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 SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Nothing

Due to not finding likely favorites at retail (America? Sold out), nothing demanded a ride home this week. Maybe that means it's time to catch up on some awesome web comics or maybe even buy a comic that can't be reviewed due to conflict of interest. Rare, but it happens sometimes.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

Oi. That's a bad start.

THIS WEEK'S READ PILE

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

Super Sons #8 had some really big ideas depicted in panels that were way too small for its brilliance and a whole universe of interesting looking new heroes barely got any chance to become distinguished. Great concepts, limited execution.

There is a lot to like about G.I. JOE First Strike #1, which thematically hearkened back to the animated episode "The Most Dangerous Thing In The World" with Shipwreck in command as the VENOM team joins Cobra's first female Commander (and to be honest, it's funny that she hasn't taken over sooner) for lots of shooting and a MASS Device styled scavenger hunt bracketed with high caliber automatic gunfire. There were great lines of dialogue, ("I KNOW!"), intriguing artwork and fun character moments but the plot was far too noisy to convey itself effectively.

Superman #31 was a rather good Lois Lane story, as she montages her way through some solid investigative journalism to get some face (?) time with Slade Wilson before his recent crisis of conscience. The storytelling is good but Superman is a blunt instrument in it, which is a disappointing use of his abilities. Not bad, but not exactly a backdoor pilot.

It's widely accepted that Tony Stark is, essentially, a jerk. Invincible Iron Man #11 casts some doubt on that idea, as the women in his life discuss his vulnerabilities, his heroism, his charity and his secrets. As a character piece it was very engaging, but as a story proper, it was the equivalent of a clip show.

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

Batman The Red Death #1 is wrong. At its core, it posits a Bruce Wayne who could be broken by tragedy and turned into everything that Bruce Wayne is not, capable of climbing to power over the corpses of his friends. Owlman as an effectively evil Batman worked because of his singularity, from an essentially upside down universe. The idea of "the seven most dangerous Batmen that never were," existing through the betrayal of a life of being Batman, is a corruption of the Grant Morrison "Bat-God" mythos. The very idea rings false in an mainstream too hamstrung by work-for-hire contracts to build a legitimate antagonist in the last two or three years that wasn't a fallen version of a hero. On top of that, this Firestormed speedster murder Batman doesn't even do anything particularly interesting, with unclear visual storytelling and a hand-me-down power set. This issue is not just bad, it's tired, from conception to execution.

SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?

A number of would-be contenders underperformed and that crossover title is the worst.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

This week went like worse than the freaking Hindenburg. Let's move on, quickly, yikes ...

THE BUSINESS

The latest issue of Irrational Numbers from Wunderman Comics is available now on Amazon, 22 pages of vampire supernatural history goodness for just two bucks. Nothing wrong with that!

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!