Upon re-reading, I’d probably rate this 4 stars instead of 5. I really liked Mercy’s origin story and the colorful artwork, but not really the specific portrayal of the characters. Mercy looked like her measurements were 40-14-40 or something, and, like the cover art for the novels, they gave her more tattoos than she has. She also doesn’t go around dressed in skimpy half-shirts in the novels. The nudity was legit, but not the stupid outfits. Zee and Tad looked good. Stefan and Adam were nowhere near as dreamy as I’d imagined them. ( )

Nice art, absolutely awful writing. Didn't realize this was an urban fantasy book series when I grabbed it.

Needless to say, ain't no more Mercy Thompson in my future.

What a dreadful series.

When I learned that there was a graphic novel of a Mercy Thompson story I had never read, I ordered it. Mercy Thompson: Homecoming is not about Mercy going back to her mother and stepfather's home in Oregon, nor is it about her going back to the Marrok's home in Aspen Creek, Colorado. It's about how she came to make the Tri-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) area of Washington State her home.

Mercy was hoping to use her bachelor's degree in history to get a teaching job. How she was treated at the job interview reminded me of when I, with a new Master of Library Science, tried to get a school librarian job decades ago.

Mercy gets attacked by werewolves, only to be saved by other werewolves. Her car has taken more damage than she has, which is how Mercy comes to Zee's German car repair shop in Kennewick. Zee's human wife died some weeks ago, so he's too busy getting drunk to work. His nearly-nine-year-old son, Tad, is doing his best. Unfortunately, he's not strong enough to repair the clutch on the car belonging to Marsilia, who rules the local vampire seethe. A vampire shows up to threaten Tad, but Mercy offers to fix the clutch. This leads to Mercy meeting another supporting character in the series, Stefan Uccello, the vampire Scooby-Doo fan.

Other supporting characters introduced are Adam Hauptman, alpha werewolf of the Columbia Basin pack, and his second, Darryl Zao; Uncle Mike, the fae who owns Uncle Mike's Tavern, and a calico Manx cat who is 'Molly' before she becomes 'Medea'.

The werewolves who attacked Mercy are a rogue pack. Their Alpha, Orson Park, wants the Marrok to make Adam and his pack leave what Park considers to be his territory. They know that the ruler of werewolves, Bran Cornick the Marrok, is very fond of Mercy. (Bran works behind the scenes in this book, although he does have a cameo in a flashback where Margi, Mercy's mother, brought her little shapeshifter to Bran for help.)

The rogue pack demonstrates that they need to be put down, every one of them. Their showdown with Adam and his pack makes a satisfying climax.

The trademark humor in the series is preserved, especially Mercy 's snarks. I enjoyed her Scooby-Doo joke while being given a ride in Stefan's van, which is painted to copy the 'Mystery Machine' from the cartoons, although the bit from Warren Zevon's 'Werewolves of London' coming from the van's radio was almost too appropriate. There's also a cute moment with a very unfortunate farm family where the father and little boy are watching 'Duck Rabbit, Duck,' the third of the rightly famous Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer hunting trilogy cartoons directed by Chuck Jones.

I liked most of the art. Things I didn't like: the artist didn't paint the dog collar Mercy mentions when Adam and Darryl come to her room at a local Holiday Inn, giving Adam blue eyes instead of brown, and the way neither Francis Tsai nor Amelia Woo drew Mercy properly during the action scenes when she's nude. I hope it was an editorial decision because, as a woman reasonably well-endowed in the chest area, I know they should have been drawn in different positions. Mercy hasn't had plastic surgery there.

The book includes an art gallery and an interview between Mercy Thompson: Homecoming editor David Lawrence and series author Patricia Briggs. (Ms. Briggs wrote this graphic novel with Mr. Lawrence as her co-author.)

I definite recommend this book to Mercy Thompson fans as well as graphic novel urban fantasy fans! ( )

Odd variants from the background story I'm familiar with, but not in a bad way, and well executed in a self contained manner. Art I love, which goes a long way. Overall, the perfect coffee break read. ( )

This is a comic book and I didn't mind reading it because I love comic books. This is a prelude to the Mercy books and It was really great to see how Mercy got her start in the Tri-Cities and how she meets Zee, Stefan, Tad, and Adam.

If anybody wants a little more background into how Mercy met the guys and they don't mind graphic novels. I would recommend mend you read this. ( )