The LA Times handed out its book prizes at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend, and the winner in the Graphic Novel category was Carla Speed McNeil for FINDER: VOICE. The other nominees were:
“I Will Bite You! And Other Stories” by Joseph Lambert (Secret Acres)
“Celluloid” by Dave McKean (Fantagraphics)
“Congress of the Animals” by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics)
“Garden” by Yuichi Yokoyama (PictureBox)
Any one of these would have been a strong winner (previous winners in the category, which is in only its third year, were DUNCAN THE WONDER DOG and ASTERIOS POLYP), but the FINDER win is interesting because McNeil’s work isn’t usually included in accountings of literary comics, probably because of its genre trappings—there’s a lot of meat on those bones, however.
Congratulations Carla, well deserved!
So glad to see this. Been reading Finder “floppy” #4,
*since*
Awesome. Well, well deserved. The world Carla has built is so well thought out and nuanced.
Question for others who read this book. Do you have trouble “selling” it to other prospective readers? It’s a difficult book to describe or pigeonhole. Which, of course, is what makes it so wonderful, but the tag-line of “aboriginal sci-fi” isn’t the best hook in this crowded market.
Maybe now that it’s won this award it’ll be an easier sell.
Very well-deserved! Congratulations to Carla.
When suggesting it to other comic readers, I usually say “its a straight sci fi story, but one that I’d actually read”, and have read for nearly a decade.
Congrats to Carla!
I’s so great to see Finder getting more attention!
Way to go, Carla.
Wonderful. Carla not only works her magic on the page, but also within the industry as an inspirational creator.