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.

The Crew #6:
I am really gonna miss this title. With taut pacing and a direct, linear approach, Priest may be one of the most engrossing comics writers I know. The interplay between Danny Vincent ("Junta") and Kasper Cole ("White Tiger") is really fun, with Jim Rhodes chuckling in their ear, the elder statesman of this set really evoking the energy of the film Three Kings as the author implied with his pre-release hype. I'm still not sure what to think of Isaiah Bradley, and it took me twice to get the meaning of the opening scene (it seemed a little jumbled for some reason), but the overall effect is cinematic, and I'd really like to see Priest tackle some straight fiction. One more issue of this fine series, and so far it's one of my prize possessions.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins:
The ghost of Donna Troy, the deceased Troia (who many online sources rumor is already on her way back to the living) hangs heavily over this book, spotlighting two teams given life by a kind of guilt over slain comrades (oddly, "Omen" is dead and fewer people seem to care ... strange, that). The "Secret Files" of this irregular series are always thin -- indistinct on specifics of powers and glancing over origins (Indigo's seems particularly silly when read in its abbreviated form), but this is as close as DC gets to a reference work these days.

Queen & Country #19:
This issue took a little longer than I like to get to it's point, one I could have foretold before I picked up the issue knowing the characters as I do. Hey, everybody can have an off month.

Capers #1:
Last season, there was an episode of The West Wing which centered on Toby Ziegler's relationship with his father, a Jewish mobster in the forties. Caper is a maxi-series that looks at Jewish mobsters a few decades earlier, but it retains that sense of pre-television grit, that everyday possibility and strict societal gentrification. That laws were only immutable in certain parts of town, and that a man with a gun and some determination could go a long way. I found it so textured, so interesting that it made the jump, and I'm interested in seeing where Winick takes this deeply conflicted and compelling story.

Legion #25:
The cover tells the tale -- to paraphrase The Rock, "Finally, Kal-El has come back to the thirty-first century!" Sort of. Maybe Kon-El. Maybe still Kal-El. Whatever. This issue does some very smart things (putting Chuck Taine, Gear and Triad on the Legion's operations staff, all part of a more efficient organizational scheme), and does a bit with Mekt Ranzz (long time LSH fans will know that name) that's ... well, downright creepy (and truthfully, a little contrary to the character's history). It relives the horror that happened to Element Lad/The Alchemist, gets Cosmic Boy a date (and it's not Night Girl, whoo hoo), shows another strange resurrection and shines a light towards the biggest bad in Legion history. Abnett and Lanning jam a lot into this issue, but it doesn't feel rushed and has a little of the old shiny hopefulness I used to love in the Legion. So much it made me buy it, nostalgic and romantic idiot that I am. Hmm.

Noble Causes: Distant Relatives #3:
Of all the kinds of mess there are, I'd have to say "ignorant mess" is my favorite, and this issue has it in spades. Frost feels right at home with super-villain Nobles on a parallel world, Liz feels great to be an unknown again, and Rusty endures some post-divorce activity that I can, sadly, relate to (I refer to the last page ... ow). Faerber continues to weave a rich tapestry of capes and dreams in this title, and even the ludicrous conventions of superhero books take on a new light here. That Gaia loved her husband so much, and missed him so much, she went to find another version of him, instead of "stepping outside" their marriage. Fascinating. I love this title.

Rex Mundi #6:
Questions answered, but more questions raised. Nothing gets crazier than centuries-old conspiracies coming to light. Complicated things hop up in this issue, completing one storyline and leaving the reader chomping for the next. It's still early, but this is shaping up to be one really great long form story.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #7:
One page for Trypticon? The weird foci of this series continue, but it is so deleriously complete that you can't help but love it. A fascinating read with each page.

Stupid Comics #2:
We are all, most certainly, going to die. We will then go to hell in a stretch H2 handbasket with furnishings from Ikea and Starbucks coffee on tap. As we look around, the only thing to read will be issues of Stupid Comics, where Jim Mahfood has been warning us it would happen all along. Yeah.

Buy Pile Breakdown: Two books came over from the Read Pile (Legion, Capers) with a kind of dumbfounded admiration of the sheer intensity of Stupid Comics. That's enough for a good recommendation of the week of bough comics.

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

Catwoman #24:
I really was amazed at the craft and storytelling ability in this book. Brubaker is very good at keeping the plot moving. While his characterization is a bit thin -- everything in this issue was done in broad strokes in that regard -- he's a solid storyteller with some great ideas. However, even recognizing that this is a good book, it's not my cup of tea. I can see why others would enjoy it, though.

Crux #30:
My notes say, "The Negation blinked," as a literal horde of super-powered Atlanteans scared off an entire fleet of Negation ships looking to "annex" Earth for their own purposes (or "retake" from a certain point of view). I found it good, but this title very rarely kept my rapt attention, always better as footnotes for the goings on in more interesting titles.

Avengers #72:
She Hulk Smash! She Hulk Wear Lacy Underthings! I enjoyed the real intimacy Johns was able to create between Jennifer Walters and a small town waitress, as well as the real shocking contrast of the Avengers in this unlikely place, but the story seemed empty and unimportant as it doesn't really have serious stakes to be considered. It was pretty, though.

Mystic #41:
In preparations for the War, the lead character Giselle lost her Sigil and her control over all the magic on her world. However, it remains to be seen whether or not she has power still, as she spent the last few pages of the book whining. In any case, as in so many locales around the CG universe, conflict is brewing and forces are being gathered. I do hope this all comes in a big collection one day, because the "singles" approach is agonizing.

JLA #89:
Plastic Man beats up Martian Manhunter. Sort of. I know, had this been two years ago, I'd have balked at the concept. But Plastic Man is immortal now, virtually unkillable, a power of ... god, I can't even type this stuff. I was unhappy with the kind of rushed yet grim ending, where all the keys to the finish had been there all along. This issue, along with the Nazi bit a few months ago, and I can see why fans are baying for Kelly's head.

Negation #23:
The events of the Mark of Charon mini finally return to haunt the Negation runaways, as Evinlea gets her butt kicked by the last person you'd ever expect. Bedard keeps this issue exciting, and I still say it's CG's finest.

Thor: Vikings #4
If Ennis doesn't write a Doctor Strange series (mini or no) we'll all be missing out. Doctor Strange has taken over this title, along with some historical castaways who are all pretty entertaining in their own right. Thor ... oh, he's here too. This is so hilariously wonderful -- all the grim humor of Ennis and a wry, almost Constantine-esque take on Stephen Strange. Fine work, and almost enough to make the jump. But not quite.

Sigil #41:
Hard choices abound as the Negation prepares to lay waste to the world Delassia. Sam is as grim and relentless a figure as ever, his power coursing through every line of dialogue as he's evolved from an almost Han Solo-esque figure at this series' inception to someone who'd give Mr. Majestic pause (and no, I won't talk about what I saw in Previews, no I won't). Plus, a surprise Sam is too distracted to detect plays a dangerous game. I've loved this book since Dixon came on board, and his continued work with Samadahl Rey is enjoyable. I still wanna wait for the collection, because not much happened this month.

Way of the Rat #18:
The deus ex machina introduced last issue is, of course, the solution to things, but not in a way you'd expect. Still, this ending seemed rushed after all the slow ghost-floating scenes I've seen the past few months, but it was a cute end to a potentially dangerous story. I can see why this fairly self-contained story is a favorite with execs in other media -- it translates well and takes little more than a guy with a G4, a good set decorator and a good fight choreographer to bring it to life.

Silver Surfer #2:
I read this twice in the store. I have no idea what the hell is going on. I also don't seem to care. That's not a good sign for this title.

Voltron #5:
Again, a quick resolution to a big build up, with vague, unexplained phenomenon saving the day, but I enjoyed it because I am a fanboy whore, and I know that. I'm not fanboy enough to buy it, and that should tell the story right there.

Read Pile Roundup: Despite almost everybody being in a hurry to finish up things, this was a good week with two jumps to take my money.

The only complaints are bigger than the individual issues -- decompressed storytelling catching up to people at the ends of arcs, and a general lack of ideas. For the most part, I was happy this week.