Vol 1: Destiny, illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli, colored by Matt Wilson
Thirty years ago, the US sealed itself off from the rest of the world. No communications in or out, no people in or out. In the absence of this global superpower, the world fell into war and used terrible means to establish two warring factions: The Pan-Asian Prosperity Zone, and the Alliance Euro-Afrique. Now, America has broken its silence and sent a message to both: we have the cure for your current deadly virus, set to wipe out almost all human life within the next few years, and you have to come here to get it. The two sides assemble a team of seeming misfits - America experts, epidemiologists, soldiers, a journalist - and send them into a place no one has set foot for three decades. Just as their helicopter crests the ocean walls of California, all hell breaks loose, and it quickly becomes a much different mission, full of Americana, action, and mystery.
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Vol 1: The End of the World, illustrated by Martin Simmonds
Cole is an FBI agent who investigates conspiracy theories, and his undercover work has brought him to an exclusive party with tons of Flat Earth Society members. He’s whisked away on a private jet to the End of the Earth, which actually is an ice wall like the conspiracy theories state. Before Cole can investigate further, an elite team rushes in and “saves” him, bringing him back to the Department of Truth, where Cole learns that the power of belief can actually shape the world and its history. It's the Department's job to stomp out these dangerous theories and try their best to keep the Truth as truth.
Vol 1: Kids Love Chains, written by Cates, Geoff Shaw, and Dee Cunniffe
Ellipses Howell (or El to her friends) lives outside The Dome and works in a comicbook store that sells vintage titles from before The Event. The Crossover Event was an unexplained phenomenon that ripped a hole in our reality and let superheroes and other fictional characters spill out into Denver, Colorado. One of the supers put up a force field to not only keep the other superstars in, but to protect them from the outside world that is now bent on destroying them. This field is now known as The Dome. Ryan is the son of a baptist minister who has been chosen to fulfill a special mission with almost no details as to what he’s expected to do, just that he is the only one who can do it. With shop owner Otto, the three rescue a young comicbook girl and try to get her back to her parents, but they’ll have to go into The Dome - and the war zone - to do it.
Illustrated by Jonathan Luna
In this fantasy series, there are several races of beings, including creatures that look like dragons, people who look like humans, and a race in between that came from the joining of human-types and dragon-types. This world is ruled over by an Empire, at the helm of which is the Eternal Empress, one of the beings closer to a dragon than a human. Two young human “workers” for the empire both begin to have visions that lead them to break out of their enslavements and find each other. When they get too close to each other, flames start shooting out of their hands, which has never happened to either before, and they coach each other through controlling this new power They decide they must escape the Empire, so they head towards the last kingdom on the planet that isn’t part of the Empire, just as the Eternal Empress sets her sights on conquering this last corner of the world.
Vol 2: Home Fire, illustrated by Chris Samnee
There's quite a time jump here - volume two takes place 15 years after volume 1, Owen now has a family, a home, and he’s having a bbq. Ma Guang, one of Owen's rivals from his training at the Temple of the Flaming Fist, interrupts his peaceful suburban life and tries to get Owen to come back to the temple. But, there were some terrible things that happened that made Owen sever ties with the Order, and he has no interest in going back. Ma warns Owen that if he found him, others will surely follow, and that’s exactly what happens. Deadly assassins invade Owen's home while he and his wife Kellie are out on a date, and Owen has to fight tooth and nail to protect his family.
Illustrated by Jorge Corona
Abel continues his search to cure himself of the mysterious mark on his chest, and the terrifying ability he has to turn into a cyclone when he loses his temper. He leaves the traveling Carnival group, afraid he will cause more death and destruction, but, within days, Bobby decides to search for him and help him come back to his new family. Abel’s quest leads him to the Winter Woods where a reunion with family from his past doesn’t go quite like he hopes. He then stumbles upon a city that isn’t known for being super family-friendly, and he gets swept up by a decades-long slave-labor plot.
Illustrated by Jorge Corona
Abel and his father live in a trailer in a town called Farmington in Middlewest. Abel decides to circumvent dad‘s controlling instructions and hangs out with his friends for a day. He is caught shoplifting, and the father completely loses his temper. This introduces an inexplicable monster to Abel’s life. He runs away from home to find someone who can help him with a strange mark that appears after the monster attack, and a kindly old man in a strange dilapidated home tells him to find his sister who works for a traveling carnival. The sister reveals that the magic eating away at the boy could result in another monster being born. She lacks the specific knowledge for how to help him but pledges to research for the solution while he works off his debts at the carnival
After the death of his mother, musician Erik travels back home for her funeral and stumbles upon a mystery of her past. Erik enters his mother’s study late at night and finds a ghoulish figure clutching a photograph of a strange musician. The man in the photo captivates him, and he chalks the ghost up to grief. Erik begins to dig into who the musician could be, and his search leads him to the former owner of a jazz club in New York. A room full of mementoes from the club give Erik some clues into the man’s identity, but furthers the mystery of the ghoul who now haunts him.
Illustrated by Sean Phillips
This series is a classic Hollywood murder mystery. Charlie wakes up after a raging party, and he finds the star of his movie dead in her living room. He quickly erases all trace of himself and flees back home. Later, he finds out the studio staged her after he left to make it look like a suicide, and the lie eats away at Charlie. He tells his friend Gil, who also can't stand what the studio is doing. Gil and Charlie have a tenuous relationship - it was originally Gil's idea to have Charlie report Gil as a Commie during the Red Scare, and now Gil feeds Charlie ideas and dialogue for scripts so they can split the money. Ever since WW2, Charlie can’t write like he used to, but his name is still respected in Hollywood. The studio recasts the leading lady role, but Charlie is still unsettled by the whole affair, and he stumbles upon a few clues that drag him into the mystery even more.
Vol 1: Opening Fire, illustrated by Leandro Fernández, colored by Daniela Miwa, lettered by Jodi Wynne
Andy and her team of super soldiers are nearly immortal. Some have been alive for centuries, others, millennia. They don’t know why they haven’t died yet, despite repeated attempts to kill them, most of the time in fairly violent way. They often discover their immortality by coming back to life after being killed on the battlefield. When they start dreaming about a new girl, they have to find her or they’ll just keep dreaming about her. Andy recruits Nile Freeman, a U.S. Marine, after she returns to life from having her throat slit. After their latest job goes south and their secret gets exposed, they must go on the run and figure out how to put things back to normal. The team begins to fracture, and it’s team leader Andy’s job to figure it all out and keep the team together. |
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 siteRatings, Audience, and Subject Tags
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