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 JULY 6, 2016
Walking Dead #156
(Image Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile.
There are certain characters that transcend the page, ones whose moxie or charisma or determination can change the course of the work. Negan is such a character, and here he puts on a performance that would have Robert Duvall, Meryl Streep and Al Pacino standing up and applauding. The visuals on this book are like Swiss clockwork -- always dependable, always balancing terror with tension. This issue, though? It tells a story that's as relentless as a rhino's charge and Negan is the force that propels it. Robert Kirkman drops one of the tightest, most effective scripts in recent memory, and the visual storytelling from Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, Cliff Rathburn and Rus Wooton bring it home in a big way. Stunning.
Throwaways #1
(Image Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile.
This refreshing issue is one heck of an action thriller ready to happen as a female Army ranger, the daughter of immigrants, got the Manchurian Candidate treatment and wants the military-industrial complex out of her head. When she meets a tweaking punk nobody who's father killed federal agents and who can turn into Bullseye for a split second, things get interesting. A little of the energy of "Enemy of the State" in the interplay of Caitlin Kittridge's efficient & engaging script and interesting visuals from Steven Sanders and Rachel Deering manage the balance between spectacle and subtlety well.
WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?
Two jumps when nothing was guaranteed a ride home? Way to show up, Image!
THIS WEEK'S READ PILE
Honorable Mentions: Stuff worth noting, even if it's not good enough to buy
It's funnier when it's a fictional super villain you imagine as Tom Hiddleston, and "Vote Loki" #2 parallels reality in ways that are hilarious until you remember what's really happening and it's like that awkward moment when you realize the joke, in fact, is on you. Brilliant satire on a terrifying world.
"Symmetry" #5 was a white knuckle thrill ride that had simply glorious action scenes and some fantastic visual design. Alas, it was at least 50 percent too fast, plot wise, whizzing past moments where characterization could invest the reader in the events, instead rushing to the next jaw dropping image.
"Strange Attractors" #2 had some interesting theories about math and complex systems, but lacked the charisma to connect those ideas via narrative. When George Clooney gets the idea go make a movie out of it, it'll be something.
"Fix" #4 was funny, like a man getting hit in a sensitive area with a football is funny, the kind of laughs you should feel bad about but don't. It continued in showcasing cops who are truly awful human beings in the most entertaining possible way. Unfortunately, for all that humor and character work, the plot suffered and lagged in a way even a Raymond Reddington-class bad guy monologue couldn't save. If it becomes a TV show, it will become a guilty pleasure but this package isn't carrying enough weight to justify the cost.
"Transformers Till All Are One" #2 had a simply delicious closing, clever and sneaky in all the right ways. It went through a lot of procedure and posturing to get there, talking about doing things instead of doing them. There is promise here, but it's not ready for prime time just yet.
"Deadpool V Gambit" #2 was slow as heck in the first two thirds, establishing a lengthy and tedious con job that -- in retrospect -- was obviously going to fail. The last third really picks up steam, especially with the reveal on the final page. While this issue was nowhere near the masterpiece of its predecessor, it wasn't bad.
"Paper Girls" #7 had a couple of moments of genuine emotional connection, both near doorways oddly enough, but plot wise needed a lot more data and probably underestimated the modern world's tolerance for weird. Not bad, but not all the way plugged in.
"Kings Quest" #3 has a very interesting twist, one that would make fanboys tweet in rage but in fact makes a certain kind of sense. It's a long road getting there, and the visuals could use a little more "oomph," but it's not bad.
"Switch" #4 has some pitch perfect and even funny moments ("So, fun fact ...") along with compelling, engaging visuals. It kind of just sputters to a start and sputters to a stop, though, and plotting that way is jarring. Maybe it'll work as a collected whole, maybe not.
"Bob's Burgers" #13 was a cute parody take on the classic kung fu movie "Enter the Dragon." However, aside from being a song you know played by new players, it wasn't anything special.
"Totally Awesome Hulk" #8 is a purely character driven piece that shows some of the differences with the modern incarnation of ol' jade jaws while giving Bruce Banner something he may not have ever had in his whole life. She-Hulk and Rick Jones do a beer run, Amadeus argues with his sister and this issue is very sweet, but wholly forgettable unless you're determined as a Hulk fan.
If the words "Rassilon," "time vortex," "Sontaran" and "Gallifrey" mean anything to you, you'll likely get a lot of "Doctor Who Supremacy Of The Cybermen" #1, a snippet of a story that tries to manage four incarnations of the last Time Lord into one issue with middling results. It doesn't leave much room for characterization of multiple companions drifting about nor explaining much of anything to neophytes, but it will make a good start for a collected edition, one day.
The "Meh" Pile Not good enough to praise, not bad enough to insult
"Cirque American Girl Over Paris" #1, "Empress" #4, "Kaijumax Season 2" #3, "Invincible Iron Man" #11, "Unfollow" #9, "Black Science" #22, "Marvel's Doctor Strange Prelude" #1, "Superman" #2, "Vampirella Volume 3" #5, "Batman Beyond" #14, "Moon Knight" #4, "4001 A.D. Shadowman" #1, "Sheriff Of Babylon" #8, "Punisher" #3, "Bloodlines" #4, "Discipline" #5, "Scarlet Witch" #8, "Woods" #24, "Faster Than Light" #8, "Amazing Spider-Man" #15, "Bounty" #1, "Fuse" #19, "Silver Surfer" #5, "Control" #2, "Gunsuits Alix" #1, "Spider-Man 2099" #12, "Renato Jones The One Percent" #3, "Brutal Nature" #3, "Spider-Woman" #9, "Justice League Rebirth" #1, "Roche Limit Monadic" #4, "Spidey" #8, "Green Lanterns" #2, "Kim And Kim" #1, "Han Solo" #2, "Superman The Coming Of The Supermen" #6, "Poe Dameron" #4, "3 Floyds Alpha King" #2, "Green Arrow" #2, "Spawn" #264, "Future Quest" #2, "Grimm Fairy Tales" #124, "Brik" #1, "Batman" #2, "Civil War II X-Men" #2, "Tokyo Ghost" #8, "Aquaman" #2, "Civil War II Kingpin" #1.
No, just ... no ... These comics? Not so much ...
"Captain America Sam Wilson" #11 tries mightily to make a stand and turn spandex-clad issues into real life ones -- mirroring Giuliani's failed "broken windows" policing with super powers, discussing predictive law enforcement as profiling with super powers. Ambitious, but dangerously flawed, like a president in a plane telling people what it's like on the ground. Again, execution isn't the issue -- people can draw and ink and letter and even write. Conception is the concern -- at the heart of this the ideas are rickety, the "heroism" on which protagonists should stand are shaky, the antagonists cliched and unidimensional (the "Americops" don't even have faces, let alone rationales), the lead reacting poorly and barely able to keep up. From soil to sky, the seed of the story is a problem snd that infects everywhere this tries, and fails, to grow. Adorable, but naive, much like the lead here.
"Flintstones" #1 is horrifying. The execution is fine -- two Black people even managed to get into the book, which has rock solid artwork. The underlying concept, the existential ennui herein, questions the validity and importance of existence itself. Like a night with Soren Kierkegaard hopped up on downers, this is not entertainment -- it's a moment staring into the abyss.
SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?
Guh, those were some depressingly bad books, with FalCap on YouTube and the meaning of life with Fred and Wilma. Guh.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Two bad books tie with two jumps so the week's a wash, in the end analysis.
THE BUSINESS
Please take sixty one seconds and watch this trailer for the web comic Enter Project: Torrent, which completes 22 pages and is half way done as a story.
Soon, you will be able to get an original work of superhero prose fiction by the writer of this column in "Black Power: The Superhero Anthology,"
Next week, please pick up Aspen Universe Sourcebook that kicks off the summer's "Aspen Revelations" event where "Fathom" and "Soulfire" come together for the first time!
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 "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 and "Executive Assistant Iris Sourcebook" #1, 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!