Comic Break: Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson:Homecoming #1 (Dabel Brothers)

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Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson Homecoming
Issue: #1
Writer: Patricia Briggs and David Lawrence
Artist: Francis Tsai
32 pp. Dabel Brothers. $3.99

Reviewed by Paul Stotts

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“It looked like another year in Portland and ‘Would you like fries with that?”—Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Homecoming #1

I’ve never read any of Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson novels, so I had no idea what to expect from the Dabel Brothers’ new comic series Mercy Thompson: Homecoming. All I know is that Briggs is currently making a name for herself in the urban fantasy genre and after the quality treatment the Dabel Brothers did with another urban fantasy staple, Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, I figured I’d take the opportunity to get introduced to Briggs’ work.

Every urban fantasy hero seems to have a gimmick. Something supernatural and unbelievable like being a vampire, wizard or an ambitious McDonald’s employee. Mercy Thompson happens to be a coyote shapeshifter. But barking at the moon only gets a girl so far in life. She also needs to squirrel some bones away for when her doggie days hit the winter years. So Mercy leaves Portland to find a new teaching job in the Washington Tri-Cities area. But she doesn’t get the warm and fuzzy welcome she expected.

First off, the issue’s artwork by Francis Tsai is fantastic. Tsai went the painted route with the interiors, and the results really stand out. The level of detail and complexity in the panels is impressive. With his work here, Tsai has vaulted into the upper echelon of artists I like. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the rest of the series.

Mercy comes off as spunky and independent which makes it easy to like her. She’s the kind of heroine you feel compelled to root for, the proverbial and literal underdog. She’s a Chihuahua with attitude who's not afraid to bark at the big dogs.

The issue’s most interesting character though is the young mechanic Tad. What makes Tad unique is that he’s eight and fixing cars like a seasoned monkeywrencher at his Dad’s shop. It’s an odd gimmick, and I give a lot of credit to Briggs and co-writer David Lawrence for making Tad believable. It could have come off as silly, but it doesn’t.

The first issue of Mercy Thompson: Homecoming definitely isn’t a mutt, and it packs enough intrigue to earn the second book a look.

Final Grade: 76 out of 100