St. Mercy #4

St. Mercy #4

Top Cow Productions/Image Comics 2021

Written by John Zuur Platten

Illustrated by Atilio Rojo

Lettered by AW’s Troy Peteri

As ST. MERCY reaches its explosive climax, Toctollissica stands up to her god rather than be dishonored, as the human sacrificial temple is overrun with blood and horror. Meanwhile, Mercy finds herself transformed by the cursed Incan gold. Mercy and Toctollissica, working together through time, are determined to retrieve the stolen gold that has changed them both forever. Even if that means killing anyone who tries to stop them.

This is a spectacular ending to the story. I mean sure there are things that are still up in the air and that need resolving and there’s room for another adventure to be told but regardless, the way that this issue plays out is utterly phenomenal to see. Mercy really has a chance to embrace her heritage, become something more than she ever was and fulfil a destiny that was passed down through the generations. It has all the right elements of revenge, supernatural horror and the old west with desperadoes whose evil knows no bounds and when it all comes together the way that it does there’s no sight greater. John does such a brilliant job in bringing all the pieces together to create this whirlwind ending that’s about as exciting as it is logic defying.

The way that this is being told is pretty damn brilliant. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development is literally insane to see, we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a phenomenal job with their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story the more the worlds get fleshed out the more we want to see.

I’m impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking the way that the layers within the story open up new avenues to be explored. Supay and his godlike desires and abilities and more about who exactly he is and what he represents is one I’d like to see explored. What these avenues add is such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

The interiors here are great. Between the past and the present we had seen something that almost felt like two different styles happening and now it all feels connected in a way it hasn’t before as the past and present almost feel like one place. The linework is fantastic and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work is extraordinary to see. I would like to have seen more backgrounds being utilised but what we do see does a great job with the mood, tone and feel of the story and how it works within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is well achieved. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a stellar understanding of how colour works.

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I really love the way that ancestral memory comes into play here and I know the curse plays a part in this but still that just unlocked what she needed to know to do what she had to do. It’s violent, bloody and without remorse and I was entranced and bewitched by what we saw. The written here is strong and powerful while the characterisation is intriguing and unpredictable while the interiors really shine a light on how we need to see and feel at every given moment.