOL 3 TP 2ND ED $9.95
MAR042407E RECORD OF LODOSS WAR GREY WITCH BOOK 1 GN NEW PTG $9.99
FEB042502F ROBIN HOOD VOL 1 TP $15.95
FEB042123 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #136 $2.19
FEB042295J STREET FIGHTER JO CHEN POWER FOIL CVR C #7 PI
FEB042084I VAMPI VICIOUS CIRCLE #1 LTD ASHCAN $5.95
MAR042477E VOLTRON VOL 2 #5 $2.95
FEB042296 WAR STONE ABADDON INVADES $4.95
MAR042889E WEDDING PEACH VOL 6 TP $9.95

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.