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.

Vol 1: The Space Race of 1869

After a tragic science experiment claims the life of a family member, Séraphin his father find themselves in the castle of the King of Bavaria, working with a small crew on an engine powered by the legendary substance known as Aether. But there is more involved than just science and engineering in this tale of political intrigue and invention.  Séraphin recognizes someone in the castle as a person who tried to sabotage everything, but none of the adults believe him.  Instead, Séraphin and his new friends swear to protect the project and the King as the Knights of the Aether. 

Illustrated by Andy Ristaino

In this entry of Science Comics, artist and writer attempt to break down a complicated system and explain it with clever illustrations, narrated by bacteria found throughout the digestive system.  Readers are taken through the major areas of digestion: the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and the rectum.  Other organs discussed are the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and appendix.  Vomit, burping, and farting are also explained as products and necessary functions of digestion.

In the Forest of Silence, where magic doesn't work, the girls meet a mysterious swordsman named Ferio, who seems to also want to become a Magic Knight.  Fuu strikes a bargain with him that forces him to escort the ladies to the Spring of Eterna in order to obtain the legendary mineral, Escudo.  The Spring is nothing like they all imagined, and the trial to obtain Escudo is more challenging than they were expecting.  Ferio lets it slip that only those close to the princess know of the legend of the Magic Knights, but he fails to say how he came across this information before he disappears into the wild blue yonder.  

As with many series of my childhood, Rayearth has been republished in a hardback anniversary edition with enlarged pages and beautiful covers. In honor of the 25th Anniversary, I will be providing reviews of every volume.  I have also reviewed this 6-volume series previously in one review. 

Rayearth begins with a mysterious young girl praying for the Magic Knights to save her world.  We then join several schools on a field trip to Tokyo Tower.  Three girls - Hikaru, Fuu, and Umi - from separate schools are singled out and pulled into a magical realm known as Cefiro (previously published as Cephiro).  These three ladies careen through the sky of a land that is very clearly not Japan.  They are rescued by a sorcerer, Guru Clef, who explains to them that the Pillar of Cefiro, the kidnapped Princess Emeraude, has summoned them to the world to become the legendary Magic Knights and save them all.  Clef bestows upon them magical armor and points them in the direction of a weapon-maker, just before he is overtaken by evil minions.  The three find out from Presea, the weapon maker, that they will need to adventure to obtain materials for their individual weapons, and all of this will culminate in awakening the Rune Gods in order to save Emeraude and Cefiro.

Seki is up to his antics again, hardly ever paying attention during class and having a bag packed full of games instead of schoolwork. He tries to impress Yokoi with a magic trick, Japanese chess with a seemingly tragic, heroic story, table top golf, zombie Othello, and so much more. The class also takes a trip to a camp, where Yokoi gets a rare glimpse at her neighbor’s childhood. Back in class, the two are noticed by Goto, who desperately wants to be Yokoi’s friend, but thinks all they’re up to is sneaking kisses and loving glances during class.

The Science Comics line has around 20 books, as of this writing, and they are all separate storylines delving into a concept in science.  

In Rocks and Minerals, Wally is trying to prove he can be a worthy assistant to geologist Sedona. He brings her a rock sample, and this starts Sedona down the path of describing where rocks and minerals come from, starting with the Big Bang.  Sedona then covers the different layers of the earth, plate tectonics, volcanos, caverns, minerals, and so much more. ​There is a lot of great information for the budding geologist or rock hound, and I really liked the inclusion of a glossary of terms that are highlighted in orange throughout the book.

Vol 1: Magic to Brew; Vol 2: Some Enchanted Evening, illustrated by Shae Beagle and Kate Leth

Meet Julie and her best friend Chet, who work together at a coffee shop in a magical world full of mythical creatures. Julie is a werewolf, and Chet is a centaur.  in volume 1, Julie may have finally found the girl of her dreams, Selena, another werewolf. The couple, along with the cheerful Chet, go on their first date to an eerie magic show.  But, when Chet becomes part of the show, he becomes the recipient of some dark magic that robs him of an essential part of himself.  The friends come together to hatch a plan to reverse the damage done to their friend. Volume 2 has another puzzle to figure out, this time, it's how to get the Beta Fraternity of fairies to release Lindi and Veronica, members of a band who insulted the band at a Beta party.

Agott tries to find a way to reverse the spell cast on Euini, while Richeh leads the animal charges to safety through the maze. Meanwhile, Master Qifrey fights valiantly against the reanimated Romonons, but he’s been badly injured. Coco shows her cleverness in solving the riddle of the Romonons, but then they are attacked by a Brimmed Cap. Captive Master Alaria is revealed, and Coco and Tetia work together to try to save her. Then, the apprentices come together and try an idea on Euini, all for another brimmed cap to show up and divulge some of their plan to Coco.  Richeh continues to wrestle between her need to remain her own witch and learning the spells she's supposed to learn, and we get a glimpse of her past where this issue really came to a head.  We see more Knights of Moralis and the inside of the Great Hall of Witches that we’ve only heard about before.

It’s time for Agott to take the second test, the Test of the Serpentback Road, but unbeknownst to all of them, Qifrey has also signed up Richeh to take the test!  The two are accompanied by an apprentice from another Atelier, Euini, who has no faith in himself at all.  His master also believes Euini will fail, as he has taken the test twice already and not passed.  Along with their proctor, Master Alaira, the three apprentices proceed into the cave of the Serpentback Road.  Master Qifrey regails Coco and Tetia with the history of the Cave, that it used to be the entrance to a beautiful kingdom of Romonon, and that it was meant as a test to keep out the unworthy.  But Agott, Richeh, and Euini are soon faced with more dangers than what the Romonons had in mind, and they must work together and have faith in their spells to save everyone.