WHAT IS THE BUY PILE?

Every week Hannibal Tabu (winner of the 2012 Top Cow Talent Hunt/blogger/novelist/poet/jackass on Twitter/head honcho of Komplicated) grabs a whole lotta comics. These periodicals are quickly sorted (how) into two piles -- the "buy" pile (a small pile most weeks, comprised of planned purchases) and the "read" pile (often huge, often including comics that are really crappy but have some value to stay abreast of). Thursday afternoons you'll be able to get his thoughts (and they're just the opinions of one guy, so calm down, and here's some common definitions used in the column) about all of that ... which goes something like this ...

THE BUY PILE FOR OCTOBER 18, 2017

Transformers Lost Light #10 (IDW Publishing)

There's a mechanoid named Getaway. Getaway is a truly awful being, and that is illustrated in a means so insidious, so simply cruel that it seems garish. Here, you get to see a group of friends investigate Getaway's all-too-convenient progress towards accomplishing the goal this crew of war-torn robots settled on years ago. James Roberts' script weaponized one of Bill Murray's finest films in a truly clever fashion while the artwork from Jack Lawrence, Joana LaFuente and Tom B. Long made every moment -- from Mirage's passionate disbelief to Getaway's smarmy charm, even with a faceplate -- distinct and effective for the story. This is brilliant comics storytelling.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

The exhibition of a truly insidious villain. Nice.

THIS WEEK'S READ PILE

Honorable Mentions: Stuff worth noting, even if it's not good enough to buy

Catalyst Prime Superb #4 has fantastic artwork and engaging action scenes but its pacing remains too slow for its own good as the decisions that characters make were telegraphed before they arrived to make them.

Batman #33 has great art and effective dialogue. Unfortunately, the circuitous plot has stakes that are less than compelling, and that as a skeleton doesn't hold the story tightly enough.

Maestros #1 is ridiculously well depicted. Not safe for work at all, but the craft at which the visuals are created staggers the mind. It's truly beautiful. The story, however, doesn't do much with a fairly stereotypical protagonist and pacing that needed to pick up the pace.

No, just ... no ... These comics? Not so much ...

Nothing went that badly? Sweet.

SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?

Nothing so bad here ...

WINNERS AND LOSERS

It was an economical and effective week worth of comics where there's nothing to get mad about.

THE BUSINESS

The writer of this column writes two weekly web superhero comics: Menthu: The Anger of Angels and Project Wildfire: Street Justice -- free every week. Can't beat "free."

The writer of this column isn't just a jerk who spews his opinions -- he writes stuff too. A lot. Like what? You can get Irrational Numbers: Addition (a supernatural historical fiction saga with vampires), Project Wildfire: Enter Project Torrent (a collected superhero web comic), The Crown: Ascension and Faraway, five bucks a piece, or spend a few more dollars and get New Money #1 from Canon Comics, the rambunctious tale of four multimillionaires running wild in Los Angeles, a story in Watson and Holmes Volume 2 co-plotted by 2 Guns creator Steven Grant, two books from Stranger Comics -- Waso: Will To Power and the sequel Waso: Gathering Wind (the tale of a young man who had leadership thrust upon him after a tragedy), or Fathom Sourcebook #1, Soulfire Sourcebook #1, Executive Assistant Iris Sourcebook #1 and Aspen Universe Sourcebook, the official guides to those Aspen Comics franchises. Love these reviews? It'd be great if you picked up a copy. Hate these reviews? Find out what this guy thinks is so freakin' great. There's free sample chapters too, and all proceeds to towards the care and maintenance of his kids ... oh, and to buy comic books, of course. There’s also a bunch of great stuff -- fantasy, superhero stuff, magical realism and more -- available from this writer on Amazon. What are you waiting for? Go buy a freakin' book already!

Got a comic you think should be reviewed in The Buy Pile? If we get a PDF of a fairly normal length comic (i.e. "less than 64 pages") by no later than 24 hours before the actual issue arrives in stores (and sorry, we can only review comics people can go to stores and buy), we guarantee the work will get reviewed, if remembered. Physical comics? Geddouttahere. Too much drama to store with diminishing resources. If you send it in more than two days before comics come out, the possibility of it being forgotten increases exponentially. Oh, you should use the contact form as the CBR email address hasn't been regularly checked since George W. Bush was in office. Sorry!