The MERCENARY: Definitive Editions, Volume 2

November 27, 2017
Exotic cults, mounted dinosaurs, and daring rescues feature in this fully-painted escapade from France. The Mercenary, a solitary warrior who lives by his fists in the Land of Eternal Clouds, becomes ensnared by the Cult of the Sacred Fire after he rescues a ransomed damsel. The cult’s origin is as mysterious as its intentions. This is a visually sumptuous work: Segrelles depicts everything from craggy mountaintops to a woman’s startled eye with the same lush detail. This clashes, occasionally, with the rather stiff translated dialogue—especially discomfiting are the multiple exclamations of “we’re toast!”—and the extremely compressed nature of the story. This is an epic adventure squeezed into a mere 50 pages, and it shows. Regardless, Segrelle’s talent as an artist makes it a worthwhile jaunt. The first book in the series celebrates all that is masculine, chivalrous, and loincloth-clad in richly rendered style.