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The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch
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List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $11.16
Your Save: $ 2.79 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Manufacturer: Dark Horse
Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9781593076672
ISBN: 1593076673
Label: Dark Horse
Manufacturer: Dark Horse
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 56
Publication Date: 2007-10-10
Publisher: Dark Horse
Studio: Dark Horse
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Editorial Reviews:
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Come, come and hear of the strange and terrible tale of Miss Finch, an exacting woman befallen by mystery and abduction deep under the streets of London! New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman delivers another stunning hardcover graphic novel with longtime collaborator Michael Zulli (Creatures of the Night, The Sandman). This is the first comics adaptation of his popular story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch," which saw print only in the U.K. edition of Gaiman's award-winning work Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions and was recently interpreted for his Speaking in Tongues CD. The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch is a "mostly true story" that combines the author's trademark magic realism with Zulli's sumptuous paintings, and has been newly rewritten for this hardcover. Join a group of friends, with the stern Miss Finch in tow, as they enter musty caverns for a subterranean circus spectacle called "The Theatre of Night's Dreaming." Come inside, get out of the pounding rain, and witness this strange world of vampires, ringmasters, illusions and the Cabinet of Wishes Fulfill'd.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch
Comment: THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF THE DEPARTURE OF MISS FINCH BY NEIL GAIMAN AND MICHAEL ZULLI: In this original story from Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli, who have collaborated before on graphic novels, with see the story of Miss Finch and her enigmatic disappearance as recounted through the eyes and memories of those who witnessed it.
The tale begins with the narrator and his two friends, a couple, who wish him to join them and Miss Finch on a fun night out. The man grudging agrees and is surprised when he meets Miss Finch, who is a strange and unique looking woman, giving nothing of herself away except for her mysterious attire. They decide to go to this circus they've heard about, which is unlike anything ever done before. With a total of fifty people, they enter into the main room after finding the front door to the basement of a run down building. They are soon greeted to an introductory show of many strange creatures in many colors and looks. Everyone assumes them to be people in costumes, but they do look uncannily realistic.
They are then greeted by the man in charge who bears more than a striking resemblance to Alice Cooper, who guides them to the first of many rooms where bizarre events are taking place. There is the breathtaking knife throwing act; the Frankenstein-like creature with incredible strength; the room of black light creatures that again seem too real; and the room with the strange guillotine act. After taking a break at what seems like the end, the four members find themselves alone and enter into another room where they are greeted by darkness and then wild animals and a wild woman who looks familiar. Thinking they are about to die, the room turns to black and they leave the room only to find Miss Finch is no longer with them.
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch is a strange story that makes one question what one is actually seeing, what is supposed reality and what is not. Through the skilful writing of Gaiman and the haunting artistic style of Zulli, it is a book that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: He shivered at the memory...
Comment: The world of Neil Gaiman looks pretty normal -- until you see the dark, eerie, bizarre things that swim just under the surface.
So expect nothing less from the primly-titled "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch," a graphic novel adaptation of Gaiman's short story. Michael Zulli's matter-of-fact artwork serves as a solid complement to Gaiman's eerie story of an ordinary, innocent outing for three friends and one biogeologist -- and the strange disappearance that came from it.
The narrator and his pals Jonathan and Jane are planning to go out for sushi and a circus, but are "lumbered" with a prissy, stuffy acquaintance named Miss Finch. While Miss Finch tortures the others with descriptions of the parasites in sushi, the little group arrives at the circus. But this is no child-friendly funfest -- instead they're taken into an underground labyrinth by a vampiress.
Devils, freaks, monsters and an Alice Cooper ringmaster are all down there, but the four visitors are very unimpressed. Then a strange apelike creature offers to give someone in the audience a wish, and pulls Miss Finch into the darkness. And when the remaining three friends venture into the next room, what they find is not what they expected of Miss Finch...
"The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch" sounds like a Victorian-era mystery, perhaps something by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in which a spinster is kidnapped or murdered. In the hands of most authors, it wouldn't be much more than that, even if it were a fantasy story. But in the hands of Neil Gaiman, that story becomes something much more.
Instead this story dips down into a darker area, and gives readers a glimpse into a strange world that defies the everyday, where you're not sure what is illusion and what is supernatural. In fact, the Theatre of Night's Dreaming is the real star, as Gaiman devotes plenty of time to showing us the perverse, the weird, and the outright ghastly -- and the climactic encounter with Miss Finch ("which, as I have mentioned, was not her name") is a silent masterpiece of graceful intensity.
With, of course, tongue in cheek, such as the ringmaster's warnings ("... on pain of DOOM, bodily injury, and the loss of your immortal soul! Also I must stress that the use of flash photography or of any recording devices is strictly forbidden"), Miss Finch's ghastly fluke conversation, or the wry observations of the three writers.
Michael Zalli's artwork has graced other Gaiman works, such as "Sandman." So it's not surprising that his slightly faded, striking artwork is an excellent complement to Gaiman's detailed prose. And he's excellent at the subtle stuff, such as the close-ups of Miss Finch's face that show how pretty she is... right before a wide shot that makes her look like a frumpy spinster.
Despite its dull name, "The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch" is an eerie little nugget brought to colorful life, and it's definitely one of Gaiman's more intriguing short stories.
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