Belle is a young girl with purple hair who is convinced a red rose from deep in the forest will help her strange purple locks be more appealing. Her mother follows and begs her not to go into the forest because of the terrible beast who lives there. As if she summons him, Belle's mother is abducted, and the Beast steals her beautiful face. The town burns the body in the hopes it will stop the Beast from coming back. Belle’s father can’t take the loss of his wife, so he shuts Belle up in their house and refuses to let anyone see her, while he spends the day drinking away the pennies she makes with her seamstress work. One day, Belle escapes and is determined to find her mother, who she believes is still alive in the Beast's castle. She finds the Beast, but he isn’t exactly how she remembers him. He’s rude, uncaring, but not murderous, and doesn’t steal her face. His magical floating castle brings her back to her village, but evil forces have been at work while Belle was away.
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Minato is a dedicated big brother who takes care of his younger sister, Nagisa, for the long stretches when their mom leaves them alone. He stretches what little money they have to make as many meals possible and plays make-believe with Nagisa so she doesn’t notice how long it’s been since their mom’s been home. One day, she picks them up from school unexpectedly and takes them to a theme park. It starts raining, but she insists they ride the Ferris wheel. As she walks away, lightning strikes the car with the children in it, and Minato wakes up in presumably in another car in another person’s body, with a dead woman at his feet, and his situation could not be more precarious. Now, he has to find his sister and save her while avoiding danger himself.
Illustrated by Natsuko Uruma
Kiyoharu Saeyama is currently posing as a high school biology teacher, but that's only because he's really a Curse Breaker on the hunt for the next Curse Killer. He's contracted to find those who make pacts with Curse Gods, and break their contracts before too many people die. He has some special abilities that help him trace Curse Killers - he's able to ask the dead one question about their contractor in the hopes of narrowing down the suspect pool. Curse killings also come with several unbreakable rules, and they're not exactly spelled out for the Killers. So, while they're busy making sure they meet their quota of kills per month, Killers must also find out the rules and make sure their kills go off without a hitch. If they successfully fulfill the terms of their contract, the Curse Gods will bestow on them immense power. 
Illustrated by Yomi Sarachi
Okabe aka "Kyoma the Mad Scientist," attends a press conference on time travel that changes his entire life. Together with his lab assistants, or LabMem, they create a time machine with a cell phone and a microwave, and he can send text messages back in time that can affect the current world line they’re on. Okabe can feel the changes to the world, a type of energy he calls Steiner, but not all of the changes end up positively impacting the lives of those involved or around them. A seemingly innocent change to make one of the LabMem closer to their true self spirals into the death of another, and Okabe scrambles to put everything back to normal. But, another traveler from the future tells him he has one more major change to make, one that can stop World War III from killing billions of people. 
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.
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. 
Tenma continues his search for Johan, and he hopes he can get through to him or kill him before he can kill anyone else. He crosses paths with a conman, Hekkel, who wants to market Tenma’s medical skills to the underworld — to people who can’t go to a doctor or the hospital. The first patient Tenma is tricked into helping is a terrorist who attacked political leaders just that morning. While investigating Johan’s childhood, Tenma saves a little boy, Dieter, from his abusive guardian, and Dieter refuses to stay in any of the safe places Tenma tries to leave him. Anna, Johan’s twin, and Tenma both close in on Johan’s trail at the same mansion, but threats from Neo-Nazis against a neighborhood of Turks entangle Anna, Dieter, Tenma, and Hekkel in the rescue efforts.
Illustrated by Álvaro Martínez Bueno, colored by Jordie Bellaire
A group of loose associates find themselves in a large, extravagant house on a beautiful lake, seemingly without other people or houses around them. They all discover they know Walter - some grew up with him, some crossed paths with him only a few months ago - but he was always heavily invested in them, someone who was right there at the right time and maybe faded away since. Then, Walter appears in the house and explains his intentions. He reveals he is part of an alien race, and his people intend to destroy the Earth, but he was tasked with picking the best of humanity to be saved. They will all be safe from the coming apocalypse in this lake house, where they will also have all their needs provided for, but everyone else they know and love will be horrifically killed. And they’re supposed to be thankful. But not all of them can sit idly by and enjoy the bounty of their sanctuary. Some of them start exploring their idilic prison and discover what was probably meant to be hidden from them forever. 
Illustrated by Tōru Naomura
Students at the elite private school, Hyakkaou Academy, aren't interested in getting great grades or joining clubs. The Academy prioritizes the ability to manipulate people, and the most popular past time at the school is gambling. There's a very strict caste system that ranks students based on their winnings and how good they are at gambling. Suzui finds himself in the lowest of casts after a disappointing lost to Mary - he becomes a "house pet" and has to do everything Mary says. Then, transfer student, Jabami, surprises everyone by coming in and destroying Mary in a special game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Jabami then challenges several other students, including some powerful members of the Student Council, and Suzui goes along for the crazy ride. 
Illustrated by Trish Forstner
Sophie is a nervous dog who classically can’t remember much after it happens to her. She’s introduced to a group of dogs in a new house, and they terrify her. The nicest of the bunch, Rusty, recognizes her fears and protects Sophie. He gives her a tour of the home, including the room they’re not allowed to go into. Snippets of traumatic memories start coming back to Sophie, prompting other dogs to also remember some of their pasts, with owners who were not their current master, who all happen to be female and usually alone. Through this, the dogs discover their happy home with plenty of food and treats is not a safe place to be, for animals or humans. |
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