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.

This classic shōjo manga follows the life of Marie Antionette from her childhood in Austria, to her ascent to the Throne of France, and beyond.  Volume 1 details evens up to her 22nd year of life.  Many real historical figures are woven into this narrative, but one of the main ones is a fabrication.  The General de Jarjeyes was sick of his wife birthing him only daughters, so he determines his sixth daughter he will raise as his son and heir.  Oscar François de Jarjeyes is female, but becomes Captain of the Royal Guard and dresses in the stately uniforms as a man would.  Oscar becomes the personal guard of the Dauphine Antionette, and he watches as the young Dauphine engages in court politics and intrigue.  There is also the dashing Hans Axel von Fersen, a nobleman from Sweden, with whom Antionette is enamored despite her marriage.  Mixed up in all of this are two sisters from humble backgrounds who individually plot their way into the noble class.

Kiku is a high schooler on vacation with her mother in San Francisco, trying to find their family home in Japantown, when she gets swept back in time to her grandmother's violin recital. She travels back and forth a few more times before she is sent back to 1942, right as her grandmother's family is being shipped out to an incarceration camp. She is "stuck" in the past for a year, living in the camps alongside other Nikkei and her grandmother, who she doesn't have the courage to speak to.  Back in the present, Kiku and her mother decide to research more of the family's history and the history of the Topaz, Utah camp, and to become activists against the camps at the U.S. Border for Latinx immigrants.

Illustrated by Andy Kubert, digital paint by Richard Isanove

Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, Sir Nicholas Fury, is attempting to secure the weapon of the Knights Templar by sending his man, the Bard Murdock, to make sure it arrives in England safely.  The queen’s personal physician, Doctor Strange, struggles to divine all of the moving mechanisms throughout the world.  King James of Scotland messages Enrique of the Inquisition through his son Petros to coordinate the removal of Carlos Javier’s School of Witchbreed Children.  Meanwhile, Virginia Dare and her protector, the Indian Rojhaz, sail to England to be the Queen for more men and resources for the colony of Roanoke.  Count Otto Van Doom the Handsome plots to steal the weapon of the Templars and take over the world.  He bilks the crew of The Fantastic into divulging secrets he can exploit to become stronger.  All these characters and more are plucked from the pages of modern comics and woven into Elizabethan England for a grand out-of-their-time adventure 

Illustrated by John Jennings, adapted from the original novel, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Dana and her husband Kevin are unpacking into their new home in 1970s Los Angeles.  Suddenly, she is inexplicably transported to pre-Civil War south and saves a young boy who is drowning in a river.  She returns to her home shortly after and has no way of explaining to Kevin why she is soaking wet.  A short while later, she is transported again to the boy's bedroom, where he is setting fire to his drapes.  Through talking with the boy, she realizes that he is part of her ancestry, as the slave owner who fathered her great-grandmother.  Dana is transported back and forth several times, with Kevin hurriedly coming with her on one occasion.  They realize that Dana is taken back any time Rufus' life is in danger, and she is returned home when her life is in danger.  Through many trips to Rufus' plantation and discussion with slaves and slave owners, Dana becomes a part of life, with all the horrors that slavery possess.  She is beaten on several occasions, nurses other beaten slaves back to health, helps Rufus in obtaining the slave woman he desires, and tries to teach the children how to read.

Co-authored by PJ Holden, illustrated by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Rob Stein
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I personally love World War II stories, so I enjoyed this story immensely.  This book follows the trio of Pop, Ollie, and Archie, operators of a Swordfish biplane bomber that proved to be quite the thorn in the side of Adolf Hitler.  The planes were so slow and obsolete that "modern" German and Italian forces couldn't battle against them.  The trio become involved in three battles where the Stringbags were instrumental: the bombing of battleships at the Italian port of Taranto, the sinking of The Bismark, and the offensive known as the "Channel Dash."  

Smedley Butler was a colorful U.S. Marine involved in American war exploits from the Boxer Rebellion to World War I.  He won two medals of honor for his service, only one of nineteen men in the history of the medal to do so.  Towards the end of his career, he became an outspoken critic of the Hoover Administration during the Great Depression, and tried to lend his voice to the veterans of World War I who were suffering and starving in the Great Depression.  This graphic novel follows Smedley through a Hooverville in Washington D. C. on the day of a great speech as he talks with veterans and shares stories of his time in battle.  The narration is largely told through flashbacks of Smedley and the other veterans of the camp.  

Illustrated by Christophe Regnault and Alessio Cammardella 
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In this title, Delmas presents the major important points of Winston's life, starting with his childhood and ending with the end of World War II. Along the way, we see Churchill enter parliament, command the Royal Navy, and rise to Prime Ministership.

Illustrated by Giannis Milonogiannis
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This story begins on a peaceful island off the coast of Japan, where two young people vie against each other to be stronger, faster, better.  One is the Kenichi, the son of a great samurai, and the other is Hana, a Korean refugee and outcast.  Then, a strange Shogun lands on their shores and demands fealty in return for protecting the island from the oncoming horrors.  The villagers try to refuse, but it becomes clear that the horrors are forces that they are not prepared to face.  Someone has released a mutation that causes soldiers to become zombie-like creatures bent on destroying the living.  At the end of volume 1, Hana and Kenichi take different paths to combating the mutants, so it will be interesting to see where the journey takes each of them.