Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: The Homecoming (Dabel Brothers – Briggs / Lawrence / Tsai)
Patricia Briggs’ adventures of coyote shapeshifter Mercy Thompson in Moon Called, Blood Bound and Iron Kissed, topped the New York Times best-seller list. Now Mercy comes to comics in an all-new adventure created by the author! Mercy Thompson observes the supernatural community while standing apart from it; between the things that go bump in the night and the things that bump right back. This prequel to the best-selling novels finds Mercy smack in the middle of warring packs of werewolves and face-to-face with angry vampires. Worse still, she faces the dreaded… job interview!
Very recently, I had the opportunity to take a look at the first few issues of this series. Going into this, I have not read the original novels that this character and her adventures are based on… but based on the comic, I have put this series on my “to read” list. In Mercy, Patricia Briggs creates a positive female protagonist who is smart, powerful, values education and isn’t ready to be pushed aside for anyone, not a werewolf pack or vampire mechanic or a bad job interview… To be honest neither Ripley nor Sarah Connor has anything on this gal!
The story is solid enough, nothing too original in the big picture I have to admit… we’ve seen the whole vampire vs. werewolf clan thing a lot lately (Underworld, Twilight, etc.). But it’s not the premise that makes this book interesting, it’s the characters – both minor and major – that give Mercy Thompson that extra edge that makes it rise above the others. The intertwining details that connect everyone we meet. It really is a well-constructed story. Not too surprising given that this a cross over from a novel to a comic. The painted interiors by Francis Tsai give this good story a visual edge that makes it worth it’s cover price.
If the supernatural adventure is up your alley… Mercy Thompson is an easy call for you to pick up!
