An Incan child sacrifice, a young woman guarding sacred gold, some bandits in the Old West – what is the connection between them? Find out in the thrilling St. Mercy #1 from Image Comics!
ST. MERCY #1 (OF 4)
Writer: John Zuur Platten
Artist: Atilio Rojo
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Editor: Elena Salcedo
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 25, 2021
Previously in St. Mercy: Mercedes Oro has come with her father to Arroyo Pass, Arizona, where they have built a mission. She is a sweet and devout young woman, but she and her father share a secret. Not only are they descendants of the Incas, but she has been charged with hiding a protecting a cache of cursed gold used in ancient rituals of child sacrifice.
DESTINY AND FAITH
St. Mercy #1 opens five hundred years ago in the mountains of Peru. We meet Toctolissica, a young girl who has been chosen to be given to the gods. Her eyes are calm and resolute, but her soul sings with devotion to Supay, the god of the underworld. Right away this book stands out as we see the tradition of child sacrifice, which is horrible to us, through the eyes of someone who embraces it with faith. The children are extremely well cared for, fed the best food, allowed to grow fat to be the most generous offering.
But Toctolissica does not grow fat. Nor have her monthly cycles started. If she is to be sacrificed to Supay as the mother of his children, she must be fertile, or so says the witch Cuxi. But the shaman, Ispaca, insists that Toctolissica will be the best sacrifice.
In 1871 we see Mercedes Oro, or Mercy. She is seventeen, but living in the West at this time, she is capable and strong in her own way. We see her learning to shoot a rifle, and then picking up supplies in town. While there, she invites a woman to her church, a woman who refuses to go to a Mexican church. Mercy softly explains that she was from Peru and is now American. But racism was alive and well back then.
Outside of town, an armored wagon makes its way up pass. It is an Army wagon, and as evening falls, they are ambushed. After a brief and bloody gunfight, the bandits get away with a lot of cash and leave behind a young, injured man who was shot by the soldiers.
The day before Toctolissica’s sacrifice, the Shaman tells Supay how wonderful she will be. The girl knows he is lying. She knows Supay will be displeased. But her faith is so strong, she does not see anything else in her future besides becoming Supay’s queen.
Mercy arrives back at the small church and, to her surprise, sees a blood-spattered wagon. She goes in and finds her father at gunpoint at the hand of the bandit who was left for dead, Alex Carter. He claims to want forgiveness and mercy. He knows he is going to die, and he wants to leave the world in peace. Mercy cleans his wounds and convinces her father to go to the Sheriff.
But now she is worried about the gold in her charge. She quickly ducks into the barn to check on it, and we her Toctolissica narrating in the background. She has Incan gold from the child sacrifices, and it is cursed. She puts on a headdress and declares she will end the young man’s suffering, and that he will be forgiven. She did not realize that Alex has come into the barn behind her.
YOUNG WOMEN IN ROUGH TIMES
St. Mercy #1 puts us into the heart of the Incan tradition of sacrifice to their gods. This is something we have known about from the accounts of the invading Spaniards, but it is fascinating to see the take as from the eyes of the children. The buildings we now know as ruins in a tangled jungle are pristine monuments in a lush green land. The young people, the chosen sacrifices, look remarkably calm and cheerful to our eyes, considering the death awaiting them.
The ambush is short and fairly bloody, as one might expect from a surprise gun battle at fairly short range. I like the atmosphere of deep shadows, as it is getting to be dusk. Still, we get to see the faces of some of the key bandits, and they are striking. The character work and expressions are quite well done, and there are some interesting quirks, such as the bandit who wears glasses that obscure his eyes. There is a strong sense of place and time, which helps, along with the lettering, to keep the time periods separate while allowing us to make connections between them.
BOTTOM LINE: FAITH AND DETERMINATION
St. Mercy #1 is a tale of faith, strength, and resilience, told through two young women both living at times when they are not in charge. How their stories cross should be fascinating.
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St. Mercy #1
Two young women, burning with faith, are put to the test.
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.