Archaia Studios Press released three new books this week, so I figured I'd do reviews on them, as well as a preview copy of the first issue of Robotika Vol. 2 #1.

Misericordia, by definition, basically means "to give mercy," and it is an intriguing title for Rebekah Cynthia Brem's new series, which is one of the rawest first issues I have read in awhile (but I do not mean that as an insult), as I believe what she is going to get at is that the mercy shown the lead character in this first issue may come back to haunt not only the character, but perhaps the human race as a whole.

Luscinia Solita, the star of Misericordia, is just a typical human being in the future - where folks live underground, barely wear any clothing, and each day find out what jobs they are assigned.

Today, Solita is assigned to go to the surface, which is basically unlivable for humans, and not just because of the environment, but because the surface is where the androids live.

Here are some sample pages from the comic, which depicts Solita's ascent to the surface world (I liked the way Brem worked in Solita's name into the flow of the story - very nicely done by Brem).









As you can see, Brem has a harsh, sparse and quite raw art style, and she quite clearly wants the reader to be put at odds in this future. It is noteworthy that there is almost zero dialogue in the comic, as I think that, too, is an attempt to put the reader ill at ease. It works.

While on the surface, Solita is attacked by a group of male androids, and she discovers - in a horrific part of the comic - the raped and murdered body of a female android. As you may imagine, this causes Solita to freak out, as she is a female human in the proverbial lion's den (and seeing the rape victim causes Solita to flash back to events of her childhood).

At the end, a young male android shows Solita some mercy (and I love how Brem depicts his reaction to seeing a human female up on the surface after dark), and I am intrigued at seeing what will happen as a result of said mercy.

Recommended.