Common Grounds #6:
Three stories on the way out, as this very interesting mini comes to a close. The lead story about "American Pi," a brilliant and patriotic Black female superhero, was less than compelling. The second story, "Loose Ends" tied up a really emotionally charged story from an earlier issue and kind of puts the whole series into context. It wasn't as high a note as some of the other issues, but comics' best one night stand lets you down easy. Fine stuff, and a good effort all around.

Captain America & the Falcon #4:
Mysteries solved, and the struggle between the "two Americas" alluded to in the storyline. The Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence confronts Steve Rogers with this bon mot: "You are a product of America's hope. I am the sum of America's fear." The metaphor -- two super soldiers pitted against one another, two ideas of "American right" going head-to-head -- is played out smartly and clearly. Both Bart Sears' desire for pin up shots and Christopher Priest's sometimes labyrinthine plotting are all working together and the results are spectacular. Very pleased with this issue, and looking forward to "Spy Games" (the next issue in store).

Wonder Woman #205:
Doctor Psycho plays head games with ... well, everybody. Circe and the Gorgons are cooking up some trouble in a subplot, and Doctor Psycho manages to get all brands of bullets fired at Diana all through Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals. Action, intrigue and crazy telepathic adventures. A really high octane issue for Rucka, Johnson and Snyder, who've been fairly West Wing most of the time.

Buy Pile Breakdown: I got no complaints with this week's purchases. Good, but not stellar.

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

Excalibur #2:
Chris Claremont, in the space of maybe a page or two, completely pissed on virtually all of the impressive events in the X-Universe over the last few years in a wholly craptacular insult to the concept of continuity. Three other people who read the issue at the store spent a good deal of teeth-gnashing and profanity on this issue. The most galling development is spoken of as an afterthought, without any explanation at all. It's without a doubt the worst thing I read this week, and that's without discussing the stupid "secondary mutation" and mission of Callisto. Man, this is really, really bad.

Conan #5:
On the other hand, this was pretty good. Not as inspiring as some of the other issues, where you could hear the blood singing in your own ears as Conan hacked his way through whatever he was hacking his way through at the time. Still trapped in Hyperborea, and working on his way out. A bit headier than earlier issues, but not as bad as Brath was.

Losers #13:
There's a lot of fun spy-styled action here, and if I were in a slightly better economic place I could see this being a buy pile regular. It's less charming than Queen & Country by just a smidge, and hence its Jermaine O'Neal-esque status -- always a contender, but never making it all the way.

Gray Area #1
John Romita Jr.'s art is everything you'd want in a really complicated story about a really complicated protagonist. Writer Glen Brunswick has made the very complicated character of Detective Rudy Chance fully detailed -- a corrupt cop who still believes in certain brands of loyalty. The promo synopsis gives more story than the first issue does, which delves very deeply into Chance's motivations and personality, but in a very smart and determined way that's a good distance (at least so far) from the decompressed stylings everybody's railing against these days. Interesting stuff worth watching.

Witching #1:
According to the Internet Movie Database, The Witches of Eastwick, starring Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer, was released in 1987. There's probably a way to make a direct connection to the WB series Charmed (launched in 1998) which also centers on three female magic users, but I'm too lazy to really go into it in detail. Suffice it to say, it's 2004 and Vertigo (and also Marvel, as you'll soon see) decided to do something similar. Now, admittedly, this title has a Vertigo twist (including a last panel appearance by one of my Vertigo favorites) which feels like the difference between a cable show and a network one, but it's really very much like Charmed in approach and sentiment. That's not a good thing -- the show is barely watchable, and slowing it down to still frames doesn't help (especially without the likes of Alyssa Milano or Rose McGowan in tight shirts to distract you from the less-than-compelling storylines). Subpar on a whole, and less witty than ...

Witches #2
... which is the other "inspired by" title I looked at this week (how'd you like that segue?). Satana is the best known of Doctor Strange's female mage recruits (which makes him either their Whitelighter, their Elder, or both ... really, who cares?) and that's no good. Jennifer Kale (who comes from a powerful and if not obscure, completely unknown family of mages) serves as the neophyte perspective and the cheesecake factor, while Topaz is the bad girl (well, with Satana nearby, that's a relative term, but I digress). There's some cute banter between characters, but it's nothing special. It's almost exactly as entertaining as Charmed, which is to say it's worth watching -- or reading -- if nothing else is available.

Superman #206:
Superman continues to pontificate and prod on, while Jim Lee struggles to make it look interesting. In much the same manner of Superman: Peace on Earth, this storyline centers on Superman's anachronistic inability to affect any real change and to ultimately fight a useless struggle to maintain the status quo. I know that, Brian. Interest me. Argh.

Astonishing X-Men #2:
Whedon has the dialogue and voices of the characters down to a science, from a newly-resolute Shadowcat to a beer-swilling, growling Wolverine. I enjoyed the characterization very much, even if the plot -- a public appearance, ooh -- left me unchallenged. Worth watching.

G.I. Joe Reloaded #4:
John Ney Reiber's grim and ultra-realistic take on the Hasbro property continues grimly and ultra-realistically. Which, again, is my problem with it -- even when people died, there was a kind of air of whimsy. Quick Kick, a guy with no shoes and no shirt, was standing in a pit in the Middle East, getting machine gunned to death. That's just freakin' funny. This has no humor, and the kind of WB melodrama that's permeated lots of comics these days. Destro looking serious in a kilt -- less funny and more "what the?" As a fan of the property, I'm reading it, but even with the realistic attempt at tone, it does nothinig unusual or surprising, so therefore can't earn my dollars.

Authority: More Kev #2
Kev tells a story. It's not a very smart story, or even one whose ending comes as any real surprise. Honestly, it's not a very interesting story. I figured, after I dismissed the first issue on the advice of my retailer, I'd give this a shot. I was wrong. Kev is devoid of entertainment possibilites, a watered down Lobo with a British spin. I'll be glad when his fifteen minutes of fame are over.

Avengers #84:
The Invaders (led by never-too-smark John Walker the US Agent) must have been reading JSA a few months ago, because the "Black Reign" storyline is redone very close to the letter. An added twist is Walker being "named" the new Captain America (again) by former Secretary of Defense Dell Rusk (who was the Red Skull, which is funny all by itself), yet the arrival of the current Secretary of Defense Tony Stark (in his Iron Man armor to boot) didn't slow these guys down, even smacking the good former industrialist. Plus. with a new writer and storyline due, oh, next month, this feels like it hit the breaks very, very fast and just said, "oh let's be done already." Not satisfying, although I admit to liking the flirting between Jan and Hawkeye.

Robin #127:
Willingham is making even a goofy girl Robin seem interesting, as every spinning plate relies on another, making for an intricate and interesting superhero yarn. This title was ready to jump to the Buy Pile, but got held off due to the new Robin. I stand corrected -- it's still ready to come on over, and one more issue as good as this, and come over it shall.

Captain America #28:
Robert Morales bids farewell by taking a somewhat crazy premise -- alternate universes and time travel -- and making it make sense, partially due to the inclusion of Cap's incredulous Asian girlfriend (there's something to be said there, but I dunno what it is). A fun time travel yarn with some gravitas and some goofy good times, again bringing the shadow of Isaiah Bradley over the legacy of Cap. Fine work, and I'll miss him on this series.

Flash #211:
Despite some serious giant gorilla beatdown, this issue was very soap-opera-esque. Nightwing swings some punches and holds the fight scene together -- barely -- but otherwise has little reason to be here. I pick up this title maybe once every six months, and it's never very interesting. Blue collar Wally. Okay. So?

Silver Surfer #10:
"Commander" Norrin Radd (who'd hire this nut job?) pulls rank and plans to leave Earth to its doom (he used to call the Baxter Building, or at least his pal Doc Strange, when he heard this sort of news). He, and virtually every character in this title are wildly uninteresting. Let's move on.

Teen Titans #12:
Raven's back, Brother Blood got his butt kicked in a fairly predictable (but somewhat gross) fashion, and the best part of this issue for me was Cyborg tricking an enemy into his own body and then converting the guy into a 210 MB file on a disk. The fact that a guy's whole essence and soul could fit on a ffreakin' 2nd gen Zip Disk is funny to me, but que sera sera. Plus, they still have a male Robin running around, which is goofy (the blonde is in next issue, the last page said). Why do they bother with this title?

Wanted #4:
Very close to making the jump, as the internecine conspiracy amidst a world of super villains becomes more and more mean-spirited and ill. Deaths, beatings and turmoil -- sounds good to me. is this a mini? I've gotta check ...

Mystique #16:
Vaughn continues to keep plates spinning (I like that metaphor this week, sue me) as Shortpack and Mystique keep fighting the good fight. Lots of fighting. This issue (and title as a whole) is a lot like TV's Alias (in contrast to Brian Michael Bendis' comic series Alias, which was rather talky) with a bit of smart framing and lots of butt kicking. I'm gonna miss Vaughn here (funny parallel there as well) and his impending departure is why I haven't invested in this series yet.

Read Pile Roundup: With only Excalibur and Superman as real thorns in my side, I was pretty happy overall with the reads.

So, How Was It This Week? A solid effort most of the way around, so let's call it a good week. Barely.

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