Mercy: The Fair Lady, the Frost, and the Fiend
What does a monster movie look like from the perspective of the monster? That’s the question creator Mirka Andolfo poses with “Mercy.” The answer, initially, is that it has to get done up like a proper woman because the story takes place during the late 1800’s in the small Washington town of Woodsburgh. This is where the Lady Hellaine has decided to take up residence along with her manservant Goodwill, in spite of the town’s reputation. You see, the Devil of Woodsburgh is a very real and active threat. It murders townspeople in the dead of night and leaves alien spores on their bodies in its wake. Everyone lives in fear of it, except for the hunters who have come to put an end to the threat that it represents. As to why, the Lady Hellaine has decided to set up shop here, well, she just felt that it was time to head home.
They say that everyone is the hero of their own story. That’s true of monsters as well, and “Mercy’s” triumph is that it does an excellent job of getting us into its head. While it is driven by its instincts for self-preservation and to feed on human flesh, it is also not without emotions and the ability to empathize with the memories of the body it has inhabited. Andolfo is really good about teasing out all of the conflicts a setup like this presents, and you may even find yourself hoping that this thing will succeed in its goals. At least, until it can’t hide its true nature anymore and the story gut-punches you (several times over, in fact) with tragedy.
It all hits harder because of the incredible art that Andolfo has delivered with this story. Woodsburgh feels like a perfectly comfortable town of the era, with a diversity of citizenry — ethnically and economically — to make it feel alive. The normalcy that’s projected here is essential once the monsters show up and we see how disturbing they look in the flesh. It’s such a nice-looking book with a clever setup that you’ll likely be distracted from seeing the plot take some expected turns into familiar territory. Maybe even forgive the creator for delivering an ending that feels like it’s trying to cram too much into too few pages. Still, the volume’s final page promises a follow-up for later this year, and I’m intrigued enough by what Andolfo does here to check it out. Even if she’ll just be writing it.