Writer Vita Ayala and artist Skylar Patridge bring us the action-packed Finders//Keepers from Image Comics. Described as a reverse Indiana Jones, the story has just as many thrills as its morally ambiguous influence and is a fantastic concept that’s executed masterfully.
Ines wants to go to Brown University to study archaeology despite her grandmother’s misunderstood protests. She gets an internship at a museum through a grant with the Gonzales Foundation. Gonzales declares an artifact, El Corazon, to be his because his ancestors duped the people of Puerto Rico to hand it over. His son Diego and Ines are incahoots to steal it back from Diego’s father and give it back to the people of Puerto Rico before it brings a curse upon the island.
Ayala and Patridge pull off this concept in one of the most inventive books I’ve ever read. Given the page constraints, ingenuity was key while presenting Ines’ adventure. So much story is packed into these pages; while it is a quick read, it is still very exciting. Patridge’s art is top notch; the pages that use Ines’ journal as a way to give exposition, but also let us learn about her personality, are fantastic. These action and exposition are only enhanced by Jason Wordie’s colors and Becca Carey’s lettering.
As time has passed, there has been much debate as to the moral validity of Indiana Jones’ lament, “This belongs in a museum,” but Ayala’s book smashes that notion. It’s easy to say the movies were “of their time” or that the relics are just a macguffin, but it’s refreshing to see those tropes subverted and done well.
This comic is part of the Horizon Experiment at Image Comics which was initiated by former DC Vertigo comic editor Pornsak Pichetshote and presents five pilot issues as possible ongoing titles. The future of Finder//Keepers and the other books in the program are based on how well they sell. While I haven’t read any of the other books yet, Finders//Keepers definitely has my vote. Don’t let this book become a relic of the past.
Creative Team: Vita Ayala (writer), Skylar Patridge (artist), Jason Wordie (colorist), Becca Carey (letterer)
Publisher: Image Comics
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