Finder Library Volume 1

Finder #library 1; books 1-4

by Carla Speed McNeil

"Completely fascinating." - Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Red)

Lose yourself in a world beyond your wildest dreams... Since 1996, Finder has set the bar for science-fiction storytelling, with a lush, intricate world and compelling characters. Now, Dark Horse is proud to present the first four story arcs of Carla Speed McNeil's groundbreaking series in a single, affordably priced volume. Follow enigmatic hero Jaeger through a "glorious, catholic pileup of high-tech SF, fannish fantasy, and street-level culture clash" (Village Voice), and discover the lush world and compelling characters that have carved Finder a permanent place in the pantheon of independent comics.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Sequential Art

616 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2011

Reviews

[Chris Boette · Rating 5 out of 5]

When adults start reading graphic novels, they're usually pointed toward a few solid books: MAUS, WATCHMEN, BLANKETS, PERSEPOLIS, SANDMAN, maybe TRANSMETROPOLITAN. Solid works, like I said. Beyond these tomes, though, recommendations get murky: FROM HELL, if you don't mind disemboweling; X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS or BATMAN: YEAR ONE, if you're ok with the superhero & tights thing; SIN CITY, if you're ok with ultraviolence; and so on. For some indiscernable reason, FINDER is never mentioned in those conversations. Picking up this collection a few weeks ago, I was disappointed only by the fact that no one had clued me into the series any sooner.

At a panel for a conference, Warren Ellis referred to superhero comics as comfort food. This book may have had a cape or two [as fashion accessory], anthropomorphic animals, and people [a person?] with extraordinary talents, but it is not a rich and fluffy chocolate cake. The story will not be spoonfed into your empty skull. The allusions will be deep and many. The characters will reveal themselves in ways that you will wish you had imagined. The panel design alone deserves a book of essays, or at least some serious study. And you will want more.

Find this book and devour it, especially if buying single-issue comics with ads for Scatter Brainz leaves you feeling like you are not a market segment about which the publisher cares.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up The Finder kind of randomly, without really knowing anything about it besides that it was a nice, thick graphic novel by a lady. I haven't really been a big reader of sci-fi or fantasy genre stuff since I was a pre-teen, not including a lot of the comic books I read, although even my comic book tastes tend to be more within the horror/crime/action and serious fiction genres than sci-fi and fantasy most of the time.

This graphic novel is very solidly within the sci-fi/fantasy realm though and the fans of this series seem to be very drawn to the "immersive world" McNeil has built here. Personally, I had a difficult time really getting into the world of these characters though. This book has kind of a subtle, anthropological approach to the sci-fi world it is building which reminds me of Ursula K. LeGuin, another author who I have a difficult time getting into because I feel like the style of the writing is rather aloof and overly philosophical.

I also felt like it really took an extraordinarily long time for the story to actually go anywhere. It seems like the book was trying to reveal something deep and true about how the dynamics of domestic violence play out in a family when it wasn't dealing with all of the more spacey and spiritual elements, but ultimately I am not sure it really succeeded. Or maybe I just don't get what it was trying to say?

I left the book feeling vaguely dissatisfied, but not completely clear on what made me feel that way. I had a really similar feeling after I finished Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez. They are both very long and intimately focused on their characters' lives and worlds and you can't help kind of falling into a certain rhythm as you read them. Yet, even with all that you learn about the characters and their connections to each other over the course of reading the work, they never quite seem like real, fully developed people to me and I never really manage to identify with them or feel a connection with them myself. Instead, I feel very much on the outside looking in on this airless environment without really being engaged. I'm sure a lot of people are really, really into this, but it just wasn't for me.

[Beth Kakuma-Depew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humbling and yet annoying. Her figure drawing is lovely and always 100% accurate no matter how small the panel or scene. Her characters have unique faces that stay consistant from begining to end. As an artist, I still struggle with this, and I've read many comics where the illustrators have thrown in the towel and given up on one of these two goals. I love the illustrations, and I would love to see her collaborate with an author.

Why? Because her story has no plot. I stopped reading after page 178 when all that had happended was that the attratice rogue who had been hanging around some woman's house, flirting with her teenage daughter, meets up with the woman's jailed husband to give him some photos. I'm glossing over all the parts where the charaters examine their feelings and motives for pages on end.

To be fair, I avoid adult fantasy and science fiction because those books seem to focus on world-building and ignore characters and plot. This graphic novel does explore characters along side world-building, but still did not have enough plot for me. But then again, I have the attention span of a teenager...dispite being twice that age.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Samuel Delany, Alfred Bester, Bruce Sterling and James Tiptree, jr. had somehow managed to contribute their DNA strands to create one baby, and that baby could somehow draw, I think that baby would create something like Finder.

I'm a big fan of world-building, and that's a big part of this series (at least in this big volume). Be prepared for long--but still entertaining---introductions with each city, town or flashback. As an outsider who is still oddly involved in the world, Jaeger is a wonderfully fascinating character. I understand he's the driving force for most of the series, and I can see why. He is the one who makes things happen by pushing all the buttons marked "don't touch" and you never quite know what implications his actions will have.

I was also really impressed by the tidbits of philosophy, politics and po-mo theory that get worked in. If you like your sci-fi to be straight action, this is not the book for you. But if you want your sci fi to twist your brain around give this one a try.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't take it anymore. This book, for all the high concept, outlandish scenarios, weirdo sci-fi elements, freakish characters and embrace of the bizarre, this is just flat out boring. Dull as rocks. There is story to be had, but the pace is glacial, and finding out what is happening or going to happen feels like a chore.

It is just page after page of seemingly random shenanigans mixed with flaccid domestic conversations. For as much parlor talk that the book has, I never felt that I ever really got the characters, despite several conversations giving us a barrage of pertinent exposition on what various characters were supposed to be like. Everyone was just remarkably uninteresting to me.

To top that off the storytelling is really disjointed, but not such that it lead to suspense, or intrigue, or yielded any curiosity. No, it just comes across as confusing.

Then there is page after page of useless script that overwhelms each frame. I admit, this is likely my thing, but if the words are there I read them, so all the written background conversations, all the signs and posters, all the lyrics to the music playing, everything is read and it is exhausting when you start to sum up how little content is in the totality of all the words included in this book.

I made it halfway through the first story (which is really quite long). Then I skipped ahead and almost finished the second story, but realized it just wasn't worth it any more.

The only reason why I gave it two stars is that the art can be very good.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd come across the 'Finder' series earlier. I really enjoyed it in my thirties, but during my main graphic novel phase as a teenager I would have been fully obsessed with it. I read whatever graphic novels the library had, from the sublime (Morrison's The Invisibles) to the ridiculous (Liefield X-Men collections). Anyway, I still found the collection really involving and distinctive. The future world is full of odd features and references. The art is clear and kinetic, yet expressive and detailed. The plots are fairly intricate, with stakes that are largely personal and psychological. Domestic abuse is a strong theme, which is depressing yet sensitively handled. The titular Finder is an interesting protagonist to follow, as his roaming allows the reader to explore this future world. I particularly liked the parody of Disneyland and the final story about searching for a mythical perfect book. I definitely want to read more volumes of the series, if I can get hold of them.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A (probably incomplete) list of books alluded to:
The Last Unicorn
The Killer Inside Me
The Selfish Giant
Parable of the Sower
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
The Magician's Nephew
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Neverending Story
Jaka's Story
The Princess BridePeter Pan
There's also a lot of poetry and old music.
I'm sure there were also lots of film references that I missed because I'm not a movie buff. I caught "Totoro" and "Night of the Hunter."

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am obviously missing something here, but I simply can not connect with this book; not the world, not the characters, none of it. I like the art, which starts out crude and continues to get better with each story. The early chapters seem somewhat rough and overwritten, but even as things become more polished, I find myself not caring about anything happening here. I wish I could see what others do in this series, but I can't.

[Tasha Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally include graphic novels on my official timeline for the year because most of them only take a few hours to read, and it feels like cheating to include them as part of an annual count. But this is a gigantic, meaty, 660-page behemoth of a book that required actual reading comprehension and significant time, and it seemed fair. Besides, I just wanted to write about what an experience this was. As an adult, I don't often run across new fantasy worlds that actually excite me. Everything just feels like an elaborate variation on something I've read before. Finder is different. It's a strange, quaint, elaborate world that feels like it has a history, but moreso, that's as packed with culture and variants and strange species as Star Wars' world, but with more personal and complicated stories going on. I had trouble following this first book at times, and at first I saw that as a flaw, but gradually I came to realize it was because the author wasn't telegraphing who readers were supposed to like and who we were supposed to hate. The story is more complicated, and I wasn't used to not being led in terms of heroes and villains. I suspect it'll all read more clearly the second time through, and given that by the end, I was reading this much too fast as I tried to take it all in, I'm very much looking forward to that second read.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Finder Library puts the word "novel" into the phrase graphic novel for a couple of reasons. For one, it's unlike any other story I've read; it's a fascinating example of world-building, and I couldn't tell you if it's a post-apocalyptic setting or an alien world with some Earth-like tendencies. It's also novel because it requires the attention and time that a good substantial novel does. There's so much subtext that McNeil provides footnotes for pages and various panels, and to be truthful, they are compelling and add to the enjoyment.

Another reviewer made comparisons to Samuel Delany and Alfred Bester and there's certainly some of that bewilderment of "where am I?" to contend with that eventually rewards you with deliciously complicated relationships and storytelling if you are patient and give yourself over to it.

I haven't said anything specific about the plot and that's largely because I don't know how to begin and also because I don't think it's my place. I do however suggest you enter the Finder world yourself and you'll understand what I mean. I can't wait for the next volume of this library. Now go read it yourself.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly have no idea how to rate this. At times I thought it was a dull, confusing mess, though I enjoyed the last book ("Talisman") tremendously. McNeil's talent for drawing figures grows by leaps and bounds as the series progresses, so it's kind of neat to watch the world come into its own stylistically. I felt sort of lost as to what was happening outside of the main characters (I should point out I am far too lazy to refer to the notes section at the end of the volume while I'm reading), but after a while it ceased to bother me. I definitely plan to keep reading the series, so I guess that's something.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most complex graphic novel I've read. There are several complete story arcs within the expansive structure. The author has brought together elements of different cultures into the story, and incorporated traditions from ancient, feudal, and speculative future societies. There's an oracle for answers to questions in exchange for the revelation of one's greatest fear. There are separate clans with identifiable features and varying levels of respect for one another. There is futuristic technology alongside the ways of nomadic indigenous peoples. There are both patriarchal and matriarchal groups. There are references, fragments, and scatterings of poetry, songs, and writings. There are beings which are human/animal hybrids. There's an analysis of the problems of capitalism as a structural system. There's quite a bit of philosophy. There is a whole lot going on.

This novel is nearly impossible to describe. The opening depicts the main character curled up in a bowl held by the Hindu deity Ganesh. That should be the first clue that the reader should expect the unexpected. And the stories themselves are non-linear. Characters may foreshadow, and even react to, future events. Some of the storyline is in memory form. The footnotes are very helpful, but in the digital version, those all come at the end. And you are unlikely to find a print copy at your local library, so digital is probably your only option.

All I can say is that this is a mind-blowing, phenomenal, densely-packed, graphic novel written with intelligence, and beautifully illustrated. Settle in for over 600 pages, and take your time with it.

[Emily Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING. I have no words for the awesome contained in this graphic novel. But I will quote:"Reading is my anesthetic. It isn't enough. I pour books into myself and there are never enough. They're gone too fast, like paper on a bonfire." My reaction? WOAH. Can I tattoo this on my forehead?!?! Yes, I engage in hyperbole to prove a point, but those words are now my mantra (if you will).

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Billed as a unique and imaginative piece of concept science fiction, Finder is certainly different. But different doesn't always make something good, and certainly doesn't automatically aspire to greatness. This is the first part of 2 collections making up the entire series of Finder comics; I can't imagine one good reason why I would pick up the second part. Finder is dense and difficult to read, both the text and the illustrations are packed and confusing. That's not always a bad thing. The drawings are detailed as befits the attempt at world-building, and the text provides not only the plot and voices for the characters but also an immense amount of background noise in order to solidify the picture of this far-off, futuristic world. The actions takes place in a clan-led society in the future, planet unknown, in mainly urban landscapes protected by crumbling domes. There's a sense of the world having moved on, of lost and dead civilisations. The world here is build on the ruins of various histories but remains built upon the precepts of our modern technology, marketing and capitalism. The clans entrench the feeling of a caste system and a frightening sense of genetic, ethnic and cultural unity. Into this post-everything mix comes cultural myticism, animals in humanoid form and plenty of off cue, bizarre sexuality and violence.

In many senses it feels like a nightmare world. The plot is impossible to follow satisfactorily and the characters all repulse in some way. At the centre of it all is sociopath and loner, Jaeger, who is the books strange protagonist. He is a heady mix of King's Gunslinger, Robin Hood, superhero, Cassanova, underground revolutionary - one could say he comes from so many mould as to make him unique and fresh. It doesn't work like that. Jaeger's pointless, misanthropic, wandering life just mirrors the frustrating lack of narrative he undergoes. An ex-army man and mystic Finder from a mysterious clan, Jaeger is also the protector and tormentor of a family of females (of which one is male - it's all so overly subversive) who have escaped the clutches of an abusive husband. Jaeger is double-crossing Brigham, who is trying to locate his family, while simultaneously seeming to care very little, in real world terms, for the family. He is having an affair with Emma, the mother, but most of the sexual tension is written between him and the 14-year old daughter, Rachel. Jaeger is the archetype failed father, full of violence and misplaced sexual desire, praised for his presence and mourned for his absence. He is one of the most despicable characters I can think of.

Volume one includes three stories. The longest is the first and concerns the above events and the characterisation of Jaeger, Brigham and the family. For all it's detailed world-building it is actually an intense, focussed family affair. The world around it is a bit Steampunk, a bit Star Wars, full of urban, underground grime and alternative cool, and occasionally like a nightmare-scape from the Matrix. In the second story we shift cities but the lack of plot continues to frustrate; an awful story about the death of a lionoid King and Jaeger's intervention in a peace process between the feline society and a part of his own clan. It does little to expand on the world itself either. Finally, the last story is something quite different. Thanks to the detailed characterisation in the first part of the book we are able to dive directly into a simple and personal tale about the family's youngest girl, Marcie, and her search for a book that her mother throws out. The book represents her connection to Jaeger, the act of him reading out loud to her, and simultaneously the disappointment of his deceits - when she discovers the book (having learned to read) she realises he was making everything up. The story, Talisman, is touching and coherent, a short ode to Marcie's (and the author's) love of books and the revelation that is the act of learning to read. It is packed full of literary references, in both the text and the pictures, making one realise the depth and ambition of this graphic novel.

Overall, Finder feels completely overdone. The references are clever but the story would tell itself without them. The world created is different and fascinating, but cluttered and unpleasant. The characters are obviously well thought out but all irritating to an extent, mostly because they are given no real plot in which to develop. On the level of a family drama - growing up, parenting, domestic abuse and violence - Finder has plenty to tell. It's a shame there is too much else going on to let the basics of narrative tell their own tale. 3

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was super excited when I discovered this series. A post-apocalyptic or at least far future scifi world written and drawn by a woman with lots of characterisation and quirkiness. How had I not come across this before? Finally Darkhorse have done something right! They've relased three of the collections in one HUGE tome at a very reasonable price. Granted the book was so huge that at times my hands did hurt reading it but I was still in love.

The book collects three separate stories, Sin Eater, King of the Cats and Talisman. Sin Eater was the introduction to the world and the characters. It was the longest stories and while there were times I wondered where everything was going overall I really enjoyed it. It started showing you the world, it was quite post apocalyptic with deserted and harmful wilderness and the majority of people living inside a domed city that was gradually falling apart and no one knew how to make the material of the dome anymore. But for all the aparant far futureness the people, even the ones that were part animal, were still very recognisable as people. There was a lovely lesbian who ran a bookshoop (I wish they'd had more of her). After the first few issues the story settles on a family that the Finder Jaega knows. The rest of the graphic novel focuses on his relationship with the family and their relationship with their crazy father/ex-husband. I liked the story more as it progressed and the issues which were told from the perspective of the children towards the end were my favourite. It was just such a huge and sad and very real drama in this big crazy world.

King of the cats was much less emotional. Here there was much more commentary on society and different races, and how we view things, and consumerism and disneyland. While being quite absurd and still trying to say interesting things. It was good though not as good as the other two stories.

The third story was the best. It was the least futuristic but was the story of the youngest girl in the family from the first story. It was all about her love of books and reading and her trying to find the perfect story she remembered from a child but how it wasn't quite right. There were lots of lovely bits about alienation and the point of reading and feeling like you were wasting your time and the nature of creativity. And it was all just brilliant.

Dark horse have relased a second volume which I will definitely buy and even though I borrowed this one from the library I will definitely have to get my own copy as well. I'm currently waiting for the new volume, Finder Voice to arrive in the post...

[Spearhavok · Rating 5 out of 5]

I work at a bookstore, and a while back we got something in called the Finder library. It looked pretty cool, it had apparently won an Eisner award,  and it was being released by dark horse, who may not be perfect but are responsible for the english version of Blade of the Immortal. This fact alone is enough to convince me to at least look at their stuff (Blade remains the only comic book series of any length that I purchased and read the entire run of).
So I bought it. And I read it. And I was floored. It's huge and amazing and staggeringly deep, and I reread it fom cover to cover only a week after reading it the first time. I read it a third time before the second volume came out, at which point I read it a fourth time so I could read them back to back.
I have made the entire series (two 'Libraries' and an additional arc called Voice) my most prominent staff pick at work, where I keep it permanently in stock so that other people can experience it. The fact that it's a graphic novel seems to scare some people, while the fact that it's science fiction concerns others, but it's so much more than either of those labels conveys.
It's also incredibly deep, and layered, and complex, but it reveals itself to you as you read. Just hang on and enjoy the ride. And for those of you that need the plot? It follows Jaeger, half-Ascian finder and sin-eater, as he weaves in and out of various lives, some of which we get to know more intimately than others. It takes place in a far-flung future where much of civilisation is made up of a few genetic lines, with everybody else living on the fringes. It explores more issues than almost anything I can think of and does it better than most. It builds a world so big you'd swear it had to be real, and introduces you to it a piece at a time.
Finder is one of the best things I've ever read.

But don't take my word for it. Strange Horizons calls it "bar none, the best SF comic being published today." Warren Ellis calls it "completely fascinating," and names it as one of his "treasured favourites of the last ten years." Seriously, read the book. The whole thing. And when you're finished, tell me you aren't amazed.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stories within a larger arc, originally issued as about two dozen comics. More than half of the thick volume is devoted to laying out characters and setting--both of which are intriguing, but enough already! Said setting is a complex, thoroughly envisioned future society in which remnants of often-inscrutable high tech drive some humongous domed cities but human society has devolved into several traditional models--notably nomads and inbred extended guilds--and there are many signs of genetic manipulation such as human/animal hybrids. Said characters feature a mixed breed but mostly Native American equivalent young man who is wonderfully canny, sensitive, troubled and experienced as well as being incurably restless, and a family consisting of a violently looney tunes dad, a mother who lives most of her life in the fantasy world in her head and three terrific children. Love the children.

The last two stories, "King of the Cats" and "Talisman" are the best, because they build on the previous 400 pages but feature stronger plotlines. All in all....wonderful characters, unusually vivid world, exhausting in the early going because the author only sketches in her story and leaves a lot for readers to fill in. Brilliant work, but hard to read (the black and white art and tiny type contribute to that).....this was more than enough for me for now, but worth continuing on sometime in the future.

The volume ends with a set of color cover art, which is also great.

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finder is one of those comic series I have been aware of for a long time, but could never quite quite get my hands on. Many of the trades are very hard to find, or even out of print. Happily, Dark Horse has republished most of the series in two huge (500+ page) collected volumes, called The Finder Library books 1 and 2. This comic is, simply put, like nothing else I've ever read. McNeil describes the series as 'aboriginal sci-fi' because it takes place in a futuristic society that constantly clashes with the more ancient cultures around it. McNeil is a magpie- she has plucked out themes and references from all over the place, and lovingly woven them together into something completely new. The story loosely follows Jaeger, a half breed and a nomad, with an extraordinary healing ability and the duties of a Sin-Eater. He drifts into the city and back into the lives of Emma and her three children after a long absence. Each character is vividly portrayed- strange, full of secrets, and completely unreliable as a narrator. When Emma's ex-husband Brigham turns up in the city, things start to get even more complicated. The slow build of Emma and Brigham's inevitable confrontation is like a smoking fuse. Jaeger- half loyal to Brigham, half in love with Emma- is caught in the middle of the emotional storm.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to do something to express my gratitude to this book for its existence.
Delany was namedropped in a previous review, and for me the comparison is inescapable. I've read Dhalgren twice, and to read that book is, to me, a vacation.
Sometimes a story captures and prolongs that cherished moment of discovery, the instant when one finds themselves in a new place, a new city that is boundless in its unfamiliarity. Instead of the discoverer possessing the object, the object swallows the discoverer whole. When this happens to me I am very grateful, and I surrender myself. From that point I am free to to go wherever I please, to stay as long as I choose, secure in the knowledge that wherever I wind up I will be welcome, and I will meet people who are welcoming.
Finder has captured me, and I am very, very grateful.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where has this series been all my life? How had I not heard about this repeatedly over the years I've spent immersed in the comics world? Never before have I read anything that was able to marry the worlds of genre fiction and complex relationship fiction so completely effectively. It's a thoroughly absorbing experience, especially all at once like this. And then you go back through it residing the endnotes and you're blown away all over again. Part of me wonders if it doesn't get more acclaim because it demands so much investment from the reader. You really have to pay attention, and then there are still things that get missed. And yet, even if all of the complex world-building goes over your head, you'll still be enthralled with the heart of the story-family, belonging, growing up, battling you're inner demons-one we can all relate to.

[Radical · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should've known from the very start when a couple of characters talk about what a rogue (but so trustworthy!) the main character was that this would be bad. It didn't sway from that initial impression. A meandering tale weighed down by unnecessary weirdness and trite characters.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This indie series apparently has a cult following, but I don't feel much urge to join the cult. No question McNeil writes characters and relationships well, but it's so much relationship, so little plot I could never engage with the characters (I gave up a third of the way in).

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too damn lazy to dig out my boxed-up issues, so I borrowed this from the local library.. :)

[Jason Mehmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finder Volume 1 Review:

Sometimes the inability to easily synopsize a work is a sign that it's not being clear. But that's not the case here. It feels like Carla Speed McNeil (CSM) is telling exactly the kind of story they want to tell.

Some general notes? It's set in a distant future, where much of history has been forgotten. There's high-tech computers, and there are itinerant traders riding enormous pseudo-dinosaurs, probably part of a kind of genetic manipulation experiment in the past. There are people with animal features; there are lion people. Very little of this is explained, it's simply presented as part of the world... you just accept it and move on.

The title: Finder is a role or group in this world, but we only learn about it obliquely. One of the main characters, Jaeger, is one, but he doesn't talk about it much.

I've heard that this is a work exploring indigineaity, though by setting this in an unexplained future, CSM avoids trying to take any particular tribe's stories inside this narrative, which is probably for the best.

This aspect of the book itself isn't delivered directly, but it is present. There is a kind of quiet wisdom of both the book and it's characters, and this feels drawn from the traditions CSM is connecting to.

CSM is a storyteller focused on the characters and lived-in nature of her world. As strange as it all is, the characters feel so naturally fit within it. The feeling is that the story happens to be observing the moments in the lives of these characters, instead of something deeply orchestrated as part of an overt plot.

Jaeger as a character is a great example. We follow him through much of this volume but I hesitate to call him a 'main character' so much as one we happen to be following... his reluctance to explain himself or his choices helps us lean deeper into the world because we want to know more about how everyone else interacts with him.

I will also note that Jaeger became something of a personal inspiration while reading this. Not fully, because the life he lives is too far beyond where I'm comfortable, but there is a calm and focus this character has, and a sense of living in a very present, mindful experience. As someone who often gets lost in overthinking and being distant, trying to channel a little of that element of his character really helped me.

I haven't even talked about the art... CSM's art is stunning. All rendered in black and white, it is by turns incredibly detailed (with lots of cameos and references buried in the backgrounds) and very simple. The characters are incredibly distinct yet with minimal linework. Part of the setting involves whole clans of people who look alike, and CSM's ability to both represent this WHILE making important characters be instantly recognizable is very impressive, and probably deceptively hard to do.

Much like my note about their skills as a storyteller, the art is such that it tries to avoid getting in the way of the narrative. It's a simple style, elegantly used to create a lot of expression, but never so expressive as to clumsily guide the emotions of the audience; always to help us get deeper into the story and world.

I think making a book like this takes a lot of work: thinking through all the characters, how they fit, the details of the world, etc. and then the artwork, representing all these details and qualities with a detailed craftsman's touch. It's the kind of work of a modelmaker, trying to get every detail perfect, so that it seems it could turn alive when you turn your back. The work is clear, but it doesn't feel overwrought or too much, like they're dragging you through every detail they've thought up. It's that every bit of that effort feels like someone who cares deeply for their world, and your passage through it.

A new favourite and a deeply loved reading experience.

[Janne Paananen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You want to know my worst fear?"
"Horagorosi. That's my end of the world. My Ragnarok. For Brigham to get out. That would be the worst thing."

Well... that was something completely different. Finder Libraryn ensimmäinen kokoomateos on yli 600-sivuinen sarjakuvamammutti, jonka kahlattua on vieläkin hieman epätietoinen olo. Mistä tässä oikein oli kysymys?

Sarjakuva sijoittuu scifi-/fantasiamaailmaan, jossa on monia eri rotuja tai heimoja. Ne elävät joko valtavan kupolin sisälle rakennetussa kaupungissa tai sen ulkopuolella hieman kuin beduiinit. Kupolikaupunkeja saattoi olla useampiakin.

Päähenkilö on Jaeger ja hän on finder eli kaveri, joka saa erilaisia tehtäviä tehdäkseen. Kai jonkinlainen metsästäjä, saalistaja tai jälkien etsijä. Hän on myös sin-eater eli hän kärsii tai sovittaa toisten tekemiä syntejä heimorituaalissa. Kuulostaa jo lähtökohtaisesti aika mielenkiintoiselta hahmolta.

Ja sitten on perhe, jonka isä (Brigham) terrorisoi mieleltään haurasta vaimoaan ja lapsiaan. Jaeger koettaa auttaa perhettä. Siinäpä se "rationaalinen" juoni ehkäpä olikin. Muutoin sivut täyttyvät Jaegerin kohtaamisista eri heimojen kanssa, takaumista, unista, visioista, mielen sisäisistä maisemista ja kupolikaupungin kuvauksesta.

Juoni on kaikkea muuta kuin selkeä. Tuntuu kuin McNeil olisi lähtenyt kirjoittamaan ensimmäisiä osia ilman, että hänellä on ollut hajuakaan lopusta tai siitä, mihin tarina hänet vie. Minkälaisia hahmoja ja juonikulkuja mukaan tulee. Tavallisesti tällainen sekavuus ja löyhyys ärsyttäisi minua, mutta jollain kummalla tavalla Finderin kohdalla ei niin paljoa. Mitä-hittoa-tässä-tapahtuu -fiilis tuntuu sopivan tähän teokseen.

Myös visuaalinen anti on ristiriitaista. Alku on tyylillisesti hieman kankeaa ja haparoivaa mustavalkoista selkeää jälkeä. Sarjan edetessä tyyli kohenee ja tarkentuu. Pidin ruutujaon perinteisyydestä, jota kuitenkin rikotaan hyvin usein. Sivun kokoiset teokset ja erityisen tehokkaat tekstikuplat toimivat mainiosti. Liitteenä olevat kansikuvat laittoivat miettimään, että olisiko visuaalisuus hyötynyt väreistä. Kansikuvissa ainakin värit toimivat erinomaisesti.

Liitteenä on myös sivukohtainen seliteosa, mikä onkin oivallinen lisä. Se avaa Finderin monet kirjalliset, musiikilliset ja taiteelliset viittaukset ja kunnianosoitukset. Niitä sivuilla riittää. Lisäksi seliteosa auttaa tapahtumien hahmottamisessa. Paikoitellen miun olisikin varmaan kannattanut lukea selitteittä sarjakuvan lukemisen rinnalla.

Findereita on toinen mokoma lisää. Käyn jossain vaiheessa senkin kimppuun, mutta välissä on luettava jotain helpommin sulatettavaa.

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite simply a remarkable achievement. Carla Speed McNeil, over a period in excess of 20 years, has written and drawn a world and characters as unique as they are relatable. These stories feel more sculpted than written, more crafted than drawn. This is a labor of love and it shows.

It truly is not possible to summarize the story being told here; good thing, then, that plot is not the most important thing about Finder. What matters is the emotional investment McNeil has put into the characters and how that translates into our ability to empathize and imagine ourselves into their skins. These are strange characters (and in some cases downright pathological) but the magic of her writing is that we feel ourselves thoroughly into these lives. I honestly don't believe that a story written over a shorter period of time could have had the same impact; the years McNeil spent crafting these lives shows so clearly in the slow and graceful development of people we come to know and love.

To give a taste of what you are in store for here: the Finder is Jaeger, a man without a tribe or home who pops in and out of the lives of Emma, her children, and their father, the estranged and very strange Brigham. This is a futuristic time in a world perhaps our own world, perhaps not, but with many recognizable characteristics and people. For the most part they live in domed cities, outside of which life is harsh and punishing. They have divided into distinct tribes and for the most part do not intermingle and nearly never intermarry, though Emma and Brigham are an exception to this rule, which makes them and their children outcasts in both tribes. Yet they make their way in the world which, when you get right down to it, is the best most of us can expect to manage.

At the risk of overstating my case, though, I would not want to give the impression that the setting, while alluring, is the true attraction of Finder. What makes it unique and compelling is the people we get to know, love, loathe, appreciate, and grieve for. No matter their physical form, these are very human creatures and as they open their hearts to us, we respond with love and deep fellow feeling. There is humor here, too, on every page, pathos and obscure references aplenty (which McNeil extensively explicates in her endnotes), but we come to Finder and remain because of our connection to these very real, complex people.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was a heck of a comic book. 600 pages, with extensive endnotes. This volume collects the stories Sin Eater, King of the Cats, and Talisman. Talisman was my favorite of the three, though they're all good.

Finder, originally, was a self-published comic that started in the 90s. While I read a lot of similar books back then, I never got around to reading Finder. I picked up this collection at a con a few years ago, and it's been sitting in my pile since. I didn't want to start reading it until I knew I'd have some time to dedicate to it, so it sat in the pile for quite some time. Then the COVID-19 lockdown happened, and it seemed like a good time to read a 600-page comic book...

Anyway, this is a really good comic. Since this was originally self-published, one issue at a time, you can see McNeil's growth as a writer and artist over these pages. But she was pretty amazing right from the start. She seems to have really worked out her world and her themes in advance, and in a lot of detail. This is, ostensibly, a science fiction comic. But I think it could also be filed under "epic fantasy," given some of the details of the setting and world. Really, it's its own thing.

One format note: while I originally bought this as a trade paperback, I found that the lettering was too small for me to read. The TPB is a little smaller than standard comic size, so the art is shrunk down a bit. So I gave up and bought a digital copy and read it that way. But, with the digital copy, it's hard to deal with the endnotes, since it's hard to flip back and forth. So I wound up reading the story via the digital version and then going through the endnotes with the physical version. (If your eyesight isn't as bad as mine, you might not have any problem with the physical version.)

[briz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird, pretty wonderful, slow, frustrating, did I say weird? WEIRD. I missed weird. This book brought weird back. Thanks, book!

We're dropped in media res into a far future weirdo landscape; to make matters worse, the plot is circuitous, characters ambiguous and complicated and ever-changing, and GOD THERE IS SO MUCH CHATTERING MUSIC PLAYING. I could have done without the music. But this was a slow-burn of frustrated "wtf"-ness that then, finally, sublimated into something exciting and fun and strange. There are heaps of endnotes. I'll get to them, maybe.

I kind of DON'T want to explain the plot, since I think the confusion is part of the sell. But this is a fun, very-1990s counterculture super far future sci-fi piece. The author/illustrator/everything-er, Carla Speed McNeil, calls it "aboriginal sci-fi"? Somewhere? Citation needed. It does have lots of mysticism, but also lots of grungy jeans and cigarette smoke. We follow sexy dude, Jaeger, a half-"Ascian" (Native American?) "Finder" (scout, though he feels like a woodsy private eye) as he flits around the weird dome city of Anvard. We meet a family of three sisters and a shell-shocked, traumatized mom, hounded by their abusive, unsettling shell-shocked dad. There are lion people. There was a raccoon guy. There are "clans", which feel like castes, and waaaay too much inter-clan homogeneity, seriously, people, genetic diversity is a good thing. There was some AI. But mostly the world was a broken down mess, kinda post-apocalyptic, and very critiquing of late capitalist USA!USA!USA! It's not really dark, the tone feels mostly cheeky.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd have to rate this book 2.5 to 4 stars. 'Sin-Eater' was rough, dragged, and at times confusing. The art by the end became enjoyable, and sometimes I loved the world building. Other times everything seemed shallow and silly. Then there would be some serious character building, and I'd hang in there when five minutes before I had contemplated bailing. 'Talisman' was by far my favorite. It felt as if the writer had finally figured out what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it.

It wasn't until I read the notes at the end that I saw the heart of the story. Her world building came together, and I could see what she'd been fumbling around trying to say. As I read the notes I kept saying to myself 'Why the hell wasn't this in the book?! That is freaking interesting!'. Having finished it I really think she should have just written a novel. The art is fine, but I can't say that I would miss it, but I absolutely think it held her back. I think she tried to hard to cram this story into this medium and too much valuable story was lost because of it. The notes shouldn't fill in half of what was missing from a 600 page graphic novel. You're doing it wrong if that's the case. All that being said, Talisman was solid, so McNeil CAN write a complete story in graphic novel form. The world building in Talisman wasn't rubbed in your face and it flowed. I'll keep reading because of that.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An all time wonderful classic of boldly imaginative science fiction. Filled to bursting with with so much lush plot detail that it literally will not all fit on the page; each volume comes with special appendices that point out extra detail and elucidate the inspiration behind settings and characters.


True, every volume but the latest (“Third World”)is rendered neatly in black and white, but I truly wouldn’t have it otherwise. Characters’ moods are rendered joyfully, and scenes of action or daily life are vibrant and suggestively kinetic to the mind’s eye. Did I mention that the inhabitants are all richly depicted individuals: irascible rascals and unhinged thugs, fox-faced prostitutes and a place that walks around like a man...all their secret lives suggest themselves on the page and invite you to speculate on them empathetically, like they were family.


If I had a time machine and could journey to the future, it would be to pick up all the future volumes. Keep it coming, please and thank you.