Every week I go to the comic book store (Comics Ink at Overland and Braddock 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.

Wonder Woman #197:
If you're a fan of The Lyon's Den or this season of The West Wing (or even Bruce Jones' run on The Incredible Hulk) you'll likely enjoy Greg Rucka's take on Themyscria's Finest, which has Wonder Woman enjoying precious little panel time in her own book (and The Flash may as well have not shown up at all), but the effect and feel of her in every square inch. The pacing is very much like a novel or an hour long TV drama -- this feels like the part between the first and second commercial breaks -- but I am still enjoying this series. I can see how some would find it dry, as Diana's displays of power are few and far in between.

Planetary #17:
It feels a little too decompressed for its own good, but manages to close off some plot threads about the "century" children previously unexplored and gives Jakita an interesting origin. I enjoyed it ... but it did feel a little thin. Beautifully depicted, but thin. Almost like an off issue of Sojourn where the art outshines the writing.

Reign of the Zodiac #3:
On one hand it got even more self-involved and uninteresting, and on another it threw all kinds of zaniness into play with a sizeable reveal that I consider too spoilerish to divulge. I'm still not sure I wanna stick with this, but Doran's artwork is really worth noting (even if it's starting to feel cluttered in some spaces).

Punisher #34
This title is back in form, with everything you could possibly want -- a perfect mix of carnage and humor. The "burger plan" will forever go down as one of Frank Castle's finest moments, and a stunning defeat of Spider-Man, Daredevil and Wolverine (hilariously, that's not even a spoiler). All that's left is the secret that Ennis has been hiding and cliffhangs on the last page. Next month, if the "confederacy of dunces" keeps after Punisher, should be worth watching as well.

WildCATs 3.0 #15:
Grifter's calling in some favors to get himself back in the game like his name was Luther Manning (look it up), Spartan continues his mad corporate quest and Agent Wax deals with the pendulum swinging back his way. All that, and hot alien assassins on motorcycles, attacking each other all over Europe. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- this is Joe Casey's finest work, and Nguyen's art only adds to it. This is one of my favorite titles, and even on an "average" issue like this continues to satisfy.

Wildguard #2:
This book is hi-freakin-larious. The "reveal" is almost anti-climactic, but the real peril and character development (hard with a cast this big -- maybe Nauck should guest write LSH?) is well done in the confines of the work. I'm on board with this one, having no reservations.

Birds of Prey #60:
Simone's rock-solid character dynamics and Benes' crisp and kinetic artwork have made me a believer. Fun work here, real grit mixed with great dialogue and motivated plots. I can't argue with this one anymore.

Buy Pile Breakdown: For some reason I expected The Crew and Global Frequency this week. Still, even given one kind of lull on the Giffen book, two jumps (Punisher, Birds of Prey) and some solid highs, I'll call it an average week.

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

Avengers/JLA #2:
This book is so self-involved and self-referential that a neophyte would be hard pressed to name more than a handful of characters. So? It's funny -- Busiek continues to use each continuity's characters to poke fun at the other way of doing things (interesting tidbit -- Marvel Earth is smaller than DC Earth ... does size matter?), while the "plot" (such as it is -- so transparent I saw through it quickly) is almost irrelevant to the fight scenes and banter (although Busiek's Ben Grimm isn't as good as he could be). Of course every panel is packed with Perez's panache (ah, alliteration) and a joy to pore over, looking for details. To be honest, the Avengers are doing a lot better than I expected they would, but I've often considered many of the JLA members kind of wussy, despite their power. Maybe Busiek agrees. Anyway, fun but (knowing again that this will see numerous printings as a collection) a sucker's bet as a single issue.

The Path #19:
The moody, lethal moments remind one of John Cusack and Dan Ackroyd's coffee shop meeting in Gross Pointe Blank. Obo-san is still a tortured character, but he's settling into being a lethal tortured character, which is kind of entertaining as the forces amass for a world war (and if the only knew what was going on in Way of the Rat set on the same world, they'd be even more gung ho).

Batman #620:
On second read (I read it last week), it's awfully talky. Batman's "sense of humor" also rings false, and there's a zany bit where Bats (yes, John Byrne, I'm calling him "Bats," lump it if you don't like it) has this sappy bit about always wanting to fly, "for real." That seemed goofy -- John Henry Irons, Ray Palmer, even Bruce's own technological abilities should have been able to cobble something like that up, let alone the time Bats was in Supes' body (ah, eat it Byrne, they're decades-old corporate characters, they get the respect they've earned through Adam West and those wussy Superman one shots) in JLA: Foreign Bodies. Still, the "100 Batarangs" approach is entertaining after a fashion, but it feels jarring and somehow wrong after the shiny Loeb/Lee treatment of the past year, despite the clear cut storytelling advantages here (the last page is a really nice counterpoint). A mixed bag.

Trouble #4:
On one page, between Ben and May, this issue almost made the whole boring series worthwhile. It's such a moment of really jarring and unintentional comedy that I was stuck laughing for a while. Still, boring for the rest of the pages.

Route #666 #14:
There were some nice character moments amongst the really easy jokes at the expense of the Amish (whadda they gonna do about it, really?) and I feel this is not the finest work that Bedard can put out. Eh.

Scion #40:
Jumping into a worldwide war quicker than any other CG book short of Sigil, the hidden threat of Tigris leaps out and menaces everybody, everywhere, just when things looked like they might settle down. Ethan has the only chance against the truly impressive forces of Tigris, and all he gets is a pose on a hillside in this issue. Informative of the status quo (as any "Key Issue" is -- funny to have one so close to cancellation) but less than riveting.

Fantastic Four #505:
I'm not so sure I like what Reed is doing (and Ben has some reservations as well), but it does finally make sense. Waid's mastery of Ben Grimm and his ability to balance real life consequences make this an interesting read, but none of it feels permanent, as Doom will surely return (the X-Men have proved that the "dead stay dead" mandate is of limited power). Plus, with the "scary" reveal on the last page, I believe it's been done before. I'm not enthralled, but at least I'm reading, which I haven't done with the FF since Sue was in dominatrix gear.

G.I. Joe/Transformers #4:
My notes say "goofy fun," and like Avengers/JLA the plot is merely a device to get you from fight scene to goofy banter and back to fight scene. Not worth money, but some smiles for the faithful, hardcore fan of TF (Joe fans will be less than wowed, despite an amazing Storm Shadow performance).

Emma Frost #4:
I felt like I was watching an episode of Dynasty. Which I don't really like to do.

Losers #5:
With a pseudo A-Team feel, this book is nasty in the right places. I enjoy it, but keep remembeing it's limited duration, and the Blood & Water disappointment I had earlier this year, and leaving it on the shelf.

Outsiders #5:
Better, but still deeply self-referential and really just doing a Brother Blood story that'd have fit in back in the Wolfman days (save a lot of really fun dialogue, Winick has the banter down pat).

Thundercats: Dogs of War #5:
I wasn't gonna talk about this, especially since I met writer John Layman and love his work on Puffed ... but this was just wrong. "Who let the cats out? Woof, woof woof woof!" "Here's the Sword of Oprah!" The dialogue seemed like it wanted to play jokes on how ridiculous the concept is, but was forced to play straight most of the time. The end result is a tepid story that even the cartoon wouldn't have been able to make enjoyable. Argh. I hate seeing this from people I know and like. Ah hell.

Brath #8:
Warming up for a Gladiator bit. I don't care at all. I so wish this book were more interesting.

Hawkeye #1:
It reminded me of Bubba Sparxxx's Deliverance in hipster tone hiding in suburban blight. Fabian has done better, and the art was indistinct, the colors seeming washed out.

Read Pile Roundup: Is it next week yet?

It was kind of a chore to read through all of this, and then to find out that Fred "Rerun" Berry is dead just made it all too zany for words.