Finder: Sin-Eater

Carla Speed McNeil's "FINDER" series is one of the true gems of the American comic/graphic novel genre. She has created a richly textured universe of human beings and cities, of media and culture and history. I suppose you might call it an "alternate history" (or is it alternate future?). The strongest of all the volumes are the two part saga told in "Sine-Eater" and "Sin-Eater, Volume 2." It stands up there with the best of Neil Gaiman's Sandman--one of those stories you will want to read again and again, and everytime you do you notice something you missed/forgot in the previous times. Absolutely enchanting. The art is black and white, forceful and clean, wrapped around intriguing characters, suspenseful situations, and a deep understanding of the hearts of people.

Once you get started on the Finder series, you won't be able to stop. Carla Speed McNeil has created an elaborate universe full of fascinating characters. She maintains the fine balance of giving enough information about her world without boring her readers with the details. If Finder had been a novel, I'm sure I would have loved it, but making it into a graphic novel was pure genius. A picture is truly worth a thousand words (and if you want to know more about the pictures, read the footnotes McNeil has graciously provided). I can't recommend this book enough to fans of Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, and (to an extent) William Gibson.

This book is weird. Really, seriously weird. It's probably the most overtly weird book I've read this year -- outside of some novels for my German literature classes -- which is a sad comment on the current state of sf, fantasy, and comics. What is speculative literature for, after all, if not to show us things we'd never imagine for ourselves, and draw us into different worlds?This volume contains the first seven issues of "Finder," a black and white comic book written and drawn by Carla Speed McNeil. After seven issues, I'm still not quite clear about the overall story, but honestly, I don't care. I'd be happy to read about the daily lives of people in this world for years, because they are just that: people. As much as there is a main story, it seems to be this: Jaeger, the titular character, is involved with Emma, a woman who, with her three children, abandoned her abusive and controlling husband. Jaeger is also involved with the husband, Brigham, and he's not quite sure how to deal with the situation, or even what the situation really is.The story can sometimes be hard to follow, not because McNeil's art or layouts are unclear, but because she introduces bits and pieces of characters' lives without explaining how the people got into those situations, or whether the incidents are connected to the "main" story. This adds a level of realism to the characters and the world, but it can be disconcerting. Fortunately, footnotes at the back of the book explain some of those incidents, and some confusing bits of dialogue. The dialogue, incidentally, is only confusing because it's realistic; people don't speak in expository paragraphs, so McNeil's characters don't either, which means characters don't explain their more obscure statements or references.I have already read "Finder: Sin-Eater" several times, and each time I have loved it more. If I weren't broke, I'd buy the second volume immediately. Read this. Trust me. It's wonderful.

He sleeps in strange places: in a heap of zoo animals; in a bowl held by a statue of a forgotten god; or underwater, for relaxation. He gets into bar brawls, fights wild animals, and swims in polluted water to keep himself feeling healthy. He is so realistically depicted -- muscles, unruly mane, body hair, scrapes and bruises -- you can almost smell the blood, sweat and cigarettes. This is Jaeger, and he is a world unto himself -- as is every character in this book. We meet a few of them in this first volume, and catch a glimpse of their interior worlds. The characters are multi-layered, as is the city, which we learn about through the guided tour, glimpsed in the background as Jaeger travels, before he climbs the rooftops and treats us to views that the inhabitants never see.I was lucky enough to get the "ashcan" (black and white xerox) editions of the first three issues, as well as the preview edition, which contains short but favorable quotes from some well-known names in comics: Dav Sim, Charles Vess, Teri S. Wood, Donna Barr. If you missed the ashcans and the silver-age sized issues, here's your chance to get 7 in one paperback volume, plus background notes and a portrait gallery. My only complaint about the trade paperback is that I want a cover gallery at the back of the book -- preferably in color!

Wow. I've finally found something as gripping as _The Sandman_. I guess the easiest way to describe this series is by analogy; _Finder_ is something like a melding of the best facets of Moebius' _The Airtight Garage_ and Moore's _Strangers in Paradise_. It's about a wanderer named Jaeger who gets embroiled in the domestic problems of a family recovering after escaping from a psychologically abusive father. Along the way, we're introduced to a host of supporting characters and stories, setting up future storylines in the series.Those pithy sentences can't do justice to the scope and depth of this work, which is of a caliber seen rarely in more "legitimate" mediums. The characters are fully realized, and -- despite the science-fiction setting -- are the focus and driving force of the narrative. Carla's approach to dialogue is just so... real. The words flow naturally, never sounding stilted or forced. The setting, a huge domed megapolis, is almost a character in itself, and is an example of literary world-building on par with Tolkein (the book includes copious footnotes explaining various cultural practices). One gets the feeling that even though one may not fully understand exactly how this society works, the author has already planned it all out in advance, and it's only a matter of time before it "clicks". It's almost like doing anthropological fieldwork, observing how a foreign culture operates, and teasing out meaning from the clues provided.Did I mention that I liked this book?