Welcome to the Shipping Forecast, Ninth Art's pick of the best and most notable new releases hitting comic stores each week.

COMIC OF THE WEEK:

[i1] BATMAN ADVENTURES: DANGEROUS DAMES AND DEMONS TP (DC Comics)
If this book was titled BATMAN ADVENTURES: ALL THE PAUL DINI STORIES the attraction would be pretty obvious. One of the original creators on the BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES television show, Dini's stories both on the screen and on the page were notable for their wonderful mixture of comedy and drama. If Dini's only contribution had been the Eisner Award-winning MAD LOVE (the origin of Harley Quinn), that alone would be enough to give him a very special place in Batman lore. This trade paperback also includes stories from the Eisner Award-winning BATMAN ADVENTURES HOLIDAY SPECIAL, the animated series Annuals, and more. Add in art by such legends as Bruce Timm, Rick Burchett, John Byrne, Dan DeCarlo, Klaus Janson, Glen Murakami, Mike Parobeck, and Matt Wagner, and a DVD-style commentary by Timm, and you can see why this is going to be such a winner. This is a must-have. [Plymouth]

ALSO THIS WEEK:

[i2] FROM THE CURVE: GRAND GESTURES (Alternative Comics)
Another mini-comics stalwart on the Alternative Comics roster, and kudos to them for mining a rich seam for all it's worth. A meandering, inconclusive and very charming book, GRAND GESTURES follows a triumvirate of twenty-something boys as they wander through life looking for something. None of them are very sure what that something is, so they passively carry on while relationships fall apart around them. The only one who does something proactive (to get a girl, unsuprisingly) makes a fool of himself. Robert Ullman's story potters along with its protagonists and no comfortable resolution is found, nor should it be. His art is clean and clear, possessed of a very strong design sense. If anything, this reminded me of a suburban, small town version of Bob Fingerman's MINIMUM WAGE. Fans of that work and Dean Haspiel's should find this a pleasant read. [German Bight]

MONKEY VS ROBOT AND THE CRYSTAL OF POWER GN (Top Shelf)
While there are many facets to the snowflake that is James Kochalka, few of them sparkle with the same brilliance as the original MONKEY VS ROBOT graphic novel. Now, three years later, lightning strikes again as Kochalka revisits the material that made him a superstar. Expect lots of whimsy, drama, and monkeys and robots wrapped around a lightly didactic parable that will no doubt be the cutest thing that comes out this month. Nurture your inner moppet and don't wait until the end of the week to bring this home. [Trafalgar]

[i3] BRATH #3 (CrossGen)
No company works harder at turning out consistently well-drawn and competently written (if not slightly bland) comics for a largely apathetic Direct Market than CrossGen. One of their more notable additions to the CrossGen universe of late is BRATH, a story that borrows notably from Robert Howard's BRAN MAC MORN tales by pitting what amounts to a Celtic chieftain against the Roman Empire. Ably told by industry veteran Chuck Dixon, BRATH is easy on the eyes and provides the requisite amount of thrills to match the top-notch production values and attractive art, supplied by artist Andrea Di Vito and a talented support team. [Trafalgar]

THE SHIPPING LIST FOR MONTH DATE:

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

DARK HORSE

FEB030035 BTVS #56: SLAYER INTERRUPTED (PART 1 OF 4) ART CVR $2.99
FEB030028 KISS PHOTO CVR #9 $2.99

DC COMICS

FEB030138 BATMAN #614 $2.25
JAN030200 BATMAN ADVENTURES: DANGEROUS DAMES AND DEMONS TP $14.95
JAN030201 BATMAN ADVENTURES NEWSSTAND ED #1 $2.25
DEC020787 BLACK SUN #6 (Of 6) (MR) $2.95
FEB030145 CATWOMAN #18 $2.50
FEB030166 GREEN LANTERN #163 $2.25
FEB030222 HELLBLAZER #183 (MR) $2.75
FEB030172 JLA #80 $2.25
FEB030179 LEGION #19 $2.50
FEB030181 POWER COMPANY #15 $2.75
FEB030200 RESISTANCE #8 $2.95
FEB030154 SUPERMAN: RED SON #1 (Of 3) $5.95

IMAGE

FEB031194 ARIA: THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT #2 (Of 4) $2.95
FEB031252 BATTLE OF THE PLANETS #9 $2.99
FEB031199 CLOCKMAKER #3 (Of 12) $2.50
FEB031205 GI JOE #17 $2.95
FEB031207 GRRL SCOUTS: WORK SUCKS #3 (Of 4) $2.95
FEB031214 KARZA #3 (Of 4) $2.95
FEB031217 LIBERTY MEADOWS #31 $2.95
FEB031219 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE VOL 2 SANTALUCIA CVR #2 $2.95
FEB031223 MICRONAUTS #7 $2.95
FEB031231 PARADIGM #8 $2.95
FEB031256 RISING STARS: BRIGHT #3 (Of 3) $2.99
NOV021784 VIOLENT MESSIAHS: LAMENTING PAIN #3 (Of 4) $2.95

MARVEL

FEB031387 BLACK PANTHER #58 (Note Price) $2.99
FEB031342 GOD LOVES MAN KILLS REPRINT ED $4.99
FEB031401 HULK LEGENDS VOL 1: HULK/WOLVERINE: 6 HRS TP $13.99
FEB031382 MARVEL UNIVERSE: THE END #4 (Of 6) $2.99
FEB031323 NAMOR #1 PI
FEB031340 NEW X-MEN #140 $2.25
FEB031388 PARADISE X #10 $2.99
FEB031359 PETER PARKER, SPIDER-MAN #55 $2.25
FEB031370 RAWHIDE KID #5 (Of 5) (MR) $2.99
FEB031345 ULTIMATE X-MEN #32 $2.25
FEB031334 WOLVERINE: XISLE #5 $2.50
FEB031348 X-MEN: RONIN #4 (Of 5) $2.99

OTHER PUBLISHERS

FEB031760 ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #70 $2.19
FEB031763 BETTY #125 $2.19
FEB031766 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #138 $2.39
FEB031832 BRATH #3 $2.95
FEB032020 CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION #4 (Of 5) (MR) $3.99
FEB031702 FROM THE CURVE: GRAND GESTURES ONE SHOT $3.95
FEB031770 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #94 $3.59
FEB032091 KILLER PRINCESSES #3 (Of 3) (RES) (MR) $2.99
FEB031838 MARK OF CHARON #2 (Of 5) $2.95
FEB031836 MERIDIAN #35 $2.95
FEB032174 MONKEY VS ROBOT AND THE CRYSTAL OF POWER GN $14.95
FEB032222 NEON GENESIS EVANGELION VOL 7 TP $15.95
FEB031851 PATH #14 $2.95
JAN031898 PATTY CAKE & FRIENDS VOL 2 #8 $4.95
FEB031843 RUSE #19 KEY ISSUE PI
FEB032093 THREE DAYS IN EUROPE #5 (Of 5) (MR) $2.99
FEB031910 TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE OFFICIAL GUIDE #1 (Of 8) $5.25
JAN032253 VAMPIRELLA #19 REG ED $2.99
FEB031707 WRETCH VOL 1 TP $13.95

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

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.