Mirka Andolfo’s Mercy: The Fair Lady, the Frost, and the Fiend

Andolfo starts slow but builds to a satisfying crescendo of Lovecraftian horror in this lavishly illustrated graphic novel. A small 19th-century mining town is visited by the mysterious Nolwenn Hellaine, a beautiful woman curious about local legends of the “Devil of Woodsburgh.” Gradually, the townspeople discover that Lady Hellaine and her faithful retainer are otherworldly monsters who need to feed on human brains to survive. The early chapters are a slow burn as Andolfo takes time to introduce his sizable cast of characters, but once the action kicks in, it becomes a thrill ride rife with sex, gore, and cosmic horror, not to mention wild-card elements like an Indigenous monster-hunting squad that shows up looking for Lady Hellaine. The art is almost too sleek and glossy for a horror story, but succeeds with attractive, expressive characters, detailed period settings, and, when the story heats up, twisted shape-shifting monsters and gruesome violence. The result is a stylish chiller sure to please genre fans. (Dec.)