Transformers Generation One Volume 3 #7:
I have a shameful secret to confess: almost anything with Sunstreaker in it, I will buy it. My favorite Transformer by a huge margin, when I found out Dreamwave had turned him into a preening, anti-social sociopath ... I loved him even more. I almost dug out my vintage toy. So when I read a few pages of this issue (which largely ignores everything that happened in the last six issues, and I was very surprised to remember this is an ongoing now), I had to buy it, caution be damned. Sadly, my favorite (and his fun straight man/brother Sideswipe) don't get the panel time I would prefer, but their Shyamalan-styled adventure into a small California town was kind of interesting (especially when they see what they're up against), and having "Enter the Nightbird" as a movie in "San Desto" (paying homage to the classic episode of the original animated series) was icing on the cake. I liked it, but only because I'm a slavish fanboy geek when it comes to Sunstreaker. Had I not been me, I'd have left this poorly paced pap in the store,and I'd suggest you do the same.

Fierce #2:
My biggest beef with this issue is the unclear illustration of the lead character's "interaction" with his dead teammates. In a fight scene, allegedly the spirit of his old co-worker guides him in fighting an assailant. But we don't get any special thought balloons, no captions, no semi-transparent silhouette of the guy shadowing the protagonist. We hear about it later. I think that's a mistake. Otherwise, I liked the tension and the story's mechanics, I felt this issue moved well, and I'm interested enough to keep buying, as this and Small Gods are about neck-and-neck in "being interesting."

Caper #11:
When the porno king/restauranteur came on board, I had to bring this back from the Read Pile. A funny, whimsical, gunfire-filled issue where the two leads still have no idea what's going on, and the issue is filled with scantily clad, bike-riding, gun-toting porno actresses. How can you beat that? Mad and goofy fun on the level of Harold and Kumar.

Promethea #31:
A disappointment -- if there weren't so few issues left, so I could complete my run of this mad and ambitious title, I'd have dropped this. There's at least eight pages of splash with pseudo-spiritual babble, which (at the right time) I might find inspirational but here rang empty and filled pages I'd have preferred have, you know, story. As always the art is superb, but I got bored halfway through and stopped caring.

Sleeper Season Two #3:
This series is growing on me. The dimly colored pages seem to have the character of a good spy thriller, and I enjoyed a lot of what happened here as Holden Carver could very well be Tommy Vercetti, bouncing from point to point under the rule of different masters. It's not easy to leap into this series, but once you're in ... well, I know what its adherents were talking about now. Interesting stuff.

Wonder Woman #207:
The Gorgon stuff seemed talky. Wonder Woman seemed more beleaguered than impressive. I think Rucka has slightly lost his way here.

Buy Pile Breakdown: I can honestly say there was three for six, with just that one nagging doubt about Fierce dinging its performance.

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

Batman #631:
Willingham turns in a really well plotted issue that at the same time shows the Bat-family in action well and horribly screws up, having the Bat walk out of the front of a high school with a shot girl, in front of TV cameras. I thought the title should be "Urban Legend, My Ass." Still, I liked the teamwork and logistics (especially on the truck) that went on, and the jumps from a wide variety of characters to handle went well. But when the media blamed the Bat for the girl's injuries (because Batman is so well known for using guns ...) it was just too much.

Excalibur #4:
Charles Xavier Uber Alles? I hate this series more and more with every page I turn. the bad science alone in Chuck and Erik "reprogramming" an Omega Sentinel while chatting, underwater ... I've really gotta stop reading this ...

Authority: More Kev #3:
The best part about this issue was Kev accidentally throws a nuclear weapon at the Authority. Everything else was kind of "eh, whatever."

Brit: Red, White, Black & Blue:
The balance of the story seems off, even while the lead character is as grimly funny and cantankerous as ever. I do think black and white serves this work well, as color would make the gory scenes too abrupt. Still, it seems like an expensive bit of story that's only about as good as an average issue of, say Invincible, so I left it there.

Catwoman #34:
A wel-done issue that both serves the big "war games" crossover (explaining it all in a way that made me laugh, because I like it when things go wrong for heroes) and keeps the series' own existing storylines moving, with Catwoman rushing around as the reluctant protector of the East End of Gotham. Brubaker seems to really have a comfort with the work, and Gulacy's stylized art may be an acquired taste, but I like it for this kind of personal action. Still, it lacks that extra intangible "oomph" that'd make me buy.

Conan #7:
A downbeat issue, as Conan whacks only two people and spends most of the issue brooding and drinking. If I wanted to see that, I'd visit relatives in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Marvel Knights 4 #9:
Johnny Storm breaks up a fight between Namor and Reed to force them to be mature and do something immportant. Go ahead. Wrap your brain around that -- Johnny Storm, voice of sober reason and maturity. Despite the gorgeous art work, this series makes my head hurt with its implausible premise (and what's with Sue almost flirting one minute and whacking Namor upside the head the next?) that clouds anything interesting that could ever happen here.

Flash #213:
Woops. The cutest part of this was a "fight" with the Turtle (that's hard to type with a straight face) that happens in a space of time so small, Wally handles the whole crisis between syllables of being interrogated on an attempted murder charge. When he realizes that, issues ago, he made a mistake that's caused a lot of his problems now, I laughed at him. Probably not what the goal was, but there you have it.

Ultimate Elektra #1:
A tolerable reintroduction to this universe's Greek ninja babe, even if the family scenes were very Angela's Ashes (see how many outside media references you can find in the reviews today, kids, it's fun).

G.I. Joe Master & Apprentice #3:
The ample fight scenes were unclear and poorly depicted -- lots of close ups and not much context. Like the fight scenes in The Bourne Supremacy now I think about it. Add the fact that I don't care about any of the new characters, and I know nothing of consequence happens to the old ones as this series takes place between the Hama run and the Blaylock resurrection, why bother at all? What's really at stake?

Green Lantern #180:
Once I get over the fact that I know Major Force is dead (which even someone in the issue says, before it gets glossed over again), and then getting over the fact that he's suddenly a lot more articulate (if not very smart, facing Kyle alone and doing something guaranteed to hack him off), the last-page note that next issue ends this run effectively reminded me that H.E.A.T. won and Hal Jordan will be back soon. So, when I read it as "clearing the plate for something else," I found it just dull and predictable, and took Major Force for the plot device he is (anybody would have done -- King Faraday, the equally-dead Captain Atom, anybody from Checkmate, et cetera).

Bloodstream #3:
Co-creator Penny Register turned me on to this quirky painted series, which is a fast paced story of a genetically modified killer stripper. When I even type that, it sounds great, but the painting has been done in a way that looks like pencil art that went straight to colors without being inked, somehow unfinished. The story, with great action and sparse detail on what the heck is going on, moves well but doesn't do much other than show me the lead character is now a badass. Interesting, but not worth my dollars yet.

Guardians #3:
I remember watching The Last Starfighter at one point and thinking, "blah blah blah, come on, get to the good stuff." This issue felt like that. Even the emotional scene between brothers seemed unimportant. Not impressed at all.

JLA #104:
I was actually angry at this issue, which ignores not only years of development on the Manhunter's character at the Detroit base, but under the hands of Giffen and Dematteis, under Waid, under Morrison ... it's almost as if Chuck Austen had never heard of the character before this issue. I mean, recent stuff (Scorch, White Martians) that helped define J'onn J'onzz ... gone. If this happened to tell a compelling story, okay, but for this whiny, self-important, wildly irrelevant "Pain of the Gods," "oh, we superheroes have bad days too" crap ... sheesh. The only good point was seeing an open package of Oreos on top of J'onn's TV. Blah.

Mystique #18:
Justice, such as it is, was served as Mystique goes through her spy paces (the subplot about her "counter missions" has dropped off the face of the earth somehow), beats people, blows stuff up and blah blah blah. Remember in The Spy Who Shagged Me when Austin follows his past self in the moon base, and seems to boredly wait for a chance to do something new? That's what this issue felt like. Ah well.

Legion #38:
After great emotional passages and fantastic pacing and dialogue, I was stunned when I got to the storyline's anticlimactic endpoint and found a virtual empty box. Gail Simone had me going so well, and it ended so uninterestingly, I'm convinced that she got a story consult from my ex-wife. It was all bright and well depicted and futuristic, just like I want the Legion to be, but much ado came about nothing in the end, and that brought my high down.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #10:
God help me, this series is inching towards the Buy Pile. Only the really ridiculous looking Doom reminds me that I just don't buy scenic route, er, Ultimate books (I would posit that The Ultimates doesn't retell old stories, it's on a whole new program with old premises). There's a great intimate moment between Sue and Reed, the introduction of the Fantasticar is just great, and Ben Grimm gets off the best lines in the issue (maybe the series) as he shows them his motto (and makes it make sense). Really fine work, as Ellis and Immonen are on fire.

Richard Dragon #4:
The artists over at Devil's Due should pick this issue up and see how to depict a martial arts battle. The action in this issue looked fantastic, as I decided to pick it up based on online allegations that this was a "good" martial arts comic (compared to Iron Fist which bored me). Believe the hype -- this issue of Richard Dragon used smart flashbacks and dialogues to invest me emotionally in the characters, and the pacing and plot was zippy and fun. Not quite the confection that the dearly departed Way of the Rat was, but not bad at all.

Silver Surfer #12:
I never thought I'd long for the inscrutable days of this series' beginnings. In a wholly screwy and largely unexplained series of events, there's a mutiny, a lot of deaths, some explosions, a dream sequence and a negotiation (not necessarily in that order), and this issue made any recent issue of Daredevil look like The Adventures of Dick and Jane in comparative simplicity. My head hurts, I gotta stop reading this title ...

Star Wars: Empire #23:
When I looked at the cover and it talked about a smuggler, and seemed to have Princess Leia involved, I walked by. Call me when the Empire actually shows up.

Superman #208:
I'll quote Jason, the main retail guy at my store, about this issue: "something might happen." In another wildly introspective and largely boring issue, Jim Lee shows Superman posed impressively and chatting amiably, a lot. A government wonk threatens the Man of Steel and the entire freakin' Justice League (except Batman, who kind of chuckles and keeps some of his banter from the "100 Batarangs," er, "Broken City" storyline) calls Big Blue on the carpet and tsks him peskily. I've heard of talking head issues, but this is ridiculous. The last page was the only real surprise, in that there might actually have to be something other than talk happening next issue, but honestly, I just don't care anymore. If "big name" creators weren't on this run right now, I'd be passing it by completely.

Superpatriot #1:
In much the same "smarter" wham-bang method as his Captain America issues, Robert Kirkman has Superpatriot gunning his way through talky Nazi resurrectionists like he's as bored of them as I am. Kirkman adds an interesting bit of pathos -- somewhere along the line, in the newfound continuity-conscious books of Image Central, his kids died -- which gives the book a nice bit of gravitas in between quips and explosive bouts of gunfire. A snappy issue that didn't pause at all but had interesting dialogue, solid if unremarkable art and decent pacing. I just don't care about Superpatriot (or any patriot themed hero, to be honest), which is why I didn't buy it.

Astonishing X-Men #4:
There's a really beautiful panel that, due to its content, made me hurl the issue away from me in disgust. Nu Marvel is dead, and Old Marvel is back with a licensing-tinged vengeance. Somebody else is back from the dead, which prompted my previous statement, and even the really natural and enjoyable banter and dialogue can't make up for the heaping horrors of continuity, the team getting beaten down like rank amateurs, and a vaguely uneasy and unclean feeling I had after finishing this issue. Argh.

We3 #1:
It was very difficult to leave this wonderfully depicted, well written issue at the store. The scores of silent panels and the brilliant visual storytelling chemistry between Quietly and Morrison really worked for me -- everybody in the store liked it. However, after Seaguy tried to pump me and leave before I woke up, I'm as wary of three-issue-stands with Morrison as I was with Warren Ellis. You just can't trust those UK types, I tell you. So I left it -- at three issues, if it's all good in the end, it won't be hard to find.

Read Pile Roundup: Predominately sucky, I believe.

So, How Was It This Week? Brutal reads plus a Buy Pile only shooting 50 percent ... let's hope it's better next week.

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