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: TRIGGER

Science Fiction is at its best when it means something to us in the here and now. In fact, it's the basis of the entire genre, but that's seemingly been forgotten by a vast majority of its purveyors. It's become set dressing or an excuse. It's a change of scenery for every other generic action romp. It's a chance for the creator to show off his impossible inventions or display his laziness with research. It's very rare that we get some honest-to-god science fiction, allegories and all.

One of my favourites of recent time was Brian Wood's barnstorming graffiti-punk debut, CHANNEL ZERO. And now we get another mainstream work covering similar ground from Jason Hall (PISTOLWHIP) and John Watkiss (SANDMAN).

In a world governed by a consolidated corporate entity known as Ethicorp, the peace and safety the populous enjoys is maintained by the 'Triggers' - a high-tech unit of killers with the power to erase anything they deem bad. But "bad" is subjective, and where do you draw the line?

While it's dipped in the same archetypal grim future as BLADE RUNNER, TRIGGER (DC Vertigo) is brought to life by the chalky etchings of Watkiss (As seen in Vertigo's Preview). Watkiss is a British painter who's been quietly working away in Hollywood for the last few years - his work was used extensively in Disney's TARZAN - after working on several comics series for Vertigo. He's recently been providing evocatively retro covers for HUMAN TARGET, and his work here brings to mind Tommy Lee Edwards.

Jason Hall's recent BEWARE THE CREEPER was the ultimate in strange revamps of classic DC characters, and confused as many people as it entranced. Hall is still remembered best for his breakthrough work, PISTOLWHIP, a whimsical private eye story that managed to be both gritty and up-beat.

It's been a while since any Vertigo ongoing launch got me really excited and managed to follow through on that promise, but all the signs look good here. There's very little regular science-fiction work available at the moment, especially from creators as talented as these. Hopefully this should prove to a disenfranchised readership, tired of mindless superheroics, that science fiction can sell and be enjoyable. And more importantly to me, it can provide something more than the odd laser-gun and spaceship. [John Fellows]

HAWKING JIM'S WARES

SHADOWHAWK was the black sheep of the original Image line-up. Jim Valentino's art wasn't as flash as the big guns, and I remember the colours being flat compared to something like SPAWN. Yet SHADOWHAWK was the Batman of the Image Universe, a street-level vigilante meting out justice by breaking the spines of criminals and throwing around his snazzy-looking oversized shuriken. The first issue came with typical 90s gimmicks: not only was the cover silver-foil, but it also had one of the coupons so you could send away for IMAGE ZERO. Which I did. It's still boarded and bagged, sitting in a box somewhere.

I liked the idea of SHADOWHAWK, in my younger days, not realising, of course, that breaking backs is like gutting someone with three foot- long adamantium claws: it's not very heroic. And, sure, when the original Shadowhawk was unmasked as Paul Johnstone, a black guy, I just assumed Valentino was copying Spawn's big revelation, so it didn't really have an impact. (It even happened in the same way: indignant hero ripping off his mask to declare that, well, he wasn't like every other superhero in every other comic.)

Valentino then went on to give him AIDS. I'm not really sure what that was intended to do, to be honest. In a genre where men are basically gods, where flying is as natural as breathing, where the amazing is normal, perhaps it's meant to signify that we take a lot for granted. Maybe it was just for shock value.

I know that as a 13 year old, I didn't really care.

Anyway, having been replaced as Image head by Erik Larsen, Valentino has returned to Shadowhawk with, well, THE RETURN OF SHADOWHAWK, a one-shot reintroducing the concept. But the concept probably needs some ironing out. It's revealed here that there's a Shadowhawk legacy, much like in THE PHANTOM. Kurt Busiek came up with the concept, while Alan Moore came up with the origin of Shadowhawk... and you'd think it'd be more original, wouldn't you?

So, SHADOWHAWK is back. CYBERFORCE is next. Honest. [Ben Wooller]

CRISIS OVER!

The blockbusting mini-series IDENTITY CRISIS has received a mixed reaction from readers and retailers alike. There's no doubting the sales and publicity it has garnered for DC, but much of the publicity has questioned the validity of the story and the purpose it serves.

Myself, I would compare the experience of reading IDENTITY CRISIS to a nightmare where I'm seven years old and forced to watch Bambi's mum being shot by hunters. Repeatedly. There's something oddly disturbing about the cherubic artwork by Rags Morales and the way it portrays the nasty brutalisation of various characters that we've known and followed from an early age.

That's not to say that topics like murder, rape and brainwashing can never be discussed within the pages of a comic book, but there are better ways of handling them - and Brad Meltzer has given a master-class in how not to do it. Where he aimed for lofty artistic heights, he's plumbed the depths of vacant sensationalism. Where he earnestly sought accolades for thoughtful maturity, he's earned a first-class diploma in emotional pornography. All of which is a complicated way of saying that enthusiasm is no substitute for talent.

Beyond the controversy surrounding the violence, there's the matter of a promise that DC failed to keep. IDENTITY CRISIS was sold to us on the idea that it would break through to a wider audience, and like WATCHMEN nearly twenty years ago, it would prove to the world that comics weren't just for kids. Instead we got a story that was too claustrophobically self-referential to ever appeal to folks outside the circle of geekdom. Making comparisons to WATCHMEN are frankly embarrassing, and anyone who does so deserves a swift kick to the balls.

So why is this my pick of the week? Because, dear reader, it's the last issue, and I'm so happy that this sordid little chapter is now drawing to a close. Time to wake up from the nightmare and have a celebration - at least until the next time a major comics publisher decides to inflict a few more 'shocking revelations' upon their dwindling audience. [Bulent Yusuf]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR DECEMBER 15th 2004:

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

DARK HORSE

OCT040043 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #96 (MR) $2.99
AUG040042V HELLSING VOL 5 TP $13.95
JUL040053V SAMURAI EXECUTIONER VOL 2 TP (MR) $9.95

DC COMICS

OCT040258 BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #60 $2.50
OCT040266 BIRDS OF PREY #77 $2.50
JUL040616 ENGINEHEAD #6 (Of 8) $2.50
OCT040333 EX MACHINA #7 (MR) $2.95
OCT040284 HAWKMAN #35 $2.50
OCT040357 HUMAN TARGET #17 (MR) $2.95
OCT040285 IDENTITY CRISIS #7 (Of 7) $3.95
OCT040291 JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #6 (Of 12) $2.50
OCT040361 LUCIFER #57 (MR) $2.50
SEP040362 METAL HURLANT #14 (MR) $3.95
OCT040343 OCEAN #3 (Of 6) $2.95
OCT040302 PLASTIC MAN #13 $2.95
OCT040314 POWERPUFF GIRLS #57 $2.25
OCT040260 ROBIN #133 $2.25
OCT040325 ROBO HUNTER VERDUS TP $14.95
OCT040345 SAGA OF THE SEVEN SUNS VEILED ALLIANCES SC $17.95
OCT040365 SWAMP THING BAD SEED TP (MR) $9.95
OCT040366 TRIGGER #1 (MR) $2.95
OCT040328 WHITE LAMA VOL 2 ROAD TO REDEMPTION TP $17.95

IMAGE

OCT041559 MIDNIGHT NATION TP NEW PRTG $24.99
JUL041771 RETURN OF SHADOWHAWK ONE SHOT #1 $2.99
SEP041571 TOMB RAIDER CVR A HUGHES #48 $2.99
SEP041572 TOMB RAIDER CVR B BASALDUA #48 $2.99
OCT041533 ULTRA #5 (Of 8) $2.95
SEP041569 WITCHBLADE #81 $2.99

MARVEL

OCT041800 ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 1 GIFTED TP $14.99
OCT041748 AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES #3 (Of 8) $3.50
OCT041733 CABLE DEADPOOL #10 $2.99
OCT041786 DAREDEVIL #68 $2.99
OCT041740 EXILES #56 $2.99
OCT041759 FANTASTIC FOUR #521 $2.99
OCT041807 FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 5 DISASSEMBLED TP $14.99
OCT041764 INVADERS #5 $2.99
OCT041783 MADROX #4 (Of 5) $2.99
OCT041775 MARVEL AGE FANTASTIC FOUR #9 $2.25
OCT048022 NEW AVENGERS #1 QUESADA COVER $2.25
OCT041765 OFFICIAL HANDBOOK MARVEL UNIVERSE GOLDEN AGE MARVEL 2004 $3.99
SEP041797 POWERS VOL 7 FOREVER TP (MR) $19.95
AUG041817D SPIDER-MAN DOCTOR OCTOPUS YEAR ONE #5 (Of 5) $2.99
OCT041767 SPIDER-MAN INDIA #2 $2.99
OCT041746 TALES OF SUSPENSE CAPTAIN AMERICA & IRON MAN COMM ED #1 $3.99
OCT041719 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #70 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS

SEP042594 (USE
SEP048315) MU CVR A #1 $2.95
SEP042599 ARMY OF DARKNESS ASHES TO ASHES DIRECTORS CUT #1 $4.99
SEP042600 ARMY OF DARKNESS ASHES TO ASHES DIRECTORS FOIL #1 $19.99
SEP042392 BETTY #143 $2.19
SEP042313F BIPOLAR #5 $2.95
OCT043067 BLUE SPRING VOL 1 GN (MR) $9.99
SEP042587J DARKSTALKERS CVR C POWER FOIL #1 PI
OCT042739 DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #323 $2.95
JUN042444F DORK TOWER COLL TP VOL 7 DORK SIDE OF THE GOON $15.99
OCT042355 DRAGON ARMS VOL 2 PKT MANGA TP $9.99
OCT042566 FULL HOUSE BOOK 3 GN $9.99
OCT043079 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 13 GN $9.95
OCT043078 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 5 2ND ED TP $9.95
OCT042567 GEOBREEDERS BOOK 3 GN NEW PTG $9.99
OCT042568 HARD BOILED ANGEL VOL 3 GN (MR) $9.99
SEP042476 HEROES ANONYMOUS #6 (Of 6) (MR) $2.99
SEP042964F HUTCH OWEN UNMARKETABLE GN $14.95
OCT043082 INU YASHA VOL 20 TP $8.95
AUG042617F JAVA #3 (Of 3) $2.95
SEP042395 JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #198 $2.39
OCT042334 LITTLE SCROWLIE #8 $2.95
OCT042740 MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS #272 $2.95
OCT042596 MISPLACED AT 17 CVR A #1 $4.95
OCT042597 MISPLACED AT 17 CVR B #1 $4.95
SEP042827 OJO #4 (MR) $2.99
SEP042397 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #90 $3.59
AUG042897E QUEEN & COUNTRY #28 (MR) $2.99
AUG042386E SERENITY ROSE #5 $2.95
OCT042495 SIMPSONS COMICS #101 (Note Price) $2.99
SEP042268 STRANGERS IN PARADISE POCKET VOL 3 TP $17.95
SEP042756F THIEVES & KINGS TP VOL 5 WINTER BOOK $16.95
OCT042575 YONGBI THE INVINCIBLE BOOK 3 GN (OF 23) $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.