1. I love that the recap is written in ant speak.
2. "I am not fighting them for you the Nazi bee man." Is the attitude that best captures this book.
3. Stinger's mom hates the West Coast Avengers (which made me chuckle and sad simultaneously). 
4. I'm pretty sure Magrothrax will be the subject of a nightmare very shortly for me #thankssleepymedicine.

What should you do?  ​Buy this book, it's fun, it's funny, and the subterranean art is a delight.

The backstory for "Captain America of the Wasteland" is an interesting one, given he was recruited by Doom in defense of Latveria, and feels as if he should be serving someone else.  Tiny Hulk (aka Bruce Banner Jr.) just looks like my son in a Hulk costume, but more swole, and that seems funny to me.  The villain reveal on the last page is nice and abrupt, and should set up some good conflict for book #3.

What should you do? I don't know why I picked up this or book 1, and I don't know what caused the wasteland, but I am enjoying getting to know new characters in a post-apocalyptic setting, and seeing how they'll function together, and I'm definitely in for book #3  

I feel like I waited forever for this book to come out.  I've loved every second of it, and I can say that #7 scratches my itch.  The city of Kandor had been destroyed and is now missing.  You discover that Zod had met with Ra's al Ghul about getting everyone resurrected in a Lazarus pit, and Ra's said nah.  What ensues is a trip to one of Ra's' hidden pits to discover that someone has already beaten them there....

What should you do?  Each time I've tweeted about this book, its been all love, its been a good storyline, great art, and I'm glad it is back from its break!

From one former Captain America to another, this is going to be a fun series.  Someone has attacked Bucky, wiped out a clandestine government agency tracking terrorists, and has showed up to fight Sam and Bucky....These two may not see eye to eye in terms of their tactics, but they are together to kick some ass for the next couple of issues.  If this is what their relationship ends up looking like for the Disney + series, I'll be pleased!

I've hit that mode of finding either writers or artists that I have really started to enjoy, and wanting to read as much of their stuff as possible.  I first encountered Bunn's work on Unearth, and then some of his work on Uncanny-X Men.  I am hungrily awaiting the next of Juan Doe's Bad Reception.  So seeing these two together (and knowing After the Flood just started releasing) I knew I wanted to read this trade.

I love the letter that opens volume 1.  Bunn notes "In short, Dark Ark is no longer a joke.  Except for when it is."  I think the premise of this book coming from a what if style questioning of an evil ark is brilliant.  Looking at how humans interact with both man and monster alike is very interesting, especially as we build to the rise of the new dark sorcerer at the end of the third volume.

I also like the underlying questions of betrayal and broken promises both of human towards human and monster towards monster.  These really drive a lot of the dynamic stories especially in the rise of Kruul as a heroic beast.  As I tweeted out in reading the first two trades, I could not put them down, I did not want it to end.  

Doe's artwork is breathtaking at times.  I have started to really love the unorthodox boxiness he has displayed on human faces.  The color palate used throughout the volumes are also sheer perfection in highlighting each dramatic moment throughout the entire storyline.

What should you do? If you haven't done so already, read Dark Ark and then pick up after the flood, I've already read the first issue and it shows the exact same promise that the original did!

How do you get a mutant who lost their powers, their powers back?  The Crucible.  What is the crucible?  The entire book focuses on it.  You see several fascinating conversations, especially between Nightcrawler and Cyclops about the morality of this process, and if it is in violation of their laws of not killing mutants.  And then, we see it.  The crucible is a noble battle to the death, vs Apocalypse to re-earn the mantle of mutant.  The death, gives you back your powers.  My jaw was agape this entire issue, and I can't wait to see how else the mutants continue to stack the deck in their favor.

What should you do?  I've said all the long, if you liked House/Powers of X then you at the bare minimum should be reading what Hickman have been doing to re-shape the world of X, it has been fascinating, and this book for me has consistently delivered.

This book focuses entirely on Domino, and the potential threat of having her skin and DNA grafted into assassins and other threats to Krakoa.  It is pretty dope seeing all of the alternate Domino clones (who's coloring is inverse to hers).  You also see a lot of love given to Colossus (who is one of my favorites) in this book, the relationship he has with Domino, and his first excursion off the island. Where this book is solid is the reveal of the villain at the end, and I am ready for some more big-stick X-Force conflict.

What should you do?  Again, this book has always been high up on my X-spinoff list, I think the work Percy and crew has been delivering with the CIA of the X-Men has also been satisfying. You should read it.

My love for new mutants has been a yo-yo.  Sometimes I've loved the book, sometimes I've hated it, but I have always read it each week.  This book brings us two storylines:
1. There is something hunting mutants in Nova Roma, and it is interesting to watch those battles go down, especially how they get killed.
2. Sebastian Shaw is up to no good in a book outside of Maurauders, using his control of the drug trade to disrupt cartels and control the black market.

In this book, like X-Force, there is a new villain revealed for this next part of the arc.

What should you do?  Ok, I think now since there are no more earth vs space new mutants, maybe the storyline will tighten up a bit more (although there is another new mutant in virtually each book....), This was good enough to stay on the pull for one more week!

In this book we meet a young woman (happy 16th birthday!) who is a child of two worlds, earth and the gem kingdom.  As she is preparing to celebrate her 16th birthday in her kingdom, she returns to discover everyone missing and her home destroyed.  As she turns to a neighboring kingdom for assistance, she gets a shady response which turns her off, and we see who the real perpetrator of the kidnapping and invasion may be.

This book is a simple staging of the conflict to come.  While the story was easy to digest, this book is worth the price alone for the art.  The use of colors and odd structures throughout the gem kingdom is a breathtaking display, and I'm glad my followers chose it.

What should you do?  Since this book jumps right into the conflict, and plays off of two worlds, I can see why DC had been pushing it in most of their recent books, because I think it will apply to a large audience, I'd give this a chance if I were you, as its staying on my pull for issue #2!

This was a heavy week, and even in discussing several books on the podcast this week, I have a lot of writing to do!!

This book is straight up wild.  In the opening two-page spread you have a man getting out of his car, get hit by another car, whilst Syd is pushed up against the front of it...on roller skates.  That sets the stage for all of the over-the top absurdism in this book (let alone what we got in books 1-2).  As he is continuing to investigate the death of Carl and flee the police, he ends up on a movie set to interview another suspect, and begins to pose as a stuntman, where his next daring escape could prove that dying is easier than comedy.....

What should you do? After the heavy binge of Locke and Key, I've been getting into a lot of other Joe Hill works (I'll get to Basket full of Heads in a TPB), I think this is a refreshingly odd turn from his horror work.  I also think Simmonds perfectly captures each odd scenario (especially the Benny Hill-esque police entry into the building to capture Syd.  I think you may regret skipping this book, just because it is so odd.

This book continues to get wilder (and I think it is only a 6 issue run?).  At the end of book 3, we discover Dia (who was discovered dead in JJ's office in book 1) is definitely not dead, and is the source of Jessica's (and the other women's) plight throughout the book.  Dia somehow gets magical powers, which she cannot understand, transferred them to her boyfriend, who doesn't know Dia is dead, and is indeed responsible for prominent women (including MJ.....HOLY SHIT) being murdered.  Once Jessica discovers that she may have read the situation wrong the whole time, we see her fall victim to yet another blind spot, and the identity of the attempted killer is truly revealed.

What should you do? I think every time I've reviewed this book (and I've done all of them...) I tell you to go buy it, that Kelly and Mattia are slaying it, and if you miss out on this, it is your fault!

As a dad, I am guilty of loving dad jokes, and this book feels like one big over the top dad joke, from the animal puns to all of the "where did that mallet come from" gag, to whatever the wild stretching Porker is doing, it's just nuts.  We finally meet who one villain may be, we see Porker transition into a variety of different forms (pig-spider-hulk?) and ultimately meet our marsupial-themed true villain, and of course we figure out who is to blame.

What should you do? I love this book, my 4 year old loves this book (we bought two copies today), and its just a fun Spider-Ham-Man story that has a definitive arc, unlike what is happening in ASM right now.

I. LOVE. GARTH. ENNIS. PUNISHER. BOOKS.
FULL STOP.

More reviews coming tomorrow, this neverending crud is forcing me to sleep!

Another HUGE week, here are the books I'm excited about in order from top to bottom.  Any books marked with an * I reviewed on the Chops Comics podcast last night (posting soon):

Killadelphia #4 (Image)*
Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey & Emma Frost #1 (Marvel)*
2020 Force Works #1 (Marvel)*
Leviathan Dawn #1 (DC)*
X-Men/Fantastic Four #2 (Marvel)*

Dark Ark After the Flood #3 (Aftershock)
Dying is Easy #3 (IDW)
Jessica Jones Blind Spot #4 (Marvel)
Spider-Ham #3 (Marvel)
Punisher Soviet #4 (Marvel)
X-Force #8, New Mutants #8, X-Men 7--in whatever order (Marvel)
Amethyst #1 (DC)--Reader Pick
Ant-Man #2 (Marvel)
Avengers of the Wastelands #2 (Marvel)
Batman/Superman #7 (DC)
Falcon & Winter Soldier #1 (Marvel)
Protector #2 (Image)
Ravencroft #2 (Marvel)
ASM #40 (Marvel)
Scream: Curse of Carnage #4 (Marvel)