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 FEBRUARY 28, 2018
Darth Vader #12 (Publisher Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile. In an issue that just as easily could have been called "put some respeck on my name," Vader acts about as Vaderish as anyone who ever Vadered. Heading back to the Imperial throneworld to investigate an attempt on his life, the title character is attacked again and falls back on old skills before making his position clear in the Imperial hierarchy. Charles Soule's script has lots of classic moments and holds together as a wonderful narrative on its own, while the visual contribution of Guiseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, David Curiel and Joe Caramagna makes the George R.R. Martin-worthy intrigues of Coruscant vibrant and intense.
Giles #1 (Publisher Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile. It is virtually impossible to absorb everything in this multi-layered, evocative issue in one sitting. An organization called Watchers once kept tabs on super-powered young women called Slayers. All that is washed away as one of their number is back from the dead and a teenager secretly investigating supernatural mysteries. From this simple tapestry comes a doomed romance, unusual murders, high school dramas and nuanced, subtle poo culture influences that are very enjoyable. Erika Alexander and Joss Whedon collaborate on this clever, engaging script (the principal's office scene is fire) while the visuals from Jon Lam, Dan Jackson, Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt really came together for a super effective start.
Transformers Lost Light #15 (IDW Publishing)
First of all, Skorponok is no longer allowed to watch that last Battlestar Galactica series. Second of all, this fun issue showed the true bonds of friendship and explained a Dinobot design flaw that's likely been around forever and works just like a retcon. The dialogue is fun here and the Scavengers may be some of the lamest Decepticons ever, but their friendship is entertaining to see. This is a solid issue from the creative team of James Roberts, Brendan Cahill, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana LaFuente and Tom B. Long.
WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?
Pleasant surprises, great performances by favorites, that's the way you wanna kick things off!
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THIS WEEK'S READ PILE
Honorable Mentions: Stuff worth noting, even if it's not good enough to buy
Black Panther #170 was poetic and flowery, had some nice character snippets and had another great moment for Thunderball, but ultimately was sturm und drang without much story meat on its narrative bones. The elegance of T'challa's diction and composure was nice.
Rick Veitch's The One #1 has some kooky alternate future ideas about a world suffering from a collective trauma, kind of like Ozymandias' plan with less ambition. There are some interesting ideas here, presented in the faux documentary style of The Office, but it stopped before it completed a thought or the set up for the series (as Giles did).
Abbott #2 got a taste of sophomore jinx as it hit the brakes on character development and paced through some fairly predictable procedural elements. Still a gorgeous looking book but not quite up to the standard set by its stellar predecessor.
All-New Wolverine #31 had some completely wonderful moments if you are a truly horrible person, but there wasn't much of a plot here.
Optimus Prime #16 has the seed of something great, even while its titular character flounders ineffectively. Soundwave -- the last true Decepticon -- stands in the middle of a debate between old and new, and all the sound and fury don't signify enough to connect this scattered plot. It feels like it could be something, but falls short.
Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #39 had a couple of decent moments for a surprisingly friendly General Zod, and the "workplace gripes of the Lanterns" bit wasn't bad, but the whole plot would have been six pages in a book edited by Julius Schwartz and we'd have been grateful for it.
Avengers #682 had a star turn for Red Wolf, who did a better Batman impression than Bruce Wayne, but the eyeroll-worthy ending and the otherwise predictable plot was nothing to write home about. Nice shirt at the end, though.
No, just ... no ... These comics? Not so much ...
Optimus Prime Annual 2018 was bad because it almost didn't have a choice. Thundercracker gets hired to make a movie, selling former backstabber turned planetary ruler Starscream to the masses. That goes badly in every possible way, and then when it could make a turn, it gets weirdly meta textual and silly and, ironically, the title character is barely in this thing. This was a real low point for the franchise.
SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?
Even with that weird meta Thundercracker thing, it wasn't too much of a chore making it through these books.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Two jumps and only one bad book? Wave the checkered flag, we're winning this one!
THE BUSINESS
Continuing the celebrations of Wakanda, this columnist was part of a panel in front of an all-Black private screening of Black Panther and has video and photos to show for it.
You can get a sneak peek at the cover for a new prose science fiction anthology featuring the writing of this columnist as well.
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 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!