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 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 AUGUST 14, 2019
Ironheart #9 (Marvel Comics)
This is a good old fashioned superhero team up, upgraded with modernized elements and a wit that's really effective. Just like putting the positive poles of two magnets towards each other, there's some rocky road when the title character meets Shuri, Princess of Wakanda. If you've been in this business long enough, you know how that works out, and this time without needless fisticuffs. This action-packed issue still gives plenty of room for the teenaged talents to show their ability (and get some poster worthy shots) while just slightly getting distracted from the overall point. This is another rock solid showing from writer Eve Ewing with so many gorgeous images available from the visual team of Luciano Vecchio, Geoffo and Matt Milla. RATING: BUY
Star Trek Year Five #4 (IDW Publishing)
Wow. There has been much praise given to this series, and rightfully so, as each of the previous three issues has carefully balanced the characterization of a fairly large number of individuals against some truly engaging science fiction plotting. This issue, written by Brandon Easton, does nothing to stop that train, increasing the quality as it goes. There's a brilliant conversation about a crisis of conscience in the middle of a huge action scene (and it makes so much sense). There's a deft bending of every Starfleet rule by someone so unlikely to do it (also making great sense). Maybe best of all, Uhura steps up as a total badass (in, again, a very logical way) while Scotty shows why he's not just a wrench but a talented people leader (and man, that speech was so effective). All of that happened that's before you deal with the challenge of a society developing way faster than warp speed. This issue is dazzling and the art from Martin Coccolo, Fran Gomboa and Neil Uyetake is a refreshing mix of old school aesthetics and modern storytelling. Again? Wow. RATING: BUY. MAYBE BUY IT TWICE.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #47 (Marvel Comics)
This issue starts strong, with a big melee and a great food based gag, then only intensifies things with a big, brainy but entertaining dump of exposition that leads to a stakes-changing escalation of the entire series' status quo. This work penned by Ryan North has surprises and fun character moments and so many chuckles, while the visual storytelling from Derek Charm, Rico Renzi, Madeline McGrane and Travis Lanham took even a possibly dry subject and made it engaging. This is a series that has so many high points and this issue is another gem in the unrelenting stream of brilliant books. The last page is truly a culmination of this series' high points. RATING: BUY.
Orville #2 (Dark Horse Comics)
Jump from the Read Pile. Set before the start of season two, this issue does great work establishing a crisis and coming to a resolution while giving many of the ship's characters room to shine (Kelly in command, Gordon as a weirdo, Isaac as, well, Isaac). This also shows the universe of The Orville as being "lived in," with a history that's specific and has ramifications on the present. This David A. Goodman script hits all the right notes and in a balanced fashion, not just as a fragment of a story. The artwork from David Cabeza, Michael Atiyeh, Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt gives you everything you need in a crisp, recognizable fashion. So much more just a funnier knock off of Star Trek, this property flies on its own power. RATING: BUY.
Batman And The Outsiders #4 was an extraordinarily good character study, as nimble dialogue helped a number of characters come to understandings with each other in ways that were pretty quotable, be they would-be heroes or would-be villains. What was off was the staging: there's a meeting on a boat that could have been an email (honestly, most meetings could be emails, but that's neither here nor there). The rooftop scene seemed an odd location for what happened there. Only the bit with the sword happened where it had to happen. This is not a bad book at all, but it seems to still be finding its footing, despite the very engaging work with the interplay. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
Powers Of X #2 barely bothers with limited human concepts like "characterization" as it dives deep into a heady plot that might make Iain Banks, Warren Ellis and Skip Delany nod with approval. The issue with mutantkind is not a racial struggle but a galactic effort for significance, a bigger tale than almost any other. This is fascinating reading, stuff you'll need to refer back to a lot and worth your attention ... but that doesn't exactly make it a story, per se. The more these issues go along, with all their research into the Kardashev scale and variant timelines, the more it seems this never should have been single issues at all, but an original graphic novel you can binge like a new Netflix show. Still, it's undeniable that this is interesting. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
Star Wars Adventures Annual 2019 was a much improved but ultimately throwaway work that played a little bit with continuity (Leia's mom has got it going on) and reintroduces some old things (Jaxxon is back in canon) in two decent stories that almost justify the eight buck price of admission ... but not quite. The lead story was the best of the two, and the recap-heavy Leia tidbit dragged and left more questions than it answered. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor #11 almost reached the heights of its previous issue as the long awaited Corsair ends up a high end substitute for River Song and the heist goes almost predictably sideways in a manner that diminishes the supporting cast. Not bad, but it suddenly lacked the distinctiveness that it had going for it before. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
Reaver #2 didn't hit quite as hard as its first issue, with fewer characters getting a chance to shine (points to the "Skineater" rogue, the regretful barbarian and the dandy). An encounter expanded the world but slowed down the plot. Not bad, but not the stellar levels reached by the debut. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.
Life And Death Of Toyo Harada #6 was a drastic anticlimax, a false flag, a tepid switcheroo that made a mess and only halfway cleaned it up. RATING: MEH.
On one side, Doctor Strange #17 is a gigantic cop-out, a meaningless reset button that does little to advance the actual story we were told. That's a bummer. On the other side, even though nothing actually changes, there's a gut punch moment for the title character that's worse than any defeat, that's just (as noted) petty and mean for no other reason than sadism. That's something to see. It's a moment of emotional honesty dredged from page after page of needless sturm und drang, which was a bridge too far to cross, ultimately. RATING: MEH.
Event Leviathan #3 has a large number of abjectly ridiculous ideas, including the concept that Jason Todd could beat/evade Batman, Damian Wayne and Plastic Man all at the same time, even with Green Arrow in the mix. That's preposterous. Moving past that, the last page is very "oh snap!" in a good way, so that's a bit of balance. It can't be said that the dialogue isn't enjoyable to read in a kind of West Wing way. However, the plot is a mess, the "mystery" is treading water and most of the characters aren't doing much other than sniping at each other. RATING: MEH.
In Absolute Carnage Separation Anxiety #1, a stray dog vomits a quartet of symbiotes all over a struggling family, bringing them "together." No one is anything short of a stereotype, the dog is very quickly forgotten and there's some mild cannibalism. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.
WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?
Four astounding purchases versus one really bad book? This week's a win, no matter how you cut it!
THE BUSINESS
Don't let the haters slow you down! Grab yourself a t-shirt featuring the medical doctor turned local superhero Faze, featured in Project Wildfire: Street Justice.
Have you checked out season four of the free web comic Project Wildfire: The Once and Future King? While you can, read the whole thing for the best possible price: "free."
T-shirts, stickers and even a hoodie: find the finest in indie comics merchandise in the Operative Network Store on the site and on Etsy.
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!