Once again the artwork and design is top notch on this book (except for a couple of images where, dare I say it, the Lady looks unattractive), but still this isn't as good as it should be. It really feels like a padding episode – we get a brand new character in the prologue here, which was a Free Comic Book Day issue, only to divert into forgettable monster-of-the-month territory. The only thing is that the Day of the Dead Special was supposed to be the non-canonical aside, but here, after finally ironing out all the many flaws of the series, especially its errant wordiness, we get a very disposable trade. Somewhere there is within the creators here the talent for a knockabout drama, full of highly visual action, wonderfully-drawn combat scenes, and a clever story construct. I'm still waiting for all three of those aspects to come true, let alone more than one per volume. But I do, as opposed to when I first picked up Book One, live in hope.

The Lady Mechanika series continues to amaze me. The art and the story comes together very well. The story continue to grow on this 5th volume with an inspiration that kills and hints about the past She cannot remember.

What another wonderful segment in the world of Lady Mechanika. I have absolutely loved this series. The steampunk ascetic, the myths, the atmosphere, the great characters. I could absolutely go on to list a hundred things I enjoy about this series. It makes me understand why people buy serial comics when the subject is something they enjoy so thoroughly.

Volume 4 was becoming a little gruesome and dark as Mr. Lewis confronted his past. I actually put off reading La Belle Dame sans Merci until it was published as Volume 5 actually.

Mr. Lewis's only solace was at the bottom of a bottle until he meets a beautiful and mysterious widow. Love is certainly in the air. But what happens when that love turns deadly? It's old, reliable friend pitted against an irresistible spark of light. The emotions are running high and deep in Volume 5.

The level of fantasy in La Belle Dame sans Merci is over 9,000. We are talking fairies, people. The steampunk was very low key this arc, and I'm not hating it. I felt a complete revitalization for the series. There is enough mystery and intrigue to the overarching plot to keep me coming back for the next arc.

Can I just say--buy this volume just for the art on page 62. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Lady Mechanika Vol. 5 gives you exactly what one comes to expect from the Lady Mechanika series, amazing artwork, a kick-ass heroine, and an interesting storyline. This time we even got to see the majority of the major characters from the previous volumes. I especially appreciated the characters from other stories interacting more. This one does have a darker ending than most, but hopefully it will be even further addressed in future volumes. And like always, we get just a little peak of Mechanika's backstory. It's not a lot, but enough to give more questions, and a desire to continue down the path of this graphic novel to see what we can learn about this amazing character.

Pros: gorgeous artwork, interesting story, great costumes

Cons: depressing ending

Lady Mechanika’s quest to discover her past is sidetracked when Mr Lewis’s depression suddenly dissipates and he announces his engagement to a mysterious woman.

This volume collects the three comics that make up this storyline. It references some of the earlier volumes, but as situations and people are given enough reference, you can follow along even if you haven’t read those.

As with the other volumes, the artwork is gorgeous with some great steampunk costumes and a Victorian style setting. There are a few fight scenes with good action and a new female bad guy.

I found myself conflicted by the depression plotline. On the one hand I think the team did a great job of showing that it can take a long time for people who have suffered lost to recover. On the other hand, Lady Mechanika seems to have reached a point where she’s tired of Mr Lewis’s grief and just wants him to go back to being her occasional sidekick. I could actually understand his choice for marriage at the end of the volume and felt that Lady Mechanika took something from him and then left him alone to deal with the fallout at a point when he clearly needs intervention. The idea that he’ll just recover on his own - given enough time - is unfortunately rarely true in real life, and it would have been nice to see this acknowledged in the comic, maybe by sending him to a convalescent home or giving him a pet to care for (it’s possible this will be addressed in the next issue). But that last page with him is very depressing to read.

On the whole though, I thought it was a great volume.

Lady Mechanika still doesn't know her past, but she is putting that investigation on hold. Her friend Mr. Lewis seems to be falling for a young widow who seems to be connected to the deaths of several creative geniuses.

We're back in Mechanika City in this steampunk series, and we open with a prelude of Lady Mechanika breaking into Blackpool Armaments due to a rumor of an odd mechanical arm that looks similar to hers. Another augmented woman is there as well, and knows who Mechanika is. She gets away, and it leads to the clues that Mechanika wants to follow. Mr. Lewis is wholly occupied with Leanna Shi, to the point that he forgets to meet Mechanika when he promised to and doesn't act like himself. It's worse when he doesn't look after his niece Winifred the way he promised to, and would prefer to stay with Leanna.

Without spoiling the ending of the volume, it does bring up the interesting conundrum of inspiration and art, and the question of free will. Is the bond actually coerced or is it voluntary? Is Lewis choosing to be with Leanna instead of Winifred and Mechanika something they should respect? This trumps the search for the augmented woman that had known Mechanika in the past, and will no doubt have ramifications for future volumes as well.

With intensity and image, a creative team gives us a view into a parallel fantasy world. Lady Mechanika is entertaining, well done, and eye-catching. Recommended for graphic novel readers.

Lady Mechanika is absolutely fascinating and I loved the artwork. I started at volume five and was a bit lost , but art loved the storyline. I will go back and read the rest now.

Okay, so here's the thing that bugs me most about this series. This is the fifth volume, and we are no closer to Lady Mechanika's origins than when we started. It seems like every volume starts out with a plot about who she is and who mechanized her when it is suddenly derailed by some other lesser storyline. Talk about leading the readers on! Come on and give us the origin story already, and then build some plots around her strengths and weaknesses!

I truly love everything about Lady Mechanika. The universe, characters, details and illustrations were perfect. I can't wait to read next adventures.

I was so unbelievably excited when I saw that the fifth volume of Lady Mechanika was available on NetGalley. I've been hooked on this series for a while now, and had been truly looking forward to the next volume.
Lady Mechanika follows a woman who has been partially turned into, well, mechanics. She doesn't know who did it to her, or why. But she's determined to find out. The whole series has covered her quest for these answers. Oh, did I mention the best part? The world has a steampunk style, with the tech and art style to go along with it.
This series originally caught my attention thanks to the beautiful covers. And you'll be happy to hear that the artwork inside the pages is just as striking! The artwork has quickly become one of my favorites, and one of the reasons that I will always read this series given the option.
Lady Mechanika: La Bella Dame Sans Merci was everything I hoped it would be, and then some. It was fast-paced, surprisingly emotional, and full of interesting plot points. I didn't expect the plot to go the way it did, but I have to appreciate the decisions made here.
The artwork was absolutely beautiful, but I've come to expect that from this series. The plot was tense and fascinating. But still, I have to point out how much I loved it. As per usual, I found the covers to be especially striking. Though there were some scenes inside that also deserved note (but describing them would be spoiling things).
I was surprised by the emotions that volume five brought out in me. I guess I shouldn't have been though – a previous volume broke my heart, after all. At least this time around it didn't make me want to cry. Still, I have to give credit to the writers for being able to pull out so many emotions from their readers.
I feel like this volume introduced some new elements, and while they weren't technical or steampunk, they were pretty interesting. And I have to admit that I'll be curious to see what sort of character development it leads to. Especially in the long run.
Also, the more I see her the more I like Fred. She's so cute but so determined. I know she was like that before, but I feel like we're starting to see a bit more of Lady Mechanika's influence on her. And I feel like Allie is a brilliant mirror for her, in almost every element.
I'm so pumped that the latest volume of the series is out. This series is absolutely worth the wait, of course, but it's always nice when the wait is over. Granted, now I'm back to waiting for volume six...so there's that. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing where things go from here.

As always I am blown away by the impressive level of detail in the artwork of this beautiful book, each page is filled with incredible imagery, but I have to say that in this volume the team have really outdone themselves in the breathtaking use of color. In this volume, Lady Mechanika encounters an intriguing stranger who claims to know her of old while investigating the discovery of a mechanical arm that resembles her own , however she is soon distracted by the strange behavior of her sidekick. It seems that he has become enamored of a mysterious widow who has become his muse , but at a terrible cost. The introduction of a fantasy element to this steampunk comic was not something I saw coming but I thought it worked incredibly well, and as I mentioned before the palette of lilacs and violets used contrasted beautifully with the more earthy tones used in the rest of the book . I also loved the introduction of a rather sinister looking group of villains , and I am sure they will crop up in the future adventures of the mechanical dame.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.