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 APRIL 4, 2018

Deathstroke #30 (DC Comics)

Yeah, this is the stuff. Someone far, far behind the scenes goes to great lengths to put Slade Wilson and Bruce Wayne on a collision course in a huge Thomas Crown Affair level game of one-upsmanship. To say much more would spoil the numerous delicious surprises, but the Christopher Priest script is precise and meticulous, like a production of Noises Off, while the artwork from Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, Jeromy Cox and Willie Schubert bring this thrilling, globe spanning adventure to vibrant life before your eyes. RATING: BUY.

Exit Stage Left The Snagglepuss Chronicles #4 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. Snagglepuss Chronicles is bold and horrifying as it takes a swing at the oppressive psychosexual environment of the McCarthy era. The title character, Huckleberry Hound and other characters suffer under the yoke of "public decency laws" and societal expectations. This is surprisingly deep storytelling even as it puts a cartoonish edge on stories told as effectively in other mediums. Like Fruitvale Station, it's a difficult story to take in, rife with moments of gallows humor and true pathos (there's a scene with a conflicted policeman that's heartbreaking) as no one is allowed a sliver of joy under the spotlight of what's right. RATING: BUY.

Rise Of The Black Panther #4 (Marvel Comics)

The biggest problem with having amazing power is that one sometimes ends up making its own worst enemies. Osama bin Laden once worked with the CIA, and Saddam was cozy with the US for decades, so as we see Wakanda emerge as a superpower, logically even they must be the source of their own problems. prodigal son Killmonger comes home, the White Wolf makes clear his desires and Doom is less an antagonist and more a puppet in grand schemes beyond his ego and rivalries. Writer Evan Narcisse is writing some of the best T'challa stories we've seen since Chadwick hit the screen, and his expansive script is brought to sprawling, enthralling life by Javier Pina, Stephane Paitreau and Joe Sabino. RATING: BUY.

Nightwing #42 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. This issue is quite a pleasant surprise as Dick Grayson heads into the Tokyo underworld on a rescue mission that plays out like a video game (in the best possible way) and a fable (again, in the best possible way). With a clever framing device and an alarming new weapon added to the Bat arsenal, the title character is all flashing fists and quick quips. The script by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly is vastly efficient and engaging, while the stylized artwork of Jorge Corona, Mat Lopes and Carlos M. Mangual did a great job of presenting this done-in-one story. RATING: BUY.

Justice League #42 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. There is a lot going on here, and you really might want to reread the last two issues. In short, the Justice League has two problems. On one side, a "fan" who helped build their watchtower has decided to "strengthen" them by pushing their buttons using inside information and, you know, explosives. That led to the watchtower crashing in a war torn sub Saharan nation ruled by what looks like an evil version of Happy Pants Panther called The Red Lion, and the League is caught in the middle. Oh, and Deathstroke is crashing on the Red Lion's couch. There were too many entertaining moments to deny here, and in the hands of a writer less skilled than Christopher J. Priest here, this issue could have been a mess. However, with this script (which will be even better collected) and the visuals from Pete Woods and Willie Schubert, this issue brings it on home. RATING: BUY.

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Analog #1 takes a noirish slant on near future sci fi with a tough-as-nails protagonist in a world where our digital experience is a commodity and the only safe secrets are on paper, moved manually with a pistol in hand. It's not bad with its Chandler-meets-Warren Ellis vibe, but it stops mid thought and that's a deficit. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Astro City #51 was very close to making it work, but was too much like the middle chunk of a story to be a story itself. Great character work, as always amazing artwork, but it fell just shy of greatness. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Amazing Spider-Man #798 was certainly dramatic, with a third act reveal that literally astonished the title character. Unfortunately, as implied by Robbie Robertson, a lot of what happened was all to familiar, and that was a deficit. Good looking book with a smart last page, but this just missed the mark. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

While Black Lightning Cold Dead Hands #6 had a solid plot that served the purpose of addressing the antagonist, its saccharine ending felt anticlimactic even as it wrapped up every loose end. Not a bad book, but not catching your attention either. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Green Arrow #39 is very interesting, showcasing the limitations of of interventionist costumed adventurers (no matter how well meaning) in the face of the legacies of history when young people disavow everything that's come before. The only problem here is that its main subject barely gets anything right, being so far out of his depth that it might as well be the Marianas Trench. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

While Star Trek Discovery Annual 2018 had a pitch perfect take on the voices of many characters involved, its plot was an expanded wiki entry that didn't connect as a story. Decent, if somewhat stiff, artwork and a largely expository tale don't hurt, but they don't help. RATING: MEH.

Punisher #223 posits the idea that a skilled, determined person with a knife could disable a trained military person in Mandroid-styled, Stark-influenced armor. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Just because a bunch of things happen in a certain order doesn't make it a story, and Sex Criminals #23 wrestles with that even as it introduces some new, zany ideas (much like Chew kept making crazier food based powers as it went along), but can't seem to manage its characters or their activities into a coherent narrative. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Avengers Shards Of Infinity #1 is hokey, with a cookie cutter antagonist, ham fisted dialogue marinated in cliche. Its crisp, almost Avengers Assemble Season 1 artwork is good, but not good enough to save this retrograde issue. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

This is a big, winning week with lots of books making their way to the promised land through sheer grit and merit.

THE BUSINESS

Have you seen The Briefing, a newsletter from the Operative Network? A fresh issue just dropped at the top of the month -- if you subscribe now you'll be ready for the next one at the start of May!

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!