Every week I go to the comic book store (Comics Ink at Overland and Braddock in Culver City, CA, hey Steve and Jason!) and grab a lot of comics. I sort these into two piles -- the "buy" pile (things I intend to spend money on, most often a small pile) and the "read" pile (often huge, including lots of stuff I don't actually like but wanna stay well informed about). In no particular order, here's some thoughts about all that.
Top 10: Beyond The Farthest Precinct #5:
Hh. Well, there's a lot right with this issue -- a non-stop deluge of the artistic in-jokes we've come to love from Neopolis, a great action sequence, a great continuity tie in, the appearance of The Rumor, and a great surprise about Robyn's heritage. That's all good crazy. However, there's a number of plot threads left hanging that I didn't enjoy/understand (depending on where I was in the issue). The dropped ball on Cindercott's attempted rescue was a missed opportunity, I think (although the promotion makes it seem things went awry ... still a shame for Jetlad ... and yes, I saw that tiny inset image, that's no explanation). Jetlad being shuffled out to pasture with no resolution also felt capricious. Also, the climactic clash with the Hell Ditch Pilgrim? Not so climactic ... and to be honest, I don't really know what happened. A very short shrift for an antagonist (tragic, though he was, and no, that last page glimpse told me nothing) who took up five whole issues. Fun ... but disappointingly short on resolution, like they ran out of pages before they ran out of story. Oh, and eating a suspect? That's just mean!
Lucifer #69:
Oh, how crafty you are, Morningstar. The Son of the Morning pulls the wool over everyone, even his estranged father, and it gets Elaine Belloc a challenging new job while changing all the rules. A brilliant, sweeping, poetic conclusion to a wholly amazing story, and one to be reviewed (as pamphlets or in the inevitable collection) with great interest. Fantastic work.
The Grimoire #7:
New writer Chris Stone takes over (full disclosure: I know him and have spent many, many hours in 'con booths with him) with a much more straightforward storytelling style and the experienced work of Tom Fowler giving the work a more tangible sense of clarity and gravity. However, all's not well -- on the art side, what the heck kind of pants are on Amadine? Are those footies? Huh? On a writing side, the issue less finds a conclusion than hits the breaks and skids to a stop -- the tail end with the uncle seems to not really conclude clearly (not to mention the grammatical typo on "It's dad, he's trapped in a horrible hell like dimension ..." -- the apostrophe on the posessive always sets me off). Interesting, and admittedly easier to follow for the most part, but still working out some kinks.
Punisher vs. Bullseye #2:
Huge jump from the Read Pile. Daniel Way has a command of Bullseye's character that I haven't seen the likes of since Joe Kelly worked with the assassin on Deadpool. There's so much right here, from the bathroom confrontation to the paper plane on the rooftop. Steve Dillon's pursed, taciturn facial expressions perfectly capture the sardonic wit of Way's script, and Dan Kemp's colors are simply flawless. It was so good, it made me go back and buy the first issue. I'm very happy here, and with the battle beginning in earnest, I can't wait to see who gets whacked next. In the words of Bullseye, "heh-heh, yup. That's some funny stuff."
Then there's the stuff on the "read pile" that I don't bring home ...
Honorable Mentions: Justice #3 almost made the cut, with some great work from Luthor and Braniac, but the possibly amazing Grodd vs. J'onn Jonzz battle was not as good as it could have been. Maybe it's hard to get photo reference on berserker telepathic gorillas. I kind of was okay with the Calculator's turn in Birds of Prey #89 but Batman being so stupid kind of put a damper on it for me. I didn't mind that first issue of Iron Man: Inevitable, but I couldn't tell you why this wasn't just a set of issues in the normal title's run ... oh, now I remember, the title is MIA. Right, right ... I likewise found Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #2 adequate for the light it shed on what happened in Seven Soldiers #0, but it barely stood on its own, for all its openness and comprehensibility.
Pass These Issues By: Green Lantern Corps #3, Flash #229, Adventures of Superman #647, Captain America #13, Infinite Crisis #3 ... agh. All atrocious in different ways. Not worth getting into.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Despite another slap to the original Crisis' fans, the jump still almost made the week worth while. But the purchases didn't pull their weight, so I'll call it a close loss.
The Buy Pile is a weekly collection of comic reviews done by Hannibal Tabu (www.operative.net)
