Show notes
This week on Collecting Issues, we’re talking about The One Hand and The Six Fingers—two five-issue series from Image Comics (2024) by Ram V, Dan Watters, Laurence Campbell, Sumit Kumar, Lee Loughridge, and Tom Muller.Set in the gritty, retro-future city of Neo Novena, these stories unfold from two perspectives: a weary detective facing a familiar case on the eve of retirement, and a brilliant student who wakes up with memories of a murder. What starts as a ritual killing slowly unspools into something much stranger—where nothing is real, everything loops, and the world might just be a cage.We’re talking:Murder, glyphs, and glitching cogsNoir tropes used with purpose—not ironyRobots doing people jobs, people thinking like machinesHow these two comics were written in conversation, not collaborationThe big existential ending (and why it works)If you like Blade Runner, The Matrix, Memento, or Dark City, this one’s worth your time. But seriously—read the comics before listening. It’s impossible to talk about them properly without giving things away.Time Stamps:00:00 Introduction to 'The One Hand and the Six Fingers'01:13 Spoiler Alert: Read Before Listening01:30 Engaging with the Audience04:22 Plot Overview: The Future and Parallel Stories05:00 Detective Ari Nasser's Last Case05:49 Johannes Vale's Mysterious Journey07:04 Creative Teams and Artistic Styles08:08 The Noir Aesthetic and Setting10:09 The Mystery Deepens30:54 Existential Revelations and The Matrix38:14 Literary Influences and Themes40:01 Post-Capitalist Themes and Inspirations40:42 Philosophy Bites and Post-Work Societies42:17 The Sunset Limited and Philosophical Debates43:05 Comic Book Collaboration and Glyph System47:27 Art and Visuals in the Comic59:20 Character Analysis and Stereotypes01:04:18 Final Thoughts and Upcoming ReadsFollow the Podcast:Join the Discord and read alongRead Our SubstackFollow us on InstagramFollow us on TiktokWatch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
