Black Panther (2016) Vol 1: A Nation Under our Feet part 1, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze, lettered by Joe Sabino
T'Challa tries to settle the unrest that is sparking across his nation, including within the vibranium mines, in border cities, and elsewhere. A disgraced Dora Milaje is sentenced to death, but her lover breaks her free, and the two don special armor and fight to free oppressed women and children in camps at the border. A student of Killmonger who can control mens' psyche is also wrecking havoc and seeding the unrest against the king. T'Challa must balance his life as the Panther with his responsibilities as king, and try not to get himself hurt or killed in the process. As a bonus, the first appearance of the Black Panther is included as the last chapter.
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Illustrated by Sango Harukawa
Atsushi Nakajima, an outcasted orphan, stumbles along the banks of a river, hoping someone comes along so he can rob them and buy some food. He ends up saving someone who has jumped in the river, trying to commit suicide. Turns out, the man he saved, Osamu Dazai, has a penchant for committing suicide but never fully goes through with it. He also works for the Armed Detective Agency, a group where everyone has a special ability. Dazai is on a mission to hunt down a deadly tiger loose in the area. Nakajima is invited to join the employment rolls of Detective Agency, and the two take on missions that would otherwise baffle the police.
Vol 2: The Moon-King
After the dangerous runaway liftoff from the end of volume 1, the aethernauts, the professor, and the king make it to the moon. The ship has sustained some damages from leaving Earth’s atmosphere, and they’ll have to slingshot around the moon using the moon's gravity if they want to get back to Earth. However, the aether has other plans for them and pulls them to the surface of the moon. On the dark side of the moon, they will have 14 days of lunar daylight before descending into 14 days of lunar night. The lunar day brings about melted snow and provides a thin atmosphere, so the crew sets about repairing the ship. More discoveries on the moon help in repairs and preparing them to return without the balloon that helped them float in Earth’s atmosphere. But, many of these discoveries are too alluring for the king, and he decides to explore on while the rest of the crew returns to Earth.
Rin helps save another student at True Cross Academy who can see demons, and everyone else thinks he’s crazy. The council postpones Ron’s execution in favor of going after a more dangerous demon. Mephisto takes more interest in Rin and in training him to harness his demon powers. He also agrees to help Rin’s classmate, but Rin has to put in some work to get it. Meanwhile, Shura and other exorcists, including a paladin, chase down the latest threat to humanity. Shura finds a man-made gateway to Gehenna that is continuously expanding and threatening all of humanity and the Earth.
MNGR João da Silva is assigned to the Homestead mining colony on Titan after their previous MNGR becomes suddenly ill, and the station returns another unprofitable quarter. What he finds is a station on the brink of exploding, with tensions high between the Terran management and their Titan workers. The Titans were genetically modified long ago to be stronger and larger than Terrans, able to withstand the harsh conditions on Titan. João decides that what the workers need are trackers so that he can analyze immense amounts of data to figure out where the inefficiencies lie. The Union workers, through their liaison Titan Phoebe Mackintosh, disagree with João’s assessment whole-heartedly, and instead assert that the station needs upgraded machinery. Phoebe and João try to work together to save Homestead, while others decide a violent coup will fix the problems of the mining colony, and finally bring liberation to all Titan.
Illustrations by Hikaru Miyoshi
This story follows the young life of James Moriarty, the acclaimed nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. This James is loosely based on the Professor of Doyle's works - he's a math professor, and he is a mastermind of crime. As a child, James and his younger brother, Louis, were adopted by the wealthy Moriarty family, but the parents and youngest Moriarty brother never treat them like equals. The eldest Moriarty, Albert, first met James and Louis at the orphanage, and want nothing more than to be a true family. Now a young man, James has a Crime Consulting Agency where he uses his intellect to punish the nobles of England who are abusing those of lower status. His ultimate goal is to make-over the British Empire and the world into a casteless system where all can be on equal footing. Along with his brothers, Moriarty breaks down the nobility one mysterious case at a time.
The queen's character comes into doubt as she gets closer to Fersen. She decides to retreat to a small home within the palace and cuts herself off from all but a few of her closest nobles. This angers the noble class as they feel snubbed. At the same time, Jeanne concocts a scheme to make it look like the queen in buying an extremely expensive diamond necklace that Jeanne actually has stolen and sold the diamonds off of. She is eventually caught and stands trial but manages to convince the commoners that she has become the victim and that the queen is really at fault. Thus, the ill-will that started in volume 1 with her gambling and extravagant spending continues to build in this volume. After pursuing a bandit called The Black Thief, Oscar decides to leave her position in the Royal Guard, and this may have disastrous consequences.
Batman (2016), Vol 1: I am Gotham, illustrated by David Finch and Mikel Janin
Batman saves a little boy and his parents right before they’re killed in the same manner as his own parents, and, in turn, the little boy grows up wanting to be just like Batman. He and his sister become Gotham and Gotham girl and fight crime trying to save the city. Batman isn't sure if he can trust them, so he puts them through some training and tests to see if they're superhero material. Wouldn't it be nice to have Justice League - level superheroes right in Gotham, rather than having to call Superman and Wonder Woman all the time? |
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