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 NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Nothing (No Imprint)

Yep, nothing really worth buying? Well... guess that "Thaniel" trade paperback is looking pretty good now.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

... that's not a good start...

THIS WEEK'S READ PILE

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

In "Evil Empire" #7, it's getting harder and harder to shock anymore, and the meager stakes of murder being used here can't really compare to the jaw droppers of previous issues, which makes the whole story just kind of tread water. There were a couple of decent moments, and there was nothing overwhelmingly wrong, but this issue didn't distinguish itself either.

There's one entertaining character in "Archer and Armstrong: The One Percent" #1: Austin Oldenburg-Lancaster, a sex-drenched, snark-heavy, MTV generation jackass with no limits on every card and no respect for the old guard. Everybody around him is a two-dimensional stereotype or a prop, and even with a plot that builds and crescendos effectively, it doesn't connect. In the same sense as the series "Action" or "Profit," it tries to make wholly irredeemable personalities as protagonists. It almost works.

In "Transformers" #35, Spike Witwicky, international man of mystery! Spike Witwicky, expert hacker and marksman! Spike Witwicky, scourge of Cybertronians! This issue leans on some elements from the Furman run at Marvel to bring the story down to earth, literally, as almost everyone human and metallic wants Spike Witwicky dead. Prowl bickers with Prime, Soundwave dithers with Galvatron and Alpha Trion is needlessly cryptic. There are intriguing elements, like this season of "Doctor Who," but the "combined" whole is less than compelling.

The "Meh" Pile Not good enough to praise, not bad enough to insult, not important enough to say much more than the title

"Spider-Verse" #1, "G.I. JOE A Real American Hero" #208, "All-New Captain America" #1, "Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Goddess Inc" #4, "Batgirl" #36, "Axis Hobgoblin" #2, "Ex-Con" #3, "She-Hulk" #10, "V-Wars" #7, "Deep State" #1, "Superior Iron Man" #1, "Batman" #36, "Copperhead" #3, "Nova" #23, "Q2 The Return Of Quantum And Woody" #2, "Resurrectionists" #1, "Silver Surfer" #7, "Black Dynamite" #4, "Earth 2 World's End" #6, "X" #19, "Nightcrawler" #8, "Bigger Bang" #1, "Avengers And X-Men Axis" #5, "Green Lantern Corps" #36, "Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man" #7, "Hexed" #4, "Thor" #2, "Justice League United" #6, "Hawkeye Vs Deadpool" #2, "Wild's End" #3, "New 52 Futures End" #28, "Guardians 3000" #2, "Alex + Ada" #10, "Unity" #12, "Death Of Wolverine The Logan Legacy" #4, "Django Zorro" #1, "Captain Marvel" #9, "Worlds' Finest" #28, "Captain America And The Mighty Avengers" #1, "Star Trek" #38, "All-New Ultimates" #10, "Life After" #5.

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

Re: "Bucky Barnes The Winter Soldier" #2 -- incomprehensible. Loki sends the former sidekick on the equivalent of a very bad LSD trip and... that's about it. The "plot" is a mess, the narrative is sloppy, the art is jumbled... this is not the way to go.

SO, HOW BAD WAS IT?

Kind of forgettable, actually.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Nothing guaranteed to make it home, nothing demanded to come home, one really bad comic... this wasn't the best week to be a comics fan...

THE BUSINESS

As of right now, you can spend ten bucks and get about 175,000 words worth of fiction from the writer of this column. The links that follow tell you where you can get "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. Too rich for your blood? Download the free PDF of "Cruel Summer: The Visual Mixtape." 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!