It's an interesting read. The plot is good. The art is pretty decent. However, I feel it needs some more character development and world building. The story is slow up hill climb. I'm a bit uninterested in the early pages of this book. But the climax is so so good.

Tectiv is inventive comics storytelling, with a nice mingling of mystery and dystopian storytelling. Mad Cave continues to please with new stories and worlds.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this!

Tectiv is set in a post apocalyptic world where crime does not exist, or so they say.

Our main character Bingo Finder is the only literate in all of Elley (L.A.) which to me sounds like a fun concept but having to read a book where every other character’s speech bubbles are spelled wrong was really annoying me.

The story felt rushed and I think it should have been multiple volumes so we could’ve got to know the world and characters better. We got no context as to what happened to the world before the story started. Like why is there giant talking animals who have their own monarchy..?
The artwork was fine but not really my taste.

Sadly this book just didn’t work for me.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.
Tectiv Volume 1: Noirtopia is a graphic novel story following Bingo Fisher, who scavenges ruins for artefacts to upcycle
and trade at the bartering bazaars - including
Bingo's favourite items called books. The books she particularly enjoys are old TECTIV books (detective) where the protagonist searches for clues and investigated in a city that was called LA. When Bingo's friend Fenn mysteriously disappears, Bingo steps into the shoes of one of her beloved TECTIV characters to find out just what has happened and why and her case leads her to discover more than she bargained for.
The novel is set thousands of years after an apocalypse on earth in a new world of mutants, animals who can talk, communal training, and mentions robots too. I hope there will be a backstory mixed in with this series to explain what happened and how for the earth to become as it is in this series.
The illustrations are quite dull and bland which I think was done on purpose to fit the destitution of the world? But many images were also a little blurred, but again, this could have been done on purpose to fit the book, but I'm unsure why it would have been done so.

Oh my gosh, I loved this graphic novel! It's strangely thrilling reading about this world set way in the future after the inevitable fallout of humanity that includes talking animals and mutants as a normal side effect. This was a wild ride and I kept uncovering more about the world and my own understanding while trying to solve the mysteries myself. With the English being broken and aged in this story, it was fun to have that moment of realization as I finally realized the words they said for what they truly meant! The world is largely illiterate, and reading the way they pieced together languages, places, names, etc. was such a lovely and pivotal touch to the story. My only problem is that I have to wait for the next book! I cannot wait to jump back into this world and learn what is in store for our protagonist this time!

Thank you Richard Ashley Hamilton, Mad Cave Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Tectiv is the story of Bingo Finder, a voracious reader. One day her friend Fenn disappears, and Bingo decides to don the detective persona she has been reading about in the books she's collected over the years.

This story takes places two thousand years in the future after an event dubbed the Great Cataclysm. In a world where crime and racism are eradicated...or are they? After Fenn's disappearance Bingo follows the clues to uncover a bigger plot than she could have ever imagined.

"If nobody else will do anything, then I'll have to. Only not by randomly wandering the outskirts of Ellay on horseback. I need a plan. I need to do it like they did-- --the characters in these books, who searched for answers. Who helped people, thousands of years ago."

Tectiv might be for you if you enjoy noir style detective stories with a modern spin. It features the classic noir inner monologue juxtaposed by a colourful and expressive art style. This first volume feels very much like a beginning with promise for bigger plot points within an expansive world.

Overall I enjoyed my time with this well enough. The pacing could have been better in certain places, and I would have liked a bit more character depth, but the bones are there, and the plot got resolved satisfactorily with some story threads that can lead to more in subsequent volumes.

"All that fire, and I only sustained a single burn--third-degree right on my heart."

Tectiv is a noirtopia graphic novel featuring Bingo Finder, the only literate person in post-apocalyptic LA. If you ever thought you are getting judged for your bookish tastes, she has it worse. Way worse. When her best friend --and love interest, the lovely Fenn suddenly disappears, Bingo decides to take matters into her own hands, taking inspiration from the detective novels of the past -- cheesy narration and all.

Overall, I found myself getting engrossed into the novel. The worldbuilding was interesting, from the misheard words that the people of this new world hang onto to the themes of transhumanism as well as the dichotomy between humans and cyborgs and robots. You find yourself reexamining our own humanity through its lens.

The pacing at times was a little slower than I expected, but the artstyle and the worldbuilding makes up for it. Besides it has exactly the broody vibe I expect reading a noir. While one of the plot twists was predictable, I was surprised by others and left me wondering about what's to come next.

I really enjoyed reading this and honestly can't wait for Vol 2!

My thanks to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for an advance copy of this graphic novel set in a post-apocalyptic world full of mutated humans, talking coyotes, bad people and mysteries that need solving.

"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything." Raymond Chandler wrote this about his character Philip Marlowe, a private detective who took money to help people, but while rented could never be brought. The private detective is the one thing people can rely on. Institutions can fall, people can be corrupted, but a person looking for the truth, will go the ends where the truth lies, or their own end. This was as true as it was in the 1930's the heyday of detective stories, as it is in the ruins of civilization. The fedora, the trench coat, the attitude, will still be fighting for people. Even if the spelling of their profession has changed. Tectiv Vol. 1: Noirtopia is written by Richard Ashley Hamilton, illustrated by Marco Matrone, with lettering by Dave Sharpe and tells of a young woman looking for her missing friend, with only the books from the past to show her the way.

Bingo Finder is a very good scavenger, finding places that still have goods that can be used, guns that can be turned in and books that Bingo can read. And Bingo might be the last person able to. The world has collapsed for reasons that are varied, some blame mutants, some blame robots, maybe something else. There is little crime, but the mayor who controls everything is always wanting more growing, and more control of things. Bingo has a friend Fenn, who has started to act funny. One night Bingo finds Fenn standing at the edge of her house, just as Fenn jumps Bingo is attacked by a robot armed assailant. When Bingo looks for Fenn she is gone, but no one could have survived that fall. And robots have been wiped out. Bingo turns to her books the Tectiv stories she enjoys most and begins to look around the devastated area of Los Angeles looking for Fenn. As Bingo searches she finds that there is lot that is going on in the shadows, filled with allies and enemies. The deeper Bingo goes the more Bingo wonders if she ever knew her friend at all. Even worse, does she even understand the world she is living in.

A really good mix of noir detective, with the tech-noir of the future. The writing is really very good, along with the world the characters live in. One can see a lot of stories happening here, with the writer dropping different hints here and there. Bingo is great, tough, sad, and best of all smart. Maybe a touch naïve, but honestly what detective isn't. I love the titles for each chapter, showing the fact that literacy is not a thing anymore. The little things the author does really gives the book that extra feeling and again, makes one want to know more. The world is well worth exploring, with talking coyotes, giant snakes, robot cults, and the location being Los Angeles totally makes sense. The art is very good also. One can look at panels without dialogue and just by the art know what the characters are thinking, and feeling. The blown out world has an interesting mix of Road Warrior, Bedrock from the Flintstones and of course Blade Runner. The characters are well rendered, and the backgrounds are fun to examine.

Fans of noir will like this, and fans of strong female characters will also. I look forward to more adventures of Bingo.

I loved this post apocalyptic book set in a utopian world. The plot twists were perfect. The art was so well done.

Tectiv is a post-apocalyptic post-crime crime graphic novel lol Set hundreds of years after the fall of civilization, the citizens of Ellay (L.A.) live a life of communal trading, in peace with the mutants and talking animals in the wildlands around Ellay. We don't get much background on just WHAT happened or how, but the talking animals and existence of mutants hints at something nuclear. I wish Hamilton gave us a bit more background because I kept finding myself wondering how these people and their culture came to be where they are. There's also commentary on technology and robots, in that there is some conflict between humans and mutants and robots or people robotic parts? Again, I wish Hamilton gave us a bit more on this, especially as the bias does play a part. There's much that could have been said particularly with one of the bad guy's reveals that just... doesn't explain anything. Frustrating.

But of course just because someone says they're post-crime, post-everything, living in peace, doesn't necessarily make it true. Luckily for Ellay, Bingo loves scavenging for old books, especially Tective (detective) novels of the noir variety. Hamilton has some fun bring noir detective tropes in a post-apocalyptic world where most people don't know or understand the tropes, but it does feel a bit goofy at times. The mystery isn't overly complicated or twisty either and I wound up being spot on with the bad guy, though there's the hint of a larger scheme at play that Hamilton may address in future issues.

The art by Marco Matrone is perfectly fine. I think my copy had an issue because it was all a little blurry? Unless that was deliberate? Hard to tell but if so, it feels like a mistake. But nothing really stood out aside from a few panels of the overgrown LA. The coloring was fun though, especially with the mutants and exteriors.

Overall an interesting story and setting, with some promise for future installments. Tectiv is an interesting and unique take on the detective noir genre.