Rex Mundi #15:
This must be the year of the "payoff" issue. In this issue, one revelation (no pun intended) pulls back the blankets on the secrets of the entire series, showing plans within plans going back thousands of years. I have already read this issue four times, fascinated by the implications that the alternate history viewpoint puts forth. Arvid Nelson hauled all brands of ass on this one, with Jim Di Bartolo seamlessly handling the character work (I will admit his sense of grandeur and detail is not as finely tuned as previous artits EricJ, but I am super excited to see what changes the coming of the deleriously talented Juan Ferryra from Small Gods will bring). Every little detail of this story -- complete in and of itself, but so important to the larger tale -- so I'll just say this is one of the best indie books on the market and an amazing issue all around. (no, it wasn't as amazing as that issue of Fables i was crowing about, but it's a close second)

DMZ #1:
Jump from the Read Pile. Speaking of alternate histories, indie darling Brian Wood (with Darick Robertson-level detail to his dystopian future handled by Riccardo Burchielli) steps up to the majors in a major way, showing a Manhattan under fire in an all new way. A carefully highlighted bit of graf tells a lot of the story: "Every Day is 9/11." Using the tried-and-true fish-out-of-water routine, Wood tosses undergrad intern Matty Roth into the island of Manhattan, left as a bullet-riddled demilitarized zone between the "free states" (a modern rebel conglomeration starting with New Jersey) and the remnants of the United States of America (holding Brookyn, Queens and Long Island, with no word on the world outside of the tri-state area). Without creating a new vocabulary for anything, Wood and Burshielli draw you in on sheer atmosphere alone, a less jarring but as riverting energy as you can see on the cable series Over There. I'm interested.

Cable & Deadpool #22:
Since my new editor is after me to open my heart to work, this was a Charity Jump from the Read Pile, since I love Nicieza's work as a body and like Deadpool as a character. This issue didn't disappoint (much), showing The Cat as one of the baddest men in the 616, Cable being really badass, Deadpool getting his requisite solid quips in and tons of fun fighting. The last page suggests that the hints of a big reveal to come have been planted, but I must be dense because I have no idea who it'll be. Still, good clean continuity-based fun, and I like this issue, as well as the title in general.

Y: The Last Man #39:
This will be the absolute last issue of Y: The Last Man I will ever buy. The story? Well, it's been meandering and treading water for a while, but not in such an egregious fashon as I would stop buying it. Even this issue is solidly "okay." No, what did it was something more noxious. On page seventeen, Yorick and Agent 355 are discussing the new sexual tension in their little group of three. Yorick (from page 16): "I ... I guess I was jealous." Agent 355: "Because she got to be with me?" Yorick: "N****, please." 355 continued the conversation without a flinch or missing a beat.

I understand that a lot of people think an old racial slur shouldn't carry so much influence. I know that a lot of non-Black people use the word and think that's okay. I assure you that both of the previous sentences are wholly wrong. Brian Vaughan has no more license to use that term, especially in the context of a character who has no logical reason to make such a linguistic choice, especially to a Black character, and given that the overall story wasn't flying at the heights it once did, it's a perfect reason to cross Vaughan off of my personal list of favorites the same way I did with Garth Ennis a couple of months ago. Using that word doesn't make you hip. It doesn't make you cool. It doesn't make you anything but a jackass, and that goes for people of any shade or point of origin. This title is dead to me.

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

Honorable Mentions: Gotham Central #37 was very close, with an honest and emotional street level look at the chaos in Gotham City after the Rock of Eternity fell on it (why wasn't the Rock floating over Fawcett City?). I loved Detective Allen in this, but it was just shy of the mark. Nightwing #114 was similar, in the Man Wonder walking the line and adopting a new moniker ("Renegade") while giving his friends cause for concern. I'm shocked to say that the meta-storytelling in Marvel Knights 4 #24 was almost good too, marred only by the entirely ludicrous proposition of Impossible Man (who was wholly out of character, but that may be a good thing) and Reed not being smart enough to figure out what was happening. Interesting, though.

Pass These Issues By: Don't call it a comeback in Infite Crisis #2, still urinating on the work of Wolfman and Perez, but Mark Waid's "return to inspiration" rumor now makes sense. Ditto for House of M: The Day After which showed not only Pete Wisdom back from the dead (with no explanation) but Mammomax showing up as well (all the mutants to not lose their powers, and he's one ... oy).

FINAL ANALYSIS: I'm gonna call it Independent's Day with strong showings from Nelson and Wood, but between House of ATM, Infinite Crappiness and slurs from Brian Vaughan, I'm not gonna say this week was "good" at all.

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