The Buy Pile Reviews Justice League, Batman, Star Wars

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) takes on an between seven to thirteen reviews (or so) to share his opinions with you. Thursday afternoons you'll be able to get those thoughts (and they're just the opinions of one guy, so calm down) about all of that ... which goes something like this ...

THE BUY PILE FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2018

Justice League #41 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. What if ... Killmonger had the Black Panther suit and fought the Justice League? Backed into an impossible position, the team faces a relentless, brilliant enemy capable of almost anything. No, he doesn't have vibranium or a hyper advanced nation, but Superman et al. discover that for all their power, they can be outflanked by people with prep time that even the Batman can't handle, trapped by the limits of their morality.

This Christopher Priest script is as mean as a freshly tailored suit or a razor thin mini skirt, and the visuals from Phillipe Brione, Jeromy Cox and Willie Schubert captures it all, from wide screen shock to close ups on combat in breath-and-spittle proximity. This ain't your daddy's Justice League... and that's a good thing.RATING: BUY

Star Wars #45 (Marvel Comics)

<i>Star Wars</i> #45 — If someone would just freaking talk to Luke, things would be different in *Star Wars* #45.

Jump from the Read Pile. This series has never been bad, introducing fun concepts like a lightsaber-wielding elite stormtrooper for example. Normally, it plays like moments between scenes, never completing a narrative. Here, it does all of that great character work (relying heavily on first trilogy photo reference, admittedly) while telling a great story of a scrappy Rebel scheme to strike a blow against the monolithic, overpowering Empire.

If you're a long time fan, only a meeting scene that had another chance for people to talk and save so many lives but instead passed silently like R2 never mentioning he used to fly with a Sith Lord. This is great, balanced storytelling from Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larocca, Guru eFX and Clayton Cowles. RATING: BUY

Future Quest Presents #8 (DC Comics)

<i>Future Quest Presents</i> #8 — Throw your hands in the air for freaking Mightor in *Future Quest Presents* #8!

Jump from the Read Pile. The lead character Mightor has a gift, excellently balancing the exuberance of a child and the intense power of a demigod. As such, he has the advantage of being really good at what he does (rare in this day and age, even with a voice guiding him in his ear) and fun to watch as he puts it all on the line to defend all he holds dear, never letting the smile slip off his face.

Writer Jeff Parker is pitch perfect with his light, enjoyable script while the artwork from Steve Lieber, Ryan Hill and Simon Bowland capture the vibrancy of the source material while effectively grasping the art form's conventions to make a great comic book. RATING: BUY

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Batman #43 is... tricky. Poison Ivy has, through her pheromone-and-plant-based madness, taken over every person in the world. Every human, Kryptonian, Martian -- everybody is under her direct mental control, feeding their sensory input into her. Batman, of course, has a plan to stop her. "Not impossible ... Batman," Catwoman says at one point, without irony or doubt. This book is gorgeous and deliberate and breathtaking in its execution, but ultimately facile and contrived in its conception. Ironically, despite the violence and jumping and weird science, it's a romance book at its heart. This is close to the mark, but has a few too many question marks for, essentially, the second coming of Wanda Maximoff in terms of unchecked power. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Doctor Strange Damnation #3 has (if you can pardon the pun) one hell of an ending, but Wong's prevarications are a long way from the significantly superior cinematic version, the fight scenes looked like posters without dynamics and the key concepts feel like an X-Men crossover of yesteryear. RATING: MEH.

Pathfinder Spiral Of Bones #1 had decent action scenes and an acceptable fantasy concept, but it fell down on characterization, giving too many players nowhere near enough panel time to connect with the audience. RATING: MEH.

Further Adventures Of Nick Wilson #3 had some cute moments of comeuppance for a fallen superhero. The glacial pacing and flat supporting characters didn't do it any favors, sadly. RATING: MEH.

Weapon H #1 is too cliche to truly be called bad, liberally borrowing from the Book of Bill Bixby with no remote interest in returning it, all while tossing around throwaway super villain assets like they were Hand ninjas or Cobra soldiers. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Superman #43 was the first new issue in some time to get Bizarro syntax right, but had a messy plot (even involving Bizarros, and to see the super polite Robzarro was really strange) that just kind of drove itself into a ditch. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Three jumps are hard to beat, even with "Hulkverine" and Boyzarro dragging the rankings down, so this week's a winner.

THE BUSINESS

Heading to Wondercon this weekend? Check out this columnist on three different panels. Hoo hah!

Also, Hannibal takes on DC Comics characters for the first time in the benefit anthology Ricanstruction: Reminiscing and Rebuilding Puerto Rico alongside Koi Turnbull, Eric Esquivel, Rosario Dawson, Ruben Blades, Denys Cowan, Ken Lashley, Gabby Rivera, Gail Simone, Reginald Hudlin, Mike Allred and so many more.

If you missed Hannibal on Black Comics Chat, you can check out the video of the podcast interview.

The writer of this column writes a weekly web superhero comic -- 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 Scoundrel (historical fiction set in 1981 east Los Angeles), 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!