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 MAY 30, 2018
Lando: Double Or Nothing #1 (Marvel Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile. The latest Star Wars anthology film has been divisive amongst fans, but almost universally one thing unites them all: The wonder of Lando Calrissian. Everything that made the Donald Glover performance superlative has been concentrated and perfected in this amazing issue. Living on the most luxurious side of the galaxy's underbelly, Lando and his politically aware droid first mate L3-37 are wonderfully established (read: "you don't need to have seen any of the movies or animation, but if you did, this is amazing") before being roped into a struggle against the fledgling Empire's boot crushing the throat of yet another working class world.
RELATED: We Want a Lando Spinoff More Than We Need a Solo Sequel
This script by Rodney Barnes is a wholehearted quote machine, with so many delightful Lando bon mots that you'll want to frame some of these panels. L3 is just as good, and the artwork from Paolo Villanelli, Andres Mossa and Joe Caramagna balances the refinement Lando wants with the rough scrabble life forced upon the galaxy by the Empire. This issue is wildly re-readable and entertaining from cover to cover. RATING: BUY, MAYBE EVEN TWICE.
Abbott #5 (Boom! Studios)
Jump from the Read Pile. Way to stick the landing! After a couple of issues that were challenged in pacing and balance, this period piece comes on strong for an emotional, effective ending. With books involving magic, the end can sometimes be hard to parse out as vague hand waving and indecipherable emotional twists. Here, everything is crystal clear as the titular lead does everything right, turning a disadvantage into a satisfying conclusion. Kudos are definitely due to the creative team of Saladin Ahmed, Sami Kivela, Jason Wordie and Jim Campbell. RATING: BUY.
Green Lanterns Annual #1 (DC Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile. This fascinating issue introduced tons of nuance and character to the Green Lantern Corps as they participated in a ritual honoring the sacrifice of a Lantern in the mists of prehistory. This story goes deeply sci-fi very fast, and the character work on its two leads Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz stood up and inspired.
RELATED: [SPOILER] Can’t Wield a Green Lantern Ring – But What Does That Mean?
It's tough to say more without spoilers, but Andy Diggle's script is clever, engaging and surprising while the visuals from Mike Perkins, Andy Troy and Dave Sharpe make moments small and large work out equally (the "I Spy" moment is particularly effective) as this issue takes a smarter path towards a very satisfying conclusion. This issue is really good. RATING: BUY.
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Man Of Steel #1 is enormously well written, working characterization in deftly while introducing a new supporting character, all with pitch perfect artwork. What it doesn't do is have a beginning, middle and end. It begins well enough, and middles a bit before kind of just stopping, and that's not exactly how storytelling works. If the defense is the weekly format, making people pay more to get a basic unit of narrative is unfair and not compelling. Let's try again. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
RELATED: Man of Steel #1’s Ending Invokes an Unexpected DC Crisis
G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #252 effectively fleshed out both the character of Cobra's most prominent female devotee but also her romance with Destro. Unfortunately, it happened framed by the less than compelling struggle against a would be rebel in the Cobra-esque country of Darklonia. Swing and a miss here. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
Harbinger Wars 2 #1 means all the toys are out of the box, but the core argument of fear driving the actions of heroes is so 2006 ... and 2016. Anyway, there are no action scenes to dazzle, little characterization to engage and super flat coloring, which makes it less enthralling. RATING: MEH.
In many writing classes, they advise agains "writing yourself into a corner." Punisher #225 runs that risk very hard as every superhero in New York is gunning for Frank Castle, determined to take the War Machine armor from him and mad about his brief stint as a neo-Nazi. Like driving through thick fog, there's no telling where this will end up. That's not exactly entertaining, despite a few clutch moments. RATING: MEH.
Last Siege #1 has an intriguing start for a feudal fantasy with familiar themes but little in the way of characters to make this tale distinguished from other sword slinging stories. RATING: MEH.
Optimus Prime #19 contains a thin thread of the ongoing Shakespearean tragedy of Starscream, always reaching but never truly grasping. Unfortunately, it's locked in a wholly ridiculous plot from Shockwave (like, it's bad crazy, like dating a Cardassian Kardashian), supporting characters flailing around (even two huge combiners and two city sized robots) and the title character spending most of the book somewhere near death. Troubling, but you keep rooting for it to pull out of its nosedive. RATING: MEH.
Amazing Spider-Man #800 is the big enchilada, the big fight we've all waited for, right? Well ... there are real stakes here, and real consequences, but this issue is basically a longer, messier version of the same fight that's been going since July 1964. Nothing wrong about it, but this is a greatest hits complilation, not new material despite even Miles Morales getting a good line in. RATING: MEH.
RELATED: Amazing Spider-Man Just Featured The Last Reunion We Were Expecting
Justice League No Justice #4 forged ahead with a slightly different take on the "space giants set to destroy earth" shtick, trying to hit some pretty tight turns at a very high speed. The results? Well, there's plenty of paint left on the walls and a mess all along the road. On the low end of barely acceptable, this issue was kind of a mess. RATING: MEH.
Infinity Countdown Captain Marvel #1 shows Becky With The Good Powers thumbing through alternate realities, second guessing herself and generally not doing much despite being charged with stopping a cosmic villain called Blastaar from making landfall and wreaking havoc. That ... happened. RATING: MEH.
Doomsday Clock #5 is a series of singular ideas as panels masquerading as a story, a lengthy critique of the weaknesses of metahuman vigilantism fired scattershot at the audience. This karaoke version of Alan Moore is an ongoing catastrophe moving with molasses momentum. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.
WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?
Three jumps make the week an easy win.
THE BUSINESS
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 to try and review the work, 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!