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.

Global Frequency #7:
Dammit this book is entertaining. A character named Grushko is introduced, who has some real classical Warren Ellis character lines, the best of which is his interrogation tactic: "I have my special axe with which I did all those terrible things in Miami two years ago. The policeman who found the bodies. He still wets himself when he sees cutlery. You will tell my friend Ms. Zero where your owner is. You have until I swing my special axe down on this poing [gestures at genitals]. The worst thing about this is that it will not kill you." I swear, every time this guy was on panel, I started cheering. Not enough for a spinoff, but he sounds like one hell of a dinner guest. The spies are in danger and, much to their dismay, they get put on the Global Frequency. Another powerfully entertaining issue in a series that has not missed yet.

Lucifer #37:
Lucifer rocks the best quotes here, including, "The Naglfar carries with it every item of unfinished business I could think of. I wanted to be free of encumberances, free to plan." That describes the fate of the haphazard crew of Naglfar a (and I love saying this) ship made from dead nmen's fingernails. The crew hits some turbulence and ends up getting "saved" by Loki's other brother, Bergelmir (possibly as tricky as his sibling), who stands out as the star of this issue, fighting stillborn realities and other obstacles on the rim of the coin. Lucifer chimes in again, when meeting with his brother Michael, who insists that God has a plan. "Has he? He never shared it with any of is. We've taken it on trust since the time before time. But you still have faith in it? The great plan? Because I know a place where we can go and see it. If you're interested." Now, Michael has lost his daughter, the angel/human hybrid Elaine Belloc, forever (she's what the crew is after, BTW) and is not the most stable cookie in the box. Lucifer's method of honing in on that weakness and widening it is masterful, as is Carey's command of these characters. The art could be a little more polished -- the male characters on the boat are easy to mix up sometimes (less so when one goes missing), but it's still damned entertaining in here.

Y: The Last Man #10:
Huge surprise on the last few pages, which I will not reveal but which pleased me endlessly. Yorick and his sister Hero have it out, and he gets back on the road with 355 and the good doctor (her name isn't mentioned, I think, and I can't remember it, so quit thinking it's Hunter S. Thompson >8^). A solid if not staggering issue, one that really saved it's punch for the ending, one that makes certain you'll be back next month.

Solus #2:
This one keeps on sneaking on the Buy Pile, because it keeps showing so many revelations to the big picture. Here, all seven Weapons of Atwaal are revealed (I can account for five, the circlet which Andra Radiant is now wearing, the "Weapon of Heaven" with Obo-san over in The Path, Ayden's bow is in Arwen's hands over in Sojourn, the gauntlet and shield are held by Persha and Pyrem in The First, but the spear and sword are mysteries to me. The sword looks familiar, but it's not the Dawn Sword from Sojourn, so I dunno). This title's homeworld apparently has a doorway into every planet with a sigil bearer, and Brath is due up this time. Ayden (who stops to prove that Persha knew what she was talking about, a long story in and of itself) stops Andra Radiant before she flies into the view of Mordath (another long story). If you're not really well acquainted with CrossGen, this book may as well be written in Sanskrit. If you've read a lotta CrossGen books, it's like finding that missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle underneath the couch, right before you give up. As someone who's read a lot, I love this, and I feel like something big is coming soon.

Firebreather #4:
One word came to mind when I got done: "More." Duncan Rosenblatt is a really interesting character with a wide variety of powers and a surly yet interesting personality. After four issues watching the deep relationship between him, his parents and the UN, I'm hooked. I freakin' love this guy. Tons of action this time, some sneaky answers (but not impossible to miss if you've been reading closely) and some amazingly well done teen-angst. Even Kuhn's rough-edged art virtually sings here. Fine, fine work all around.

Battle of the Planets Battle Book #1:
Textually this book is very thourough, making it an excellent reference. Artwise, it kind of punked out -- no civilian modes on vehicles, no diagrams of cerebonic implants or close up variant angles on weapons. The art is all sampled from the book, and I feel a little bit of original work there would have made this shine. Still, it's better than any of DC's Secret Files & Origins for answers to those 3AM fanboy debates.

Captain Marvel: Nothing to Lose TPB:
The winner of the U-Decide farce (clever name for a TPB, then) shows its stuff in a very entertaining collection. One glitch -- between chapters 5 and 6, the universe is destroyed. Off panel. This was explained in the recap page of the regular monthly issue, but here is not explained at all. That's a big faux pas in terms of clarity in my mind. Add a page if you must. Something. Destroying the universe off panel now? C'mon. Other than that, this is as great a read as when the pages had ads in between them all.

Buy Pile Breakdown: A fairly entertaining week overall with no real complaints.

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

Green Arrow #24:
Last week I thought Abin Sur had shoved his way past Thomas Wayne and Gewn Stacy and returned to life. Turns out he had a secret bastard son, and he shows up, an interstellar cop after galactic drug runners (the drug is mostly bleach). This turns out a lot less interesting than one might hope, and the maturity we all know Ollie and Kyle have remains missing in action as they behave really stupidly for no reason I can discern. Minor continuity thing as well -- GL comments about his "long distance relationship," but unless there's a note I missed, this all happens briefly after Jen returned to Earth after chillin' on Oa with Kyle. Mmm. I'm hating this storyline and hoping both characters start making sense again.

Punisher #25:
I dunno if people were talking or what, but I tried to read this book twice and kept getting lost. I know it felt dirty, with people getting tortured and Frank grimly doing his Frank thing. Somehow the charm of Ennis' book has gone as he's (to let him tell it on Newsarama) gone more towards the dark energies of this book, without any of the gallows humor. I miss gallows humor. Oh well.

Fantastic Four #68:
After the amazing story last month, this issue doesn't seem to have enough oomph to make it outta bed. Doom's plot seems, at least to my casual reading, simplistic (which disappoints) and easy to defeat (with Dr. Strange on speed dial, anyway). I was bored. It has some time, let's see how far Doom is really willing to go.

Thor #63:
My notes have "intriguing," as Jurgens continues his very personal looks at a world changed by Asgard. It takes a working-guy-level look at Thor's influence in a way that, honestly, I would have expected to be too mature and thoughtful for Marvel. This is a part of an arc, and all the stories have been like this, so I'm very riveted to see where it's all going.

Tom Strong #20:
The adventures of a parallel timeline "mulatto" Tom Stone (who instead of fighting Saveen, recruits him as a partner) got the same note from me -- "intriguing" -- but I dunno where it's all going. I'll probably go back and buy this is Moore is up to snuff (and he usually is), as Tom Strong has a feeling he's gonna do some time travelling, for good or ill. Another book testing the waters, and I only wait to see if it has the "stones" to go all the way.

Avengers #66:
Now, this is the Panther we've come to know and love. Channeling Priest terribly well, Johns complicates things really massively as he reveals the source of the biohazard scare (it's ugly) and the feds try to kick the Avengers out (really ugly) as pieces move behind the scenes leading to god-knows-what (super ugly). If this one has the stones to go all the way, I'll move this title to the Buy Pile in a heartbeat if only for the chance to see T'Challa work.

Wonder Woman #191:
My notes say, "lame." Wake me up when this storyline is done.

Chimera #3:
The glorious artwork gets some narrative meat put on its bones, plus a really savory serving of whupass sauce in the form of the emperor's children (a common CrossGen theme, killer kids of dictatorial rulers, from Sigil to Negation to here). I enjoyed this a lot and wish this wasn't a limited, but it'll be a terribly handsome TPB.

Crux #25:
I said big things are brewing. Two of the First, Yala and Gannish, show up as associates of Danik (mad subtext), and, oh yeah, the kid kills a squadron of flying Negation nasties by outflying them in an unarmed WWII plane. This was entertaining, but along with Solus and Negation are becoming books only the initiated can appreciate. The Yala and Gannish reveal was flat for anybody who doesn't already know who they are. I love it, though.

Crossovers #4:
I now know Robert Rodi can write -- this issue keeps mixing up the pieces in zanier and zanier ways, as now the "warrior princess" dimension has vampires and aliens to contend with. The funniest thing is the sense of scream-at-the-screen tension the reader gets, knowing that a simple honest conversation could clear most of this up. Luckily few people in any world, let alone in fiction, can confront things logically. Funny stuff here, action packed, and good reading.

Scion #35:
The super tense wedding issue. The fact that everybody's gonna get invaded by a super-advanced nation wielding particle shields and energy weapons is set aside, as a whole lotta fast cuts and smoky glares fill the Raven stronghold. I liked it, but it felt like it could have been done in 14 pages and was missing eight pages of "someting happening."

Daredevil #46:
Wilson Fisk is back, and he's not happy. So he gets somebody serious -- Typhoid Mary -- who's also not exactly on the pep squad. Matt's new relationship pretty much goes teats up in the last few pages here after lingering on life support for a while. This was a very well done issue that has snap and a better sense of pacing than the kind of languid march of this title recently.

Read Pile Roundup: A lot more entertaining than I expect from a Read Pile, with Solus once again making the jump into Purchaseland.

Overall it was an up week of funny books (despite Cir-El stupiding up Superman in a way that made my comics pusher Steve scream about). My list shows more books -- Orbiter, Mystique, Venom that either didn't ship or I was too goofy from cough drops and my impending start of therapy to notice. Eh, whadda ya gonna do?