 Vol 1: If I only had a Heart, co-created and illustrated by Drew Zucker, colored by Vittorio Astone, lettered by AndWorld Design
In 2024, Dark Horse began a publication of Canto, the story by David M. Booher and Drew Zucker. This story was originally published with IDW, so to find the synopses, check out my original reviews of the paperbacks below: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 2.5-3.5 This review is of the new hardcovers specifically and how I believe this format will best serve library patrons. Note: 2.5-3.5 will be re-release as Vol 3, while Vol 3 will be re-release as Vol 4 under Dark Horse.
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Illustrated by Dan Panosian, lettered by Richard Starkings
Set in Wild West of Utah, Sheriff Azrael William Holt is a legendary figure thanks to exploits that have been popularized in Dime novels, but the fictionalized accounts and horror stories may be closer to reality than the public may believe. In his latest case, Holt is assigned to protect Dr. Ed, a geologist, as he investigates a collapsed copper mine outside the town of Canary. Holt and Dr. Ed get some assistance from Mabel, the town’s saloon maiden and daughter of Canary’s founder. The town and mine have had a string of supernatural occurrences surrounding it, and Dr. Ed theorizes it may have something to do with Canary's water. 
Illustrated by Tula Lotay
In the 1920s, Bixby is a pilot fresh from a devastating war that left him with some emotional scarring and nothing to his name except a plane. Skipping from airfield to airfield across small-town America, Hawk joins the local Barnstormers and participates in aerial shows to wow the crowd with death-defying feats. In one small town, he meets Tillie, who desperately wants to escape a forced marriage to a manipulative man. The two use the Barnstormers to evade Tillie's fiancé and the Pinkertons who want them for murder. 
Illustrated by Francis Manapul
In a world full of filtered realities known as "veils", Sam Dunes is an ex-investigator who must take on a challenging case - figure out an apparent suicide of his ex-wife, which he believes could have been a murder in an altered reality. He receives a clue in the mail, and suddenly other entities are after him, wanting what he now possesses. Sam reconnects with many of his criminal underworld contacts to bring himself deeper into the twisted world of black veils, virtual realities deeper inside other realities, and the elite that manipulate everything others can see and believe about their worlds, all while staying just a bit ahead of the actual police who are investigating everyone involved. 
Adapted by P. Craig Russell, illustrated by David Rubin, Colleen Doran, Galen Showman, P. Craig Russell, colored by David Rubin, Colleen Doran, and Lovern Kindzierski
In this third and final volume, Gaiman gets into the end times of the gods of the Norsemen. We learn about Thor’s vendetta with the Midgard Serpent, which comes up again later in Ragnarok. We also see the death of beloved Balder and brave Hermod’s journey to try and bring him back from Hel. Later, Loki finally ticks off the entire pantheon, so they devise a terrible torture for him that he will only escape as the earth crumbles during Ragnarok. And to finish it all off, we see the end times for the gods, the destruction of the world and all of their fighting deaths. 
Adaptation by P. Craig Russell, illustrated by Gabriel Hernández Walta, Sandy Jarrell, and Mark Buckingham, colors by Lovern Kindzierski, letters by Galen Showman
In this volume, Russell adapts several stories. We see the death of the God of Poetry by the hands of two dwarves, and how the Odin gets revenge on them. In another story, Thor and Loki travel to the land of giants and are put through several tests of their abilities that turn out to be major illusions. Loki mistakenly gives away the goddess who guards the Apples of Immortality and has to get her back before he's tortured by his aging family. We follow Frey and how he found and married his wife, but gave up the sword that might save him during Ragnarok. 
Asakusa wants to join the Anime Club at school because she aspires to create it in her future. She drags along her friend, Kanamori, who’s singularly minded on making things profitable. At their first meeting, they triumphantly rescue Mizusaki from her body guards, and the three discover their hidden talents would compliment each other perfectly: Asakusa draws insanely detailed worlds, Mizusaki loves creating characters, and Kanamori has a producer’s attention to detail and scheduling. The three form their own club, Eizouken - a group for Moving Image Studies. They piece together a “studio” in a dilapidated building, scrounge together some tools, and create their first pitch for the Student Council in hopes of having an actual club budget.
Vol 1: Child of Wonder, illustrated by Godwin Akpan
Iyanu and her mentor live just inside the outer walls of the city of Elu. The kids who live inside the inner wall, known as Inners, yell at her and throw rocks when they see her looking through a crack in the wall, calling her a Forest Girl who doesn’t belong. Iyanu and her mentor practice the old ways of the Agoni, a segment of Eli’s population who keep the history and the old ways alive. Before Iyanu’s time, the Oba (king) of Elu banished all the Agoni away from their place inside the city and moved the survivors into the Forest. When Iyanu uses her magic to save an Inner boy from a corrupt animal, the Oba and his council of advisors order her capture. Iyanu's mentor is captured instead and sets Iyano on a dangerous journey to locate The Source, a mythical place where magic is strong, and Iyanu will find answers to the curse that has corrupted animals and made them thirst for human blood. 
Hideo is dissatisfied with his life as a manga assistant. He used to have a running serial, called Uncut Penis, but it got cancelled after only a few issues. He has his share of eccentricities and probably several social anxieties. He thinks he can see evil spirits in his apartment and often talks to one of them. The only way to get rid of them is to form a prayer circle with wholesome manga and textbooks around him. Hideo's girlfriend will cook delicious food for him and be intimate with him. She gets bit by a little kid on the way home from work and no one thinks anything of it. When Hideo comes to her apartment the next day, he can’t believe she’s been turned into a creature. He’s pretty sure it’s because he had to pull an all nighter at the manga job, not that there are actually zombies trying to eat him. The whole building might be scary zombies, or they might be figments of his imagination.
A mysterious, powerful warrior named Guts hunts down different demons and Apostles, powerful demons who have large segments of human population under their thrall. Guts inadvertently saves Puck, a tiny fairy, and gains a companion he doesn’t want. Puck tags along with Guts, at first because of a life-debt, and after that because he thinks he’ll see some amazing stuff in Guts’ company. Guts goes up against a powerful reptilian demon who is threatening a whole town and feasting off of its villagers. We find out later that Guts is also looking for more members of Godhand, a group that can be identified by the same brand he has on his neck.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this site
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