Marvel Team-Up #13:
This issue is a real treat for long-time readers, tying in the alternate Tony Stark storyline with the Titannus one, getting a lot of heroes beaten up (more great quips from Ol' Web Head) and just all brands of beatdown action, framed in a well-devised plot that's clearly been at work for some time. Really great, really involving, really smart superhero comics here.

Spell Game #1:
Because I know the backstory and a lot more about this title than, well, anybody who didn't work on the creation of this work, I'm gonna disqualify myself from reviewing this book, despite spending my own good money on it. I'd have bought it without my inside information, if that helps, but I'll either blab something or do a disservice to the work here by trying to review it. But I liked it. 'Nuff said.

Devil Dinosaur #1:
Jump from the Read Pile. I decided to buy this on page three, which has a giant red dinosaur and two massive Celestials chatting about the fate of the earth. How could I pass that up? Add Kirbmantium alloy walls (bwahahahaha), a ranting Hulk much like the blogging one (which was why I remembered this was in stores), and an old fashioned switcheroo, and you've got one hell of a comic. I will admit I didn't really understand "The First Appearance of the Hulk," a vintage story from 1960 until I saw that it didn't refer to the good doctor, but the first Marvel usage of the name. Which was all right, but lost my interest pretty quickly (despite a lot of Kirb-tastic madness). Still, a great purchase.

Buy Pile Breakdown: Not too pricy, and I'm not mad at anything, so that's good so far ...

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

Wonder Woman #221:
I'm pretty much ready to give up and say this is no longer a Buy Pile title (like I've given up on even reading Punisher anymore, due to cultural reasons). Diana's ready to face the music -- sort of -- for her bit with Max Lord, chatting it up with forces terrestrial and Olympian. Meanwhile, OMACs are peskily buzzing around, trying to kill her (because now she's super dangerous, since she killed Max). She also gets all mopey when she finds out the footage is out, so it's hard to sell a message of peace while whacking a guy on TV without the benefit of context. A lot going on, but stupid on many levels -- the "murder" is covered under diplomatic immunity and protection of others, the chatting was mostly sophistry ... argh. I remember when this used to be a smart comic ... oh well ...

G.I. Joe #4:
Speaking of action, Joe Casey works the smaller, vengeful Joe team on a potboiler of technology and gunfire. On one side, the Joes have to keep an array of huge sattelite dishes up and running to prevent more sattelites from being pulled outta orbit as weapons. On the other side, Wingfield (points if you are old enough to remember that name) and Destro are throwing everything including the kitchen sink at the Joes to make the sattelites fall. Decent character work, decent action (I think the art could have been a bit more dynamic), and it feels like this title is trying to work its way back to the Buy Pile after a long, long absence.

Gotham County Line #1:
"I don't do suburbs." With one sentence, this comic stopped making sense. Apparently set earlier in the Bat's career (which I will say to excuse several amateurish mistakes he made), the Bat uses the world's swishiest jetpack to head out to the Gotham burbs and take on a less-than-relevant threat after catching a beating from the Joker. I don't see the need for the extra costs, as this could have been an issue of Gotham Knights.

Cannon Hawke #1:
I liked the superpowered intrigue part (imagine Garth/Aqualad/Tempest in silk shirts), which worked better than the "dripping with backstory" intro. The casino scene was cool, and I liked the action sequences. It was, alas, just a hair too thin on story to bring home, but I liked this slick, intriguing story a bit.

Rann/Thanagar War #6:
The war's ... over? Is it? Did anything conclusive happen? I didn't see much -- the one death of note did more to clarify than complicate. There was one slighly clever bit with Onimar Synn's fate (and a nod to Kevin Anderson, I thought), the inexplicable presence of Blackfire (how has she not gotten a bullet through the brain?), but overall I found this non-conclusion exhausting.

Supreme Power: Nighthawk #2:
It was over so fast, I had to read it in the store twice to see what happened. Playing the pseudo-Bat card pretty heavily, Nighthawk sort of addresses a problem with bad drugs killing off junkies left and right. He even has a kind of Commissioner Gordon figure. Oh, and there's a psychopath in (seriously) clown makeup running around. Yeah. Daniel Way can do better.

Aquaman #35:
OMAC shows up. Yeah, guess who doesn't do very well with that. Aquaman's wife has lungs (not gills), Black Manta gets both, and I literally can't understand the idea of anybody buying this.

Fell #2:
Even better than last issue, but still short of my exacting marks (and I was looking for something to make the jump), the seams are showing as an old Asian myth clearly caught Warren Ellis' attention and he saved it to work into a quickie story like this (I couldn't see it as big enough for Global Frequency). Still, kind of interesting in a quick, mean-spirited way. If the next issue improves even farther, I'll go back and buy all three.

Gotham Central #36:
The case of the Dead Robins ends with a new wannabe trying to get into the Rogue's Gallery, the cops stymied and the revelation of a space Kord Industries Batsignal down in the basement of police HQ. I'd say it less ended than slid to a halt, but it's okay. A long way from its early heights, or even that brilliant sniper story.

Fantastic Four/Iron Man #1:
The superdeformed and Warhol-esque art took a second to get used to, and the fact that Johnny didn't know the extent of the FF's celebrity was unusual. I did like the alternate history of Japan, a nation besieged by giant monsters that then fetishized them. It was all just a bit too wacky for me to buy into, however, with killer mutant cows (no X-Men in sight, though) and more craziness. Close, but no cigar.

JSA #78:
I am so happy with Jakeem Thunder here, that I won't say anything more, his last page appearance almost making up for the rest of the issue. Seeing the wizard Shazam get tricked like a sucka only made his eventual fate in Day of Vengeance more pathetic, and I really think Mordru has come a long way from the purple-tunic'ed, white bearded goofball who pestered the old school LSH. I am afraid to say that things on this title are getting less stupid, since it's been more than two years since it was worth buying, but there it all is.

Freshmen #3:
Using a letter home from the Amish character as a framing device, this shows the team's first success and their first failures. Again, okay, but I don't think "okay" is quite enough.

Outsiders #29:
The team's fragmented and falling in on themselves, but they're even closer to their stated mission (and the mission of The Monarchy, oddly enough), hunting down bad guys (who don't seem to be doing so well, and Sivana clowning Psimon's team was priceless, he nearly needs a title of his own). Plus Sabbac was clearly watching the events of Day of Vengeance and JSA as he collected big time on the fallout. A build up issue, where you're waiting for the payoff.

Thunderbolts #13:
The 'Bolts get talked into taking on the New Avengers (it doesn't matter how, just remember the government is bad, especially when Peter Gyrich is on scene), and the best thing here was an one page splash of an old '70s Marvel chestnut (I literally exclaimed "Yay" when I saw it, but it was just a tease). Fight fight fight quips from Spider-Man (he should get a talk show like Space Ghost). The last page reveal made me hope Quesada isn't missing another "dead is dead" thing, but I will keep reading to see before flying off the handle. Again, "okay" fight comics.

Shazam/Superman #2:
More of the same -- Winick's Captain Marvel is just about the right mix of naievete and raw power, while Superman is not overbearing in his older Boy Scout-ness. However, when Jean Loring, er, a certain darkness-inspided villain made his appearance (and with Bruce Gordon -- what the heck?) I was done. the Luthor/Sivana team up is fine, and was working pretty well (given how far afield from continuity it has to be), and I was even okay with bringing in a pre-Outsiders Sabbac. But it got to be too much after a while, and the unfocused narrative showed all the good ideas were procedural ones, not plot points.

Read Pile Roundup: The week's motto could be "good, but not good enough."

So, How Was It This Week? A win, based on good buys and reads that didn't actually suck, for a change. Lots worth watching, and we'll keep our eyes on Fell and G.I. Joe.

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