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 DECEMBER 13, 2017

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #27 (Marvel Comics)

Under "that escalated quickly" in any reference work, the life of the lead here will be pictured in great detail. Here, a mystery surrounds two of Squirrel Girl's closest friends and she has to almost literally scour the globe for an answer. Along the way, this brings along a hilarious set of guest star cameos (ironically not most of the ones on the cover) and a magical moment or two for a story that isn't as bad as the people involved believe and the audience knows way more than anyone on the page. This is another fun, engaging issue from Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Rico Renzi and Travis Lanham.

Daredevil #596 (Marvel Comics)

Daredevil #596

Jump from the Read Pile. The worst enemy the title character has ever faced is now the mayor of New York City, and the NYPD are his personal army after an ill-advised confrontation. Matt Murdock spends most of the issue on the run, hounded with brilliantly depicted action scenes that make the final surprise ending so, so satisfying. This issue is a an emotional roller coaster and creators Charles Soule, Stefano Landini, Matt Milla and Clayton Cowles really stepped it up with this issue. This is a really great issue.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Fun, compelling books well worth your money so far.

THIS WEEK'S READ PILE

Honorable Mentions: Stuff worth noting, even if it's not good enough to buy

Too messy to be good but too beautiful to be bad, Secret Warriors #10 was a real mixed bag as it didn't exactly have a "plot" or a "story" but a series of fascinating (and sometimes befuddling) character interactions.

Barry Allen is evil in Wildstorm Michael Cray #3, and once you get past the "again corrupting the heroes you are supposed to believe in" vibe, this presents some interesting ideas about the nature of one's focus.

Monstro Mechanica #1 is gorgeous. However, the idea of a Renaissance man turned adventurer was not well done in S.H.I.E.L.D. and it doesn't fare better from a conception standpoint here, no matter how well executed.

No, just ... no ... These comics? Not so much ...

Well ... nothing was truly terrible ... that's a plus!

SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?

Any week where nothing is agony-inducing is good, even though most of the week was forgettable.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Doreen Green and Matt Murdock left it all on the field, and that makes the week a win.

THE BUSINESS

This week. Scoundrel #1 from Wunderman Comics. Go on, go buy it!

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."

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 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!