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 OCTOBER 3, 2018

Border Town #2 (Vertigo/DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. If you liked Attack The Block but wanted the characters to be less scoundrel-ish, this is the story for you. With deft, almost elegant strokes of characterization (like that Kyle Rayner poster), a wonderful almost Whitestone-ish surprise at the end and a well balanced plot, this Eric Esquivel script nails the tension and weirdness of this wonderful magical realism story, skillfully depicted by Ramon Villalobos, Tamra Bonvillain and Deron Bennett. Clever, kooky and engaging in all the right ways, this second issue fleshes out things from the first and continues to trend upwards. RATING: BUY.

Tony Stark Iron Man #4 (Marvel Comics)

<i>Tony Stark Iron Man</i> #4
A guest star buzzes around Tony Stark Iron Man #4 and makes everything fabulous!

Jump from the Read Pile. When you're inventing the future, there's not always a lot of time for dating. When you toss this fact into the Marvel Universe, it leads to a high tech redefinition of catfishing that's super interesting to watch. With a high flying guest star nailing every panel she's in, great character work from a number of players, and perfect twists and surprises, this issue is self-contained and top notch. This is great work from Dan Slott, Valerio Schiti, Edgar Delgado and Joe Caramagna. RATING: BUY.

Batman #56 (DC Comics)

<i>Batman</i> #56
A howl and a whine, the dark knight detective is after you in Batman #56.

Jump from the Read Pile. This issue gets better the more you think about it, a relentless hunt for a ruthless killer, laced with old business and old grudges. The characterization is fantastic, delivering a KGBeast that makes sense, even in these(maybe not-so) post-Soviet days. If you've ever heard the song "Synchronicity 2" by the Police, this works in much the same way, moving two different plots along together in, well, synchronicity. Writer Tom King turns in another virtual masterpiece with this script and the artwork by Tony S. Daniel, Danny Miki, Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles brings it all together masterfully. RATING: BUY.

What If? X-Men #1 (Marvel Comics)

<i>What If? X-Men</i> #1
Your password has been compromised! Log in to What If? X-Men #1 to correct the issue.

Jump from the Read Pile. Cleverly playing linguistic tricks with two layers of lingua franca this nifty little Elseworlds mixes The Matrix with mutants and delivers a delicious surprise that's neither. Everybody is, at the end of the day, who they are but how you come to understand that is a nice surprise, with a dash of Fury Road and a star turn for Domino. This Bryan Edward Hill script will keep you guessing like a Black Mirror episode and the visuals from Neil Edwards, Giannis Milonogiannis, Rachelle Rosenberg and Clayton Cowles (yes, again) move the ball with confidence and brilliance. RATING: BUY.

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Jook Joint #1 is a gorgeously depicted, very effective set up for a horror story, positing a secret hidden in the swamps that delivers justice to the wronged, health to the needy and joy to the suffering. Unfortunately, just when the story was reaching what's essentially its mid point, it stopped, like a car braking for an animal. Great craft applied here, but the pacing didn't let this issue give enough to connect. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION

Deathstroke #36 takes the title character to Arkham, and to say that the events of this book are crazy might be an understatement but it doesn't come together and sort of drifts around. It does this in an entertaining fashion, but a nice view from a car spinning on black ice is no better an experience. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Battlestar Galactica Classic #0 isn't bad, being almost all plot. Adama and Starbuck (original recipe) get a few moments to show who they are, but there's too much going on to engage a reader with the players here. If you know the property, this is just an average Tuesday, which fans might find engaging. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

If Errand Boys #1 gets adapted for TV or film, its whimsy and kineticism will light teh interwebs on fire with excitement. In print here, it's a close second as a cipher-esque layabout scoundrel gets a life changing surprise that disrupts his carefree existence. Solid storytelling, okay characterization, but it feels somewhat disposable, as if you could keep watching these train wreck lives or not. The hook, as it were is the deeper concept of the world, not these specific players, and that's the only deficit to this fun issue. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Justice League #9 was a decent background piece, great character work alongside a story that never actually materializes. Each member of the team gets a great piece of characterization and the arguable framing device is another case of Batman being more dangerous than he is worth. Problematic but charming, this issue is a mixed bag. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Last Siege #5 was very close to making the mark by being largely self-contained. A mysterious stranger has come to defend the doomed lands of a slain minor lord, his daughter the last of his name and untrained in combat. The opponent is a cruel warlord whose path crossed the stranger's previously. The symmetry of the plot and the poetry of the line work were so delightful that it almost distracted from the lack of characterization and the drab color palette. Alas and alack, here we are. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

What If? Spider-Man #1 is a little heavy handed with the "Unseen" as a chatty Jiminy Cricket. Given his long road of redemption in Agent Venom, it should be no surprise that this features a clearly inferior Spider-Man but still manages to hit some notes of emotional honesty and end itself well. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

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Superior Octopus #1 had a couple of interesting moments as the erstwhile Otto Octavious tries to outsmart himself, but ends up rebooting the horrors of past crossovers in his regular, sloppy form. To see someone so smart be so dumb is a little tiresome, but he is who he has to be, apparently. RATING: MEH.

Blackbird #1 is beautiful and vague, like a stranger you couldn't look away from at a bar but never see again. As such, it doesn't give you much -- the protagonist, for all her pluck and hope, is incompetent and the challenge she faces is really herself, not the story she tells. It's not bad, but as gorgeous as it is, it really should offer you more in terms of story meat. RATING: MEH.

Has Nightwing #50 gone full Blindspot or just a little Memento? The extreme circumstances of his recent night out with Batman means Dick Grayson doesn't remember Barbara Gordon, doesn't remember heroism and doesn't care that he doesn't remember. All the skills and training of one of the world's premiere heroes turned to booze and gambling and sleepy hedonism. That's... a thing. It's not bad, per se, but it's not exactly engaging either. RATING: MEH.

Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons and inadvertently gotten stuck in a largely pointless side quest? Champions #25 does that as the team uses magic to search for their lost friends and end up stuck with one of the goofiest and least effective villains they've ever fought for the fate of a place literally no one cares about. Not bad, just ... RATING: MEH.

Despite a respectful approach and a high degree of craft applied by everyone in the production of this work, Infinity Wars Sleepwalker #1 is stupid. From its underlying conception, it's got no choice but to have little effect on the actual things going on in the equally ill-conceived crossover, and manages to have terrible ideas even on its own. Look away, don't make eye contact, maybe it won't notice you. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Holy crap, four jumps? This week is amazing!

THE BUSINESS

The writer of this column just completed the latest season of the weekly web superhero comic Project Wildfire: Street Justice -- you can read it all for free for just a week or so longer. 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!