The very first page of Black Stars Above is a large, white box with small, cursive narrative text; so let’s start with the lettering by Hassan Ostmane-Elhaou. This comic is not only a slow-burn horror story by way of historical fiction, but it is also strongly dependent on characters’ journal entries providing the narration. Other textual effects include more standard lettering on spoken dialog, which uses carats to mark whether characters are speaking Michif or French, and white-on-black lettering inside of jagged speech bubbles for noises made by an alien creature. At the midway point of the story, the comic transitions into eight full pages of journal entries, with a couple of sketches included. Ostmane-Elhaou’s use of small, cursive font for journal entries will force readers to slow down as they scan through pages, and the effect this has on purely visual pages cannot be understated.
The second page of Black Stars Above is a wordless, four-panel sequence of some lynx traveling across snowy land; so let’s talk about more of the visual elements of this book. At the brightest of times, the Canadian wilderness is depicted as a gray wilderness with snow storms either taking over the horizon or directly flurrying the panels. A good deal of the comic takes place during dusk or nighttime, with lanterns and moonlight acting as dramatic light sources for the protagonist. Brad Simpson’s coloring is able to find a suitable range of hues for each situation, whether it’s the warm fireplace colors of a cabin, the cold blues and silvers of the snowy dark, or touches and waves of red as the story becomes more disturbing and violent. As mentioned before, the wordless segments of the story feel carefully paced to complement the dense use of text, making this a difficult comic to skim or skip through unless readers want to cheat themselves by “fast forwarding” to the horror reveals. Jenna Cha’s artwork and thoughtful paneling, which considers characters’ movements throughout each scene, deserves full consideration from beginning to end. Her talents include rendering a silhouette in a snowstorm, use of upside-down perspectives to visually suggest transitions that physically occur later, and eldritch creatures given a wintry spin that makes them simultaneously off-putting and kind of cute.
The third and fourth pages see the narrator and lynx meet; so let’s describe the actual story here. Lonnie Nadler’s script can be broken into three acts, each centering on Eulalie Dubois, a young woman on the Canadian frontier who yearns to escape her rural existence. In the first act, she struggles against the constricting expectations of her parents, including her First Nations mother and French father, who plan to marry her off to a nearby suitor. In the second act, Eulalie attempts to deliver a mysterious package on her own, with the hope of earning enough money to buy her independence. In the third act, the senses are assaulted as Eulalie travels to the eponymous black stars and discovers all kinds of freakiness and rituals. Images of cosmic horror that are briefly displayed or hinted at in the first couple of chapters receive thorough payoff in the latter half of the book, like a prestige horror film that plays with themes and setting but doesn’t forget to deliver the bloody goods. Far from schlock or grindhouse thrills, the journey of Black Stars Above could be described in Eulalie’s words as, “delirium walking hand in hand with awe.” People aren’t getting graphically murdered, or at all, but the book’s surreal imagery around madness, alien creatures, and disruption to the natural order is highly suggestive.
Where content warnings are concerned teens and older who know the word “cthulu” will be uniquely excited to follow this book’s immersive bread crumbs into madness. Animals are skinned and gutted, including the sight of an animal fetus dead in the womb. Creatures’ eyes drip black goo, and there is a brief scene of a topless woman. The literary tone that permeates the text, along with the less than accessible cursive font, means a good amount of focus will be required, but will also lead toward immense satisfaction and hope for a sequel in the same vein.
Black Stars Above By Lonnie Nadler Art by Jenna Cha ISBN: 9781939424532 Vault Comics, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: 12+
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Older Teen (16-18), Adult (18+) Character Traits: First Nations or Indigenous Characters Multiracial, Creator Highlights: BIPOC Creator
La Voz de M.A.Y.O.: Tata Rambo is a book that aims to fill a gap in the historical record, highlighting the contributions of Ramon Jaurigue (Tata Rambo) to the Pascua Yaqui tribe in Arizona and the Mexican American Yaqui Organization (M.A.Y.O.). Ramon Jaurigue is the great-grandfather of the book’s writer, Henry Barajas, who channels his background as a journalist into piecing together Jaurigue’s story through interviews, oral histories, newspaper clippings, and the scant recorded history available through his public library.
The story opens in 2015, with Barajas taking an aging Jaurigue to a protest, relating to the reader that it may be the last march he would be able to attend, before traveling back in time to 1969. The book traces Ramon’s involvement with M.A.Y.O. to protest the construction of the I-10 highway, which would have further displaced around 12,000 members of the Indigenous Yaqui community. A vital step to blocking the measure is to get the tribe recognized by the federal government, an ongoing five-year-long struggle depicted over the course of the book. Barajas includes both community-oriented anecdotes and personal stories, with tension slowly building as more time dedicated to the community often seemed to mean less time he spent with his own family.
Barajas re-appears in the story several times, but always briefly and as a supporting character, prompting the reader to think of Jaurigue’s legacy and how history is recorded and remembered. The storyline can feel a little stunted with abrupt transitions between scenes, which may reflect Barajas’s difficulty with piecing together his great-grandfather’s story. But as a result, Barajas represents key moments in the history of the M.A.Y.O. without losing the facts in too much fictionalized connective tissue.
The art is very bold and stylized, with thick black outlines—almost any panel looks like it could be made into a poster. The color palette centers around shades of red, blue, and yellow, invoking traditional comic book colors, but with a twist—shades of teal and turquoise, deep red-orange, and muted sunflower yellow—that also references the American Southwest. The consistent use of these colors brings some unity to the disjointed scene changes.
In the book’s foreword, scholar Frederick Luis Aldama stresses the importance of corrective counter-narratives that balance our understanding of American history with appropriate, truthful representations of people of color. He describes how comics have become an important medium is this regard, and La Voz de M.A.Y.O. is an excellent example.
After the story, the book includes a two-page interview between Barajas and Congressman Raul Grijalva; five full issues of the titular newsletter, La Voz de M.A.Y.O.; various newspaper clippings; and a five-page letter from Ramon himself. Barajas has produced a well-rounded work that would be easy to place in a classroom curriculum, with a wonderful opportunity for studying primary texts alongside a historical narrative.
Librarians wishing to shelve this book and teachers looking to teach with it should be aware of the following content warnings: police brutality, brief depictions of colonial violence, and brief depictions of war.
La Voz de M.A.Y.O.: Tata Rambo By Henry Barajas Art by J. Gonzo ISBN: 9781534313637 Image, 2019 Publisher Age Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)
Browse for more like this title Character Traits: Pascua Yaqui, Mexican American Creator Highlights: Latinx Creator, Chicano Creator
“As I was reading, I thought about the idea of an apocalypse, or the end of the world as we know it. Indigenous writers have pointed out that, as Indigenous people, we all live in a post-apocalyptic world. The world as we knew it ended the moment colonialism started to creep across these lands.” —Alicia Elliot
This Place: 150 Years Retold is a remarkable graphic compilation featuring eleven Indigenous writers and eight illustrators presenting Canadian history over the last 150 years from a myriad of perspectives, including Métis, Inuit, Dene, Cree, Anishinaabe, and Mi’kmaq, with a forward by author Alicia Elliott (Haudenosaunee). Several non-fiction stories are centered on historical incidents and people that, which, while not well-known outside of the families or tribes, have been passed down through generations and deserve to be more widely recognized. Others are fictitious accounts of great relevance to Indigenous society. Each of the stories are headed by timelines to place them in historical context, have an introduction by the creators, and follows a straightforward time continuum ending with the hard-hitting, bleak, and futuristic tale exploring the contemporary dangers of climate change, racism, and injustice. In “kitaskînaw 2350,” by Chelsea Vowel and Tara Audibert, their protagonist Wâpanacâhkos, a fifteen-year old Cree woman, is sent back three centuries to learn what happened to the people in our contemporary era.
The anthology opens with “Annie of Red River” by Katherena Vermette and Scott B. Henderson. Annie Bannatyne, a Métis woman from Red River (which is now Winnipeg, MB) in 1868, undertakes a dramatic and painful lesson for a journalist who insulted Métis women in the newspapers. Bold colors accentuate the strong facial and non-verbal gestures that illuminate the story of this proud and effective crusader. “Tilted Ground” by Sonny Assu, Kyle Charles and Scott A. Ford illuminates a time when the celebrations, language, and other elements of the Indigenous culture was deemed illegal by the federal government. When William “Billy” Assu became chief of the village of Wiw?qaýi he worked alongside and cooperated with the oppressors but, at the same time, secretly hosted the banned ceremonies for the community. His story and regalia are held at the Museum of Man in Ottawa. Illustrated in bright prime colors, the story vividly celebrates the wisdom, passion and fortitude of Billy. Jen Storm’s “Red Clouds,” is an account of the windigo, told through a woman’s perspective, a victim of the windigo, based on historical and oral records of the shaman Jack Fiddler and Wahsakapeequay herself. “There are stories that tell of red clouds appearing over an approaching windigo, as a warning or omen” (54). Natasha Donovan’s earthy visuals flow through the telling of the story of the evil windigo and the encroaching changes made upon the First Nations of Northern Ontario by the federal laws enforced by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). Donovan efficaciously illustrates the next entry as well. “Peggy,” written by David A. Robertson, is the story of a sniper in WWI. Francis “Peggy” Pegahmagabow was one of only thirty-eight Canadians to receive a military medal with two bars. His heroism at the front was not originally appreciated once he returned to Canada but with perseverance, he became a well-respected chief in 1921 and continued the ongoing battle against racism and discrimination. Natasha Donovan is also responsible for the striking and highly relevant cover of the anthology.
“Rosie,” by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, introduces the reader to the feud between the Inuit and the Canadian government’s tyrannical measures in the early twentieth century. It is also an introduction to a broader understanding of Inuit shamanism. The cool tones of the blues and greens are effectively punctuated by splashes of vivid reds. “Nimkii,” by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Ryan Howe, and Jen Storm, explores the ongoing devastation evoked by the Sixties Scoop of the late 1950s and 1960s. “As residential schools close, thousands of Indigenous children are removed from their families and placed in non-Indigenous foster or adoption homes. Many children are placed outside of Canada” (138). This tale, told through dark and bold illustrations peppered with softer child-like drawings, celebrates the strong bonds between Nimkii, a mother, and her son. Richard Van Camp and Scott B. Henderson’s “Like a Razor Slash” moves the timeline into the 1970s and the environmental battles between Dene Chief Frank T’Seleie and the Canadian government eventually defeating the government plan to build a pipeline from the Beaufort Sea to Alberta. The evocative illustrations and color scheme reflect our contemporary situation in Alberta. Richard Van Camp quotes David J. Parker’s “Submission to the Joint Review Panel investigating the proposed McKenzie Valley Pipeline” in the preface to the story to put his title in context. “Some dismissed the impact of a pipeline, saying it would be like a thread stretched across a football field. Those close to the land said the impact would be more like a razor slash across the Mona Lisa” (168). Brandon Mitchell’s and Tara Audibert’s “Migwite’tmeg: We Remember It” relates another example of governmental interference and sanctions on First Nations in the story of the 1980s salmon raids in Mi’gmaq territory. Bold neon-like colors and stark backgrounds highlight the community and the conflict effectively and with precision. In “Warrior Nation” by Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair and Andrew Lodwick, Raven, a residential school survivor, and her son Washashk travel across the country to join the stand off against the RCMP in the Quebec community of Kanehsatà:ke. The Oka conflict is possibly one of the most familiar of the clashes for sovereignty and Indigenous rights within Canada and beyond our borders and this story furthers the understanding of the components and people involved in the conflicts.
This is truly a compelling collection of stories revealing the power of storytelling both visually and textually in offering a window to understanding Indigenous history in the last 150 years as told by Indigenous people. For those who wish to investigate further, there are several pages of end notes to the well-researched stories as well as several pages of recommended readings in the “Select Bibliography”. Highly recommended for those interested in Canadian history, Indigenous rights and enduring racial tensions on both sides of the border. Highly recommended for North American high schools, public, and academic libraries.
This Place: 150 Years Retold By Alicia Elliott Art by Natasha Donovan ISBN: 9781553797586 Highwater Press, 2019 Publisher Age Rating: 15+
Browse for more like this title Character Traits: Métis, Inuit, Dene, Cree, Anishinaabe, Mi’kmaq Creator Highlights: Own Voices, Haudenosaunee Creator, Métis Creator
Full disclosure: Before reading this comic I knew literally nothing about the Killer Instinct video game franchise, and it took me a few YouTube videos to figure out what was going on. However, I can safely say that this comic is nearly incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with the games, mostly due to the sheer volume of characters.
The comic focuses on three, though at least 10 playable characters appear in the volume. Kim Wu is a nunchaku-wielding martial artist with a dragon spirit companion; Jago is a Tibetan monk with a tiger spirit, and while his game art depicts him fully clothed, he does not put on a shirt for the entirety of the comic. Tusk is a Nordic highlander who is similarly averse to clothing.
Also there are some vampires fighting some robots but that doesn’t affect our main heroes too much.
The story begins in the aftermath of one of the games, where the heroes have defeated the Final Boss, Gargos, an interdimensional demon creature. However, the superpowered heroes find that their superpowers are fading, and go on a quest to find out why. Turns out that Gargos isn’t quite dead, and they have to defeat him without powers through the sheer force of believing in themselves… or maybe they just punch him really hard.
Once I started looking into the background lore, I found it was actually a pretty interesting setting. There are evil hi-tech corporations, genetically-engineered dinosaurs (sadly not appearing in the comic), sorcery, vampires, and everything but the kitchen sink in a superhero mishmash. However, the comic chooses to focus on the least interesting aspects. I would much rather have seen a comic focusing on a single character’s backstory in a way that doesn’t quite work in a video game. Reading the comic felt like watching someone play a video game—brief expository cutscenes interspersed between flurries of action, culminating in a boss battle rather than any sort of character development. There were more compelling character arcs in the game cutscenes on YouTube, honestly.
The fight scenes are at least well drawn, and perhaps the one area where the comic makes use of its medium. It certainly doesn’t look like an arcade fighting game in that aspect and makes full use of angles and panels to create a variety of dynamic scenes.
Most surprisingly, the Killer Instinct franchise attempts to create a diverse cast, though they fall flat on a few notes. An East Asian superheroine is cool, but does she really need the nunchucks and the dragon? However, I am intrigued by the brief appearance of a Native American character. Though he fights with a bow and arrow and has a mechanical eagle companion (and is in fact named ‘Eagle’), he comes from a specific tribe—Nez Perce—and the credits include a Nez Perce language consultant for his Nez Perce dialogue.
Overall, Killer Instinct gives you about what you’d expect from a comic based on an arcade fighting game.
Killer Instinct, vol. 1 By Ian Edginton Art by Cam Adams ISBN: 9781524106560 Dynamite, 2018
Torres, having previously collaborated with Faith Erin Hicks on the Bigfoot Boy trilogy, returns with another Bigfoot story and a new illustrator. Torres addresses some of the same themes in this story; feeling out of place, trying to find your niche, and discovering the magic of the woods, but overall How To Spot a Sasquatch is a much more lighthearted story for a younger audience.
Short chapters tell the story of Jay, a junior ranger who’s on a camping trip. He’s determined to prove that there is a Sasquatch in the woods, but the other kids tease him and even their ranger leader kindly tells him there’s no such thing as a Sasquatch. Unbeknownst to them all though, there’s a parallel story running behind the scenes; a curious young Sasquatch named Sass and her woodland friends are hanging around their campsite and amusing themselves playing tricks! When Sass hears the other campers making fun of Jay, she helps him out and eventually the two meet. Will Jay keep his new friend a secret or reveal her to the world to show up all the doubters?
The campers are a mixed group, each one identified only by their ranger names as birds. Their leader, Ranger Dove, appears to be indigenous. Martin (for purple martin) is black, Robin is a white girl, Wren is a white boy, and Jay appears to be Asian. Sass the Sasquatch has a pug nose, a coat of orange fur and her bare face, hands, and feet are white. She’s shown about average adult human size, with sturdy limbs and muscles that easily allow her to lead her forest friends in playing tricks and, with a lot of effort, knock over a tree to save Jay at an opportune moment.
Grand has a light touch and her illustrations bring out the humor, as well as the frustration, of Jay as he determinedly continues on his way, ignoring the sometimes cruel teasing of the others as he follows his dream. The woods are a bright collage of many different greens with the splash of Sass’s orange fur and countless tiny details, such as the whiskers on her forest friends, her bracelets of berries, and the recycled “furniture” in her cave with her bear family.
The text is simple and bold and well-matched to the sequential panels. This makes an excellent beginning chapter book for an intermediate reader; the text is mirrored by the actions and scenery in the panels, so they can pick up clues to the plot and characters both from the art and the words. The speech bubbles are carefully laid out to make it easy to follow the action and the story, although mildly scary at some points, is mostly funny and lighthearted. Jay is clearly not really bothered by the teasing, not even noticing most of it, and in the end it’s clear he’s happy with the choice he’s made and the friends he has.
Hand this one to fans of Torres’ Bigfoot Boy, Braddock’s Stinky Cecil, and the Scholastic Branches series.
How To Spot a Sasquatch By J. Torres Art by Aurelie Grand ISBN: 9781771472777 Owlkids, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: 7-10
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Picture Books (3-8), Easy Readers (5-9) Character Traits: Multiracial
Winner of the Best Foreign Graphic Album at the Angoulème Festival in Belgium and recently translated into English from the original French text, this version of the traditional Jewish legend of the Golem is innovative for me, a person who has collected these legends for a long time.
Inspired by oral stories told to the author by his grandmother, the story follows young Malka and her family from the pogroms of the Russian shtetl to the Argentine pampas to better their living conditions at the end of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, things are not much improved for them in this new scorched country. A visit from the prophet Elias to Malka’s uncle results in the creation of a Golem to aid and protect the new comers. Their mythical Golem, created from the earth, resembles a human and lives among the people as a neighbor peacefully for many years.
As time passes, however, another danger emerges when the Golem aids the family in taking an ill child, on the recommendation of their doctor, to the indigenous Old Wise Medicine Woman, Tomasa. The child is fine but the Golem and Tomasa’s young niece, Rosita, notice each other. Events escalate when Tomasa prepares a love potent which backfires horrifically. The Golem murders Rosita and then, running amuck as the Golem often does in the variants of these legends, he continues his murderous journey. Years later Malka, now an adult, meets Elias and is told the Golem’s story and instructed on how to destroy the monster who has continued his murderous journey as a bodyguard to corrupt politicians and gangsters.
The story is equally violent and hopeful, with a wide and vivid array of brightly and menacingly illustrations ardently activating this powerful tale. The imaginative layout and strong artwork bring, simultaneously, a historical time alive and subtly highlights the relevancy to today’s political environment. All while reworking one of the most powerful Jewish legends and breathing fresh air into its creation.
Prefacing the story is an essay by the author describing the genesis of his story and a concise history of the Jewish journey from Russia to a land of promise. There are also numerous sketches, figure studies, and full page watercolor paintings that follow the story itself, enclosing the hardcover graphic novel in a circle of love, memory, tragedy and hope. Highly recommended.
The Silence of Malka by Jorge Zentner Art by Rubén Pellejero ISBN: 9781684052875 IDW, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: OT (16+)
The hunt is on! All the hunts, in fact. Following from Golden Kamuy Volume 1, Saichi and Asirpa are still tracking down tattooed renegades in search of hidden gold. Survival in snowy Hokkaido means awareness of creatures and their habits, predator and prey alike. Bears, wolves, fish, and deer are all hunted, but the most dangerous game remains people. Lieutenant Tsurumi of Japan’s 7th Division wants the gold, as do the remaining tattooed renegades, some of whom are beginning to team up with each other.
The gold, of course, is simply a MacGuffin that keeps the players motivated. Golden Kamuy volumes 2 and 3 are much more concerned with ecosystems and habits than chasing down the shiny loot. At one point, unlikely ally and expert escape artist Shiraishi shouts at Saichi, “Don’t forget the whole reason we’re here!” If you’ve ever been distracted during a story with questions about what the characters eat during a journey, this series will more than satisfy your curiosity. You will see characters use their culinary skills on animals’ hearts, blood, brains, eyes, skulls, livers, and other apparently delicious components, along with many vegetables, seasonings, and sauces. Characters’ tastes in each meal range from cultural appreciation to humorous rejections. For example, there is a running gag that Asirpa believes miso to be made from feces, and nobody can stand the bitter taste of hupca leaves.
Between the adventuring and the meal breaks, there are four main narratives explored in these two volumes. All of these narratives involve partnerships and shared motivations, and serve to fill out each character’s profile into a well-rounded personality. Hunter-turned-soldier Tanigaki must reconcile his duty against his calling: “When I came to the mountains, it felt like a poison deep inside me was slowly seeping away.” The tattooed hunter Nihei, whose skin carries a portion of a map to the ever-popular gold pile, becomes more endearing as his conviction and worldview are revealed. His enjoyment of hunting being frequently referred to like an erection – “My hard-on is out of control,” “My hunter’s spirit is absolutely throbbing!” – paints his outdoor expertise in a different light than Asirpa’s dignified reverence for all living things.
These books are rated M for Mature, and there is plenty of content to justify that rating. Four-letter words, gruesome stab and gunshot wounds all over characters’ bodies, graphic depictions of skinning and organ removal, and a bear ripping a guy’s face off are all regular occurrences. What sets Satoru Noda’s writing and art apart is the execution of these elements alongside softening and humorous moments. The fights and swearing and injuries and death take place within a story that provides context for how characters feel, react, and interact. At one point, Saichi retrieves a baby bear cub from its den, and every page involving this bear is heart-achingly cute. Asirpa explains her village’s approach to raising and ultimately killing bears found in such a manner, leading to an emotionally complex resolution that is somehow both tragic and respectful. By contrast, Asirpa’s endangered Eza wolf Retar (see the cover to Volume 2) is a force of nature that can break legs with its jaws and also loves belly rubs, and Noda knows better than to bond the reader to an animal only to break that bond soon after. (Personal note: Retar had better survive Volume 4.)
Noda’s knack for human expression makes all his protagonists—are there really any heroes or villains here?—a joy to behold. Saichi is the cocky “Immortal Sugimoto,” but he also loses his nerve when he looks a fleeing deer in the eye, and laughs when he sees Asirpa dislikes hupca as much as he does. Characterization runs deep or shallow according to the eyes – Noda tends to draw grunt soldiers with solid black pupils, giving them an uncanny valley effect. Hijikata, an antagonist still a ways away from meeting the central protagonists, is an elderly sword wielder capable of joy, swagger, stern judgment, and an intense killer’s glare. Scenes of characters eating often involve distinct expressions of curiosity, doubt, outrage, defeat, and glittery release, sometimes within the same two-page spread.
As was the case with Volume 1, Golden Kamuy continues to be a high-quality title for mature manga readers. Readers who enjoy the frequent recipe breakdowns in Delicious In Dungeon will relish each “what’s for dinner?” detour here. Others looking for nonstop action may be disappointed in the shifting narrative and frequent reminders to respect nature, but when fights do go down, they are not for the faint of heart. This is a thoughtful, compassionate manga that’s as sweet as frozen tree sap and brutal as a snapped neck.
The anime version of Golden Kamuy is available on CrunchyRoll.
Golden Kamuy, vols 2-3 by Satoru Noda Volume 2 ISBN: 9781421594897 Volume 3 ISBN: 9781421594903 Viz, 2017 Publisher Age Rating: M
Classic Fantastic is our series of features on the classics of the format—please check out our other picks for the most important titles, in terms of appeal, innovation, and storytelling, that every library should own.
What’s it about?
Carla Speed McNeil’s Finderis an eclectic title. While the series does have a nominal protagonist—vagabond anti-hero Jaeger Ayers, part superhero, part outcast, part sexy beast—Finder is really about mapping out McNeil’s complex and remarkable—far future or alien?—world. Each story ricochets to a new setting, and often to new protagonists as well. Heroes such as graduate student/temple prostitute Vary Krishna and cyber-elf god Magri White emerge in their respective corners of existence. McNeil’s stories have taken her readers into the domed city of Anvard, into the unsettling Disneyland parody The Happy Place, onto lush plains grudgingly shared by lion-women and hyper-intelligent dinosaur people, and into the shared dreamspace named Elsewhere. Dubbed an “aboriginal science fiction” by some, Finder follows the lives of a web of characters, with a strand always connecting them back to Jaeger. Finder’s reality is casually miraculous, with wonders around every corner, and with a panoply of unlikely heroes and shocking—sometimes cynical—stories filling it like a pot, ready to spill. At turns funny and tragic, romantic and erotic, inviting and strange, Finder’s world and stories are unlike any others.
Notable Notes
Finder is a one-woman show, and was originally self-published. As such, the comic has been slowly coming out since 1996. Now, more 20 years in, McNeil has created an impressive number of stories, currently available in five volumes from Dark Horse. She has also developed a quiet but passionate fanbase. The first three volumes of the Dark Horse editions of Finder (The Finder Library, vols. 1-2 and Finder: Voice) are in black and white; color was introduced to the series in Finder: Third World with dazzling results. McNeil is a master of her craft. The series has been characterized throughout by McNeil’s compelling and intricate artwork, so full of details that the printed page can barely sustain it. Every story is full to bursting with ideas and as a result McNeil has taken to footnoting each volume with copious notes on the text and artwork that fill in the apparent gaps in her world with commentary that is as entertaining as her stories.
Although Finder is a science fiction series, its stories often transcend or merge genres. Adventure, domestic drama, horror, hard sci-fi, and raunchy humor often exist in close proximity. McNeil has crafted a world with no monoliths, where each society is different, and the rituals, traditions, and individuals she brings to life are often based on deep anthropological and historical research. She considers the implications of technologies—sociological, economic, anthropological—deeply when crafting her societies, often bringing in Jaeger as a combination of outcast fly in the ointment and fly on the wall.
The series is also marked by McNeil’s profound imagination. Jaeger, for example is a tough guy tracker with almost preternatural senses who heals supernaturally fast. He could easily come across as a poor man’s Wolverine if it wasn’t for the combination of his sharp, hilarious personality, his tendency to get his own butt kicked, and the fact that his “powers” also act like an immune disorder—if he doesn’t get hurt badly, regularly, his hyper immune system will turn on his own body as it looks for problems to fix. Other brilliant innovations include the Laeske—a race of feathered dinosaur-ish quadrupeds that lose their minds during mating season, but are tenured professors the rest of the year; the Painwright Museum, where you can learn anyone else’s greatest fears at the price of revealing your own; the aforementioned Elsewhere, a virtual world visited by millions every day but held together by one man’s fragile, perfect memory; and a vast psychic reclamation project where sensitives probe the distant past for fragments of forgotten pop songs and icons. Big ideas and regular people exist side by side in McNeil’s work, just like in the real world. This is a literary series that draws its audience in with its intricate concepts and characters, and immaculate prose. Like Shakespeare and Joyce, McNeil tells her stories with humor and aplomb, and a love for her world and characters that permeates her work and humanizes all but her most disturbing characters.
Significance
McNeil is well loved on the small press circuit and it’s hard to find an indie creators unfamiliar with her work. Finder won a single Eisner Award (for Best Digital Comic/Webcomic in 2009), but has been nominated on seven different occasions. It has also won two Ignatz Awards, the Friends of Lulu’s Kim Yale Award, and the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. While McNeil is a clear storyteller, the idea density on every page of Finder is remarkable, on par with a modernist classic like Ulysses, where the reader will be quite happy if they get one reference out of every ten. This is a highbrow, literary comic that isn’t afraid to get down in the muck of human existence, and is one of those books that should be pointed to when looking for an example of high art in comics.
Finder is also notable for its representation of different kinds of social outsiders. Jaeger, for example, is the sci-fi equivalent of a kid who grew up on the Native American reservation but, as a half-breed, can never fit in. Other characters include (the equivalent of) a South Asian call girl, a girl artist in search of her art, a mother trying to keep her family safe, a powerful clan of men and women—where every full-blooded man is a drag queen. It’s never been weird to be queer or dark-skinned in McNeil’s fiction, it happens so often that it’s usually unremarked upon. This is truer now in comics than ever before, and McNeil was one of the first to quietly pave the way. There’s a lot for readers of different colors and identities to enjoy in Finder.
Appeal
Finderis foremost a book for adult readers, and in libraries is destined for adult bookshelves. Its humorous treatment of serious subjects could also hold an interest for teen readers, but the book’s sometimes brutal violence combined with McNeil’s unflinching use of nudity marks it clearly as a adult title. Sci-fi fans are sure to appreciate the sheer imagination driving these stories, and literary readers will appreciate the clear characterizations and engaging plots. There’s also plenty there for fans of humor, horror, and even romance. It’s also not for nothing that Jaeger ranked #8 on ComicsAlliance’s list of The 50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics in 2013.
Why should you own this?
This is my favorite anecdote about Carla: when I first met her in the late 1990s, no one was flocking to her table. She gave me the first single issue of Finder; I read it that night, came back the next morning breathless and bought a copy of everything she had.
Finder is an investment that pays big dividends. The two Dark Horse omnibus The Finder Library collections are each more than 600 pages long, while more recent collections are more standard graphic novel length. As a series, Finder is a part of the foundation of a great comic collection. There are no substitutes or equivalents. Readers who have never been exposed to McNeil’s work will be astounded and will keep coming back to it like a swim in a strange-but-familiar pond.
Finder by Carla Speed McNeil The Finder Library, vol. 1 ISBN: 9781595826527 The Finder Library, vol. 2 ISBN: 9781595826534 Finder: Voice ISBN: 9781595826510 Finder: Third World ISBN: 9781616554675 Finder: Chase the Lady ISBN: 9781506705439 (forthcoming) Dark Horse Publisher Age Rating: N/A (Adult)
Harry Dresden is used to people coming to him for help. It’s par for the course when you’re both a private investigator and a Warden of The White Council of Wizards—the magical police force tasked with protecting the mortal world from black magic and things that go bump in the night. Still, Harry is surprised when he is approached by Joseph Listens-To-Wind; one of the seven wizards who lead The White Council as part of The Senior Council—about investigating a murder in rural Mississippi.
Something tore apart most of a small family and the local sheriff is entirely clueless as to what could have done it. Soon Harry finds himself caught between a secret federal team tasked with bringing down whatever committed the murders by any means necessary and a savage hidden race of Wolf People who live in the forest. Listens-To-Wind insists The Wolf People are innocent but they will also not take any attempt on their lives with good grace. This leaves Harry having to find the real killers and bring them to justice, all while preventing all-out war between the local people: The Wolf People and the Feds.
The Dresden Files graphic novels somehow find a way to get worse and worse with every passing volume. The only positive aspect of the book is Mark Powers’ dialogue. Powers perfectly captures Harry’s sarcastic, referential sense of humor and inner monologue from the Jim Butcher novels.
As with the previous Dresden Files graphic novel Wild Card, the biggest problem with Dog Men is that it shatters the continuity of the original books. At one point in this story, Listens-To-Wind shape-shifts into an animal in front of Harry—an action which astonishes Harry given how smoothly the old Shaman manages a fairly difficult spell. The problem is that the novel Turn Coat—which is set after Dog Men chronologically—had a fairly famous scene in which Listens-To-Wind saves Harry from a monster and astonishes him by performing the same smooth shape-shifting there, where it is apparent that Harry had no idea Listens-To-Wind could do such a thing.
In addition to the continuity errors, Listens-To-Wind’s portrayal in this story is also something of a problem. In the original novels, Listens-To-Wind is presented as a fully developed supporting character—a medical doctor in addition to being master of healing magic. His role here is so brief, however, that he comes off as a cliché Native American mystic.
Continuity in the art is also a problem in Dog Men. The first chapter ends with Listens-To-Wind and Harry being confronted by federal agents who are wearing some kind of uniform. When Chapter Two opens, the agents are now wearing business suits and ties!
As in earlier volumes of The Dresden Files graphic novels, there are also conflicts between what the text describes and what artist Diego Galindo depicts. For instance, Harry’s internal monologue notes at one point that the fur of his dog, Mouse, is matted with blood following a fight. The artwork depicts no such thing, with Mouse looking as hale and hearty as ever. Another scene has Listens-To-Wind admonishing Harry about controlling his temper, as Harry is smiling and stroking Mouse’s fur!
The volume is rated Teen + for teens 16 and up, and I consider that to be reflective of the book’s content. There’s quite a bit of blood and gore and a fair amount of intense cursing I would consider inappropriate for younger readers. This matters little, however, as I consider the whole of Dresden Files: Dog Men inappropriate for everybody, regardless of their age and maturity level. Only fans of the original series could appreciate this book, but the sloppy artwork and lack of continuity in relation to Dresden Files novels will prevent them from doing so.
Dresden Files: Dog Men by Mark Powers, Jim Butcher Art by Diego Galindo ISBN: 9781524105440 Dynamite Comics, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: Teen + (16+)
Are you looking for some graphic novels on mythology? Each book in Capstone Publishing’s Universal Myth series is a collection of myths centered around a common theme. Dawn of Time covers creation myths, End of Days doomsday myths, Cleansing the World flood myths, and Warring Gods conflict between gods. While each collection includes at least one myth from one of the major pantheons– Norse, Greek, and Egyptian–they also include myths from less well-known ones, such as a variety from African nations, Native American tribes, Chinese, and Sumerian. Each volume includes critical thinking questions, a list of books for further reading, and a glossary. The fact that the series includes pantheons beyond the main ones as well as supplementary materials indicate quite a bit of promise, but the series, as a whole, does not quite fulfill its potential.
Mythology can be fascinating, with insightful stories, but these books frequently shortchange the storytelling. When the collection is on point, the result is a short, engaging telling that flows relatively well. However, at times, the brevity prevents the stories and cast from being fully developed, and as a result, some of the stories can be confusing to read or even inaccurate.
One example is the story of how Loki is chained. In the original myth, Loki is restrained by chains made from his son Nari’s entrails, but End of Days portrays Loki chained in ordinary chains. Whether this was done to conserve space or out of ignorance, it further reduces the quality. Another example comes from Warring Gods: there is a myth from Babylon where the gods are fighting after the death of the leader, but not everyone is identified and it’s unclear what they are fighting for. Each story has an introductory section that occasionally provides useful context, but that is not consistent from story to story.
Cheesy dialogue throughout the books also disrupts the story’s flow. For example, in Cleansing the World, a character has to face the consequences of stealing from one of the gods. Instead of a serious death scene, the character screams “Ahh” as his executioner raises his sword behind him. The dialogue adds an air of humor that does not seem appropriate to the stories being told.
The series does not have the same artist for each volume, and the art’s quality fluctuates over the course of the series. Dawn of Time is the weakest: the characters’ poses are stiff, the colors are dull, and the vague backgrounds do little to contribute to a sense of place. The other books have stronger art, but there are still points where the characters’ poses are stiff and awkward or the perspective does not fit with the narrative. The font used throughout the series can be hard to read; it looks carved, and the shape and relatively small size can make it hard to read the words.
The concept behind Universal Myths is a good one, but the inconsistency makes it difficult to recommend. If educators want to use one of the collections, supplementary materials would be necessary to provide additional context. Capstone Publishing recommends it for grade levels 3-9; the series does not get overly gory or sexual, so younger readers would be fine with the series. The fact that these myths are portrayed in such a basic way suggests that students older than fifth grade on are less likely to find this interesting. Libraries developing recreational collections might want to seek out other comic portrayals of myths.
Universal Myths Series Cleansing the World: Flood Myths Around the World by Blake Hoena Art by Silvio Ob ISBN: 9781515766278 Dawn of Time: Creation Myths Around the World by Nel Yomtov Art by Dante Lividini ISBN: 781515766292 End of Days: Doomsday Myths Around the World by Blake Hoena Art by Felipe Kroll ISBN: 9781515766261 Warring Gods: Immortal Battle Myths Around the World by Nel Yomtov Art by Ray Dillon ISBN: 9781515766285
La Voz de M.A.Y.O.: Tata Rambo is a book that aims to fill a gap in the historical record, highlighting the contributions of Ramon Jaurigue (Tata Rambo) to the Pascua Yaqui tribe in Arizona and the Mexican American Yaqui Organization (M.A.Y.O.). Ramon Jaurigue is the great-grandfather of the book’s writer, Henry Barajas, who channels his background as a journalist into piecing together Jaurigue’s story through interviews, oral histories, newspaper clippings, and the scant recorded history available through his public library.
“As I was reading, I thought about the idea of an apocalypse, or the end of the world as we know it. Indigenous writers have pointed out that, as Indigenous people, we all live in a post-apocalyptic world. The world as we knew it ended the moment colonialism started to creep across these lands.” —Alicia Elliot
Full disclosure: Before reading this comic I knew literally nothing about the Killer Instinct video game franchise, and it took me a few YouTube videos to figure out what was going on. However, I can safely say that this comic is nearly incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with the games, mostly due to the sheer volume of characters.
Torres, having previously collaborated with Faith Erin Hicks on the Bigfoot Boy trilogy, returns with another Bigfoot story and a new illustrator. Torres addresses some of the same themes in this story; feeling out of place, trying to find your niche, and discovering the magic of the woods, but overall How To Spot a Sasquatch is a much more lighthearted story for a younger audience.
Winner of the Best Foreign Graphic Album at the Angoulème Festival in Belgium and recently translated into English from the original French text, this version of the traditional Jewish legend of the Golem is innovative for me, a person who has collected these legends for a long time.
The hunt is on! All the hunts, in fact. Following from Golden Kamuy Volume 1, Saichi and Asirpa are still tracking down tattooed renegades in search of hidden gold. Survival in snowy Hokkaido means awareness of creatures and their habits, predator and prey alike. Bears, wolves, fish, and deer are all hunted, but the most dangerous game remains people. Lieutenant Tsurumi of Japan’s 7th Division wants the gold, as do the remaining tattooed renegades, some of whom are beginning to team up with each other.
The series is also marked by McNeil’s profound imagination. Jaeger, for example is a tough guy tracker with almost preternatural senses who heals supernaturally fast. He could easily come across as a poor man’s Wolverine if it wasn’t for the combination of his sharp, hilarious personality, his tendency to get his own butt kicked, and the fact that his “powers” also act like an immune disorder—if he doesn’t get hurt badly, regularly, his hyper immune system will turn on his own body as it looks for problems to fix. Other brilliant innovations include the Laeske—a race of feathered dinosaur-ish quadrupeds that lose their minds during mating season, but are tenured professors the rest of the year; the Painwright Museum, where you can learn anyone else’s greatest fears at the price of revealing your own; the aforementioned Elsewhere, a virtual world visited by millions every day but held together by one man’s fragile, perfect memory; and a vast psychic reclamation project where sensitives probe the distant past for fragments of forgotten pop songs and icons. Big ideas and regular people exist side by side in McNeil’s work, just like in the real world. This is a literary series that draws its audience in with its intricate concepts and characters, and immaculate prose. Like Shakespeare and Joyce, McNeil tells her stories with humor and aplomb, and a love for her world and characters that permeates her work and humanizes all but her most disturbing characters.
Harry Dresden is used to people coming to him for help. It’s par for the course when you’re both a private investigator and a Warden of The White Council of Wizards—the magical police force tasked with protecting the mortal world from black magic and things that go bump in the night. Still, Harry is surprised when he is approached by Joseph Listens-To-Wind; one of the seven wizards who lead The White Council as part of The Senior Council—about investigating a murder in rural Mississippi.
Are you looking for some graphic novels on mythology? Each book in Capstone Publishing’s Universal Myth series is a collection of myths centered around a common theme. Dawn of Time covers creation myths, End of Days doomsday myths, Cleansing the World flood myths, and Warring Gods conflict between gods. While each collection includes at least one myth from one of the major pantheons– Norse, Greek, and Egyptian–they also include myths from less well-known ones, such as a variety from African nations, Native American tribes, Chinese, and Sumerian. Each volume includes critical thinking questions, a list of books for further reading, and a glossary. The fact that the series includes pantheons beyond the main ones as well as supplementary materials indicate quite a bit of promise, but the series, as a whole, does not quite fulfill its potential.
