“The ragged edges of the temperate rainforest reach far out onto an island in the western seas. It is a place where one chooses to go ahead or turn back…”

In a prequel to the award-winning Red: A Haida Manga, acclaimed artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas blends Asian manhwa/manga with the Haida artistic and oral tradition in another stunning hand-painted volume.

In a small near-future community perched between the ocean and the northern temperate rainforest, a series of disasters is taking a heavy toll. It is early fall and a fuel spill has contaminated the marine foods the village was preparing to harvest. As food supplies dwindle, a small group decides to make a late season expedition to search for sea lions. Surprised by a ferocious storm, they abandon one man, Carpe, on an isolated rock at sea. After ten days they are finally able to return, but he has vanished. The story follows Carpe’s encounters with the Lord of the Rock, who demands retribution for Carpe’s role in the hunt, and Carpe’s fate in the half-life between human and animal, life and death.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is the creator of Haida Manga, a distinctive fusion of pop graphics, Haida art and Japanese comic styles. His books include A Tale of Two Shamans; Flight of the Hummingbird, with an afterword by the Dalai Lama;Hachidori, a bestseller in Japan; and Red: A Haida Manga nominated for a BC Book Award, a Doug Wright Award for Best Book, and a 2010 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Cartoonist. RED was an Amazon.ca Top 100 book of 2009. Yahgulanaas is also a sculptor and graphic artist whose work is in the collections of the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver International Airport, City of Vancouver, City of Kamloops and University of British Columbia. He pulls from his 20 years of political experience in the Council of the Haida Nation and travels the world speaking to businesses, institutions and communities about social justice, community building, communication and change management. For more, see mny.ca. Yahgulanaas lives on an island in the Salish Sea, with his wife and daughter.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas' profile page

• Short-listed, Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize - BC Book Prizes

“The resulting imagery [in Carpe Fin] is powerful, moving, beautiful and often screamingly funny. No verbal description will do it justice. Interested? Go out now and buy this remarkable book, and see for yourself what one of B.C.’s most challenging and innovative visual artists is up to currently.”

Tom Sandborn, <i>Vancouver Sun</i>

“...a frightfully exciting read….the images coupled with the narrative drives a story that makes Alice in Wonderland seem like a trip to the grocery store...the visuals alone worth it, but Carpe’s story still shines through….It is a sign of a great book where upon completion, you feel that moment of finality. As you close the page, you think about the journey you’ve just taken, the feelings and the emotions. It makes you want to read it again for anything that may have been missed, or for a panel or graphic not fully appreciated. Carpe Fin is one of those books, a great addition to anyone interested in quality storytelling and incredible visuals.”

Evan Adamson, The Charity Report.com