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 OCTOBER 10, 2018

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #37 (Marvel Comics)

This series has enjoyed a lengthy and storied run in this column, so that's why this issue is a surprise. Heroes and villains alike pay respect for the deceased super heroine ... and so does she. People honor her memory while she watches and tries to figure out who stole her identity. The surprise about this issue is that it is merely "good," not great. Every previous issue has had some innovative twist, some magnificent character moment, some "wow" moment. Here? Just chuckles, great art and a decent plot.

Had this series not been on the Buy Pile since forever, this would have been an honorable mention. There's likely some amazing twist next month, but here, this is just "okay." It takes three issues below par to fall from grace, so let's just let this lie for a month. RATING: BUY ... BUT JUST BARELY.

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Infinite Dark #1 had an ambitious set up at the end of the universe but left far too many questions via thin characterization and serviceable visual storytelling. If the characters can be revealed as interesting, this could be a thing. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Immortal Hulk #7 was a little bit of a let down, despite having some great character moments (the action figure), action scenes (the code) and a scary new power as the title character has learned dun moch. Unfortunately, the ending was a disappointment, there wasn't much "heroism" on display and like the other appearance of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, this underscores the flaw in the superhero model, the tyranny of evil men with uniforms and fancy titles. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

RELATED: Iron Man Has Unleashed the Ultimate Weapon Against the Immortal Hulk

There is a moment in Captain America #4 that is frightening in its nuance and possibility. A woman says something about America that's so possibly true that it's almost too true. The plot, such as it is, just kind of peters off at the end, but if this were a section of a prose novel, it'd be a passage that you'd remember. RATING: MEH.

Plastic Man #5 likewise also grabbed you right in the feels with some very, very effective character work but took the easy way out plot wise while not getting much done. RATING: MEH.

Shades Of Magic The Steel Prince #1 has an attractive visual design but some cliches in characterization and rough edges around the panel work that kept it from being an upgrade to Blaise Zabini. RATING: MEH.

Red Hood Outlaw #27 has what could be one of the most legitimate moments of emotional honesty in Jason Todd's entire published life, a true poster worthy memory, but it's stuck meandering through a plot that was old hat when Larry Hama did it in Springfield. At least those people were snappy dressers. RATING: MEH.

RELATED: The Red Hood Has Finally Become DC’s Punisher

Infinity Wars #4 went from "truly awful" with its previous issue to "just boring" as the machinations of an endless power were ridiculously easy to undo, gods seem much easier to trick than advertised and bouncing around to gather the party is not so engaging when shortcutting characterization. RATING: MEH.

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Titans #27 is dull, mired in the events of Heroes in Crisis, but mostly just whining about it. For a book with high production values, this one didn't do very much. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

Avengers #9 is a complete waste of time, a pointless set of fights and futility that made Namor look dumber than normal (apparently he leveled up on sheer rage) as he failed at his most basic responsibility and responded not by working on the problem but engaging in violent outbursts like a bad Supreme Court nominee. The art was gorgeous, the character work passable but the plot was stank like six day old cod left to rot in the sun. RATING: NO. JUST ... NO.

RELATED: Namor the Sub-Mariner Has Killed An Avenger

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

It was kind of a rough week, honestly. Let's try again next Wednesday.

THE BUSINESS

Just a little more time to binge all of 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!