Cut is quick, simple and largely satisfying.

Meagan awakes in a room in a seemingly abandoned house. She's injured -- apparently from a blow to the head -- and she has no idea where she is or how she got there. There's something else in the house with her, however, and her first quick glimpse of her captor isn't promising.

And then Anita shows up.

The story by Mike Richardson is eerie, a little tense, and it goes in unexpected directions. The art by Todd Herman (inks by Art Milgrim, colors by Dave Stewart) is simply, suitably dark for most of the pages and effective in carrying Richardson's story across the pages.

But Cut, a short read at just over 100 pages and in an unusually small format for graphic novels, is ultimately unfulfilling. After luring readers into the tale, Richardson just lets the story peter out. The suddenness of the ending isn't effective or moody, it's just abrupt. And I put it down thinking, huh, I wonder if he simply didn't know how to end it, or if he really thought that was a fully-fleshed conclusion.