Mercy Sparx: Year One #1

Sep 2016 · Devil's Due / 1First Comics · 4.99 USD

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★ 1st appearance — Hillevi

About this Collection

Mercy Sparx: Year One #1 is the origin chapter that the eight-year-old Mercy Sparx mythology had never directly told: the story of her first days on Earth and her earliest roots in Sheol, the forgotten Old Testament underworld that defines her character. As the narrative bridge explicitly positioned by the publisher between issues #12 and #13 of the main series, it recontextualizes everything readers already knew about Heaven's devil-girl bounty hunter by grounding her present mission in a traumatic personal past. The issue also formally introduces several characters — including Faustia, Karduk, Hillevi, and others — whose significance radiates forward into the conclusion of the ongoing run. For a creator-owned indie title that had built its audience from scratch since 2008, launching a prequel miniseries supported by an FCBD tie-in and a nationwide signing tour represented a meaningful expansion of the franchise's storytelling ambition.

writer Joshua Blaylock · artist, inker Matt Merhoff · colorist Greg and Fake · letterer Micah Myers · cover Matt Merhoff

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Raw (NM) $6

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History

Josh Blaylock created Mercy Sparx and launched the character with a #0 issue in August 2008 through his own Devil's Due Publishing; artist Matt Merhoff has been the series' primary visual collaborator since that debut. After the original miniseries wrapped, fan demand brought the character back as an ongoing series in 2013. Year One #1 arrived in September 2016 — co-published under the Devil's Due / 1First Comics imprint — teeing off a three-issue prequel miniseries that was previewed by a short story in the Free Comic Book Day 2016 anthology Mix Tape 2016 and accompanied by a nationwide retailer signing tour organized by Blaylock.

Trivia · 8 facts

Written by Josh Blaylock; interior art and cover (Cover A) by Matt Merhoff; published September 2016 by Devil's Due / 1First Comics.
The issue is the first installment of a three-issue prequel miniseries recounting Mercy Sparx's earliest time on Earth and her origins in Sheol, the forgotten Old Testament underworld from which she hails.
Publisher canon places Year One as a story best read between Mercy Sparx (ongoing) #12 and #13, meaning it functions as an interstitial flashback arc within the larger series chronology.
The issue marks the introductions-in-context of several catalog characters: Faustia (Mercy's antagonist mother), Karduk (an ancient Sumerian figure who becomes Mercy's closest paternal figure), Hillevi (an angel with ties to both Karduk's and Mercy's parents), plus supporting figures Armaros, Colin, Hank, Jeremiah Collins, Mr. Suit, and Sandolphon.
A preview story seeding Year One appeared in the Free Comic Book Day 2016 special Mix Tape 2016, giving the series advance exposure ahead of its September release.
The issue shipped with at least three cover variants: Cover A by Matt Merhoff, Cover B by Josh Blaylock, and Cover C by Kiki Jenkins.
The full Year One miniseries (issues #1–3) was subsequently collected in Mercy Sparx TPB Vol. 4, 'Killing the Gatekeepers,' alongside main-series issues #10–12.
The Mercy Sparx property as a whole was optioned for film development by MGM Studios in 2020, giving the Year One origin story added relevance as franchise background material.