Backderf's latest novel is a meticulous account of the events of May 1-4, 1970 at Kent State University. The storyline follows Jeff, Allison, Bill, and Sandy, the four students who were killed during anti-Vietnam-war, anti-military conflicts on Kent State's campus, as well as several of the wounded students and a few of the soldiers of the National Guard.  Rising tensions between student protestors and National Guardsmen were stoked by sleep-deprived soldiers and commanding officers, a governor infused with law-and-order politics, and persistent student protests that were unrelenting for several days. Throughout, there are pages of exposition offering insights from Backderf's extensive research.

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

Adapted by Varga Tomi
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In a successful opera house in France, Christine Daaé enjoys her first experience as a Prima Donna. She has always been an understudy, or a silent dancer, but something about her singing has changed recently. The transformation sparks the curiosity of one of the opera’s benefactors, Monsieur Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny. He visits the starlet backstages but finds not everything is on the up and up. Through following Christine and many clandestine meetings over many weeks, he discovers a mysterious entity has been visiting her dressing room, claiming to be the Angel of Music, and training Christine’s voice. Christine, at first, believed her departed father had sent the Angel to her, but she discovers, to her horror, that the Angel is in fact the Opera Ghost, a figure of legend who has been wreaking havoc and placing demands on the Opera staff for quite a while. Raoul is determined to save Christine from Erik, the Opera Ghost, but he’ll have to overcome some great obstacles in order to do so.

​Nasa wants to move into a bigger apartment so that he and Tsukasa can sleep in one large bed instead of their current arrangement - him in the bed and she on the floor next to him.  In order to get a bigger apartment, they'll need a guarantor - which means Nasa is going to have to tell his parents he got married, something he's neglected to do yet.  Nasa's parents insist on meeting his wife before they do anything, so the couple must travel from Tokyo to Nara.  They stop over in Kyoto to do some sightseeing.  Along the way, the couple realizes that Chitose, Tsukasa's "sister" is following them and trying to sabotage and/or understand why they got married in the first place.  Chitose steals Nasa and demands he take her around Kyoto as if they were dating in order for her to see why Tsukasa fell in love with him.

Akira and Amelia decide to adopt the not-so-0fierce demon kitty. Amelia heals him, and Akira names him Night. Akira and Night form a new pact as master and servant, which will allow the demon king to still be able to see everything with the link inherent between demon king and all demons, but will give Akira and Night special abilities. Night reveals that there are three other dungeons in the world, and each dungeon challenges a different aspect of the character's skills. A portal opens at the end of the labyrinth, and Akira decides to travel to the next labyrinth in the forest of the Elven people, where Amelia is being hunted by her twin sister.  With Akira caught right in the middle of the power struggle in the Elven kingdom, will he ever make it to the labyrinth to continue his development?

Rayearth is one of those interesting series broken up into parts. While this is volume four if this series, it's labeled as "Part Two: Book One." In the 25th Anniversary Edition, Part Two is in a different boxed set than Part One.

Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are still reeling from their major battle that closed out Part One. The three try to adjust back to normal life, but the weight of what happened in Cefiro weighs heavy on them. The three meet up in Tokyo Tower again to try to come to terms with what has happened when suddenly, they are transported again! This time, the world they enter is in shambles. The ocean is gone, the sky is black, and the only thing they can see is a castle standing tall above a jagged, rocky island. The three are taken to the castle, where they reunite with what’s left of the old cast, and they are told what grim fate has befallen Cefiro. They also discover that there are several invading forces from other worlds desperately clawing at Cefiro’s borders, all vying for the chance to install themselves as a new ruler. Our Magic Knights pick up the mantle once again in defense of this once-beautiful world.

Hot off of her successful acquisition of her first Stella, the Folger family is on the way to get a dog for Anya. They have no success at a pet store (completely stocked with agency dogs and run by the agency), so Yor and Anya try a pet expo while Loid gets feigns a bathroom emergency in order to slip away to his handler. Loid finds out that a foreign minister is in the country for peace talks, and there is a terrorist plot to blow up the meeting using highly trained — what else? — dogs! Anya, with her telepathic ability, accidentally discovers one of the terrorists’ lairs, but one of the highly trained dogs comes to her rescue. Anya sees brief glimpses inside the dog’s mind, and she realizes that this dog has a special ability! In their own separate ways, Yor, Loid with the agency, and Anya with the dog work against them terrorists in the name of World Peace.

Alex continues her search for her sister, and only a select few people can remember her.  She gets help from a few other students who decide to recreate the gate spell, but this will be painstaking and take a lot of effort.  Meanwhile, Teacher ferrets out the one who betrayed the hunters, and he moves his group into a safe house with Mr. Roi, the eccentric teacher who has also been giving extra lessons to Alex.  We also learn about Nereshai, an ancient race of extremely powerful magic users, and the Sohrem, a group of powerful magical beings who have begun searching for new hosts within the school building.  Centuries ago, the Nereshai sealed the Sohrem, but that seal has been broken, and it's up to the students and teachers to put everything right and bring home those who have been forgotten.

Adapted and colored by John Ira Jennings, illustrated by David Brame, lettered by Damian Duffy
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Chioma is a Chicago cop visiting her grandmother and grand aunt in Nigeria. It rains for three days, and a little boy with his scull bashed in stands on the doorstep. Chioma opens the door, and the little boy touches her hand, sizzling her flesh, and declares, “tag, you’re it!” She is it, indeed. The elders all become fearful for Chioma; lizards start stalking her everywhere she goes; shadows eerily creep behind her, just out of sight. Then, one night, Chioma is attacked by supernatural forces and undergoes a transformation unlike anything she could have imagined.

Illustrations by Hikaru Miyoshi
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Older brother Albert uncovers a plot to distribute opium to the masses, and proves his worth in discreetly taking out the organization without embarrassing any of the nobles who may be involved.  He is rewarded with an appointment to the head of a secret military organization, MI6.  William decides that the way they have been going about things has been too slow to affect change in the country, so he stages scene with a terrible noble in order to erode confidence in the nobility as a ruling class.  While on the ship setting the stage, William meets a curious individual whose power of deduction could prove useful in his plans.  The strange young man is none other than Sherlock Holmes.  The last third of this volume follows Sherlock in his quest to find a new flatmate, and we are introduced to the famous Dr. Watson.