Siegel, Mark. Sailor Twain

Siegel’s striking graphic novel tells the story of Captain Twain (no relation to the famous Mark), a steamboat captain and frustrated writer who discovers a wounded mermaid clinging to his ship. He brings her aboard, hiding her in his cabin and nursing her back to health—and becoming dangerously attached to her in the process. As he learns more about the mermaid’s story he becomes convinced that she is somehow related to the disappearance of his ship’s former owner and the strange correspondence being carried out between current owner Lafayette (the former owner’s younger, wilder brother) and the mysterious author of folklore studies, C.G. Beaverton.

A dramatic, though quiet, story is well-matched to atmospheric pencil and charcoal artwork. Fantastic and gripping.