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 NOVEMBER 22, 2018

Heroes In Crisis #1 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. This issue is most amazing because of the accomplishment it achieves over expectation and Convention. A story traditionally has a beginning, middle, and end. This issue? not so much, and that does nothing to distract from the entertainment value or the earworm-like nature of what's done here. Writer Tom King once again wheels the nine panel page like a scalpel, definitely humanizing characters in fractional amount of space. Let's not minimize the visual storytelling contributions of Clay Mann, Tomeo Morey and Clayton Cowles in purposefully jerking this book from idling to full RPMs with frightening precision. The questions raised (what's up with Booster's suit, for example) do less to detract from the work than to enhance the mystery. This is a very pleasant surprise, non linear and daring storytelling writ large. RATING: BUY.

RELATED: Heroes in Crisis: A Minor Death Has a Powerful Real-World Connection

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 (Marvel Comics)

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #310

Jump from the Read Pile. If you love Spider-Man, this wonderful, deeply emotional and surprising issue will take you to the place where that love is truest and purest. If you don't love Spider-Man, this issue will make crystal clear for you why other people do. A college student is making a documentary on the wall crawler and the interviews are so surprisingly effective. Chip Zdarsky does almost everything here (Travis Lanham handled the lettering) and he does it so, so well. Self contained, this issue gives you everything you need in one package. RATING: BUY.

Transformers Lost Light #24 (IDW Publishing)

<i>Transformers Lost Light</i> #24
Go big or go home ... or maybe both in Transformers Lost Light #24.

Holy crap. One of the things many good action related stories have in common is a rousing, inspirational moment -- the kind that brings in mind a battered but unbroken soul, waving a banner triumphantly over a field of battle. Between the leadership of two captains, with a host of just surprising, amazing, heartbreaking moments, you get that inspiration and it's everything. This sci fi romp has heart where it counts, and if you think that doesn't make sense in a book about giant robots, pal, you're nog reading Lost Light. James Roberts, Brendan Cahill, Joana LaFuente and Tom B. Long deserve a standing ovation for this capstone to some of the finest long form storytelling in comics. RATING: BUY. HARD.

Star Wars Poe Dameron #31 (Marvel Comics)

<i>Star Wars Poe Dameron</i> #31
Rebellions are built on hope in Star Wars Poe Dameron #31.

Jump from the Read Pile. In the film thus far, we've been introduced to many sides of this comic's title character. Poe Dameron the brat, the Kobe Bryant-esque hot dog, the strategic catastrophe and so on have gotten ample time on screen to become well understood. This issue fully introduces a Poe Dameron we only got a hint of on screen: Poe Dameron the leader, balancing his passion with a plan, taking his tactical acumen and funneling that into long term benefit. This issue does it all -- building out the members of Black Squadron as credible and realized supporting characters, giving wonderful moments and quotes and -- of course -- blowing lots of things up. Charles Soule, Angel Unzueta, Arif Prianto and Joe Caramagna deliver in a book that gives you the Star Wars feeling that inspired a franchise. RATING: BUY.

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There is one moment in Amazing Spider-Man #6 that is so uproariously absurd that it's a legitimate "laugh out loud" moment. The titular character doesn't even suit up in this issue, but his humor and "luck" are at play and it has some enjoyable moments. It's a trip from your normal shenanigans that should delight dedicated webheads. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Beyonders #2 plays like the "how it happened" segment on Monk or the BBC version of Sherlock mixed with a Dan Brown novel. It's not bad, and it has some kind of code of its own mixed in, but it moves so fast and so breezy that it's hard to take it seriously. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Star Wars Doctor Aphra #24 had a few pretty good laughs, one legitimately terrifying momeny and some totally in character plot twists but didn't string them together quite well enough to call this a "story" and not "a series of mishaps and betrayals." RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Thrilling Adventure Hour #3 is dripping with charm and emotional connections between characters ... and oven mitts. Those come in quite handy. That said, the plot is a bit cliche and dry, but there's a lot of fun in the leads if they just got more to do. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Modern Fantasy #4 was a speedy and anticlimactic conclusion to a low level boss fight as the action scenes didn't connect as well as the very strong character work. The kooky visuals worked far better with interactions than combat did, and the details one might enjoy from a fantasy based RPG were skimmed over. Still fun and endearing, but maybe finding its footing in the meat and potatoes of fantasy storytelling. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

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X-Men Red #8 was a symphony of pained gestures and telepathic combat against airborne microscopic aerosol murder machines. People stood around, yelled, and told us things were happening. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Wicked + The Divine 1373 #1 gave a clear answer to anyone who wonders what is happening in this franchise, but in a way that's dour and doesn't add much to the reading experience. This would have made a great aside or wiki entry, though. RATING: MEH.

Ever wonder what happened to Will Byers in the Upside Down while his friends and family searched for him? Stranger Things #1 flips the perspective to follow Will in his time on the other side. It's okay. RATING: MEH.

Motivations? Clarity? Feh, Extermination #3 cares not for these things in a race between two time traveling men (like when Bishop and Cable did it) to control/end the lives of teenaged mutants (remember Hope Summers was a whole crossover and now, what, she works at Best Buy or something) while the Children of the Atom try desperately to save everyone? If this was going to be derivative, it could have remembered to include "why" before the series was twelve bucks in the hole for a reader. Terrible. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Star Trek Vs Transformers #1 is quick, cliched and hokey, focused heavily on animated style without any deeper resonance for characters or innovation in plot. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Two bad books can't tank the amazingness that happened this week.

THE BUSINESS

The writer of this column recently completed the latest season of the weekly web superhero comic Project Wildfire: Street Justice -- you can read it all for free for just a little while 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!