Fables #22:
The greatest thing about the instantly accessible continuity inside Fables is the seemingly endless room for improvisation and storytelling. Ichabod Crane and Cinderella stand center stage in this issue, a zany "who's zooming who" sort of story which reveals some of the inner workings of the community. I won't say more, for fear of spoiling, but again Willingham creates a magical, fascinating story that stands alone (this looks like a break from the existing storylines). My comics pusher Steve complained briefly about the guest pencils of Tony Akins, which has Cinderella looking drastically different in any number of panels (some of that falls on Daniel Vozzo on colors), but with the kind of whimsy the tale introduces, it didn't bother him after a page or two. I didn't see a problem with it at all, but I will be happy to see the regular art team back in action. Fine work, nonetheless.

Green Arrow #35:
Speaking of whimsy, the Riddler comes to Star City with his particular brand of hilarity, working for a local criminal interest and using his particular skill at misdirection. Truthfully, I've been pretty anti-Winick's Green Lantern, especially with the horrible treatment of Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning, a cold blooded murderer? Nah ...). Still, his command of the Riddler, combined with Phil Hester and Ande Parks always solid artwork, makes for a fun story. The title character is most entertaining when he's trying to jam his Silver Age curmudgeon nature into today's settings, and this issue handles that well. I won't spoil the twist -- the Riddler, for all his foibles, is still an anachronism in the age of a body count like the Joker's ... which in a way is part of his charm, and Winick seems to have a good grasp on that. I'm still mad, but this issue was good enough to make the jump, as it was a slow week.

Gotham Central #16:
Normally I'm in this title for the Rucka issues, and true to form Brubaker writes a number of slow pages, illustrating the procedural, plodding nature of police work. It manages to get interesting in a Law & Order fashion when they pick up a suspect, and the tail end of the story ratchets the interest up another notch. This is classical storytelling of the sort I used to enjoy, with the twists and talk of the modern day. Good stuff.

Buy Pile Breakdown: One great read, one solid read, and one jump from the Read Pile, all for under nine bucks. Not too shabby!

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

Epic Anthology #1:
My notes say "okay" -- Kirkman did a very slow-burn set up for something clearly intended to work itself out over a number of issues on the Sleepwalker story, which was cute but not important. Rob Worley turns in a fascinating martial arts epic feel with his Young Ancient One, which reminded me heavily of the film Iron Monkey, a successful blending of martial arts action, dramatic tension and madcap antics. Strange Magic is very reminiscent of John Rozum's Midnight, Mass in tone if not in specifics, and has some rough charm, but again seems intended for more than a single swing in this "hope it sells" anthology. The Epic project never got its due, and I almost bought this on purely political reasons -- at $6, three full comics is quite a deal. On a slower week, Young Ancient One would have made the Buy Pile on its own. But since Marvel just announced they're killing Elektra (right after I started buying, argh) and already axed Crimson Dynamo, I get the feeling my dollars don't make a difference to them, so instead of hopping on a bandwagong that's clearly on fire, I'll stick with the very few titles they publish I like and seem like they'll not, oh, die immediately. Still, real talent here from relative newcomers to the field, and a solid show piece that I hope will land them all in more work.

Hawkman #25:
To tell you why this ending is a good one, in my eyes, would spoil the whole thing, but suffice it to say neither the JSA nor Black Adam really "won," and the conclusion is as murky as an average episode of The Practice. Hawkman is really becoming kind of a berserker warlord (apologies to my man in Skartaris), which is at least a kind of personality, in contrast to the winged whatever-he-was for so many years. This issue closed out the "Black Reign" storyline and wasn't a home run, but managed to hit its marks and bring Black Adam back to (I feel) his rightful place as a real power in the DCU. No complaints, but I didn't buy this, as a lot of it was a continued fight scene from previous issues, and the part with Dr. Fate makes no sense whatsoever.

Avengers #78:
The Wrecking Crew's Thunderball gets all erudite (I had to do a Google search to re-discover that Eliot Franklin was also a "gifted physicist, experienced planner and tactician") and makes the British housewife the story has focused on illustrate a real measure of heroism in an issue heavy on ambiance and light on everything else. The Wrecking Crew robbing a bank -- even in England -- still seems a bit of a stretch (why not just grab an armored truck? faster getaway ...) but despite the somewhat goofy premise (and what was up with Wanda's powers? Holy crap!), virtually all the character notes seemed apropos (I loved the "fan" and Hawkeye's interaction). Not good enough to buy, but not excruciating and having some real charm.

Batman: Death & the Maidens #7:
The weirdness of "the last Ra's Al Ghul" story seems to have passed, and this issue was a bit better than its predecessors. The Bat still seems off his game and the mysterious Nyssa still seems all ambition and little ability, but the story at least developed a sense of pacing this issue. I managed to be a little interested, which was a feat in and of itself, but it's still scraping the lower rungs of mediocre.

Ultimate X-Men #42:
Ah, the curse of a mediagenic society. The riveting actions of Wolverine a few issues ago, "handling" a threat, stand front and center as Dubya (never shown, but recognizable in silhouette) bats down problems with his "mutant agenda" (you'd think the lunatics tearing up the White House front lawn in Ultimate Six would have been more of a concern) by doing what all good politicians would do -- selling out those closest to him. It's a talky issue but an effective one, showing the inner workings of the Ultimate universe, which (sadly) are a great deal like our own.

Chosen #1:
The opening act of Millar's "Ultimate Jesus" delivers a kind of deliberate, creepy tone like a decent episode of Millenium (I'm all TV references this week, huh?) while delving into the somewhat untrodden ground of a modern day Christ child (no more "lamb's wool" hair, huh?). I found it interesting, but wholly believe this story is wrong for monthly publication, begging for a completist, collected view from word one. I'm not sure how accurate his young white teen banter is, having next to no interaction with young white teens myself, but I had no real problems with the content here, just found it firmly in the "acceptable" range. That's a long way from making me buy it.

Captain America #23:
Robert Morales' storyline "Homeland" gets more and more complex, as Cap invades Cuba ... and gets a really big surprise. I mean, "huh?" level surprise. The murkiness in this runs deep, and I like that Morales has not dodged any of the crying-into-the-flag whininess that Cap had going on in previous months, but likewise didn't dwell on it, making Cap focus on the matter at hand as best he could. This title is very close to buy-able ... which means either Morales will get kicked off right after I decide to buy it, or Marvel will find some other way to work my #@$% nerves ...

Coup D'Etat: Stormwatch:
The Authority are as dumb as they've been since about half-way through Millar's run, and the gritty soldiers of Team Achilles have their actions misunderstood at every step. The longer this story goes on, the more I want the Authority dead, which saddens me as I used to adore them so. I sincerely hope the Wildcats crossover injects some much-needed smarts into this slobberknocker of a crossover. I'll admit, it's kinda pretty, though.

4 #1:
My comics pusher Steve laughed at the graphical misunderstanding of financial law (his wife is an accountant, he knows from whence he speaks) in this treacly, predictable "fall from grace" idea. It all happened too easily, too simply, and that (at the core) is the failure of this title. It didn't entertain, it hit its marks. Nice art, though.

Action #812:
Nice art, again. Wholly useless and largely uninteresting Elseworld-style story, that takes me away from the rather interesting things going on in Metropolis with Mister Majestic. Ah well.

Iron Man 77:
All Hell, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine, a Mister Breaking Loose. Tony may be set for an end run around the political machine when his stolen technology, predictably, goes nuts. A very talky but very smartly told story which manages to fit in some action in its chatter. Plus, I haven't enjoyed the art on an Iron Man title this much since Quesada put down the pen and the armor reference book.

1602 #7
This bores me. A dumb secret finally comes to light, one I kind of saw coming, which really disappoints me as Gaiman is one of the few writers I know who can still wield subtlety like a scalpel. Ah well.

Teen Titans #8:
A boring recitation of Raven's history. Next!

Thor #74:
More What If?-styled goodness, as I developed my newest theory -- Thor will Odin-power all of this madness away in the Asgardian king of all retcons. I do like Loki here a great deal, though, but seriously ... did nobody else in Asgard realize that Thor was stupid, all those years he was growing up? I couldn't believe a single thing that happened this issue, as every character save Loki seemed staggeringly stupid.

Read Pile Roundup: Kind of an ordeal, and I forgot to look at The Path altogether, since I was rushing to see a production of Topdog/Underdog.

So, How Was It This Week? Rough going, but nothing rage-inducing, and a solid group of purchases.

The Buy Pile is a weekly collection of comic reviews done by Hannibal Tabu (www.operative.net), originally published at UGO.com.