WHAT IS THE BUY PILE?

Every week Hannibal Tabu (winner of the 2012 Top Cow Talent Hunt/2018-2019 City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Trailblazer/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 22, 2019

Nothing

There weren't any books that came out this week this column could recommend, so unless you like super cool web comics or time traveling sci-fi wackiness, you might be stuck.

War Of The Realms Journey Into Mystery #3 had fun with a possibly pointless side quest, but its character work was top notch and there were a few laughs that were legit. It wasn't enough since the reveal didn't do much and the stakes were pretty goofy, but it was okay. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Road Of Bones #1 is a super brutal work of historical fiction with a hint of supernatural flavor, set in a 1950 Russian prison camp. Rough trade is the only thing in stock here, and while the characterization as thin as the near-starved characters themselves, there is a clear application of writing craft here. If you like your storytelling hard and deliberate, this might work for you. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Wonder Woman #71 has a very inconclusive conclusion to the challenge of a capricious god, but it has some spectacular visual and verbal moments that could fit on posters. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Unstoppable Wasp #8 was long on charm and creativity but short on clarity with weird twists and needless side trips and a last second reveal that was more out of nowhere than the events at King's Landing. Not bad, but maybe more ambitious than it needed to be. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Assassin Nation #3 snuck in some clever plot elements in with its cartoonish and extreme violence and fairly chuckle-worthy moments from "F*** Tarkington," one of the most wonderful and ridiculous character/name combinations since Fat Cobra. This will likely be a gem in a collection, but its actual narrative fell just shy of the mark for a single issue. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Miles Morales Spider-Man #6 has truly fantastic characterization as it introduces an airborne complication in the life of the titular hero. The plot has plenty of action but doesn't conclude satisfyingly but the production values and character work are superb. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Clue Candlestick #1 slowly plays out like an instance of the board game, with abstract influenced artwork. It's not bad, but has characters that are more cliche than anything else. RATING: MEH.

Been a while since someone substituted the trappings of a trailer park technique but Avengers #19 trots out essentially ads for other parts of the crossover in lieu of, say, storytelling. The framing device plays more with the larger story than the event du jour, which is also not so interesting, but at least this book looks amazing. RATING: MEH.

Re: Terrifics #16. Going with the cliches in a big way, there are two super disturbing visuals, very little characterization and stakes so teensy that the buy in could be done with change. Guh. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Dial H For Hero #3 is a bad acid trip oozing over high grade paper as random extrahuman concepts battle for ... the chance to make more ridiculous ideas cone to life. Baffling work that's like driving into a thick night's fog with your headlights off. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Savage Dragon #244 went way off the rails with a needless meta interlude (those rarely work), a fight for no stakes and brushing past real issues with Maxine Dragon. This is a mess, even by this series' messy standards. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Would you like to read a poorly rendered wiki entry masquerading as exposition while the protagonist does next to nothing? Detective Comics #1004 has you covered as the origin of the Arkham Knight has more retcons and implausibilities than a White House press conference. Stop it. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur #43 has a really dumb element that "borrows" from much better ideas, has a pointless hook into the "War of the Realms" crossover that has everybody talking and has Thor at his dumbest and least effective. This is a failure. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Five bad books in one week? That much concentrated crappiness hasn't come together in years. Yowza. Let's all take a few steps back and reconsider the decisions that led us here. Yowza.

THE BUSINESS

Have you seen Time Corps #13 from Wunderman Comics? Written by the maker of this column, it's chronologically complicated stories that astonishes with seven words: "no one ever expects the Zulu inquisition.” On sale now!

Have you checked out season four of the free web comic Project Wildfire: The Once and Future King? Every week catch a page of the story for the best possible price: "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!