(W/A/CA) Takashi Okazaki NEW DIRECTOR'S CUT EDITION OF THE OUT-OF-PRINT CULT CLASSIC BOOK! FEATURES A SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED COVER AND A BRAND-NEW FOREWORD BY TAKASHI OKAZAKI! IN A FEUDAL, FUTURISTIC JAPAN, SAMURAI BATTLE TO BECOME NO.1 AND RULE THE WORLD, BUT WHEN HIS FATHER, WHO HOLDS THE COVETED POSITION, IS CHALLENGED AND KILLED, THE YOUNG AFRO SAMURAI VOWS VENGEANCE.

(W/A/CA) Takashi Okazaki Volume 2 of the new director's cut edition of the out-of-print cult classic book! Features a specially commissioned cover and a brand new foreward by Takashi Okazaki! In a feudal, futuristic Japan, samurai battle to become No. 1 and rule the world, but when he father, who holds the coveted position, is challenged and killed, the young Afro Samurai vows vengeance!

St. Kleio Academy is a very exclusive school. To enroll, a student must be the clone of a famous historical figure. Wolfgang Mozart, Queen Elizabeth, Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie, Adolf Hitler--with such a combustible student body, it's only a matter of time before the campus explodes!

IKKYU SOJUN (1394&1481) A Buddhist monk of the Rinzai school in the middle Muromachi period, Sojun was rumored to be the illegitimate son of Emperor Go-Komatsu. After leaving home in 1399 to enter the Ankoku-ji temple, in 1410 he became the student of an abbot called Ken'o at Saikin-ji temple. There he was given the name ''Sojun.''He was known for his poetry, comical tanka poems, calligraphic works, and eccentricities. Many stories of Sojun's legendary wit were composed after his death.'

Current director of St. Kleio Academy, a school exclusively for the clones of famous historical personages, he is also a major sponsor of the academy. Seems to have a longstanding relationship with Mr. Kuroe, a member of the academy's staff, and Dr. Kamiya, a professor at the academy. The details of his upbringing and the reasons for his involvement in the academy are unknown.

(W/A/CA) Mitsurou Kubo Kinichiro isn't even that bad. It's just that on the first day of high school, his narrow eyes made him look shifty, so people assumed he was trouble. Now it's graduation, and he's looking back on three years with no friends. He never even joined a club. But after a bloody collision and an accidental fall, he wakes up a high school freshman, with the chance to try it all over? again!

(W/A/CA) Mitsurou Kubo What would you do if you had the chance to do everything…Again? Kinichiro isn't even that bad. It's just that on the first day of high school, his narrow eyes made him look shifty, so people assumed he was trouble. Now it's graduation, and he's looking back on three years with no friends. He never even joined a club. But after a bloody collision and an accidental fall, he wakes up a high school freshman, with the chance to try it all over!

(W/A/CA) Mitsurou Kubo Kinichiro isn't even that bad. It's just that on the first day of high school, his narrow eyes made him look shifty, so people assumed he was trouble. Now it's graduation, and he's looking back on three years with no friends. He never even joined a club. But after a bloody collision and an accidental fall, he wakes up a high school freshman, with the chance to try it all over... again!

(W/A/CA) Mitsurou Kubo What would you do if you had the chance to do everything...Again? Kinichiro isn't even that bad. It's just that on the first day of high school, his narrow eyes made him look shifty, so people assumed he was trouble. Now it's graduation, and he's looking back on three years with no friends. He never even joined a club. But after a bloody collision and an accidental fall, he wakes up a high school freshman, with the chance to try it all over!

(W/A/CA) Katie Skelly Each of the sex-positive short stories in this comics collection stars an agent who will go far-out (real far-out, like outer space) to accomplish her mission. Skelly's psychedelic sex romp originally appeared on the web (2014-2107) and was collected in a limited paperback edition - this is a newly expanded hardcover version, featuring an all-new story! In The Agency, Skelly's agents gather intelligence, meticulously documenting a universe of sassy photography, fascist surgery, horny skeletons, yonic portals, thrill-seeking vegetation, and multitudinous wry glances and stammered phrases! A must have for fans who have discovered Skelly's work more recently, through the hits Maids (2020) and My Pretty Vampire (2018). Katie Skelly lives in Los Angeles, CA.

(W) G. Willow Wilson (A/CA) M. K. Perker A new edition of the first of four thrilling volumes in this mind-bending, Eisner-nominated series! Acrophobic flight attendant Blythe has just fallen for a mysterious traveler-who may or may not be a terrorist-and she's about to embark on the strangest journey of her life. Searching for him, Blythe will crash-land into a web of technological conspiracies, dark politics and secret organizations. When she learns that she is the only person able to control flight and reality, with science so advanced it might be magic, she'll have to break the rules of time and space for answers. By award-winning author G. Willow Wilson (Invisible Kingdom, Ms Marvel, The Bird King) and acclaimed illustrator M.K. Perker (The New Yorker, Mad Magazine, Fables). 'The fantasy is real, and the reality is fantastic. AIR is a compelling and completely original read that thrills, surprises and delights.' -Gail Simone

(W) G. Willow Wilson (A/CA) M. K. Perker Acrophobic flight attendant Blythe has left her safe, sterile life for a world of strange danger, taken under the wing of none other than Amelia Earhart herself. How did Amelia survive? What is the centuries-old secret enabling her to travel the unknown, using only dreams for fuel? And what is her real agenda? Volume 2 of this genre-bending, death-defying, Eisner-nominated series by G. Willow Wilson (Invisible Kingdom, Ms Marvel) and M.K. Perker (The Unwritten, Fables).

(W) G. Willow Wilson (A/CA) M. K. Perker With the help of none other than Amelia Earhart, Blythe has begun to harness her perplexing power and is one step closer to controlling time and space. But when the fragmented trail of her mysterious love leads her to dangerous territory of double agents, metalhead jihadists, and an alarming backstory, Blythe will need to control more than just reality: she'll need to manage her own suspicions-and her addiction.

(W) G. Willow Wilson (A/CA) M. K. Perker Blythe's metaphysical training is over, and one final test stands between her and her future as the greatest hyperprax pilot to ever live. Caught between opposing organizations: the dazzling explorers who support and need her, and the cutthroat conspirists who have targeted her, Blythe must find her own path in her most perilous journey yet: to pass her test, find her future, and make sense of a senseless universe-for Good. It will take her deep into the past and far into a future she was never meant to see...but may be able to re-shape. The exhilarating conclusion of the brilliant, Eisner-nominated series!

(W/A/CA) Kei Toru Takahiro A cruel fate at the hands of those out for revenge awaits Akame at the end of the battle. The new members of the Revolutionary Army who have been targeted are…Najenda and Bulat! But how will Akame fare against these former tools of the Empire…?

(W/A/CA) Katsuhiro Otomo In 1982, Kodansha published the first chapter of Akira, a dystopian saga set in Neo-Tokyo, a city recovering from thermonuclear attack where the streets have been ceded to motorcycle gangs and the rich and powerful run dangerous experiments on destructive, supernatural powers that they cannot control. An all-new, complete 35th anniversary hardcover box set of one of the most acclaimed and influential comics of all time, with the original Japanese art and right-to-left reading format for the first time! The science fiction epic that changed anime and manga forever is presented in six beautiful hardcover volumes, plus the hardcover Akira Club art book and an exclusive patch with the iconic pill design.

Kodansha Comics' reissue of one of the true classics of manga continues, as Neo-Tokyo's resistance agents and government forces race against the clock to find the child with godlike powers before his destructive abilities are unleashed.

Regarded by many as the finest work of graphic fiction ever produced, Akira is a bold and breathtaking epic of potent narrative strength and astonishing illustrative skill. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when dormant paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, who becomes a target for a shadowy government operation, a group who will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like that which leveled Tokyo.

(W) Adrian Wassel, David M. Booher (A/CA) Nick Robles Ben Madsen is a bounty hunter. He knows how that sounds, but Ben likes his job - until the bondsman convinces him to take a bounty he doesn't want, to get the kind of paycheck he needs. When the big payday turns out to be more than Ben bargained for, he's swept into an otherworldly conspiracy and dropped into alien city hidden right here on Earth. Good thing he's the best man for the job - sort of. Hero or fall guy, Ben Madsen will prove one thing during his misadventures: He's really good at jumping from high places and surviving. Collects issues #1-5.

(W) Various, Jackson Lanzing (A) Michael Dowling, Various (CA) Ryan Stegman The ALIENS universe as only Marvel could imagine it - in thrilling black, white, red?and green! Marvel Comics and 20th Century Studios present a kill-fest of an anthology in chest-rending artistic detail! Superstar writers and fan-favorite artists combine to spin fresh tales of Alien terror - including a generations-spanning epic from Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Michael Dowling! The hunt begins in a story of guts, glory and the most exhilarating of games?and much more horror! Plus: Legendary writer Paul Jenkins (WOLVERINE: ORIGIN, INHUMANS) explores the chemistry of fear in a story that will leave you with a whole new and terrifying understanding of the Xenomorph species! COLLECTING: Alien: Black, White & Blood (2024) 1-4 Rated T+

(W) Declan Shalvey (A) Andrea Broccardo (CA) Dike Ruan Declan Shalvey and Andrea Broccardo take the ALIEN franchise to bone-chilling new depths! Talbot Engineering Inc. is under new management - and its brilliant chief scientist, Batya Zahn, will do just about anything to get her family off the icy moon where they've been conducting research on water conservation. But there's more than glacial springs to find in this forgotten corner of the galaxy. When they discover an extraordinary organism buried in the ice, it doesn't take long for tensions to heat up. What is hidden in the snow comes forth in the thaw - and no one will be welcoming this spring. But Zahn is not willing to give up her work to this unexpected threat without a fight, no matter what horrors emerge from the ice in the black of night! Collecting ALIEN (2023A) #1-5. Rated T+

(W) Declan Shalvey (A) Danny Earls & Various (CA) Dike Ruan In deep space spins a world infected by the universe's greatest killers. Most sane people would construct a barrier and leave it to rot. But the Weyland-Yutani Corporation sees the biggest payout in the history of civilization. So what if it costs a few human lives to secure? Now, select guests can board Weyland-Yutani's ship the Descendant and uncover buried secrets from a legendary disaster on an icy moon! It's a trip worth dying for! But when the Yutani family decides to settle the invasion of LV-695 personally, the mysterious Cole suddenly finds herself trapped between an avalanche and a watery death - and must make her hardest decisions yet! Plus: It's alien vs. alien when a Xenomorph queen and her hive descend on a dark world?and the native life fights back! Collecting ALIEN ANNUAL (2023) #1 and ALIEN (2023B) #1-4. Rated T+

(W) Mike Richardson, Various (A) Damon Willis, Various (CA) Mike Richardson The ALIENS mythos expands in frightening new directions! Billionaire Daniel Grant leads an expedition to the Alien homeworld! But what could possibly be worth a journey into ultimate terror? It's one planet, two Alien queens, millions of hungry monsters and a king's ransom awaiting any survivors! Then, Stanislaw Mayakovsky and his partner, the young thief Gill, design a cybernetic Alien to steal the precious royal jelly of the Alien Queen Mother - but a powerful corporation wants what they have! And when an Alien is detected on board a space station orbiting Earth, all hope of destroying it depends on one man's sinister secret! Plus: The full story of Newt from the Aliens movie and more tales of horror! Collecting ALIENS: GENOCIDE #1-4, ALIENS: HIVE #1-4 and ALIENS: TRIBES, ALIENS: NEWT'S TALE #1-2 - plus material from DARK HORSE INSIDER #14-27, DARK HORSE PRESENTS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL and DARK HORSE PRESENTS (1986) #56. Mature

(W) John Wagner, More (A) Paul Mendoza, More (CA) Carlos Pacheco More tales of Alien horror! A team of soldiers must reclaim an overrun space station! Bug hunter extraordinaire Herk Mondo returns! Can pirates defeat Aliens with?a pig? An Alien stalks a religious settlement with a dark secret! A contaminated xenomorph egg spreads disease and death! A surveyor must determine if an Alien attack is real, or all in his head! A rescue specialist investigates the Aliens' past! Will a new strikeforce give mankind a fighting chance? And what lurks in a massive and ancient necropolis? Plus: a special jam story with more than forty amazing artists! Collecting ALIENS: BERSERKER #1-4, ALIENS: MONDO HEAT, ALIENS: LOVESICK, ALIENS: PIG, ALIENS SPECIAL, ALIENS: HAVOC #1-2, ALIENS: PURGE, ALIENS: ALCHEMY #1-3, ALIEN RESURRECTION #1-2, ALIENS: KIDNAPPED #1-3, ALIENS: SURVIVAL #1-3, ALIENS: GLASS CORRIDOR, ALIENS: STALKER, ALIENS: WRAITH, ALIENS: APOCALYPSE - THE DESTROYING ANGELS #1-4, ALIENS: XENOGENESIS #1-4 and ALIENS (2009) #1-4 - plus material from DARK HORSE COMICS #22-24; DARK HORSE PRESENTS

(W/A) Liam Sharp, Various (CA) Carlos D' Anda Complete your ALIENS library with one final tome of terror! When Private Zula Hendricks goes AWOL to defend Earth from the xenomorphs, she faces demons from her past while fighting for her future! Engineering officer Wascylewski must use all available tools to survive an attack by the deadliest creature known to man! When their colony is evacuated, all 12-year-old Maxon and his mom have to do is make it to the spaceport - but between them and it are?Aliens! And Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda joins the resistance! Plus: more horrifying stories - including a twisted tale illustrated by returning ALIENS alumnus Sam Kieth! Collecting ALIENS: FAST TRACK TO HEAVEN, ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES - NO MAN LEFT BEHIND, ALIEN: ISOLATION, ALIENS: DEFIANCE #1-12, ALIENS: DEAD ORBIT #1-4, ALIENS: DUST TO DUST #1-4, ALIENS: RESISTANCE #1-4, ALIENS: RESCUE #1-4, ALIEN: THE ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY #1-5 and ALIEN 3: THE UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY #1-5 - plus material from DARK HORSE PRESENTS (2011) #12-17 and FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2016: ALIENS. Mature

(W/A) Liam Sharp, Various (CA) James Stokoe Complete your ALIENS library with one final tome of terror! When Private Zula Hendricks goes AWOL to defend Earth from the xenomorphs, she faces demons from her past while fighting for her future! Engineering officer Wascylewski must use all available tools to survive an attack by the deadliest creature known to man! When their colony is evacuated, all 12-year-old Maxon and his mom have to do is make it to the spaceport - but between them and it are?Aliens! And Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda joins the resistance! Plus: more horrifying stories - including a twisted tale illustrated by returning ALIENS alumnus Sam Kieth! Collecting ALIENS: FAST TRACK TO HEAVEN, ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES - NO MAN LEFT BEHIND, ALIEN: ISOLATION, ALIENS: DEFIANCE #1-12, ALIENS: DEAD ORBIT #1-4, ALIENS: DUST TO DUST #1-4, ALIENS: RESISTANCE #1-4, ALIENS: RESCUE #1-4, ALIEN: THE ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY #1-5 and ALIEN 3: THE UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY #1-5 - plus material from DARK HORSE PRESENTS (2011) #12-17 and FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2016: ALIENS. Mature

GAME OVER Set in the not so distant future, a group of SpaceEx employees spend their days doing what they always do: loading and unloading cargo all over the universe and playing video games. That is, until they have to deliver a 'classified' package to the most dangerous planet in the galaxy. The ragtag team of slackers, malcontents, and gamers must put all their skills (or lack thereof) to the test if they want to survive. From comedian Paul Scheer (Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV::) and writer Nick Giovannetti, with art by rising star Manuel Bracchi, comes a scifi action comedy perfect for fans of Shaun of the Dead and alien farts.

When a meteor carrying the Zombie virus hits Earth, it triggers the potential end of mankind. The last chance for humanity is the spacecraft full of Alien scientists tasked with tracking the interstellar virus. One that has wiped out many other planets. What will happen when humans must team with aliens to survive the zombie apocalypse? Find out in Aliens Versus Zombies!

(W) Paul Reiser, Various (A) Guiu Villanova, Various (CA) Phil Noto The Aliens franchise gets the Marvel What If treatment, featuring notorious corporate man Carter Burke in an all-new adventure! For years, fans of James Cameron's legendary ALIENS film questioned whether Carter Burke, a company man more hateable than the Xenos themselves, had actually survived the traumatic events on the terraforming colony Hadley's Hope. Now the actor behind the beloved villain, Paul Reiser, joins his son Leon and a star-studded team of writers and producers for a journey back to Hadley's Hope and the twisted escape of a man who should have died! COLLECTING: Aliens: What If?? (2024) 1-5 Rated T+

(W) David M. Booher (A) Jordi Perez (CA) Mona Finden Rising star writer David M. Booher and artist Jordi P?rez plot an all-new era for the future of the Serenity, while also revealing new secrets from the crew's past! After their adventures on The Earth That Was, the crew of the Serenity are reunited under the leadership of Captain Kaylee, and undertake a mission that will test their moral code. It's not long before the crew collides with the mysterious history of the crew member responsible for this whole mess-the Hero of Canton himself, one Jayne Cobb.

(W) David M. Booher (A) Simona Di Gianfelice (CA) Mona Finden Jayne drifts in space, isolated except for painful memories, starship debris, and guilt. Meanwhile, a distress call from Requiem greets the crew, hinting at where the relics really came from? where did the monks find them, and what secret Alliance connection do they have? Captain Kaylee is determined to know. Can the crew of the Serenity retake Requiem and defeat the Tax Collector once and for all? What's more, Jayne will go to any length to save his son, but it won't be enough, as a beloved member of the spaceship Serenity will make the ultimate sacrifice. All-New Firefly comes to a stunning conclusion by writer David Booher (Canto, Joe Hill's Rain) and artist Simona Di Gianfelice! Collects All-New Firefly #9-10 and All-New Firefly: Big Damn Finale #1.

The top-secret team of cryptid-heroes, GK Delta, are committed to protecting humanity from extraordinary threats. When you are all that stands between humanity and certain annihilation, you must be able to trust each other. So when Bomber betrays his brothers in arms, the team is forced to fight one of their own! What's worse, what if he was right to leave? The team must confront their worst enemies while grappling with the fact that they may not be the heroes they think they are!

(W) Richard K. Morgan, Rik Hoskin (A/CA) Ferran Sellares In the distant future, the human body is a temporary and interchangeable commodity - if you can pay. For the interstellar elite, bodies are swapped out and reused without a second thought. You never grow old; you never die. However, some bodies are more temporary than others... Takeshi Kovacs was once a member of the Envoy Corps, stormtroopers for the Interstellar Earth Protectorate, ultra-lethal adepts in switching bodies across the stars. While he served, he was known by a variety of names - Mamba Lev, One Hand Rending, the Icepick--all testament to his capacity for rapid response and extreme violence in whatever flesh he wore. Now he's out of the service and trying to live a different life. But the Protectorate hasn't changed its spots, no matter what world Kovacs drifts to, and with that old combat rage still burning deep inside him, will he ever really be able to walk away? Created by Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon was previously adapted as a Netflix television series. This original graphic novel, written by Rik Hosk

(W) Richard K. Morgan, Scott Bryan Wilson (A/CA) Max Fuchs From the world of the best-selling trilogy of books and the hit Netflix show comes a new chapter in the ALTERED CARBON universe! In the future, bodies can be changed like clothes, giving life an entirely new meaning-or lack of meaning. Takeshi Kovacs-once a member of the Envoy Corps, the elite, deadly troops of the Interstellar Earth Protectorate-now finds himself imprisoned . . . both in a jail and in an extremely weak body. When he learns that Envoys he served with in a battle he somehow can't remember have been stolen and sold to one of the richest people in the universe, Kovacs vows to rescue them and get revenge. Leaving behind a staggering body count as he blazes across the galaxy, he wonders why he has a hole in his memory . . . and what secrets that gap holds for understanding his future and himself. ALTERED CARBON writer/creator RICHARD K. MORGAN is joined by writer SCOTT BRYAN WILSON (Batman Annual, Batman: Gotham Nights) and artist MAX FUCHS (Halcyon Days) to deliver the original graphic novel ALTERED CARBON: ON

(W) Richard K. Morgan, Scott Bryan Wilson (A/CA) Max Fuchs From the world of the best-selling trilogy of books and the hit Netflix show comes a new chapter in the ALTERED CARBON universe! In the future, bodies can be changed like clothes, giving life an entirely new meaning-or lack of meaning. Takeshi Kovacs-once a member of the Envoy Corps, the elite, deadly troops of the Interstellar Earth Protectorate-now finds himself imprisoned . . . both in a jail and in an extremely weak body. When he learns that Envoys he served with in a battle he somehow can't remember have been stolen and sold to one of the richest people in the universe, Kovacs vows to rescue them and get revenge. Leaving behind a staggering body count as he blazes across the galaxy, he wonders why he has a hole in his memory . . . and what secrets that gap holds for understanding his future and himself. ALTERED CARBON writer/creator RICHARD K. MORGAN is joined by writer SCOTT BRYAN WILSON (Batman Annual, Batman: Gotham Nights) and artist MAX FUCHS (Halcyon Days) to deliver the original graphic novel ALTERED CARBON: ON

(W) Claudio Sanchez (A) Gus Vasquez & Various (CA) Tony Moore Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon's lives are in shambles. They've been faced with making the inconceivable decision of devastating their family and everything they love? or saving Heaven's Fence and millions of innocents along with it. Join them as the resulting chaos takes the Kilgannons to the farthest reaches of Heaven's Fence, a collection of 78 planets held together by the mysterious blue energy of the Keywork, where the unlikely heroes must challenge the deadly Wilhelm Ryan and, ultimately, the unchangeable blueprint of their own fate. Claudio Sanchez brings the mythos behind the seminal album The Second Stage Turbine Blade to the world of comics in a single softcover volume for the first time, providing new readers with the perfect jumping on point! Collects The Amory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade #1-10.

(W) Claudio Sanchez, Chondra Echert (A) Guillaume Martinez (CA) Gianluca Gugliotta In the final chapter of The Amory Wars, Wilhelm Ryan and the Red Army believed Claudio Kilgannon was dead, but rising uncertainty sends them on the hunt, even if it cuts unexpected reunions short. Claudio, Chase, and the Narrows are surrounded, but escape isn't as impossible as it seems. Chase and Claudio become stranded somewhere they didn't expect, but the Red Army is never far behind! Discovering they can use the power of the Willing Well to traipse all of existence throughout Heaven's Fence, Claudio and Chase plot their next move-find Ryan's origin. Mayhem and mystery abound as Ryan unveils a cunning plan in the midst of narrowly avoided peril. Death is only the beginning? Veteran comic creator Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria is once again joined by co-writer Chondra Echert, who team up with artist Guillaume Martinez, returning to the long-awaited continuation of The Amory Wars, the science fiction comic book companion spanning 20 years of the band's concept albums! Collects Amory Wars

(W) Kudan Naduka (A) Makoto Sanada As the building begins to collapse, Ray and Zack's final trial strikes. What awaits at the end of their promised escape? Find out in the final volume of this pulse-pounding series!

(W) Son M. (A/CA) Sam Curtis When four best friends enter adulthood with no job prospects and the insatiable pressures of family hanging over them, they get creative-the more dangerous the gig, the richer the reward. What starts off as a part-time venture scaring people quickly spirals out of control, pulling them headfirst into a waking nightmare when they unknowingly cross a violent crime syndicate. Now, their survival is on a knife's edge as they become the newest outfit in the criminal underworld. Brought to print for the first time by Dark Horse in collaboration with Tapas, the revolutionary digital comics platform.

(W) Marguerite Bennett (A) Rafael de Latorre (CA) Rafael de Latorre, Marcelo Maiolo Tensions run high as betrayal stings Jesse in a way she could have never imagined. Can Kyle shed his humanity enough to aid Jesse in her quest? Can Sandor forsake his bestial nature in order to save that which he loves? The answers lie within! Meanwhile, Sandor, Jesse and the survivors hear rumors of a mysterious Walled City where safety may be waiting...but will their journey there be too high a price to pay? Collecting ANIMOSITY #9-13-all five issues from the third story arc of this highly-acclaimed series!