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 AUGUST 2, 2017

Unstoppable Wasp #8 (Marvel Comics)

It shouldn't be that much of a spoiler to know that this issue, in fact and for good, is the end of Nadia Pym. What's more of a surprise is that there are no fewer than three moments where you will likely have to stop and take a moment, points where Jeremy Whitley's script absolutely freaking levitates off the page. Janet Van Dyne plays fairy godmother to the young female scientists of G.I.R.L. and it's significantly more entertaining than you would expect. Lots of credit for that goes to Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Megan Wilson and Joe Caramagna for making those moments vibrant and engaging. This was an enormously entertaining issue.

Deathstroke #22 (DC Comics)

<i>Deathstroke</i> #22
Deathstroke #22 takes teen heroes to the school of hard knocks.

On one side, there's an action-packed rescue mission for hostages held by a dictatorial regime. On the other side, the titular character sits down for a cup of coffee with a widely reviled supervillain. The way both of those plots weave together is a work of art, courtesy of the creative team of Christopher J. Priest, Diogenes Neves, Jason Paz, Sean Parsons, Jeromy Cox and Willie Schubert.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Heck of a start for things this week.

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THIS WEEK'S READ PILE

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

Star Wars Darth Vader #4 showed the singular focus of the erstwhile Anakin Skywalker and foreshadowed his enormous capacity for property damage. Unfortunately, it was all too episodic for its own good, barely giving its characters a chance to be anything while Worf Effecting its arguable antagonist. Not bad, but a million miles from the masterpiece of Maul vs. Obi-Wan on Star Wars Rebels.

Elsewhere #1 has an intriguing "hook" tied to its fantasy world premise that could have some legs if it reaches beyond name dropping. As it stands, this issue asks you out but stops just as the door opens to start things in earnest.

Green Arrow #28 had an interesting moment between its title character and Lex Luthor that led to a very clever moment. This was actually very close to making the mark, but the plot's pacing was uneven and took a while getting where it needed to be.

Mech Cadet Yu #1 was hopeful and engaging as it posited a wondrous time of giant robots from outer space and the tedious caste challenges of most of westernized society. The plot was fairly facile and simplistic, but it wasn't bad at all.

What if you fight well but still can't win? Batman #28 looks at that as the War of Jokes and Riddles rages on, the Joker and Riddler using proxies to ... it's hard to know what exactly they hope to win, here, but this issue is rife with engaging moments that never coalesce into a coherent narrative, like an illustrated novella that never completes its thought. The sturm und drang don't seem to signify anything here, but it's a beautiful ride to nowhere.

G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #242 had a scintillating rescue op in the second half where an embassy was under fire. Unfortunately, a convoluted bit of old business from previous plots (and even more previous volumes of the comic) failed to connect. Not bad, but not stellar either.

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

Swordquest #2 is bad. It starts just being derivative, riffing off of the source material and then diving into limp character work and tedium.

SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?

That wasn't so bad ...

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Wasp beats that Atari foolishness, so let's say the week's a winner, especially with that Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook and the great Spencer and Locke and God Country TPBs coming out this week too.

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!