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Finder #8
Finder, Vol. 08: Five Crazy Women
The "aboriginal science fiction" setting of McNeil's long-running serial is a framework for an enormous range of stories, and this eighth collection is romance—from the point of view of the kind of guy who usually leaves women's apartments through the window. Jaeger Ayers is a ritual sin eater for a tribal religion, a hot-looking lowlife from the country on the loose in a big city and a total tomcat. Maybe he brings out the worst kinks, fetishes and neuroses in women, as he describes them in hilarious, R-rated terms to a friend; maybe his experiences with them are just a reflection of his own macho unreliability. The story's got a marvelous, unusual tone—light comedy with flashes of chilling psychological darkness—and McNeil's artwork is a joy, meticulously observing each of her characters' expressions and body language. She packs every panel with details that suggest how her invented culture works, like a professional bathgiver with tiny bars of soap-on-a-rope for earrings. A lot of what McNeil does is world building, fleshing out the ethnography and technology of her imaginary society, but it's a natural extension of her characters' amorous collisions and near-misses. - Publisher's Weekly
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2013
More on Jaeger, the fundamentally flat protagonist. In "Five Crazy Women" Carla Speed McNeil does her very best to built his character, and she does succeed in sometimes surprising ways.
The tone of the piece is nicely divided between the lightweight and the angst fest, and story is paced quite nicely. Still, Jaeger remains Jaeger, and in some ways the attempts to probe his character only make him seem flatly self-pitying and unaccomplished.
I also couldn't help but be put off by the hideously archaic gender roles McNeil builds much of her drama around. She examines a stiff culture relying on a clan system which does make these kinds of devises partly justified. Still I wonder how she can create such interestingly genderqueer characters and asexual communities throughout her series and a wonderful defense of independent female sexuality in "Mystery Date" and then revert to age old romantic comedy clichés about gender behavior.
The tone of the piece is nicely divided between the lightweight and the angst fest, and story is paced quite nicely. Still, Jaeger remains Jaeger, and in some ways the attempts to probe his character only make him seem flatly self-pitying and unaccomplished.
I also couldn't help but be put off by the hideously archaic gender roles McNeil builds much of her drama around. She examines a stiff culture relying on a clan system which does make these kinds of devises partly justified. Still I wonder how she can create such interestingly genderqueer characters and asexual communities throughout her series and a wonderful defense of independent female sexuality in "Mystery Date" and then revert to age old romantic comedy clichés about gender behavior.
March 23, 2018
Hilarious look at dating and relationships. Nomadic Jaeger comes to town looking for a roof to sleep under, and preferrably a beautiful woman who'll sleep with him under this roof. Jaeger sits at a bar with his good friend (a guy) and, through a series of flashbacks, laments the craziness that he finds in five different women in town. It's not a book to be taken too seriously - just sit back, laugh at Speed's observations, enjoy the sexy, titillating art, and try not to be too uncomfortable at the fetishes some of these ladies reveal.
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July 11, 2011Jaeger's been away from Anvard for a while, and while he's fine out in the wilderness, there certain things he starts to miss. So, he goes back into town for butter, and sugar, and sex. He's kind of a sex tourist: he doesn't care about Anvard's laws or social conventions, and he can always pack up and leave if things get uncomfortable.
Jaeger's encounters (not all of them sexual) with various women in Anvard are each an interesting story. I think each is a reflection of an aspect of Jaeger's own character: his mother issues, his con man habits, his unexplained compulsions, his capacity for violence, etc.
The story ends on kind of a sad note, with a cameo from Rachel and the rest of the Lockhart/Grosvenor family. You get a strong sense of a world of people who are all damaged to varying degrees.
The one false step in this story is when Jaeger has a fling with a woman who has some kind of eating disorder, and he starts lecturing her about, "You'll never be thin enough." Public service announcements about eating disorders or anything else seem wildly out of character, not to mention a touch hypocritical.
Jaeger's encounters (not all of them sexual) with various women in Anvard are each an interesting story. I think each is a reflection of an aspect of Jaeger's own character: his mother issues, his con man habits, his unexplained compulsions, his capacity for violence, etc.
The story ends on kind of a sad note, with a cameo from Rachel and the rest of the Lockhart/Grosvenor family. You get a strong sense of a world of people who are all damaged to varying degrees.
The one false step in this story is when Jaeger has a fling with a woman who has some kind of eating disorder, and he starts lecturing her about, "You'll never be thin enough." Public service announcements about eating disorders or anything else seem wildly out of character, not to mention a touch hypocritical.
December 26, 2011
"No matter how hot you are, no matter how rich, how smart, how cool you are, somebody, somewhere is sick of your shit." Thus begins Five Crazy Women.
It is difficult to describe the experience of reading Carla Speed McNeil's Finder to someone who has yet to read it. The story's wrap themselves around you, the characters whisper in your ear. The phrases make you smile, make you do a double take, and finally, make you laugh out loud. The first fifteen pages of this one alone had me laughing to the point of tears.
If you've not yet read Finder, take the opportunity to pick up the collected Finder Library.. if you have already read Finder.. then friend me. Immediately. Seriously. Pass the book along. Let the wonder that is this graphic novel series fill up the vacancies that series such as Preacher used to occupy.
The world needs more books like these.
It is difficult to describe the experience of reading Carla Speed McNeil's Finder to someone who has yet to read it. The story's wrap themselves around you, the characters whisper in your ear. The phrases make you smile, make you do a double take, and finally, make you laugh out loud. The first fifteen pages of this one alone had me laughing to the point of tears.
If you've not yet read Finder, take the opportunity to pick up the collected Finder Library.. if you have already read Finder.. then friend me. Immediately. Seriously. Pass the book along. Let the wonder that is this graphic novel series fill up the vacancies that series such as Preacher used to occupy.
The world needs more books like these.
February 19, 2021
Brilliant well constructed speculative fiction of the future with amazing internal cohesiveness. Believable characters dealing with everyday issues not seen in real life or other fiction.
I reread this as I continue to read all of Finder in order. This is the first time I've done this. Each one inspires me to think that it's the best one yet and at the same time make me think there is no "best" one, because they're all so good. Finder is so exceptional that it leads me to think it's the best comic book series ever written.
I reread this as I continue to read all of Finder in order. This is the first time I've done this. Each one inspires me to think that it's the best one yet and at the same time make me think there is no "best" one, because they're all so good. Finder is so exceptional that it leads me to think it's the best comic book series ever written.
July 4, 2007
Jaeger talking about, you guessed it, Five Crazy Women. This is what I like best about the Finder series. Carla Speed McNeil creates rich, deep characters who really come to life on the page. One of the things that frustrates me is that the scope of the Finder world is so broad that it sometimes takes forever for us to get back to those characters we've fallen in love with.
May 29, 2013
I am SO massively loving this series. I bought the two omnibus editions from Amazon and have been reading them piecemeal like I do with a short story collection. It's very very interesting and challenging. Sometimes I have to read a page four or five times before I fully grok what's going on, but that's because the world is very rich and complex, so I don't mind very much.
April 18, 2022
2022 reread: Either I don't have the right sense of humor for this, or it falls on the wrong side of line between criticizing and enacting misogyny, or both.
February 20, 2015
Just reread this yesterday and noticed (not for the first time) how fantastically well-written it is. All those many little snatches of different voices weaving around the main one(s)...
June 6, 2015
A whole episode dedicated to Jaeger's woman troubles should not be this entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews