Reading: MIRKA ANDOLFO'S MERCY: THE FAIR LADY, THE FROST, AND THE FIEND - Mirka Andolfo

Prose (Story): Collecting the first six issues of the popular comic, this graphic novel opens in Woodsborough, Washington in the late nineteenth century, during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, in which Woodsborough is anything but thriving. A few years prior a horrific accident causing the deaths of many locals - including its owner - closed the Swanson mine, and the city and its people have been trying, mostly without success, to bounce back since. Which makes it all the most puzzling when the beautiful, extremely wealthy, ivory-skinned beauty Lady Hellaine arrives in town with her faithful butler Goodwill, immediately settling into the impoverished city via one of the deserted mansions in town. Throwing a big party, Lady Hellaine becomes the envy of every woman and catches the eye of every man in town ... while at the same time arousing nothing but suspicion in Lady Swanson, widow of the deceased mine owner, who is a big supporter of the oppressed and downtrodden - and wonders from the start what Lady Hellaine's ultimate plans are. Underscorng everything else, there is a creature that is going around under cover of darkness, making the streets of Woodsborough run red with blood as it goes on a killing spree that seems to only worsen with the start of the falling snow. Who are the mysterious hunters stalking this creature? Could there be a connection with this creature and Lady Hellaine? And what does a wealthy woman of breeding want with a poverty-stricken town beset by a murderous creature like Woodsborough?

Don's (Review): Number one mention needs to go the striking, incredibly beautiful cover art of this graphic novel; truly, maybe the most amazing cover of everything I read this year. Thankfully, the interior illustrations are just as lush, the story more complex than expected, even starting as early as the rather ... odd hints of all that was going on when the accident happened at the mine, right up to the end of a story that touches on so many issues, from family and loyalty to love and death to the rights of the privileged compared to the rights of the poor. And while I felt the story lost its way just a little at the end, going a bit over-the-top, this visually stunning graphic novel is never dull, often violent/gory, and simply tells a great yarn. Highly recommended. (Available December 8) 4/5 stars 

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.