Every week I go to the comic book store (Comics Ink in Culver City, CA, hey Steve and Jason!) and grab a lot of comics. I sort these into two piles -- the "buy" pile (things I intend to spend money on, most often a small pile) and the "read" pile (often huge, including lots of stuff I don't actually like but wanna stay well informed about). In no particular order, here's some thoughts about all that.

Wildcats Version 3.0 #8:
I've had some pretty negative things to say about Joe Casey's writing, from Uncanny X-Men to whichever Superman book he writes, but it's clear he's found his baliwick on this title. Managing to infuse lengthy conversations and standing around in offices with a kind of kinetic tension, he and Dustin Nguyen are making one hell of a book. This month, "old business" rears its fetching red head in the form of information broker C.C. Rendozzo, who Agent Wax and Grifter schnookered a while back to aqcuire a "chemically-enhanced homo sapien" from the last volume, a virtual engine of destruction called Agent Orange. Anyhoo (hang on, this stuff is involved, but worth it) ol' CC extorts her way into Jack Marlowe's party (she remembers his Spartan days all too well, a lovely gift for people who remember the spandex-clad version of this team) and talks him into "retrieving" her kidnapped scion from the federal powers-that-be. Not much action this issue, but as noted, a kind of dynamic sense of energy, building. I love this book, and this month's issue (on the cover, the surprisingly adept accountant Mister Dolby, who tells Grifter what's what) is no exception.

Black Panther #56:
I own every single issue of Christopher Priest's Black Panther. I have followed the convoluted and misdirected storylines with little hiccup or complaint for years and years. I even applauded last issue's amazing revelations. But near the end, right around the time hard-luck cop Kasper Cole and crooked cop Sal Anthony end their drive (I try not to spoil things, I do) ... I just got really confused. The more I think about it, the more I see it was a kind of real-world ending -- unsatisfying but inevitable. Only off-camera names went down in the end ... I dunno. Something in this issue just didn't connect for me. Not a "drop this title" kind of disconnect, but I dunno. I really only liked one full chapter of this storyline, but I've had enough moments of entertainment in between to be OK with that.

Mark of Charon #1:
This one snuck on the Buy Pile, y'all. It seems everything that the God Emperor Charon touches comes out freakin' entertaining. Javi from Negation is back. Yes, he was dead. He's actually still dead at the start of this issue. Then things go downhill for him. Charon manuevers Javi into doing something he won't like, and all kinds of hilarity ensues. Tony Bedard balances the two leads deliciously. I am very rarely surprised enough that a book slips from Read Pile to Buy Pile, but whoo. Freakin' great.

JLA #79:
A little thin on actual plot development (the plot is kind of intricate for the JLA, and they're really not good when they stray away from primary colors). In the end, they manage to mauever around a kind of morass of morality. Most interestingly of all, to me, is the revelation of Faith's origins (it's some isht, y'all ... I do hope the editors see all the seeds of stories and have a satisfying payoff already in mind). An okay issue, but nothing special.

Global Frequency #6:
Run, Frequency, Run. Warren Ellis' research delivers another fun concept -- a Le Parkour runner, who treats a city like an obstacle course (Hawksmoor, you make more sense now). My favorite part: a little Indian girl on a ferris wheel sees our aforementioned runner climbing the damned thing with her bare hands and says, "Daddy, look. Spiderman's a girl. And she's just like us." It was a subtle and quick moment, but I really enjoyed it. That kind of summarizes my enjoyment of the series -- I can always pick up an issue of this title and know it'll be fun, and I can walk away from it without guilt or entanglement. It's the one-night-stand of comics! Yay!

Marvel: The End #2:
Again, there's only one word to start this review with: "Bwahahahahahahaha."

Ancient Egyptian Smackdown continues as even the gods catch a bad one and Doctor Doom is cooking up a surprise. I'm loving the way Akhenaten is depicted artistically, and despite the fact this book is not really "good," I'm getting some great laughs out of it, so much I can't leave it in the store.

Battle of the Planets #8:
Gritty. Violent. Riveting. I never thought I would be able to say those words about Gatchaman. BUt here we are -- another mean-spirited issue with surprises and killing and fun. Why is this book so entertaining?

Then, on top of everything else, I find out the writer Munier Sharrieff is one of the tribe, and of African descent? Cool. Wilson Tortosa's pencils evoke the glory of anime while still having some great moments of their own -- the shot of Princess and Jason coming up out of the water is great, as is the two page splash of Spectra soldiers attacking, and a real sense of scale and splendor on the next-to-last page. Great stuff, a real sleeper hit.

Zatanna: Everyday Magic TPB:
This was a really pleasant surprise, as well. Zatanna has some impressive yet scalable displays of power here, John Constantine stands around and plays his role with relish, and there's some great character development for Zatanna, who would have to live a fairly lonely and empty life despite being seen as "hot" by virtually everybody. This book is a real keeper which gives some really great moments, and it's quickly headed to my bookshelf.

Aquaman Secret Files 2003:
I just buy these because I like to have authoritative info on stuff, such as it is. Nothing special here. Plus "the Thirst" seems really lame. Lots of things that are shown here seem kind of lame, but Aquaman doesn't have much room to work with, so "lame" is an accomplishment most of the time. Moving on.

Solus #1:
A whole lot happened in this issue. Stuff that connects to all kinds of stuff, from Crux to The First to everywhere. I just don't really understand it. I get the feeling that, two years from now, when I have a lot more of an understanding of the CrossGen meta-story, I'll look back on this and go, "Oh!" Standard cool stuff from George Perez, some solid action. I intend to read this again after some cross referencing.

Tales of the Bulletproof Monk #1:
Two very short, very entertaining tales of kung fu whupass without any of the tongue-in-cheek self-awareness of many modern works and playing down the sometimes indecipherable spiritual overtones that often confound western audiences. All around good stuff, warming up for the Chow-Yun Fat movie coming up (but that Sean Patrick Blahblah guy better do more than that frat boy thing he's famous for).

Fantastic Four #67:
Now, I'm almost certain that there's a huge crime against continuity here. A character I'm so sure is dead -- Bucky/Gwen Stacy dead, Uncle Ben dead, Thomas and Martha Wayne dead -- pops up. I'm really sure that's not right at all. Strangely enough, I don't even remotely care -- Dr. Doom in his "street clothes" is freakin' cool. Plus, the good Doctor (and I don't mean Hunter S. Thompson) does something ... it's ... well, "unthinkable" really sums it up. The online predictions of his "new direction" were on point, and I'm riveted to see just how far it will go.

Buy Pile Breakdown: With the Black Panther letdown it was a littlle harsh, but two books sneaking in from the Read Pile and some real contributions from Warren Ellis and Joe Casey, I'm gonna say it's a good week.

Then there's the stuff on the "read pile" that I don't bring home ...

Legion #18:
I almost bought this one, until the end. Ra's al Ghul is in the thirtieth century, and he's immortal in an all new and much more entertaining way than ever before. He spends most of the issue kicking the behind of the Legion, who should really know better given the benefit of having, oh, a thousand years worth of history on hand about the guy, with which to evaluate his tactics. The ending seems embarrasingly suicidal for everybody's favorite futuristic kids (it's amazing how little morality has changed in a thousand years), but whatever. I like this book, I do, but somehow I never manage to buy it. Hm.

Avengers #65:
A little short on story and a bit needlessly maudlin, I think. There's been previews of this for months, with Cap promising salvation to a predictably blond little boy (I have been kicking around a theory for years that natural disasters avoid large concentrations of Black people in the continental US out of deference for all the hell we've endured, largely based on my knowledge of tornadoes from growing up in the south, but I'm too lazy to collate any data on it). Anyhoo, something is going badly and the Avengers are there to stop it. That's the whole issue. Bored, especially given all the stuff that's been happening in the last few issues. Moving on ...

Batman #613:
Online I saw a quite apt description of this issue: "predictable but enjoyable." Lee's art is, as always, amazing. The action scenes, especially of Harley Quinn's jumping, were really cool. I'm watching this, but I'm still not hooked enough to buy it, even more since I believe it's such a foregone conclusion that it'll be collected that the pamphlets seem a real waste, except for the eBay crowd.

Captain America #11:
Regular MU Cap is a wussy. He plays a weak distraction game while Nick Fury and Thor do all the dirty work. Ultimate Cap would hand this guy his head on a silver platter, and talk about his momma. I hate this freakin' guy. Blah.

Brath #2:
This book is a lot smarter than I would expect for a title with a lead character who's, essentially, a Visigoth. It's almost smarter than it needs to be -- the inter-clan political intrigues are interesting, but I really would like some more axe-swingin' homicidal fury. There's some great undercurrents here, but I'm all for the trades on this, unless it loses my interest. Oh, and the coloring seems really dark, for some reason. Maybe it was, in fact, the "dark ages" on that world.

The Path #13:
A very surprising character makes a very unexpected return, and I know that can't go wel for anybody. the penciller changed, and the kind of Xanax-like muddled work from before gives way to a crisper, clearer style that I also enjoy (I can't be bothered to remember the names, sorry, this is the Read Pile). The snail's pace of this title is strangely soothing -- I always liken reading this book to taking a nice hot bath. This issue is much like that, and I'm sure I'll relax with the TPB regularly.

Green Lantern #161:
A wishy washy close out for Winick that gives me no excitement for his upcoming Green Lantern run. Yawn.

Rising Stars: Bright #2:
Why even make this as single issues? This is a chapter of a TPB. A barely interesting one at that. I'll check the collection, yo.

Masters of the Universe, Volume II, #1:
Character development? Pfah! Swords are swingin' and laser rays are flying, with the equivalent of redshirt ensigns falling faster than SBC customer approval ratings. Lots of this issue is a big fight scene, which was strangely satisfying. Sadly, just as this book ramps up the action, it's set to jump ship to CrossGen. What's up with that?

Parliament of Justice #1:
Ten pages in, and only one character has spoken, then in voiceovers. This book bored me, and I really, really wanted to like it -- the premise interested me when I read it on Newsarama. As a writer, however, Oeming felt like one hell of an artist.

Wonder Woman #190:
Diana gets a haircut! She walks around with amnesia, forcing endless recaps of who she is! B-O-R-I ... ah hell, why finish. C'mon Walt, pump up the volume on this some, eh?

Rawhide Kid #3
I'm amazed to say this issue was almost entertaining. Almost. It's got some really staggeringly bad jokes, and some very slow spots, but it actually had a panel or two, in succession, that managed not to suck. Who knew?

Invincible #3:
This book is starting to get good. Invincible hero-ing around with his dad was very cool, his high school hallway intrigues with another young superhero was quite entertaining (I love the tension there), and tying in some of the superhero continuity (I wanna Megaforce book, dammit!) made me very happy. I'm sure I'll be buying this book in a month or two if it keeps improving at this rate.

Read Pile Roundup: Things are getting hot on the read pile, which irks me since I'm not really in the mood to spend more on comics. Damned quality! Oh well.

I'm calling this a great week, since two books snuck on the Buy Pile, lots of also-rans in the read pile did the job, and there were three of my faves out in one week (Global Frequency, Black Panther, Wildcats 3.0). Good readin, woo hoo!