Ex Machina #12:
A good issue, but a bit of a downbeat one, less impressive than some others. It's like a list of events in lieu of a major plot, most from the solicitation copy -- Mayor on jury duty, check. New super hero, check. Obligatory flashback scene, check. I mean, I enjoyed it, but after that wild issue with the FBI agent's wife, this was tame by comparison.

JLA Classified #8:
The first big image on page one is, in my opinion, one of the most inspirational and iconic that I've ever seen -- if it wasn't Mary Marvel, I'd practically have to make a poster of it for myself. The issue follows a similar tactic as other books are doing now (see my words on this issue of Cable/Deadpool below) but with the zaniness and mean-spirited whimsy of Giffen and DeMatteis. The fetish styled alternate team was a visual surprise, and I loved the facial expressions on a certain platinum haired character on the last page or two. The nostalgia train stops next issue, and I'm already wistful.

Lucifer #63:
The Morningstar is back, and he's having a hard time with a newborn. Sandalphon (imagine Heaven's greatest spy) and Lilith lead two armies to raise hell 'til the heavens fall. All of Yahweh's angels stand, confused, and Mazikeen once again proves why she's probably the biggest bad ass in this comic book, including the title character himself. A lot happened, and it was balanced very smartly, even though it didn't pause a second to allow a neophyte to catch up. If you don't know who the Basanos are, or why the Jin En Mok is chasing Mazikeen, well, that's your problem. If you know, enjoy the ride.

Buy Pile Breakdown: Solid and affordable, a winning combination.

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

Adventures of Superman #641:
The cover lists "Observational Metahuman Activity Construct" -- meaning OMAC's got a brand new bag. One Man Army Corps -- how twentieth century! Anyhoo, Pete Ross protests his innocence, despite the clear visual evidence we saw (another fake reveal? Not from DC!) and Supes is on his side. Of course, Supes gets played like a PSP, one of the Parasites has a bad experience, and I don't even really understand why OMAC units are attacking so apparently randomly. Really dumb comics all around, and part of how the Big Two intend to stab me in the face repeatedly for the whole damned summer.

Cable/Deadpool #16:
Tony Bedard of Exiles called, he wants his shtick back. Deadpool, Siryn and Cannonball hop into alternate universes where Cable has become ... well, I suppose what there is of a story here relies on that fact, so I won't spoil it. Anyway, Deadpool gets some half-decent quips, Sam and Theresa play straight men, and I just find the whole pseudo-Elseworlds thing tiresome. Aside from the lame attempts at parody, are we really unable to tell stories in the existing universes we've built, without "darker" crossovers? The most important thing I discovered was in the book's description of Cable's fight with the Skornn in that Liefeld dreck: "if you repeat a consanant in your name, you're a bad guy." Given that my name is HaNNibal, this made me endlessly happy, so thanks at least for that, Mssr. Nicieza!

Mnemovore #3:
Inevitably, the threat had to come out into the open, and it weakened the story a great deal. The whole middle section with the boyfriend Scott was unclear, the "friend" character seemed strangely out of place (she remembers little, but is comfortable around this guy?) ... after really creeping me out with the first issue and hanging on in the second, this fell off the horse.

Powers #11:
Hadn't checked in here for a while. Deena Pilgrim has powers now, and acts rashly, then covers up a crime in such an egregious and unprofessional way that it made me exhausted. I watch Law & Order and could have done a better job. Not much meat on the bone, so not much more to say, but I sure do like Oeming's art.

Year One: Batman/Ra's Al Ghul #1:
Warner Movies Exec: "Cindy, get me DC Comics, I need to look at whatever they have with this Ra's Al Ghul character on the stands ... what do you mean they killed the goddamned character? Well you'd better tell them to get something on the stands right damned now, because I've got Ken Watanabe over here, and he's gonna be represented!" Later that day, over at DC, editor on phone: "Devin? Yeah ... you got the email? Yeah, yeah, I know, it makes no sense. Well ... we gotta do something ... what's that? Marvel just did a whole history of the Hand as a flashback montage for Elektra? Could we pull something like that off? Use a posthumous letter as a framing device? Great idea! I'll get your invoice paperwork going, get to writing! No, I don't really care what the rest of the story is about. Okay, talk later."

Marvel Knights 4 #19:
For as long as I remember, the Inhuman society on the moon has been characterized as "kind of cool." In the last few years, it's taken on less of a sheen, and here it's shown as an oppressive place with shades of Logan's Run. Gorgon is positioned as an antagonist, enforcing a brutal and unfair caste system (which would mean that the FF tacitly consent to virtual slavery, as conducted by their close family friends, real nice). Reed's absentee husband shtick is once again played up, and the issue as a whole made me feel unhappy. I have come to believe that, at its best, the FF should inspire wonder and awe. This whole series has just made them really depressing. I think I'm gonna stop reviewing it, despite the really pretty art work.

Gotham Knights #66:
Talia's running the Kobra cult now (which is funny, since she's on a team with Black Adam, who killed the last Kobra), and Prometheus -- Grant Morrison's uber-badass bad guy, who once whomped the entire JLA -- is getting laughed at and punked by Hush, all chasing down Prometheus' insanely dangerous Cosmic Key. Again, I felt my intelligence was being insulted, since I just read this for its crossover value, and it makes the whole larger story look even dumber.

Hercules #3:
I suppose we can all blame Todd Nauck -- had his Wildguard not sparked so much interest in superheroes and reality shows, this abomination might not have existed. Hercules is filming his labors for a TV show, but he doens't know that his old adversary Hera is pulling the strings. So far, so good, right? Sadly, even with the staggeringly talented Mark Texeira on art chores, this is a script by Frank Tieri. I've been accused of having a personal beef against this man -- nothing could be farther from the truth. I don't know him, wouldn't recognize him if I saw him in person. But after years of reading his work, I can't point to a single issue of his that's been better than "almost mediocre." Wolverine. iron Man. Weapon X. This, none of it. Did the stuff sell? Sure -- you could have Hitler writing Wolverine and it would sell (not Mark Millar numbers, but probably not far off). Why? People buy Wolverine comics, good or bad. It's true. This, however, is another example of a person who is clearly just not very good at what he does (at least as it manifests in a final product -- the scripts may be brilliant for all I know) putting sub par work into a saturated field. It saddens me.

Birds of Prey #83:
Speaking of not very good, this issue gets away from the interesting parts of the story (Huntress as a mobster, Dinah and Ted Grant undercover in Singapore) to brush up against the summer crossover filth flarn filth, and it robs each other aspect of some of its punch. Huntress' turn to a life of crime makes a lot more sense (and her "War Games" seem to work way better than the Bat's). In the same way the last few years, since "Bruce Wayne: Murderer" have made the Bat stupid, Barbara Gordon hasn't been on her game since before the break up with Nightwing. There's some really smart aspects of this issue -- the drug plan, the undercover stuff (even without people telling each other what's happening) -- but it's just background noise, sadly.

GLA #3:
I think this title is supposed to be funny. It's not. The only partially funny aspect -- a squirrel named Monkey Joe, stops doing that on the issue's last page. A classic villain shows up, looking like his new self, instead of like his old self (which he does in Runaways, and he's supposed to be dead anyway). The characters themselves, including this issue's focus Big Bertha, just don't seem to inspire any reason to care about their fates. Lovable losers should, in theory, do something to be lovable. Given Dan Slott's amazing showing on last year's She-Hulk, and especially looking at the consistent self-deprecation at the expense of the comics industry as a whole (didn't Quesada in 2002 say this was a bad thing? And yes, I called it a "base and loathsome beand of cheerleading," but that doesn't mean do a 180) this is just painful to watch. Argh.

Day of Vengeance #3:
When Billy Batson is involved, there's always a glimmer of hope that you could be inspired. That glimmer, briefly, shines here. With the help of almost every source of magic in the DCU, Captain Marvel beats back the assault of the Wrath of God (making the argument for "omnipotence" a lot less convincing, but the Spectre is not as impressive as he used to be). Meanwhile, Willingham gets to indulge his humorous side with Detective Chimp in some passable moments of banter. Worth a look, but not quite worth the cash.

Gambit #12:
Gone for now -- Remy LaBeau settles the score with Bandit (who many claimed was a knockoff) and closes all relevant storylines in the final issue of this series. Quick and zippy, but not bad, an interesting action ride that's just a shade less worthy than Common Grounds, which is why it stayed at the store. But it was close, I'll admit.

Seven Soldiers: Klarion #2:
There was some good stuff -- the rat/cat fight, crossing the subway lines of Manhattan Guardian -- but overall the work was too scattered. In my store, "Seven Soliders" issues were relegated to a distant corner, their shelf space highjacked by Countdown to Infinite Vengeance United with Rann/Thanagar Project. Better than that, but sadly, still not good enough.

Thor: Stormbreaker #6:
What the hell? After five fairly interesting issues, Beta Ray Bill gets slapped into the body of a Black guy (possibly a veteran) in Manhattan, his knowledge of his people's spotty (but they're probably all right) and a status quo established that's so weird, I looked for Bill Jemas' name in the credits. Jarring, wrong headed, and pointless (even though New York was looking for a mythically powered flying guy with a hammer).

Manhunter #11:
Somebody's killing Manhunters, and if I told you who it was, chances are you still wouldn't recognize the name. Or care. The DEO is on the case, including agent Cameron Chase (I dare you to pick her out of a lineup with Carol Danvers, Val Cooper and Black Canary, sans clothing cues), but again, so? After all the drama of the Shadow Thief trial, this is kind of a letdown.

Wolverine #29:
John Romita can show destruction and killing like nobody's business. This issue relies on one really tricky plot twist, and it just barely makes it work. High octane pop comics with a slight wink to the reader. Fun, but more confectionary than I like, and of course, I don't like Wolverine. The fact that I liked this as much as I did is a testament to the craft at work here.

Vimanarama #3:
A sweet (if somewhat sappy) love story ending to the mind-blowing mini, with a fight that's almost an afterthought.

Authority: Revolution #9:
A second character back from the dead, scraped from Warren Ellis' leftovers. So sad. This is the story? Really? Gah.

Read Pile Roundup: At my karaoke hosting job, we have a digital file that can be played without sound, that just shows a graphic. It says, "F**king hell, it's rough in 'ere!" That was this week's Read Pile.

So, How Was It This Week? An overwhelmingly bad Read Pile overcomes a decent set of purchases to make it all bad.

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