No Mercy is a current Image Central comic book series, written by Alex de Campi, with art by Carla Speed McNeil and Jenn Manley Lee.
In the text page at the end of the first issue of No Mercy,
Alex de Campi say’s she feels like a fraud to be hanging out at Image Comics
with top comic book writers the likes of Brian K. Vaughn and Rick Remender. I
can assure you she is anything but a fraud. Alex de Campi delivers!
No Mercy opens right in the thick of things, joining our
intrepid crew of college freshman, along with their adult advisors, Alice and Murray,
and their local guide, Sister Ines. There are a lot of characters to meet in
the first few pages, but Alex manages to give each one their own unique voice
and personality, Although, we learn the most about the more talkative and extroverted
members of the cast we still get at least a glimpse into the nature of each individual.
I’m sure that readers will recognize many of the character “types” depicted
here: The insincere rich boy, the womanizing frat boy, the wide-eyed Midwesterner,
the tech-addicted naïf, and the “quiet kid”, all remind me of people I have
known in the past.
Alice and Murray have arrived at the tiny Mataguey airport, with
their crew of twenty plus eighteen and nineteen-year-olds to build schools in a
local village. They quickly embark on a ten-hour ride aboard a bus of questionable
road-worthiness, joined by Sister Ines and, a last minute, reluctant addition, the
Sister’s Uncle (by marriage). Not long into their journey disaster strikes, and
this is where our story truly begins. How will a group of naïve and privileged teenagers
survive in a harsh landscape surrounded by unknown dangers of every kind, with
no supplies, no weapons and no clue?
Alex de Campi’s story readily illustrates how quickly
situations can go from bad to worse to just plain awful in only a matter of
minutes. I for one cannot wait to see what she throws at these kids next, but I do know that she has promised that their troubles have only begun, and will eventually reach
biblical proportions.
The art by Carla Speed McNeil and Jenn Manley Lee is
perfectly suited to the tone and tenor of this tale. The cast members are easy
to identify, the action is clear and understandable. The artwork enhances and
moves the story forward, even on pages with little or no dialogue.
As the tagline says, if you like seeing teenagers die, the
pick up a copy of No Mercy today, at White Dragon Comics.
- W. Dragon
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