Finger Guns

Finger Guns #1-5

by Justin Richards, Val Halvorson (Illustrations), Rebecca Nalty (Color Artist)

Wes and Sadie have all the usual teenage problems. Trouble at home. Trouble at school. The ability to manipulate other people's emotions by firing finger guns. Okay, maybe that one's unusual. But what could go wrong? Turns out, everything.

EVERYONE KNOWS TEENAGERS CAN'T CONTROL THEIR EMOTIONS. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY CAN MANIPULATE THE EMOTIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE?

Two troubled teenagers discover they can manipulate emotions by firing finger guns. There will be laughs. There will be tears. There will be uncomfortable teen feelings and angst. Oh yeah... and chaos. So much chaos.

Collects the complete five issue series.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics Manga, Comic Book

136 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2020

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two young teenagers discover they have the ability to alter people's emotions by shooting them with their finger guns. For something that sounds silly, this has a lot of depth to it. Both Wes and Sadie are somewhat broken. Sadie's dad is a piece of crap whose anger keeps escalating. She attempts to use her powers to protect her mom but learns it'll take more than that while Wes just tries to be a good friend to the only friend he has. With the way this ended, there better be a sequel.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun concept that I wish we got to see more of the fun chaos than the SUPER SERIOUS bits but it was still very good.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars. Really interesting concept in this story that tackles some very serious issues. I liked this story, but I didn’t think the art was good at all.

[Aurora · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise maybe coulda been interesting, but the way it played out put a sour taste in my mouth. A lot of things that never paid off. And that ending, sheesh.

[Ondřej Halíř · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hodně nedopečená teen záležitost o životě v dyzfunkční rodině, v jedné domací nasilí a ve druhé po úmrtí matky na hlavního hrdinu nemá otec čas. Což neznamená že by se z toho nedal vykouzlit fajn příběh, ještě navíc když hlavní postavy dokáži ovlivnit lidem emoce pomocí toho že z prstů udělají zbraň.

Jako nápad pecka, dokázalo by se to fakt hodně využít aby to bylo zajímavý a mělo i nějakou message. Jenže přes to že komiks baví, tak má docela příšerný pacing, kdy ze začátku to vypadá jako fajn drama komedie až následně to mohlo absolutně zklouznout do emo nelogického chování. Navíc celé důvěrihodnosti charakterů nepomáhá ani fakt že jim je třináct let a jsou chováním a vzhledem tak na 16 :D

I když to ale docela hejtuji, tak mě to bavilo, přečte se to rychle a některé nápady tam jsou fakt super a i když dialogy občas šustí papírem a postavy se chovají docela nelogicky, tak díky krátkosti to je docela fajn jednohubka s hezkou kresbou, která ale ve vás prakticky nic nezanechá.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a super neat concept! Kids with the power to change people's emotions by shooting finger guns at them!?

Unfortunately, the story itself was kinda meh. A lot of "serious subject matter", and not a lot of fun. Trigger/parental warning: 1 absentee father, and 1 physically and verbally abusive father. (dads getting all the blame here).

Also the dialogue was a little underwhelming. It had some cute funny moments, but often just felt stiff and mechanical. It felt like at times they inserted sentences for Wes to make him more empathetic to Sadie, but they really didn't feel organic.

I would maybe still recommend this for a older kid or young teen to read, but wouldn't recommend for an adult.

[Deedee Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like I was running and trying to bake a cake at the same time. It moved fast and had a lot of things going on at once. We start off with a sad lonely boy who meets the cool outgoing girl that comes from a broken home which is a cliche (I can appreciate a good cliche) however we don't know she comes from a broken home until it's sorta thrown at us and then after that the plot starts doing flips and one thing happens after the other. Then it's gruesome then it sorta just dies with a dramatic little cough at the end. That's our story, that's how it goes. I don't know if I liked it but it was entertaining to say the least. Although I do suspect I was just too old for this book.

[Janessa Paun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad that Wes stood on his morals at the end there, but I was a bit annoyed by the book overall, including the unsatisfying ending. The beginning of the graphic novel and the way that Wes was using his powers rubbed me the wrong way, maybe because it wasn't as humorous to me as I assume it was intended to be. I did like the representation of their home lives (the difference between the relationships between the parent(s) of both Sadie and Wes was crazy; there was toxicity in different ways), and the way that this book showed how corrosive abuse can be to the psyche and emotionality. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't love it.

[Aurelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adventure! I jumped into Finger Guns with absolutely no knowledge on what kind of story this was going to be, and what a treat. Finger Guns delves into numerous dark and serious themes, from the perspective of two teenagers, with a sprinkle of mystery and fantasy—the discovery of their power to control people's emotions. In 5 wonderful issues, Finger Guns deals with consent, loneliness, grief, physical abuse, and what happens when people with no control over their circumstances, suddenly gain the ability to control anyone. This is a must read.

[Danial Azman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping from start to finish

This comic takes a simple concept and runs with it really well. Add to that, the art style reminiscent of newspaper comics helps to give the characters an innocent, if a bit naive, look. I like the theme of wish fulfilment not going as planned because humans act like ... humans do. It's fast paced, wastes no time, and hits hard. Totally worth the read.

[Fiorella · Rating 2 out of 5]

la promesse que fait ce livre de parler des émotions et de sujets complexes n’est clairement pas tenue, je suis déçue de l’écriture que je trouve superficielle et pas toujours coherente. la plupart des dialogues semblait forcé et le découpage pas toujours très cohérent. c’est dommage en un tome de donner l’impression d’a la fois partir dans tous les sens et rien résoudre du tout. la fin est décevante

[Trey Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book as an interesting concept, but it is quickly abandoned for the main conflict, which is an abusive father/husband.
I would have liked to see more involving the finger guns and the problems/solutions that come about from having that ability. I could see this making for the basis of a decent 1 series tv show adaptation. I thought the artwork was better than the writing.

teenages might get more milage out of this one. not as interesting to adults

[little guy with Glasses · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some of Justin's other (more doctor who)

This is a heavy hitter of a story and while it is not really made for my specific age group, It's amazing how well this works as a abuser and victim story.

I hope there's at least one more epilogue issue made but not everything has a happy ending.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

a quick cool read!

So going into this blind I had no idea what it was about and I think it was a pretty cool story. I like the message that was sent with the story and how the book story line touches how hurt souls fins one another and the finger guns are pretty neat!

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.5 stars

It was a fascinating concept, but I think the execution was a bit lacking. Definitely not meant to be read by adults, the dialogue left a lot to be desired and did not feel natural. There were some heavy concepts and the ending just fell flat to me.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

1st - notably lacking in gay agenda, 2nd - wtf

[Erica Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I started, I couldn’t stop.