books

Mercy Thompson

Homecoming (2009), Hopcross Jilly (2015)

Homecoming (2009) Patricia Briggs, David Lawrence, Francis Tsai, Amelia Woo

mercy_homecomingWhat is it with supernatural fantasy authors and comic books? First Jim Butcher, now Patricia Briggs.

Not that I’m complaining. It’s fun to spend time with characters I enjoy in a medium other than I’m used to, and I of course love short stories.

So how does Mercy Thompson hold up in comic form?

My primary complaint is that her breasts are just ridiculously large. I mean, she’s a relatively small woman. She’s a mechanic. How could she work on cars with those always getting in her way? Also, in at least some of the panels, she is entirely too beautiful.

Otherwise, pretty good.

This story tells how Mercy came to the tri-cities, and ended up working as a mechanic. We get the briefest of glimpses into her childhood, but primarily the story focuses upon her meeting the characters who figure so large in her life through her stories.

I liked seeing how Mercy ended up where she did, and how she met the people (creatures) she did once she moved. If you have not read any of the Mercy books, then this would be a good introduction. If you have read the Mercy Thompson books, and don’t mind comics/graphic novels, then I recommend picking up Homecoming to see her past history.

Rating: 7/10

Hopcross Jilly (2015) Patricia Briggs and Tom Garcia

Mercy-Thompson-Hopcross-JillyI’m a huge fan of the Mercy Thompson series, and also love Patricia Briggs’ short stories, so although I didn’t love the first Mercy Thompson graphic novel I read, I got this because I do like her short stories.

This story puts a great deal of focus on Jesse–Adam’s daughter who goes to the local high school. I like Jesse, but I don’t love spending any time in high school, which is where much of this story takes place.

The other thread of the story involves the Pack finding bodies–bodies that turn out to be older children and teenagers.

I still don’t much care for the way Mercy and Adam are drawn (and especially Zee, who looks ridiculous), but I thought they did a good job with Jesse, and I did enjoy the story.

Published by Dynamite

Rating: 7/10