Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 2

Mercedes Thompson Graphic Novels #1.2

by David Lawrence, Amelia Woo, Patricia Briggs

In the past week, coyote shapeshifter Mercy Thompson has seen her friends kidnapped, killed, and assaulted - and things are about to get worse A war between werewolves is erupting, and Mercy is caught smack in the middle Can she unravel the secrets of the dark conspiracy that threatens them all in time to save her friends... and herself? Scores are settled and secrets revealed in the thrilling climax of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson: Moon Called. Collecting issues #5-8 of the series, along with an all-new, never-before-published 8-page bonus story, and a complete cover gallery.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Comics, Vampires, Shapeshifters

123 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2010

About the author

David Lawrence is an American writer most notable for his work in comics.

Reviews

[Renegade ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving being back in Mercy's world.

[Jessica {Litnoob} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again this art style is my favorite but being in the world just makes me happy. Also makes me wanna reread which isn’t helpful at all to my every growing TBR but I love that the comics help me peak in every now and then and enjoy a short visit.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Like the first volume, I was disappointed immensely by the artwork and the delivery of the story. I read this only because I had already read Volume 1 and had checked this out from Hoopla, but I don't know if I'll continue reading Lawrence's adaptations of Patricia Briggs' books. That said, I did enjoy the bonus story at this end of this installment and how it tied into the A&O series.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork for Adam really threw me off. Maybe it was reading this digitally on my phone but when he gets a five o'clock shadow, I thought something was eating his face.
Maybe it is just that he looks so different from how I imagine him.
All of them do, except maybe Bran and Charles. Charles, oddly enough, looks great. I actually really am looking forward to picking up the Alpha and Omega graphic novel.

[Kaa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Art does not improve from the first volume, and I felt the pacing and adaptation of the writing was worse. I cannot recommend these graphic novels even to readers who enjoyed the original novels more than I did.

[h o l l i s · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second of half of the graphic novel adaptation of MOON CALLED.

2.5 stars

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we left Mercy in Volume 1 of the graphic novel adaptation of Moon Called, Mercy, Sam, and Adam were heading back to Washington to find Adam's daughter and discover who killed Mac. The story continues to unfold and things get even more complicated as the vampires get pulled in.

If you've read Volume 1, Volume 2 is a definite must. Just don't open Volume 2 without reading Volume 1 or reading the novel beforehand, because it won't make a whole lot of senses. In fact, one of the things that I was really shocked about this time around, was how confused I was as the mystery unfolded. I never remembered, while reading the novel, being this confused, and I think one of the reasons was because perhaps the plot was a bit too complicated for the graphic novel medium. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Again, this is a trade paperback, containing the next four comics of Moon Called. This time around, Tyler Walpole is the artist. I must say, I really love his artwork. I love his interpretation of Mercy, there is a lot of atmosphere to his work, and I love the emotion. Very nicely done, a huge improvement over the ugly Brett Booths cover art that set off the first comic in Volume 1 and a shade better than Amelia Woo's other cover art in Volume 1.

Amelia Woo returns to illustrate the panels, and while her work is consistent with the last volume, the same complaints I had there apply. It's hard to tell the werewolves apart and Mercy still looks like a waifish Caucasian girl who would chip a nail on a wrench. Also, maybe I am more picky, but it seemed like every character was posed like a doll: stiff and awkward, with no thought to how real humans look when holding cellphones, carrying people, or opening car doors. Besides being confused about which werewolf was which, I also was confused about the identity of many of the characters. Jesse, Mercy, Stefan (yay!!), Zee, and Darrel are pretty easy to spot, but Sam, Warren, Adam, Gerry, and others looked interchangeable.

The characters continue to be great. Love Mercy, glad to see Stefan, who is amazing. Warren (whose sexuality makes it very interesting to be a wereweolf), Darrel, Adam...they were all very interesting. One of the things that seems to have been left on the cutting room floor is the Sam/Mercy, Adam/Mercy angle. I didn't get much chemistry from these guys, and I'm pretty sure that it was a bit more spicy in the novel. Also, having Mercy a skinwalker AND possessing magical powers to reject Vampires feels weird...but ah, well, I've read worse.

As for the plot...oh, my God, did it lose me! I don't know if it is because this is an graphic novel and stuff got cut out, if it is because I easily get confused with graphic novels, or just because the plot is all over the place, but I found it nearly impossible to keep up with all the developments. I still don't quite understand who did what and why. I have an idea (it changes like 80 times towards the end--and given how short a graphic novel is, that is bewildering!), but it still seems like the "Bad Guy" went to an awful lot of work just to get something he wanted. Of course, the novel probably had these problems too--maybe the novel had more explanations, I was in a better mood, etc. I just know reading it in graphic format left me confused half the time.

Four stars is probably a bit high for this book. I spent a lot of time confused over the plot and the artwork, particularly the interpretation of Mercy, continues to bug me. But I did enjoy myself reading this, the graphic novel contains a good amount of action and forward momentum and does a pretty darn good job of adapting the book in a visual medium. A must read if you've read Volume 1, but I think rereading "Moon Called" may help clear up some of the confusion from the plot wrap-up.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 2 adapts the second half of Moon Called wrapping up the adaptation.

This volume picks up right where the first volume leaves off with the group trying to find out who kidnapped Adam's daughter and attacked Adam. Like the first volume, I thought the story was pared down well to fit into this format with the graphic novel hitting all the major points in the plot. My issue with this adaptation was again the art style which doesn't work for me at all. It's quite dark and the backgrounds aren't well detailed which is something I prefer. Also the characters all look odd and at times the coloring/shadowing was weird making them look even worse.

Overall Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 2 was an interesting new way to read the story but ultimately the art style wasn't for me.

[Cindy (Squin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading the comic versions of books that I like. My only complaint with these is that the characters don't look the way I feel that they should!

[Erin Dall · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork wasn’t that great. Characters were extremely misrepresented! If I hadn’t read the books first I would’ve been very confused as to the plot.

[Guylou (Two Dogs and a Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 Hello Book Friends! I just finished Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 2 by David Lawrence and illustrated by Amelia Woo and Zach Matheny. This is based on the novel Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. I recently read volume 1 and loved it. Volume 2 was even better. They changed the way they illustrated Stefan, the vampire, and it is so much better and closer to how I imagined him. The ending was a bit rushed but captured the essence of the original novel. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

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[Jeannette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Mercy Thompson, so even though I didn’t love the first one, I decided to dive right into Volume Two. It continues the story nicely, again pacing things fast enough to keep everyone moving. I think what’s missing story-wise is some of the warmth and humor of the characters, not to mention the way that Briggs really gives you a sense of who everyone is, even if they’re only present for a few pages. The art did begin to settle into a style that worked well for me in these issues though. Again, no need for Mac, but there you go. I think what I got most out of these was a huge desire to reread the series.

[Yrsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stjärnor. De ser inte ut som jag tycker att de ska se ut och ibland vet jag inte vem det är på bilden. Det är också lite förvirrande att de fetstilar vissa ord i texten, och skulle man läsa de betoningarna blir det mycket märkliga meningar. Nä, jag föredrar böckerna.

[Lina]

I don’t know how anyone would feel emotionally attached to these characters just by reading the graphic novel. It wasn’t bad, but it was just… okay? Not sure. It wasn’t bad but everything was rushed? Again, I am not rating this because I don’t know how to do it.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the Moon Called novel is just too much to translate to a comic. I followed the first one alright, but this just left too much out or breezed past important details to make sense of it. The art was beautiful and super well done, it just didn’t connect for me.

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great graphic novel carrying on moon called. The detail, the plot were well adapted to this format. Again, I wish we had more volumes.

[Judy Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mercy saves

I love Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson novels. With this I'm more able to put faces to names when I read. Also I'm more able to visualize the action. It's great!

[Sketching Girl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know it didn't help starting on Volume 2 of this series, instead of Volume 1, but this still wasn't a very enjoyable read. The graphics look very computer generated, and I have read computer generated graphic novels before, but this looks obviously so. For some reason the characters all appear "wooden", it may be their poses and facial expressions, they feel frozen in a stagnant pose. When you read Marvel or DC Comics they are very good at giving the characters strong movement, dynamic poses where you feel the character is literally moving across the page, even when they are still just a frozen image in a drawing, they appear to be very much alive. There is also the colour palette, more often than not they seem to stick to the same colours - warm hues of bronze, amber and red. It doesn't matter what location they are at, it feels very much the same, with the odd darker toned area. The script isn't great either, the usual advice is "show don't tell," which should be especially true for a graphic novel. But there is a lot of time with the characters talking, they have brief black & white frames when they remember something that happened in the past, but this takes the place of only a couple of frames and they are back to talking again. There is finally some action towards the end of the book, but it wasn't enough for me. Even though I haven't read Volume 1, I feel they could have combined the two into one volume, cutting down on the "conversation scenes". If you want to go over things that have happened before, have a flashback scene, but make it go on longer and feel more immediate, as if the action is unfolding in real time. It is a shame because I feel the story could be really good, with plenty of opportunity for action scenes, and the art covers including are brilliant, and have more action and dynamic poses in them than the actual panels. This could have been so much better!

[Donna Halloran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help it. I just love these characters and stories. I took a break in the series, and I was glad. It felt like I was back to visit after some time away

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this graphic novel retelling of moon called. the artwork is amazing, the story was just as fun as it was in the book, and I every page of it.

[Amaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of Mercy's ward is in danger. It is left to Mercy, and Adam, the leader of the werewolf pack, to figure out who the bad guys are.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed but really how can I dislike anything Mercy Thompson.

[Keisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with the art.

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mercy "I'm not easily frightened by things that go bump in the night. I'm a walker, a shape shifter who becomes a coyote at will. I was raised by werewolves, and in the last week I've killed two of them, one with my bare teeth. But vampires scare the hell out of even me!"

This is Volume 2 of the graphic novel adaptation of Moon Called, the first book in Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson Series, and it's a great adaptation. Like Volume 1, the covers are gorgeous! I'm enjoying these more than some of the book covers which seem to be going a little overboard with Mercy's tattoos. Volume 2's cover is of a black wolf, with the reflection of Mercy's image in its glowing orange eyes. Nice!


The graphics are beautiful as always, with Vampire Stefan looking even better than what I had imagined, even with the headband. I was particularly impressed by how the flashback of Adam's origin story was nicely told in black and white.


The writing goes well with the art, especially in the coyote wolf interactions between Mercy and Sam, which are very touching, but still portrayed in a "PG" manner even though we are well aware Mercy is naked before and after she shifts.


The last issue (#8) feels a bit rushed, as if they tried to cram too much content into too few panels, so the emotional impact that is present in the books was somewhat diluted. This and the lower quality on the bonus content mean I can't give this the collection a perfect rating.

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second instalment of the graphic novel adaptation of Moon Called was even better than the first. Sort of. They were both amazing. Alright, maybe as good as the first. They were both amazing. The imagery is fantastic, the adaptation seems to add in what’s necessary, and leave out what’s not. The extra tale at the end positions this world alongside that of Alpha and Omega. And, well, it just all works out brilliantly.

One of the things I enjoyed about this graphic novel is the way that the very convoluted motives of Gerry (the villain) in the novel and places them within a simpler context. It’s difficult to take something that is quite complex and simplify it in a way that holds the essence of the original plot.

Sam, Adam and Stephen looked nothing like what I have pictured in my mind’s eye. And I will probably continue to picture them in my original way when I read the rest of the Mercedes Thompson novels. But, it was fun to see the same characters through a different person’s eyes. Weirdly enough, reading this graphic novel made me realise that I haven’t pictured Mercedes herself with much detail, since I normally follow along and watch the world through her own eyes.

[Ren Puspita · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Read this back to back with Moon Called vol 1. The story start when Mercy goes to the vampire seethe with Sam, and help from her vampire friend, Stefan. This collection consist of vol 5 - 8 , and the conclusion of the overall story. Mercy finally find the culprit who abducted Jesse (Adam's daughter), and wreak havoc in purpose to bring the war.

Still like the art, but the final volume, vol 8, kinda jumbled a bit. Actually, it have so many panels, and I think the illustrator want to dump all the conclusion into one volume, so it can be confusing to read. The end of this graphic novel also feature a bonus story about Mac, the werewolf whom at first volume are rescued by Mercy, but bring trouble afterward. A little nice add, and also provide some background story. It also introduced reader to Anna Latham, the heroine of Alpha and Omega series.

Not sure if this adaption is faithful to the book material, since I need to re-read Moon Called again, but I can said the illustrator did a good job to bring Mercy and her co into the media called comic.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read my first graphic novel last year, when I read Mercy Thompson: Moon Called, Volume 1 which contained the first four single-issues of this series. This second volume contains issues #5-8.

For me, this was a quick recap of Moon Called. For those who have only enjoyed the graphic novels of this series, you are gypping yourself by not reading the original story. There is so much that you are missing out on! As I mentioned in my review of the first volume of this series, I consider the graphic novel adaptation like an abridgement. I think it has been done well, but not as good as the original story. Reading this graphic novel series has made me want to re-read Moon Called. I love Mercy Thompson and really need to get back to this series!

This review was posted on my book blog:
https://darlenesbooknook.blogspot.com...

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible Artwork, Poor Storytelling

I love that there are comic/graphic novel versions of my favorite books, but then I open them and find this terrible...art? I feel bad saying it because I'm sure the illustrator worked hard, but some of the characters look nothing like they should, and in general, it's just...ugly. Then there's the fact that the story is so badly skewed from the original book. I barely managed to read volume 1 and 2. I'm not sure it's worth it for me to even look at the other books' comic versions.