Captain America & the Falcon #10:
I've never thought much about Modok. He's a big flying head guy. Floats around, speaks goofily. I've seen him in a few things -- I remember he invaded Doom's castle when the good doctor was away, and he was pretty handily beaten. He's always been a kind of goofy fixture in the Marvel cosmology that I hold in the same kind of smirking disdain as Batroc "ze Leapair" or, oh, I dunno, Spider-Girl. Something that exists but I can safely remain ignorant of without it bugging me. In the last few issues, culminating here, Modok has become interesting. Never before have the four words "designed only for killing" been so chilling, so important. Plus, Captain America shakes off the kind of worried frown he's had by doing what he does best -- action. He also manages to do some actual thinking (and get it right), which was a pleasant surprise. Modok is at the center of a last page reveal that was both creepy and amazing. Plus, Falcon is at his newly-intimidating best, I absolutely adore people who refer to themselves in the third person (especially with affectionate nicknames) and this has taken the scenic route back to straight ahead superheroics. I could not be more happy. This issue is nearly perfect, it's so good it practically levitates. Given my normal levels of vitriol and bile, it's not easy heaping praise like this, but dammit, it's deserved.

Y: The Last Man #29:
One of my favorite lines in comics involved Grant Morrison's creation Prometheus, where the lower level criminal the Red Dart said that research was the difference "between guys like me and guys like him." I am a huge fan of research. So, when I see a bit about, say, a physical ailment, I leap to Google, and end up with, say, the Center of Disease Control. So when I take the body of my amassed research back and find it contradicts what I read in the comics I so enjoy, this vexes me. Unless, of couse, "rejecting the bacillus" is considerably different than what I've read. In any case -- surprise -- Yorick makes it through another issue and secrets are revealed. I like the gunplay, a welcome action element, and the last page literally made my eyebrows raise with anticipation. This title has been in a rut recently, and this issue feels like it's pulling itself out ... factual issues notwithstanding.

Transformers: War Within: The Age of Wrath #3:
Plans within plans. Simon Furman draws a huge and fascinating tapestry, making it even more complex and zany this issue. There's a hunt for Prime, Megatron wisely wielding power and had some serious whup-ass action. Just barely made the cut, but made it not only because of Joe Ng's work (along side Tracy Ho and Erik Sander), but because it just keeps getting more interesting as it goes along, even on multiple reads.

Noble Causes #4:
Another issue that doesn't disappoint -- Noble Causes almost never does. Smartly including Firebird (from the recent one-shot) getting center space on the cover, a really big surprise at the last page, some surprising moments from Celeste and great visual storytelling from Fran Bueno (despite falling down on some of the close up shots, which look pinched) and just great work from cover to cover. Consistent entertainment.

The Intimates #2:
This was the issue it took the longest to read, because of the really smartly balanced deluge of information on every single page. Some reviewers have called the subtexts at the bottom "distracting," but I consider them brilliant, a hack of the art form to give room for a CNN-styled info-scroll. The central story about Duke is so funny and pathetic at the same time, such a real life situation gone horribly extrahuman, that it bot humanized the character and provides some crass laughs. Punchy seems like the kid that could still go either way, and that's fascinating (plus I keep laughing because he's a lot like Southpaw in She-Hulk, with the added zaniness of it being a super-powered puppet). This is a really richly done work by Casey, and even though Guiseppe Camuncoli has some of the same issues with close up shots that Fran Bueno has, but likewise has a really strong sense of visual storytelling. Fun tie-in to Casey's older Wildstorm work, with a "guest lecturer" and just really good, information-dense, smart comics.

Buy Pile Breakdown: A general sense of contentment that's just plain pleased without getting really excited. Oh, and just for fun ...

What I bought on my week off: (I still went to the store, I just didn't write reviews) Sleeper Season 2 #6 (good, solid) ... uh, that may be it, and the third Twisted Toyfare Theatre collection.

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

Alpha Flight #10:
Remember how I like time travel stories? Here? Yeah, not so much. I like the intros they use (the Box intro was hi-freakin-larious) but it never seems to hold up. Eh.

Detective Comics #801:
Lapham's noirish script gives tons of dark nuance to Gotham's mean streets, but the Bat hasn't been this dull since ... well, shoot, it's been a while. Easy to pass by.

Avengers #1:
First of all, of course, David Finch draws damned pretty. No surprise there. There's a great moment with a waterlogged Spidey and Captain America, which I kind of liked, where Cap kind of shock and awes the "younger" hero. The big jailbreak at the heart of the story has a mystery behind it, one with no clues I could discern (but who expected Wanda until it was waaaaaay too late?) but it's not very much story for all the space, another casualty of decompression.

Breakdown #2:
The hero-goes-dark-n-gritty story features another jailbreak (it's jailbreak week, woo hoo!) where the protagonist digs out the one person he figures who can help him on his ill-advised quest for vengeance. Much mayhem ensues, and that's fun. An action-packed Chuck Bronson-styled tale that'd be fitting for Mel Bronson. Which is okay.

Deadshot #1:
This was so very close to making the jump to the Buy Pile. Floyd Lawton's detached cool is just short of really being intimidating, partially due to the fact that he walks around in red goofy underwear. Still, he had some great one-liners and is developing a fun Catwoman-esque sense of social responsibility. Worth watching -- if the second issue blows me away (no pun intended) I could see myself going back to buy this issue.

G.I. Joe/Transformers Volume 2 #4:
Yah. This sucked. The ending was particularly assy. Seeing as I adore both properties, that irked me. The Dreamwave books have so much more of an interesting approach. Oh well.

Fallen Angel #18:
A very climactic ending showing the motivations for most of the big players in the title. I again say that DC would be well served to just pay Peter David to make original Fallen Angel OGNs, slap a "Vertigo" label on 'em and call it a day. This issue made me hearken back to earlier ones, even going to the stands to look. Interesting, but incomplete.

Firestorm #8:
I call this issue "the rookie mistake," but it was almost unavoidable. There's a great character scene with the dad and the protagonist, which has really been the kind of emotional anchor of the series, but goofy flying around again takes precedence. I understand the need for a big learning curve. I just wish it happened in smaller chunks. Not bad.

G.I. Joe #37:
The team's down to twelve, a mix of old and new (I was super surprised to see Grand Slam, with a new outfit, make the cut, whereas Flash or Sci-Fi didn't) battling an once-again internecine collection of snakes on the Cobra side. The addition of a heroic new general from outside the G.I. Joe ranks was a surprise development, and I'm not sure what to think of him. A lot of plates spinning here, but no clear answer as to why. Developing ...

Question #2:
I needed a second to absorb what was happening here when I saw Lex Luthor making a corporate announcement. Then I realized, "ah, this must be set pre-2000." But then I wondered, "wait a tic ... why would a regular DCU title be set so far afield of current continuity?" Then I remembered that this comes ostensibly from the Super office, managed by Eddie Berganza. I have had a lot of negative things to say about things that came down the pike under his watch. So, assuming that this was another one of those, I tried to read it on its own merits. They were few and far in-between -- the harried artistic styles don't work for me, and the scattered plot (which apparently echoes the James Joyce-esque madness inside Vic Sage's own head as he does his best Jack Hawksmoor impression) doesn't come through either. Why is this on the stands again? Who was clamoring for this?

Transformers Generation One Volume 3 #10:
The Easter eggs almost made this issue worth buying ... but not quite. In a flashback panel to Cybertron's pre-Civil War days, Megatron is shown after defeating an opponent in the gladiatorial combats ... that looks like the Gobot villain Cy-Kill. A shrouded general chews out Marissa Faireborn (whose name is too close to a certain military man named Dashiell Faireborn for me to consider it a coincidence) and when you see the shot of his chest, smart Transfans will pick out what his highly relevant last name is. Still, on a story side, too many people are doing the "what? How can that be?" soap opera gag, and I'm not at all captivated by yet another miraculous return of a supposed-to-be-dead Megatron. Who is this guy, Vandal Savage?

Superman/Batman #15:
Now, I hate this title. Always have. I found last months step into Elseworlds territory mildly amusing. But when they whipped out, for one glorious single panel, Tyroc? Aw, i can forgive a whole lot for that. What? You have no idea who Tyroc is? Gosh, well it's a good thing we have the Museum of Black Superheroes to save me a bunch of writing. Anyhoo, seeing him reminded me of my excitement at seeing a kick-ass Black hero in my youth, and that was cool. Not that he was in any way useful here, being played for a dupe by three of the greatest villains of the 31st century. But that distracts from me being happy, and brings us to the meat of the matter. At my store, there are two covers showing Wonder Woman fighting Superman. Are we that thin on real villains? Anyhoo, this train wreck of a story makes Alpha Flight's time travel tawdriness look linear by comparison. Nice art, whimsical nostalgia, but nothing worth recommending. Even with Tyroc.

Infantry #1:
Speaking of thinly written stories, this action-oriented first issue didn't give me a single shred of character to latch on to. Nicely depicted destruction, but so?

Ultimates Season 2 #2:
Yes, I was shocked to see this at the store. However, the fact that anybody could be surprised by publicity warfare in this day and age, and that the likes of Ultimate Janet Van Dyne or Ultimate Tony Stark (and especially Ultimate Nick Fury ... yes, I like saying "Ultimate" before their names, what of it?) wouldn't be planning for this when a very big secret gets out in a very big way ... well, shoot, what were they doing? It makes everybody (short of Ultimate Captain America, who's freaking amazing in every panel he's ever been in, ever, which is so weird to me) look pretty dumbass in the context of the story. I'm also not sold, one way or another, on whether Ultimate Thor is delusional or really magical. I could still go either way, and that's great writing. Fun, confectionary, but too much of a hole in the middle of it for it to get my money.

Outsiders #18:
John Walsh is still "guest starring" (how desperate is he to stay in the limelight ... does his show still come on?) in a really ugly story. Ugly in terms of the subject matter, more than its qualitative aspects -- child slavery is just really not right under any circumstances, and for the Outsiders to take it on, given the (now) revealed trauma in Grace's history ... that's good stuff. However, the ugly (and now I mean qualitatively) art and muddy coloring don't do anything to help the story along. A valiant try, but a failure.

Rogue #5, Sabretooth #4, Jubilee #4, Uncanny X-Men #453:
I just couldn't bring myself to read this stuff. It was just too much. Life's too short to read crappy Southern accents and look at Bart Sears hyper-exaggerated Creed.

Read Pile Roundup: A small week of reads that felt like it was reaching for greatness but just didn't have the ability to make it. Ah, but let's not forget ...

What I read on my week off: Powers #6 (what the hell?), Supreme Power #3 (great way to "team up," and wondering who the loose cannon is), Losers #18 (living in the moment before the bomb hits, Max's true colors revealed), Adam Strange #3 (Thanagar thinks they can take over for Oa? Pshaw!), Authority: Revolution #2 (Wacky time travel bit with Midnighter versus himself ... uh, okay), Black Widow #3 (Losers-level spy action with Russian mores meeting US cosmetics, not bad), Daredevil #67 (Too much flashback, torture seemed well done, developing), Ultimate Elektra #4 (walking parallel lines with Ultimate Daredevil until it becomes uncomfortable), Elektra: The Hand #4 (I'd have read this as just a "Hand" title ... anyway, things fall apart over prejudice, pride and passion), Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 (Ooh, super scientific, kind of too much so, but not bad), Green Lantern: Rebirth #2 (Foul, ending a cop-out, mystery reappearances of ... ah who cares, it's awful), invincible #17 (Great teen events, but story seems to be treading water), Masters of the Universe #37 (making a character of Stratos, middling success), Richard Dragon #7 (Flashback prequel to training the Bat and many problem children), Small Gods #5 (New arc with a psi hustler, pretty good), marvel Team-Up #2 (Funny snipe at Astonishing X-Men, throwaway antagonist, contrived but done well for that caveat), Star Wars: Obsession #1 (Obi-Wan hunts allegedly dead evil Jedi, which may show why he was so tired later on), Street Fighter #11 (Saturday matinee kung fu fun), Superman #211 (Fighting Diana for reasons that aren't super clear, maybe Kryptonian origin to "vanishing"), Excalibur #7 (Fight-filled, contrived, continuing run of crappiness), Mystique #21 (Caught after a caper, winding down slowly), G.I. Joe Reloaded #9 (huge surprise at who traitor is, veering wildly and well from source material) and Flash #216 (Dumb Flash, reboot issue with a fun surprise in a Rogue who's worse than we expect).

So, How Was It This Week? I am overcome with tranquility and "okay"-ness in this week's batch.

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