TECTIV VOL. 1 | Kirkus Reviews

In Hamilton’s graphic novel, a young scavenger searches a future dystopia for her missing best friend.

Bingo Finder and her best friend Fenn Roper spend their days scavenging the wastelands surrounding their home of Ellay, which is governed by Mayor, his wife, and their 12 children. The city has a pact with the local coyotes, who agree not to attack residents of Ellay so long as they may eat the remains of townspeople who have died by other means. One night, after Fenn kisses Bingo and leaves for a secret rendezvous, Bingo watches as Fenn throws herself from a roof and then disappears. Aided by a book she has scavenged, Bingo scours the city for clues to find her missing friend. Some of the exposition is detailed in a nightly “newsreal” that spreads propaganda about how wonderful Ellay is. Other aspects of the worldbuilding are more subtle; the naming conventions, for example, are clearly bastardizations of real-world places and things. These are not clearly spelled out, which makes for an enjoyable challenge as readers try to figure out what they mean. Tectiv is one of the more obvious examples, itself being a shortening of the word detective—the book teaching Bingo to solve mysteries has some of the letters worn from its cover. The cast’s backstories are delineated with similar subtlety by the creative team, who seed hints about the characters’ childhoods throughout (which may be expanded upon in later volumes). Matrone’s art suits the story perfectly, with its large panels and color scheme adding to the fantasy-noir vibes. The world depicted here is a true dystopia, and the graphic novel does not shy away from making statements about social justice. According to Mayor, Ellay is a “post-racial, post-feminist…post-wealth—hell, post-everything—society,” and has been for 2,000 years. The flaws in this description become immediately evident when Bingo explores different districts of Ellay; Drowntown, for example, is largely inhabited by mutants who seem to be much less well-off than the humans, especially Mayor’s family, who live on a vast plantation. The strong themes, striking art, and vivid worldbuilding make this an excellent addition to the YA graphic novel canon.

Noir-infused fantasy with high stakes, gorgeous art, and social justice themes.