Planetary #20:
We finaly get a look at William Greene, the WIldstorm Universe's answer to clobberin' time. Slowly told in slow strokes, the final twist is well done dramatically if taking a l-o-n-g time to get there. Still, with mad ideas whizzing past your ears on every other page, it's probably all right. I still love Planetary, I just wish it was a hair less deliberate.

Sleeper Season 2 #2:
I really think this should be a TV show more than a comic book -- I adored the interplay between Holden and his ex, I liked the smartness of Lynch in manipulating Holden so effortlessly, and the final scene just warmed my evil heart. However, Sean Philips indistinct artwork, combined with coloring that looks like it was done with a bucket, makes this less than must-see-comics. I like it, but like early Rising Stars, less-than-stellar art can throw me off before the ride really gets underway.

Caper #10:
Jump from the Read Pile. Normally I find BendisBanter (tm) kind of annoying. Sure people really talk about movies and go back and forth ... but it's not always interesting reading, especially when not used in service of the plot. Well, here Winick appropriates the technique and uses actress Katherine Ross as a great throghline for some really whimsical hired guns in a story that's way more fun than either of the other two thirds of this mini and approaching the stellar first third in quality. A pleasant surprise.

Buy Pile Breakdown: Caper catches the eye, but it ends up doing more work than the experienced members of the team.

BUY PILE BONUS: From the week of July 21st, bought Blokhedz #3 (very pleased with the story's progression), Wonder Woman #206 (getting more interesting with every page) and Captain Marvel #25 (a fitting goodbye with Giffen on base, a good issue all around).

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

Excalibur #3:
My notes say, "stupid and ill advised" in an issue that sees Chuck Xavier, Magneto (yeah, the cat's outta the bag, suck it up) and Callisto riding off towards adventure like three old pals. Dialogue? Forced. Plot? Uninspired. Art? Acceptable, but nothing special. Prognosis? Dead on arrival.

Losers #14:
More solid spy storytelling with a nice bit of sniper action from Cougar (who, next to Aisha, is my favorite). The book has a decent balance of smart plot, witty dialogue and cap-busting action. In fact, as a whole, it's as good as the issues I've read of Sleeper, but gets none of the praise. Funny, that. Anyway, this book remains just a eyelash below the line for something I would buy, which really, now, says a great deal about Sleeper too.

Powers #2:
Deena Walker cursing somebody out is almost worth the price of admission alone, but the shock at seeing Retro Girl (or a close approximation therein) and the wry political intrigues that go on in this issue are not bad either. Another good issue that doesn't do enough to get to great, and therefore stays at the store.

Batman #630:
I decided to check in on Winick's run and found it a mixed bag. An able caretaker of the Bat's monthly legacy, this issue has some solid action and a good serialized clip, giving me all the info I need to quickly catch up while propelling me happily towards the next issue's developments. On that standard, this issue was a success. However, as an infrequent reader who didn't buy any Hush issues except the Superman fight, this issue did nothing above and beyond the call of duty to attract my dollars.

Avengers #500:
Boom! Boom! Crash! Boom! Thud! Aaaagh! Boom! No, God, why? Boom! Thud! Gaaaah! Et cetera, et cetera, preceded by more BendisBanter (tm) around the modern Round Table. Considering how clever Bendis' plots normally are, I was unpleasantly surprised at the simplicity here, the lack of even the most elementary of Shyamalan-esque twists. "It's all going somewhere!" defenders might offer. Well, so was much of Transmetropolitan and it kept me guessing at every step, even on off months. It's not there in this issue, and aside from flashy pyrotechnics, there's little reason to recommend this at all.

Catwoman #33:
I also decided I needed to check back in on this title, and see if all the buzz was deserved. It is. In a Roshomon style issue that could have been crafted by the makers of the late, lamented Boomtown, this issue tells me all I needed to know about clearly months of stuff (succinctly too, I might add) and tells a fairly straight forward, fairly smart tale of street justice. I was pretty pleased with the level of craft on both story and art sides, depicting a dreary and downtrodden East End of Gotham that still popped with vibrancy and a kind of hope. Since Sleeper is on the bubble, Catwoman could be joining Losers in gunning for its spot.

Conan #6:
The Cimmerian's vengeance on the Hyboreans has a pyrrhic price, but it's more blood and brain-bashing per square inch than we perhaps deserve. Bringing the barbarian ruckus, Busiek and ... Nord was it? Anyway, the team here are happily making an enjoyable, uncomplicated series that set a standard and has yet to really drop from it. Fine confectionary entertainment for fans of swinging swords and shouted oaths.

Mystique #3:
It took me a while to start to notice the difference in Vaughn's scripting and McKeever's, but I see it now. Thework here is very reminiscent of Vaughn's run, but lacks the taut pacing and crisp scenes that made this series a sleeper favorite of mine. I found the plot here just a smidge thinner than I needed it to be, with some points where the work was a bit muddled. Still, interesting stuff that's swinging for the fences.

DC New Frontier #5:
Crank up your nostalgia wagon and cloak yourself in the apparently plainer mores of yesteryear. Superman holding a wounded Wonder Woman, with blood dotting the inside of her crashed invisible plane? That's the stuff of legend ... which is both a benefit and a detriment. On one hand, Darwyn Cooke (I'm 90% suee that's the name I remember) is stoking the fires of the DC Universe's ancient core with a whiff of modern sensibilities. On the other hand, if read in a different mood, it could seem stuffy and corny, like the President's speech in Independance Day. It all depends on where your mood is, I suppose, as it struck me as both at different times. An important, ambitious issue in a challenging, ambitious series ... but still expensive as hell for such an experiment.

Venom/Carnage #1:
One thousand symbiotes. That's the most disturbing fact in this issue, that the sentient suit Spidey brought back from Secret Wars lo these many years ago was on a mission to procreate and spread its seed, bringing an all new and more irritating specie to an already heavily booked planet Earth. Once I got by my irritation with that (nobody brings the "realign the economics of the area so equal opportunity is more than just a catchphrase" new species, because they'd surely get whacked), I was able to appreciate the painted, sometimes overexaggerated artwork (one shot of a female character from behind scared me a bit) and the pointless, lackluster storyline. If this is the new species here to take over, I'll get off at the next stop ...

Witching #2:
I'll admit it has a Vertigo spin, with mad ideas leaping out at odd angles in a way that might remind some of the John Rozum series Xombi. Still ... it leads to a derivative of the "power of three" on Charmed which was in style, what, three years ago? I tried to focus on one of its disparate elements -- wild ideas, girl power witchcraft, or Gaiman-esque mood -- and couldn't get enough of any one to work for me, nor a good combination of the three to make the issue gel. Blah.

Marvel Knights 4 #8
I had to keep turning back to the cover to make sure I was indeed reading 4 and not some four-color version of General Hospital (even Uatu seemed to have similar ideas in the opening panels). Namor pops up with a "I could love you better" line that Sue doesn't turn down quite fast enough, and Reed (doing his best Fred MacMurray impersonation) stammers and aw shucks his way out of the idea of being cuckolded. The art wasn't as remarkable as earlier issues (I think the art team switched), and somehow I found the Johnny Storm subplot more interesting than the main story, which basically covers an old argument in shiny new clothes. A slight drop, thanks to different art, than the prior issues.

Green Lantern #179:
The recap was a bit easy, watching the once-impressive Kyle Rayner loose control was a bit forced, and I'm almost certain Major Force is supposed to be dead (and even if he's not, working with underlings and planning seems considerably afield for the Clifford Zmeck I came to know and laugh at). I don't know where this is going and I don't care, and that's really all there is to say about this.

Fantastic Four #516:
I swear there's maybe ten pages of actual content here, padded out with fight scenes, pinup shots (did like the Salamandra transformation panel, though) and posturing. With a big fat null result at the end, this issue is an empty coda for a pretty flashy but less-than-compelling storyline.

JLA #102:
The central thesis of this issue is that the Flash has never seen a dead body before, much less a dead child's body. Now, when I said this aloud in the shop, a cacaphony of examples to the contrary flew back at me, and I'm frankly too lazy to recount them all. Almost as lazy as Chuck Austen either hypertiming this story in or not bothering to check his facts. I mean, didn't the JLA just deal with Axis Amerika a few months ago, and some dead bodies were in that (let alone seeing his own wife dead, and those memories are now firmly back in his head)? The pathos and emotion, done with a sufficient degree of craft, would have worked better had the simple facts of the character didn't overwhelm them with incredulity.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #9:
In a kind of speedy pop comics approach, this issue was less brain and more smash as Ultimate Ben Grimm edged closer to his catchphrase (as long as he never shouts, "show 'em my motto!") and despite some possibly dodgy edges, Ultimate Doom sends a pretty nasty (and fairly clear cut) message to the FF. A fairly enjoyable read that takes an issue off from its new sci fi pedigree to break some stuff.

Legion #36:
Simone's balancing act of smart dialogue against the kind of inspiring heroism of the LSH of yore really clicks in this issue, which confronts the no-tech crisis with all the spunk and grit of the Legionnaires who used to fly around with capes down to their waists. Depicted prettily and done well, it's worth a look at least.

Rogue #1:
Nothing special. Somebody is immune to her power. Rogue heads back to Mississippi. For reasons I don't understand, Gambit's been blinded. I'm sure someone cares. It's just not me.

Red Star Volume 2 #5:
Pretty, as always. But even by Red Star standards, this one was thin on actual stuff happening. A lot of talk, some shouting, and a nice moment with the breakaway star Makita, but an issue that could have probably been done in eight pages, if not six.

Superman Birthright #12:
The ending is good, but the fight seems like a necessary evil to get there. In a deft melding of the ideas of Smallville and the traditions of the comics, Lex and Supes get their face time and it all falls down. I liked this, but -- as with the whole maxi-series -- nothing in it felt necessary, even with this as the modern equivalent to Man of Steel in setting a status quo for the character.

Small Gods #1:
In the emotional vein of Warren Ellis Strange Killings or Steven Grant's My Flesh is Cool (or, to be more precise in literal similarities, the Love Brothers' Fierce), this new series from Image drops you right in the lap of an established psychic homicide detective. The background and reality here is sketched out quickly but deftly, and this issue feels right, if that makes any sense to you. As a new and untested quantity, it would have had to dazzle me more than this to make the Buy Pile (especially with Fierce already there, and a head above Small Gods in term of zest and excitation), but this is a well worth attention.

Superman #207:
I had to make sure that the new straw man, er, antagonist Equus wasn't just Caleb from the Authority moonlighting. There are some similar visual elements, and Equus dropped from as much thin air as the killer cybernetic hillbilly. Anyway, after a lot of talk, something finally happens, but has done so between the panels for the most part and doesn't crescendo well here. Oh, and Thanos called, he wants his idea back. Moving on ...

Astonishing X-Men #3:
Hank McCoy gets a lot of panel time here, as Wolverine continues to get a host of great one-liners. I was surprised that all of a sudden, SHIELD has become a purely US-administered apparat (perhaps that's some Ultimization leaking through), and the source of the new mutant "cure" seems just too creepy for me to accept, but I'll be damned if the dialogue isn't snappy and Cassaday's art impressive. But "astonishing?" Not quite, not just yet.

24 One Shot #1:
Getting its prequel on and looking at Jack Bauer's first day at CTU, this issue was really pretty well done, even managing to get the "time elapsed" feel down in part (the final tick surprised me a bit, somehow). Seeing characters both dead and now in a different light (after watching three seasons of the show) was a fun little exercise, but the issue was too pricey and too crudely depicted for my dollars.

Witches #4:
All the way down to the fight scenes, this easily could have been an episode of Charmed (slap a red flight cloak on Leo, and I defy you to tell me the difference). I don't really understand why this title exists -- for all its failures, The Witching is doing the same job in a less crappy fashion. JMS will have the good Doctor back on the stands soon. Aside from being boring and having occasional pointless cheesecake, I just can't get my brain around this title at all, and this "stop to argue in the middle of a fight" issue didn't help.

Read Pile Roundup: I feel like I got stabbed in the face. That would really hurt, and even with a good knife, someone would have to really hate you to stab you in the face repeatedly, as bone isn't that brittle. Still. That's what it was like.

READ PILE REWIND: From the week of July 21: Seaguy #3 (a letdown, schnackered by Morrison again), Kabuki #1 (huh?), Birds of Prey #70 (mean, but still dropped from Buy Pile), Robin #128 (very smart and well told), Daredevil #62 (sadly I can relate to being broken by abandonment, great chemistry and dialogue with Black Widow along with good action scenes), Flash #212 (I felt the twist was overkill, but a really gritty and somewhat inconsistent origin for Mirror Master), Guardians #1 (An unimportant, slow John Hughes meets Last Starfighter homage), Frankenstein Mobster #4 (losing its way bigtime, pretty muddled), Ghostbuster: Legion #2 (un-fun), G,I. Joe #32 (awfully gritty as well), G.I. Joe Reloaded #5 (almost gritty enough, with a smarter and more insidious Cobra than ever), Justice League Elite #1 (the promise of The Monarchy finally fulfilled, very close to a Buy Pile title), Man-Thing #1 (slow, visually uninteresting, dull), Normalman 20th Anniversary Special #1 (a scathing satire about the comic book industry as a whole, lacking hard laughs but dead on accurate), Outsiders #14 (mean spirited and less compelling than past issues), Plastic Man #8 (Did the Archie Comics Group produce this one? Despite some Normalman-esque inside jokes, not good enough), Savage Dragon #115 (the charm and pep of the Silver Age at its finest), Silver Surfer #11 (inadequate), Strykeforce #4 (interesting twists, Killawatt the sleeper star of the series), Thor: Loki #2 (dropped the ball a touch, as Loki starts to crack), Adventures of Superman #630 (Zany, with more of the same kinds of ill inside jokes, but not really much more than an exercise in almost-jokes), Cable/Deadpool #5 (losing steam, as the zip goes away in favor of grunting), New X-Men #3 (internecine and corny), X-Men #159 (The Collective Man? Shut up, that rocks! Otherwise nothing special), Starjammers #2 (more of the same)

So, How Was It This Week? Made me wanna soak my head in kerosene and make out with Johnny Storm.

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