WHAT IS THE BUY PILE?

Every week Hannibal Tabu (winner of the 2012 Top Cow Talent Hunt/2018-2019 City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Trailblazer/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 FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Ironheart #3 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. Again, this issue does it all, balancing characterization and plot with spectacle as an old mystery is fleshed out, developed and an antagonist is brought to the foreground (despite swinging a little outside of their normal weight class). From a craft standpoint, this issue can do no wrong and from a character perspective, you get to see the lead be good at what she does while still struggling, a big challenge for many protagonists these days. Eve Ewing nails the tone and the rationales for character behavior with her script while Luciano Vecchio, Geoffo, Matt Milla and Clayton Cowles make every moment an event. RATING: BUY.

Wonder Twins #1 (DC Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. This ... is a surprise. By accepting the inherently ridiculous nature of the characters, this very sneaky, Easter egg-packed issue (yes, that is El Dorado) succeeds by sticking to its guns and never blinking. The story is this: two twin teens have ruined their chances at a normal life on their homeworld, so Superman, well meaning hayseed that he is, brings them to Earth and makes them interns with the Justice League. We learn disturbing things about Batman's musical tastes, find out about the mating rituals of an alien culture and generally send up every possible trope while still telling an engaging, clever story. The spandex-tight Mark Russell script here is a treat, and the distinctive, effective visuals from Stephen Byrne and Dave Sharpe do not fail on any point. This is one hell of a fun book; you should read it. RATING: BUY.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #41 (Marvel Comics)

This issue is brilliant in an all new way that sets a new paradigm for defeating the likes of Lex Luthor, The Riddler and their egotistical ilk. Ms. Quizzler shows up with death traps, bombastic pronouncements and an almost ritualistic methodology. Ryan North delivers with another inventive, engaging script while Naomi Franquiz, Rico Renzi and Travis Lanham make a very erudite topic engaging and visually enthralling. "Well played," indeed. RATING: BUY.

Outer Darkness #4 Image Comics)

Jump from the Read Pile. Unlike the other winners this week, this issue is mean spirited and brutal in all the best ways. A space ship partially run by magic rockets towards an uncertain destiny and keeps getting caught on more and more dangerous side quests that play into the idiosyncracies of its eccentric crew. A dictatorial captain, a stoic first officer who's part Cyclonus and part Spock, a navigator (the focal point of this issue) who's hiding SO MUCH that it's hilarious to read back and see him amongst the rest of the players here. John Layman is writing one super engaging mash up of fantasy and sci fi here, and the artwork from Afu Chan and Pat Brosseau bring this intricate, immersive experience to life. This is great! RATING: BUY.

Impossible Incorporated #4 is the Fantastic Four book you wish you were reading, a deluge of delightfully gigantic ideas washing over you like sun speckled Memphis rain. The lead character monologues too much but the characterization is great ... which can't be said for the supporting cast, much less well defined than they need to be. This is a mixed bag, but it's one of the bravest books you'll find in the stands, and that's very close to making it home, even with its faults. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Flash #64 started to do some real character work, building a relationship between two detectives and actually making them seem like friends. Unfortunately, the ridiculous antagonist, hiding a shadowier bigger boss somewhere, did nothing to really compel or make impressive stakes. Swing and a miss. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Star Wars Age Of Republic Count Dooku #1 was a fun if somewhat predictable romp with heavy voiceover as the titular Sith apprentice manipulates matters to help the formation of the Separatist movement (so this takes place after The Phantom Menace but significantly before Attack of the Clones) on a planet he deems, at best, inelegant. There's a naive young Jedi and there's a seamy criminal underworld and just saying those things can probably tell you what ends up happening. Solidly told if somewhat unsurprising. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Livewire #3 would have been much more effective if the long lost "sibling" who returns to disassemble the lead character had been more relevant in, oh, anything before this. Even if the character had been sprinkled in flashbacks or quoted in stories leading up to this. As good as the art and fight scenes (and, frankly, arguments made by the antagonist) are, they're like sitting down to eat a dinner that's half cooked, or, oh, most DC cinematic attempts. To build character, one has to do the work, and this antagonist hasn't received such a gift. Shame. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Winter Soldier #3 wasn't too bad despite a derivative element at its core. The character work was top notch, the character motivations clear and effective, and a somewhat ridiculous character was made into a serious threat, which was impressive. Had the core idea not been so directly carbon copied, given how many in universe methods there are to do a very similar thing, this might have made it home. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

NEXT PAGE: Things thin out with Ms. Marvel, The Last Space Race, Thor and -- ew -- The Batman Who Laughs

Last Space Race #3 was a little dry until its last page, an eyebrow raising moment that sends this into new territory than Letter 44. The periodical format may not serve this, and the characters need a lot more room to run, but the seed of something grander is here. RATING: MEH.

Ms. Marvel #38 had a super interesting second act surrounded by a plodding intro and a non-conclusive ending. The art flips were very engaging, the "levels" of this had some interesting character development, but where it ended up was less than compelling. RATING: MEH.

Wow. Spawn Kills Everyone Too #3 is bad. Really, truly, "wake the kids," "call the neighbors," "fire up the smoke machines" bad. There are ... some kind of teensy Spawn-like creatures, like bamfs or something, but homicidal. Anyway, along the way no familiar hero is safe from lampooning and then brutally being killed, which was kind of hip when Fred Hembeck did it, but is kind of old hat these days. Then there's Clownos ... and that's where it goes from "why is this happening?" to "sweet spirit singing, that's terrible." Stop it. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Thor #10 managed to make a fight scene between two ridiculous gods into a sobby, needlessly emotional mess. Nothing worth happening occurred here. Let's move on. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

The fact that Batman Who Laughs #3 is bad should be no surprise, given the weakness of its two predecessors. What's most heartbreaking about this is that there is the nugget of something really interesting here -- the chemically neutered son of Jim Gordon, forced to feel guilt and remorse, methodically plodding through his court appointed tasks as part of an experimental program -- that could change the way not only criminal justice in Gotham works but could be the key to the actual problem here. Instead of digging into the amazing characterization possibilities of the younger Gordon, we had a pretty pointless fight scene with Penguin and a lot of other piffle. Shame. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Three jumps? Man, that's a week that wins since there wasn't enough bad to overcome it.

THE BUSINESS

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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!