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 MAY 3, 2017
Deathstroke #18 (DC Comics)
This story is messy, in the way films like "Mystic River" are messy. Slade Wilson finally sees consequences from the scores of messed up things he's done. Blood dripping from a bride on her wedding day, super powered fisticuffs, questions of identity and betrayal, all compounded by the titular character having lost his eyesight. Writer Christopher Priest continues this tragic character study with visuals provided by Joe Bennett, Norm Rapmund, Jeromy Cox and Willie Schubert.
Unstoppable Wasp #5 (Marvel Comics)
Hh. After four stunning issues, this one is merely ... good. The titular teen heroine recruits a diverse squad of young women wunderkind to defuse a delicate threat to another. Solid dialogue and fun character moments from Jeremy Whitley's script, and the visuals from Elsa Charretier, Megan M. Wilson and Joe Caramagna are still rock solid. Let's see if this picks up next time.
WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?
That could have been a stronger showing but it was far from problematic.
THIS WEEK'S READ PILE
Honorable Mentions: Stuff worth noting, even if it's not good enough to buy
"Transformers Till All Are One" #9 has a lot of fun character stuff happening around Starscream and being mired in the politics of thirty foot plus tall robots. Unfortunately, for all its sturm und drang this issue drags and prevaricates where it needs to act. Not bad, but not carrying the weight of the purchase price.
"Secret Empire" #1 replaced the certainty and focus of the brilliant zero issue with prevarication and doubt as Captain America struggles with the dichotomy between his core character and the demands of his fascist work. The details of the new Hydra world order fall into place very quickly, showing a very quickly pacified Marvel Universe, almost all too willing to put on the yoke of oppression. Tainting the concept of superheroics, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, with gorgeous artwork and a plot that could use a kick in the pants.
The "Meh" Pile Not good enough to praise, not bad enough to insult, they just kind of happened ...
"Tekken" #1, "Champions" #8, "Postal" #20, "Superman" #22, "James Bond Black Box" #3, "Green Lanterns" #22, "Eternal Empire" #1, "Spider-Man" #16, "Cyborg" #12, "Project Superpowers Hero Killers" #1, "Jean Grey" #1, "Nightwing" #20, "Empowered And The Soldier Of Love" #3, "Hawkeye" #6, "Doctor Who Ghost Stories" #2, "Batman" #22, "All-New Guardians Of The Galaxy" #1, "Youngblood" #1, "X-Men Gold" #3, "Swordquest" #0, "Green Arrow" #22, "Nova" #6, "G.I. JOE" #5, "Spider-Man Deadpool" #17, "Catalyst Prime Noble" #1, "Justice League" #20, "Spider-Gwen" #19, "Amory Wars III Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV" #2, "Bane Conquest" #1, "Guardians Of The Galaxy Mission Breakout" #1, "Faith" #11, "Ghostbusters 101" #2, "Star Wars Poe Dameron" #14, "Injustice 2" #1, "Jessica Jones" #8, "Helena Crash" #3, "Black Bolt" #1, "Flintstones" #11, "Iron Fist" #3, "Goldie Vance" #12, "Aquaman" #22, "Damned" #1, "Fall And Rise Of Captain Atom" #5, "Extremity" #3, "Slapstick" #6, "Harley Quinn" #19, "Spider-Man 2099" #23, "Planetoid Praxis" #4, "Bullseye" #4.
No, just ... no ... These comics? Not so much ...
No problems here.
SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?
A slow, steady week with nothing going drastically wrong.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Winning by a hair's breadth still counts as winning, so this week counts as a good one.
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."
Speaking of "free," yes there will be a Free Comic Book Day offering at The Operative Network so check back Saturday for that on the front page.
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 "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!