Welcome to the Shipping Forecast, Ninth Art's weekly look at the latest comic book releases. Every Monday we'll show you the week's shipping list from Diamond, and our resident trio of fisherman-critics will make their picks of the best, worst and most noteworthy books on release.

FISHER PICKS:

OUTLAW NATION #9
I'm loving this series, but I fear I may be alone, because hardly anyone else is talking about it. Shame, because it's actually a hugely enjoyable grand American opera, and though it may have drawn a lot of comparisons with PREACHER, it's distinctive enough and smart enough to stand on its own. I hope there'll be a trade soon, but to date I haven't noticed an obvious break in the story, so we're either looking at a really fat trade or a series of smaller piecemeal ones.

ELECTROPOLIS #1
I'm very excited about this book. This is Dean Motter writing noir and drawing deco, in a TERMINAL CITY vein. A detective story centring on a private eye robot and his brilliant secretary, it sounds fun and it looks beautiful. If Motter can make this a hit - and he certainly deserves it - then this might be the first of many visits to the electric city. Here's hoping.

NEW X-MEN #114
Grant who? Frank what? Yes, the New X-Men are here, and they're really just the old X-Men, but they do look and sound different. With the Casey/Churchill X-Men serving as appetiser (and serving up a disappointment in the process), expectations are especially high for the FLEX MENTALLO/EARTH 2 team on the industry's flagship franchise. Fingers crossed that this'll be better than Morrison's JLA.

DOGGER PICKS:

HITMAN WHO DARES WINS TP
Don't be fooled by the fact that the lead character has superpowers. This isn't a superhero book. This is John Woo films in comic form. Bullets, blood, and hopeless odds. Hitman is over, but it's good to see that DC have sufficient sense to continue to collect it in trades. The storyline that this trade collects is one of the strongest in the series, but it's hard to explain why without spoiling the story. Trust me, you won't be sorry you bought this.

FRUMPY THE CLOWN II: THE FAT LADY SINGS TP
American newspaper strips are generally a bit too schmaltzy for my taste. Frumpy is no less sentimental than most, but Judd Winick carries his indulgences off better than many of his rivals, and produces some very, very funny moments. If you like Barry Ween, you should give this a look.

CROMARTY PICKS:

TRANSMETROPOLITAN: FILTH OF THE CITY
If you saw I HATE IT HERE, last year's 'collection' of Spider Jerusalem's columns with illustrations from a host of artists, then you'll know what to expect from this. The appearance of this second volume suggests that IHIH sold rather well; reason enough to check FILTH out.

RED STAR TP VOL 1: BATTLE OF KAR DATHRAS GATE
I really, really want to buy this: a slow-burner of a book that I've heard nothing but good things about. The art's lovely, and the story is allegedly subtle and well-handled. So why am I reluctant to purchase this oversize, collected edition of the first four chapters? Because it's twenty five dollars! I mean, please. If I wanted fifty pages of sketchbook I'd buy the new BATTLE CHASERS instead.

FRUMPY THE CLOWN II: THE FAT LADY SINGS TP
I bought FRUMPY THE CLOWN VOL I on a whim; it was a slow week, and I like Judd Winnick's other works. So even though it was old newspaper material, I thought what the hell. And I spent the rest of the entire night rolling with laughter. This one could be even better.

Comics shipping in the US on May 16th:

MAR010034 GUNSMITH CATS MISTER V #8 (Of 11) (mature readers) $2.99
MAR010026 SPYBOY #17 $2.99
MAR010460 AMERICAN CENTURY #3 (mature readers) $2.50
MAR010388 BATMAN #591 $2.25
MAR010446 GEN 13 #65 $2.50
MAR010415 GREEN LANTERN DRAGON LORD #2 (Of 3) $4.95
MAR010418 HITMAN WHO DARES WINS TP $12.95
MAR010426 LEGION WORLDS #2 (Of 6) $3.95
MAR010466 LUCIFER #14 (mature readers) $2.50
FEB010447D MONARCHY #3 $2.50
MAR010430 ORION #14 $2.50
MAR010469 OUTLAW NATION #9 (mature readers) $2.50
MAR010442 POWERPUFF GIRLS #15 $1.99
FEB010451D STEAMPUNK #8 $2.50
MAR010433 SUPER FRIENDS TP $14.95
MAR010409 SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #57 $1.99
MAR010410 SUPERMAN WHERE IS THY STING $6.95
JAN010441D TOM STRONG #13 $2.95
MAR010473 TRANSMETROPOLITAN FILTH OF THE CITY $5.95
MAR010436 WONDER WOMAN THE GODS OF GOTHAM COLL $5.95
MAR011277 AREA 52 #4 $2.95
JAN011217D ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS GALAXY SIZE #1 $4.95
FEB011252D DARK ANGEL PHOENIX RESURRECTION #4 $2.95
FEB011255D DARKMINDS VOL 1 PARADOX TP $19.95
MAR011284 DOUBLE IMAGE #4 $2.95
MAR011285 ELECTROPOLIS #1 $2.95
FEB011293D MIDNIGHT NATION #7 $2.50
MAR011249 OBERGEIST #2 $2.95
MAR011296 RANDY ODONNELL IS THE MAN #1 $2.95
JAN011237D RED STAR TP VOL 1 BATTLE OF KAR DATHRAS GATE $24.95
FEB011239D SAM AND TWITCH #21 $2.50
MAR011526 CABLE #93 $2.25
MAR011557 CAPTAIN AMERICA #43 $2.25
MAR011558 CAPTAIN MARVEL #19 $2.50
MAR011555 DEFENDERS #5 $2.25
MAR011559 FANTASTIC FOUR WORLDS GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE #6 $2.99
JAN011554D GENERATION X #75 $2.99
MAR011528 NEW X-MEN #114 $2.25
MAR011545 PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #31 $2.25
MAR011562 THUNDERBOLTS #52 $2.25
MAR011530 ULTIMATE X-MEN #6 $2.25
MAR011745 JUST A PILGRIM #3 $2.99
MAR012222 AQUA KNIGHT PART 3 #3 (Of 5) $3.50
MAR011826 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #48 $1.99
MAR011831 BETTY & VERONICA #162 $1.99
MAR011833 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #121 $2.19
FEB011890F CASTLE WAITING VOL 2 #5 $2.95
MAR011966 CRUX #2 $2.95
MAR012225 DRAGONBALL Z PART 4 #6 (Of 15) (C: 3) $2.95
MAR012227 EL HAZARD THE MAGNIFICENT WORLD PART 2 #4 (Of 5) $2.95
FEB012031F ESSENCE ART OF YOSHITOSHI ABE $7.95
MAR012127 FRUMPY THE CLOWN II THE FAT LADY SINGS TP (mature readers) $15.95
MAR012229 GUNDAM WING BLIND TARGET #4 (Of 4) $2.95
MAR011836 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #77 $3.29
MAR011909 LADY DEATH ALIVE #2 $2.99
MAR011906 LEGEND OF THE SAGE PREVIEW BOOK $1.99
MAR011907I LEGEND OF THE SAGE PREVIEW BOOK PREMIUM ED $6.00
FEB011986H PALOOKA VILLE #1 10TH ANNIV ED (mature readers) $3.75
MAR012213 RANMA 1/2 PART 10 #2 (Of 11) $2.95
OCT002088F READING THE FUNNIES (RES) $19.95
MAR012115 SECRET MESSAGES SILENT INVASION ABDUCTIONS #1 (Of 4) $2.95
MAR011967 SIGIL #12 $2.95
MAR011839 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #97 $1.99
MAR011775 STRANGERS IN PARADISE SLIPCASE #1 WITH TRADES (C: 4) $47.95

The 9A Lighthouse Crew are Trafalgar, Shannon, Fastnet, Plymouth, Viking, German Bight, Finisterre, Forties, Dogger, Cromarty and Fisher.

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