Illustrated by Jess Taylor
Taylor and her associates are posing as a makeshift family in a small town outside Metropolis, but they’re actually refugees from another planet, hiding from a cruel enemy called The Vane who destroyed their world. For an extra measure of protection, Taylor’s general and pretend father made Taylor’s disguise a human boy, even though Taylor’s true identity is The Galaxy Crowned, Princess of Cyandii, and she feels out of place in her male body. She also has a guard "robot", an adorable sentient corgi who follows her and records what happens daily. When a girl named Kat movea to their small town, Taylor’s facade starts to really distress her, and she breaks her cover to reveal her true self to Kat. The community, however, isn't as accepting of having an alien in their midst.
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The human sacrifices have been assembled, but Father is one sacrifice short. Along with his homunculi, they force another alchemist to attempt human transmutation to become the fifth human sacrifice and round out the transmutation circle. Greed and his followers are meanwhile trying to keep Wrath occupied and keep the main gate of Central Command closed; Major General Armstrong and her remaining Briggs troops are trying to keep the interior of Command under control; and the rest of Mustang's loyal soldiers regroup outside Command and try to keep King Bradley's wife safe and unaware of the predicament her husband and son are currently in.
College student Al decides to stay in London for the winter holidays to work as many shifts and save money for the next term, but when London’s mayor is found dead in the same subway Al was on, he gets tangled up in a clandestine investigation with Ellis, a detective seeking redemption. Al's flatmate also gets intertwined with a disastrous outcome, so nothing is looking too good for Al. The search for leads forces Al to seek out his birth mother and confront a past he had been content to keep buried.
Vol 4: Seasons of Mist, illustrated by Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Mike Dringenberg, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, P. Craig Russell
We open up on the Garden of Destiny, who is visited by the Three Fates. He is unsettled by what they reveal, so he calls the rest of his family to a meeting: Despair, Desire, Delirium, Death, and Dream. The family chides Dream for his short temper, particularly in the case of his former lover, Nada, who he condemned to torment in Hell for not agreeing to become his queen. He eventually sees their side, and decides to re-enter Hell to free Nada. This might be the end of him, as Lucifer told him so on their last encounter. He says his goodbyes and readies his kingdom, but when he enters Hell, he finds it eerily empty. Lucifer meets up with him and tells him he’s let all the demons go, he’s released all the tortured, and the dead have gone back to wherever they came from. He gives the Key to Hell to Dream and peaces out, knowing the possession of the key is going to make Dream’s life miserable. Shortly thereafter, hosts of deities show up at Dream’s castle, all with a claim to the Key to Hell.
Illustrated by Greg Smallwood and Jordie Bellaire
Marc Spector wakes in a mental hospital, where he has obviously been thoroughly mistreated, judging by the black eyes and a number of other bruises. His psychiatrist, Dr. Emmet, is dismayed by the lack of progress he's made, especially in that he continues to talk about his other personas. He often slips in and out of his mind to talk to Khonshu, his patron god, who is also disappointed that Marc hasn't seen through the lies and broken out of the hospital yet. Marc starts to recognize some of the other patients - Frenchie, Gena, Marlene, Crawley - as people who have been helpful or important in his life. The facade of the hospital starts to crumble, and Marc begins to see the hospital staff as agents of Ammit, with crocodile heads and very foul tempers. Marc struggles to escape the hospital with his friends and maintain a handle on what he knows to be true, while slipping in and out of his other identities: Steven Grant, the successful Hollywood producer; Jake Lockley, a scrappy cab driver; and Moon Knight, the Fist of Khonshu and protector of travelers at night.
The battle is in full swing now, with different factions fighting all over Central City. The Armstrongs are fighting a slew of "doll soldiers", the white homunculi soldiers that were supposed to fight for the Military High Command, but their incompleteness makes them savage and indiscriminate killing machines. Fullmetal and Colonel Mustang find each other while clearing out these soldiers in the tunnels below the city, and Envy is not far behind. The battle between Mustang and Envy threatens to destroy Mustang's humanity, but an unlikely ally brings him back from the edge. Just as General Armstrong's men secure each of the four gates leading to Central Command, King Bradley begins an assault on the main gate, having not perished in the attack on his train as all previously believed. While all this rages on throughout the multiple levels of Command, Hohenheim begins his assault on his oldest friend, the Dwarf in the Flask, who has some surprises of his own for Hohenheim.
It's time to take the fight to the homunculi instead of waiting for them to make their endgame move. Al and Hohenheim trap Pride in a prison made of earth, so there's no light and no shadows for Pride to use as his weapons. Mustang and his forces make their move now that Bradley has been neutralized, and it starts with an assault where there are absolutely no casualties. Some old friends reunite with the Colonel to provide support and supplies. The Armstrongs are also reunited as Major General Armstrong has sussed out as much as she can of the enemy's plan. Ed and Scar join forces to try and take down Father, but Hohenheim has some different plans up his sleeve that involve him facing his old friend face-to-face for the first time in hundreds of years.
Book 2: The Secret of the Wings, illustrated by Michael Dialynas
Wynd and his friends have escaped Pipetown, but what they've found outside the walls is a world unlike what they were told. The King of Pipetown makes an unexpected alliance with the Vamps, specifically the sister of his dear hunter, the Bandaged Man. He wants her to scare his son, but bring him back to Pipetown alive. General Zedra of the Vamps seizes on the opportunity to sew more chaos into the world and potentially settle some very old scores between her people and some of the other inhabitants of Esseriel. After the Vamps decimate the Duke's small fleet of ships, Wynd, Yorik, Oakley, and a gravely injured Thorn find themselves in the Faery city of Escalon. But, they aren't safe there for long either.
Thorkell and his warriors stuff their faces at a local inn and bemoan the winter that has put a stop to their glorious fighting. Then, they get word that Askelaad is holed up in a village north of them, and Thorkell rallies his men for a fast march to catch up. Askelaad puts Thorfinn on duty guarding prince Canute, which is how Thorfinn discovers Canute can cook. The Ear hears Thorkell's troops approaching, but it’s a little too late. They've only managed to build three sleds, which isn’t enough to take all their loot and people across the difficult snow-covered terrain. Askelaad decides to set his plans in motion, including robbing Canute of his most faithful servant. Some of Askelaad's men start to defect, hoping Thorkell will have better luck, but Thorkell has no place in his ranks for turncoats. Then, Askelaad's men start to fight against Askelaad, but his exceptional strength and fighting abilities keep him alive until Thorkell finally catches up. Despite his assignment to watch the prince, Thorfinn crashes back into the throngs of warriors, demanding the right to kill Askelaad himself. Thorkell challenges him to a duel for the honor of killing Askelaad, and reveals he knows much about Thors as he parries Thorfinn's attacks.
Illustrated by Nate Powell
The final book in this trilogy picks up with events early in 1963 when a church in Birmingham was bombed, and four young girls were killed. John Lewis and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and other Civil Rights groups came together after that bombing to try to get more representation on a state and national level since their local politicians were going to continue to turn a blind eye to violence. They organized into the Freedom Democratic Party and tried to take part in the Democratic National Convention, but drew the ire of LBJ in his re-election campaign. Larger demonstrations were necessary as violence mounted and became more blatant. Lewis and his fellows conceived of a march from Selma, Alabama, to the capital in Montgomery, an event that is now referred to as "Bloody Sunday" because of how badly law enforcement officers beat demonstrators. After that terrible day, another march was planned with Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr., and this time, they were successful in reaching Montgomery. The finale ties together Lewis and Aydin discussing commemorating all the important work of Lewis' life into a comicbook. |
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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