Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa.
Volumes: 27
#1: In the cellar of a house, a young boy suffers the aftermath of a mysterious and forbidden alchemical ritual gone wrong. Bleeding profusely from the mangled stump that was, moments ago, his left leg, the boy cries out for his brother Alphonse, but receives no response. His brother is gone.
#2: Cornello, realizing now why Edward was granted such a fearsome moniker as "Fullmetal", chastises the boys for clearly having committed alchemy's greatest taboo - Human Transmutation.
#3: Arriving in the frontier town of Youswell in order to inspect the coal mines there, Ed and Al meet a young boy named Khayal who refers them to an inn owned by his father Halling, the mine foreman and village chief.
#4: As Major General Hakuro enjoys a leisurely train ride from New Optain to East City with his wife and two small children, the train is hijacked by several members of the eastern extremist group "Blue Squad" currently led by a menacing man named Bald.
