Captain America and The Falcon #6:
This is gonna get complicated. First of all, the new edge to Falcon is really entertaining, a nice mix of "Snap" Wilson and the straight laced guy from the Avengers. Second, Captain America doesn't seem to know the difference between his own ass and a handbag, which pretty much sums up my feelings on the character, so that makes me happy. Third, there's a definite problem element in the US government which does not include everybody, and the story is good at showing the difference. Fourth, between the melee in the Daily Bugle offices (with some great JJJ bits), a reference to Morris Day and the Time, and a timely (and logical) assist from the good Doctor Pym, I found this issue wildly satisfactory, an entertaining read from cover to cover. Yay! I don't get to say that often enough.

Y: The Last Man #25:
Ah, guilt -- where better for the last man in the world to feel it than in the ruins of a Catholic church? Especially while he's naked? What makes it all the more deliciously sacreligeous is his "transubstantiation" mere pages later, proving that even in Vertigo, people with guns are a cowardly and superstitious lot. The issue also manages to check in on the long-discussed girlfriend Beth, stuck in the Australian outback. That, predictably, doesn't go well. Again, an okay issue, but this series hasn't made me go "wow" since the bit with the spacemen, and is edging towards the Read Pile ...

Wildcats 3.0 #25:
The Coda have a bad experience when Jack Marlowe finally decides to make an appearance. As one of my favorite characters in all of comics right now, the opening scene with him floating above the chaos, his tie fluttering in the wind, was simply poetry to me. I'm not gonna lie -- I already miss this title, ripped too soon from the stands by cruel market forces and a "succeed now" editorial culture. I also miss Glenn (yes, that's a spoiler, but I doubt we'll ever hear from either of those characters again, now this is all over). Much remains unresolved, and we'll now never see Halo's mad quest for global peace through mercantilism, but -- in the words of Douglas Adams -- that's the way the cookie gets stomped on and completely obliterated.

Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure #1:
Just about worth the money -- Spoiler (who's become a major player in Gotham recently) plays witness to the start of a major gang war as All Hell and Breaks Loose reacquaint themselves over high caliber gunfire. A solid prologue to whatever crossovers may come, and at twelve cents, even I can't be mad at it.

Buy Pile Breakdown: Just a bit of a speed bump in Y: The Last Man, but otherwise all good, all around.

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

Batman/Catwoman #1:
In lieu of, say, a story, it seems Ann Nocenti figured it'd be better to turn in a feature length anti-gun ad. Look -- I live in gang territory, I'm no fan of gun violence (unless it's some jackass I want shot), but this is not an entertaining piece of work. Seems there's a revolutionary new gun (which makes little sense, as the bullets would have to be the real breakthrough) which has heat-seeking projectiles which never miss. Stand in a crowd, fire five rounds, kill everybody who's not you. Kind of cool if -- even for DC technology -- really ridiculous. So Catwoman has this gun, and a missing patch in her short term memory. Maybe she whacked a bunch of people, maybe not. That's the basic set up as the book flashes back to the hows and whys in such a ham-fisted fashion I kept checking the cover to see if Bill Jemas had somethiing to do with the story. Especially in prestige format, a powerful failure.

Ultimate X-Men #50:
In a similar styled "mission" as the hunt for Mister Sinister (except the mission here is "have fun") the gang heads to Coney Island for some powers-free good times. Of course that never works, as Ultimate Gambit shows up with instructions to steal something near and dear to the hearts of the Xavier's crowd. With shades of District X, the issue also shows less humaniformed mutants making due the best way they know how -- as carnies and circus freaks. An okay issue that didn't do anything to attract my attention, good nor bad.

Birds of Prey #71:
The former Buy Pile regular has lost a step, and only part of that can be traced to missing Mister Ed Benes on pencils. Either Simone's script or the translation of it by Ron Adrian loses a step, as a brief subplot with Savant feels forced in (heaven forbid I didn't already know who Savant was, as he seems wholly non sequitur here), the segments with Vixen took a read or two to decipher, and what the heck was with that praying? What was that about? Seeing as how Simone kicked major booty on the latest issue of Legion, wha hoppened?

X-Men: The End #1:
When I open up the issue to find Bishop and Deathbird's love child jogging on a holodeck version of Westchester, I should know there's bad things afoot. In an issue that made so little sense and was so dangerously muddled, I could only laugh at it. It's not bad enough Chris Claremont jumped the shark the last time he came back to the X-Men (or 'went GP on us," to use more modern vernacular), but he's gone even deeper into labyrinthine madness. Wow. Striving for Monarchy levels of confusion.

Firestorm #4:
Jason Rusch gets a better grasp on his powers, his first meeting with JLA members (nice choice, bringing in John Stewart as the point man, the hero for a new generation of Black kids in masks) and his very first fight with a whacked out goofball with powers. Still, despite some excellent characterization moments for the lead -- leaving work, the chicken suit, and the talk inside his head -- there was too little info on the new bad guy (girl, actually) for me to feel either threatened or interested in her. Close, but no cigar.

Gray Area #2:
I am very unhappy with myself for leaving this, possibly the most interesting thing I read all week, at the store. I guarantee I will be going back to buy this and issue #1 if the next issue keeps kicking butt -- this is already a jump-ready issue. By twisting around the concept of purgatory, Brunswick and Romita Jr. deliver a compelling story in an essentially all-new world. The characterization on crooked (and dead) cop Rudy Chance blazes ahead powerfully, with undead sex and a call to duty that made sense. There's so much to like about this issue that, again, I'm peeved I left it there, despite enjoying what I brought home. Next time, honest.

Guardians #2:
S ... l ... o .... w ... oh, and Chris Carter called, he wants his mood back. I actually think it was the same cloaked ship from X-Files ... ah who cares. The female lead is wholly boring, the male lead is really the only person in the whole title with any real sense of characterization. I don't see the purpose of this title at all.

Justice League Elite #2:
I can only retype what my notes say: "other than the ferret it's not that bad." I like the use of the stakeouts as character moments, with Coldplay, Menagerie and some of the others. Green Arrow keeps making really wrongheaded decisions (all entendres on board there), Flash gets queasy, Vera Black does a pretty good Jenny Sparks impersonation (personality wise, not powers wise). I like a lot of what's going on here -- the ops commander who hates metahumans, as with Stormwatch: Team Achilles; Major Disaster cribbing notes from Wolverine's 'tude in Astonishing X-Men; a stressed out millenia-old Native American shaman with marital problems ... but a ferret? Close, indeed, but no cigar.

Runaways #17:
Wow. Still one of the best titles I am inexplicably not buying, which could change any issue now. A Marvel U big gun shows up on the last page, all the secrets come out like a gay pride parade, and one of the team members dies in a horrible and final manner. Again -- wow. I gotta get my money situation together and go back and buy this whole freakin' run, this stuff is good.

Majestic #1:
I'd forgotten how much I really liked Majestic, who thinks the whole DCU is fulla soft sister superheroes who don't do enough while he wields power and fear with an even hand and no hesitation. The scene with him and Superman in the diner is really, really great and Abnett and Lanning are firing on all cyllinders here. My reasons for not buying are primarily because it's a four issue mini -- one shots, okay, but minis that small always end up breaking my heart. Solid artwork, bright coloring, fantastic characterization on the lead and a bunch of stuff gets smashed and broken and blowed up real good. No complaints here.

Thor #83:
Ow! Seriously, man, ow! Beta Ray Bill shows up with fifty pounds of smackdown in a ten pound bag, and gets appointed temporary Lord of Asgard. One important issue that was cleared up here was that the Odinpower found Thor wanting and buggered off on its own because, frankly, it found Thor a pretty huge dumbass. As I say so often to my friends, mocking the commercials, "I'm John Kerry, and I approve of this message." Thor goes a long way to follow in his father's footsteps, and I for one am following this with all the interest I followed "The Reigning" and "Spiral" storylines -- which is to say, "how long before we retcon things back to normal?" Still a long way from my simoleans.

Thundercats: Enemy's Pride #3:
The big reveal here disappointed me a bit -- I was really enjoying what was happening. In any case, the downhill slope started here, with a return to the status quo in sight now, but I'm hoping some of the interesting things we've picked up along the way can find their way into the property for good. I just know John Layman is lying in wait, rubbing his hands together and cackling as this storyline gets set to sucker punch me for ever praising it at all ... however, the panel of Lion-O punting Snarf stands unparalleled as the finest image I saw all week.

Ultimate Nightmare #1:
The two words that leapt to mind are "vague" and "spooky." Something bad is coming out of the old Soviet Union, screwing with psychics and telepaths world wide and forcing thousands of people to commit suicide. Different groups of people -- including a SHIELD task force (featuring the new Ultimate Falcon) and a group of Ultimate X-Men -- wants to know why, and make it stop. I thought there was a lot of mood-establishing and not a lot of story here, but that's just me. Worth watching ... how many Ultimate titles are there, now?

Queen & Country #26:
The shipping schedule on this former Buy Pile regular is seriously wonky, as I had no idea this was coming in. Anyhoo, the art was a lot crisper and more interesting than I was used to (especially liked the new boss -- always shown from one angle, symbolizing his rigidity -- and the new guy's facial expressions) but the story -- maybe following a guy because maybe he's doing something wrong, but trying to keep it out of the papers -- just didn't do much for me. Has this title peaked? I dunno.

Read Pile Roundup: Between Gray Area and Runaways there was enough good vibes to lift up even Batman/Catwoman and Claremont's dreck.

So, How Was It This Week? Finally, a week worth cheering about. Plus, two candidates for back issue diving -- not a bad week all around.

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