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: SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST

I'm one of those rut kind-of blokes. I go to the same pubs, I talk to the same people, I smoke the same cigarettes. Once I've found comfortable slipper, I don't generally change my ways. And it's very easy to sit back and let the world wash over you in a smush of 'nothing new'.

Every week, after scouring the shipping list for something - please god, anything - to get excited about, I suffer the same problem; ennui replaced by deference to the familiar. I know I'm not alone; the sales charts back me up. We're all the same; none of us really want to try something new. I don't know whether it's out of fear or complacency or just outright laziness, but if we're all, as a race, to survive, we need to experience new things.

So - this week I find the rather splendidly titled SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST appearing on the shipping list, and I'm drawn to investigate.

Josh Cotter rose out of the black and white photocopied indie ghetto of the industry and looks to be a strong newcomer. His highly surreal stories featuring anthropomorphic characters dealing with all too normal problems, robots, and just outright wrongness are a breath of fresh air in an industry clogged with grim and gritty men resembling condoms filled with walnuts.

It's weird, it doesn't always make a whole lot of sense to start with, but it's pulled off with such aplomb and outright disregard towards tradition that it glides down your optical nerve through sheer force of charm. Cotter's work is something to watch. He's already won the 2004 Isotope Award for excellence in mini-comics, and with any luck you'll be seeing a lot more of his name.

This edition is a reprint of Joshua Cotter's original mini-comics, in advance of a new series from his new home at AdHouse Books. At 56 pages for $5, it's better value than an X-MEN comic and less likely to contribute to your ongoing brain aneurysm. Check out the online preview at the AdHouse site. [John Fellows]

THE DISORDER TO ORDER

My favourite t-shirt is a blue one with a picture of Buddha, above which is the phrase, "For Good Luck Rub My Tummy". My fiancée and I were at a writer's festival earlier in the year, where we heard a writer named Etgar Keret read a few of his extremely short stories. He charmed the audience, had us all in tears with a story about a suicide bomber family, and then had as laughing our arses off with a story about a piggy bank. So, naturally, I bought his two books, and got him to sign them for us. We got to chatting, and he told me he'd written a few comics, the latest of which was called BIPOLAR. I'd heard about the comic, but hadn't read it.

The next day, I ordered the three issues that were out from my local comic shop. The first issue had sold out. The world (well, America) had already discovered the enviably talented Hanuka brothers.

Each issue of BIPOLAR (Alternative Comics) has one story written and drawn by Tomer Hanuka - small, self contained, surrealist pieces - and a chapter of 'Pizzeria Kamikaze', an adaptation of Keret's novella KNELLER'S HAPPY CAMPERS, by Asaf Hanuka and Keret. There have been a few changes from the original novella. There's now a cat, where there was originally a dog, but that's by the by. I'm just glad BIPOLAR #5 is out now, what with Alternative Comics recent cash flow problems - which were also the reasons the first issue hadn't been reprinted, but that's been fixed now too, so now everyone has a chance to catch up.

Oh yeah: the shirt. So, Etgar Keret is about to sign one of the books, when he puts down the pen, reaches across the table, and rubs my tummy. Let's hope it works. [Ben Wooller]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR DECEMBER 22nd 2004:

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

DARK HORSE

OCT040014 CONAN #11 $2.99
OCT040023 GOON DH ED #10 $2.99
OCT040017 JINGLE BELLE #2 $2.99
JUL040053V SAMURAI EXECUTIONER VOL 2 TP (MR) $9.95

DC COMICS

OCT040332 AUTHORITY REVOLUTION #3 (Of 12) (MR) $2.95
OCT040354 BOOKS OF MAGICK LIFE DURING WARTIME #6 (MR) $2.50
OCT040329 BOUNCER RAISING CANE TP (MR) $17.95
OCT040312 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #4 $2.25
OCT040277 DC THE NEW FRONTIER VOL 1 TP $19.95
OCT040319 ELFQUEST THE GRAND QUEST VOL 6 TP $9.95
OCT040290 JLA CLASSIFIED #2 $2.95
OCT040359 LOSERS #19 (MR) $2.95
OCT040298 MANHUNTER #5 $2.50
OCT040306 RICHARD DRAGON #8 $2.50
OCT040344 SLEEPER SEASON TWO #7 (Of 12) (MR) $2.95
OCT040303 SOLO #2 $4.95
OCT040322 SPACE GHOST #2 (Of 6) $2.95
OCT040316 TEEN TITANS GO #14 $2.25
OCT040368 WITCHING #7 (MR) $2.95
OCT040307 WONDER WOMAN #211 $2.25

IMAGE

OCT041512 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER CVR A WHEATLEY #7 $2.95
OCT041513 FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER CVR B WRIGHTSON #7 $2.95

MARVEL

SEP041743 ASTONISHING X-MEN #7 $2.99
OCT041781 BLACK WIDOW #4 (Of 6) $2.99
NOV041832D ELEKTRA MOVIE TP $12.99
NOV041831D ELEKTRA THE HAND TP $13.99
OCT041729 EXCALIBUR #8 $2.99
SEP041798 KABUKI #3 (MR) $2.99
OCT041770 MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN #18 $2.25
OCT041814 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 2 2ND ED HC $49.99
OCT041815 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 2 2ND ED HC VAR DUST$54.99
OCT048014 MARVEL MUST HAVES WOLVERINE #20-22 $3.99
OCT041734 MYSTIQUE #22 $2.99
OCT041802 MYSTIQUE VOL 3 UNNATURAL TP $13.99
OCT041757 NEW THUNDERBOLTS #3 $2.99
OCT041799 NEW X-MEN ACADEMY X VOL 1 CHOOSING SIDES TP $14.99
OCT041736 NIGHTCRAWLER #4 $2.99
OCT041794 PUNISHER RED XMAS $3.99
OCT041738 ROGUE #6 $2.99
OCT042110 SPIDER-MAN MAXIMUM CARNAGE TP $29.99
OCT041789 STOKERS DRACULA #2 (Of 4) $3.99
OCT041721 ULTIMATE ELEKTRA #5 (Of 5) $2.25
NOV041833D ULTIMATE ELEKTRA DEVILS DUE TP $11.99
OCT041812 VENOM VS CARNAGE TP $9.99
OCT041732 WOLVERINE #23 $2.25
OCT041728 X-FORCE #5 $2.99
OCT041725 X-MEN #165 $2.25

OTHER PUBLISHERS

OCT042591 (USE
OCT048047) GI JOE RELOADED #10 $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
OCT042496 BART SIMPSON COMICS #21 $2.99
OCT043065 BASTARD TP VOL 6 (MR) $9.99
OCT043066 BATTLE ANGEL ALITA VOL 7 2ND ED TP $9.95
OCT042409 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #153 $2.39
SEP042313F BIPOLAR #5 $2.95
SEP012004F BLACK HOLE #9 (Of 13) (MR) $4.50
OCT048048 BLADE OF KUMORI #2 2ND PRTG $2.95
SEP042530 CAPTAIN CANUCK UNHOLY WAR #3 (OF 3) $2.50
SEP042587J DARKSTALKERS CVR C POWER FOIL #1 PI
OCT043076 EXCEL SAGA VOL 10 TP $9.99
OCT042332 GLOOMCOOKIE #22 (MR) $2.95
OCT042852 HARDY BOYS #2 $2.95
AUG042617F JAVA #3 (Of 3) $2.95
OCT042411 JUGHEAD #162 $2.19
OCT042412 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #109 $3.59
OCT042732 LIVING WITH ZOMBIES #1 (MR) $2.50
OCT042322 LUNCH HOUR COMIX #1 (MR) $4.95
OCT042607 MU CVR A #2 $2.95
OCT042608 MU CVR B #2 $2.95
SEP042827 OJO #4 (MR) $2.99
OCT043099 PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH VOL 8 TP $9.99
OCT043101 PROJECT ARMS VOL 7 TP $9.95
AUG042897E QUEEN & COUNTRY #28 (MR) $2.99
OCT042414 SABRINA VOL 2 #63 $2.19
OCT042296 SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST #1 $5.00
OCT042936 THE NORM MAGAZINE #6 $4.95
OCT042741 UNCLE SCROOGE #337 $6.95
OCT043111 VAGABOND VOL 18 TP $9.95
OCT043112 VIDEO GIRL AI VOL 10 TP $9.99
OCT043113 VIDEO GIRL AI VOL 5 2ND ED $9.99
OCT043114 VIDEO GIRL AI VOL 6 2ND ED $9.99
OCT042742 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #652 $6.95

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.