Patricia Briggs has really been feeling the love for her Mercy Thompson series lately. With Bone Crossed released in hardcover earlier this year and her very first Mercy Thompson graphic novel out as well, Mercy fans have plenty of reasons to become giddy. For myself, I'm not really a comic book person, but I am a dedicated Mercy fangirl and couldn't wait to catch a glimpse of her adventures in full-color.Homecoming is basically an origin story for Mercy Thompson: how she meets both Adam and Stefan and how she lands the mechanic position at Zee's shop. Although it is a stand-alone story, unless you've already had the privileged of reading Mercy's other adventures, Homecoming may not feel as robust as the others. It's fun, it's fast but I did miss the trademark Mercy narration. Several little details of Mercy's life are revealed that only long-standing Mercy fans will appreciate the significance of - little things like how Mercy gets her cat.
As for the artwork itself: Beautiful and suitably shadowy yet very powerful. Though it was a little jarring to see how often Mercy herself changed. I know there were multiple artists working on this book, but since she is the title character, I would have expected a little more continuity with her character at least. But that said, her action scenes were fabulous. Consequently, I had buckets of fun matching up my mental picture of Mercy's gang with the artists' rendering. Adam and Zee were just as I pictured, but I was a little disappointed with Stefan as a '80s grunge rocker. Not really the way I pictured the mystery machine driving vampire.
On a side note, Patricia Briggs and the artists of Homecoming did choose not to shy away (at all) from the shape-shifting side of Mercy's life - which to be honest, I'm happy with because Mercy herself is never really concerned about whether she is clothed or not. But gentle readers be warned: there are several panels of Mercy naked which might be off-putting. The artwork is stylized and the important parts are usually covered, but it is all still quite clear, which may keep the book out of the hands of Mercy's younger fans.
Homecoming was a fabulous fast-paced action story and an efficient reminder of why I love the Mercy Thompson series so much. I do wish it had been longer, but I understand the format is more suited to quick action and less dialogue. Thank heavens we have Silver Borne coming in March 2010.
Mercy Thompson novels reading order:
~ Moon Called
~ Blood Bound
~ Iron Kissed
~ Bone Crossed
~ Silver Borne (March 2010)
Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings review
Grasping for the Wind review
Janicu review
book source: my local library
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