McNeil was born in Hammond, Louisiana, and currently lives in Maryland. McNeil's chief work is the ongoing science fiction comic series Finder, which she began self-publishing in 1996. In 2005, she started to publish Finder as a webcomic. The comic was published and available to read on her website until it began to be published by Dark Horse Comics in 2011. A majority of McNeil's career is focused on collaborations with other comic artists and writers. In 2001, McNeil provided a two-page guest-illustrator spot for Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan: Filth of the City. She continued her work with him in 2005 by illustrating the one-shot "Frank Ironwine" in Ellis' Apparat Volume 1." McNeil also worked as an illustrator alongside Greg Rucka on the Oni Press series Queen & Country in 2004. In 2008, McNeil adapted and illustrated D. J. MacHale's first Pendragon book, The Merchant of Death, into a graphic novel, and it was released by Simon and Schuster on May 20, 2008. In 2013, McNeil participated in multiple collaborations with other artists. She collaborated with Alex de Campi for two comics: she illustrated a few pages of the graphic novel Ashes, as well as the first issue of , which was released by IDW Publishing. She also did illustrative work for Devin Grayson's Legends of Red Sonja. Together with Sara Ryan, she released Bad Houses in 2013 from Dark Horse Comics, which received general acclaim upon release. In April 2015, McNeil started illustrating No Mercy, a series written by Alex de Campi and colored by Jenn Manley Lee. The series is published by Image Comics, and is ongoing. McNeil has also worked on numerous anthologies throughout her career. In 2005, McNeil wrote a comic for the anthology Dignifying Science, which is a collection about women scientists. She has also illustrated Elizabeth Genco's "Here. In My Head" for the 2008 anthology Comic Book Tattoo, which is a collection based on the songs of Tori Amos. She has done work for Saucy Goose Press' anthology Smut Peddler, which is a collection of comics centered around sex positivity. McNeil wrote and drew a story in the first edition, and illustrated the cover and end piece of Smut Peddler: 2014 Edition, which was one of the most successful Kickstarter comics of 2014. She wrote and drew the story "Frog and Snake Never Play Together" for the popular anthology Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales Vol 2: Africa Edition in 2014. In 2015, McNeil wrote and illustrated "Both Ends of the Leash," a story that appeared in Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, for DC Comics. McNeil is currently working on a new project titled Oneiradora, which she plans to publish exclusively online.
Awards
In 1997, at Comic-Con International, McNeil won the Lulu Awards' Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent for her work on Finder and Shanda the Panda. McNeil also won the Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent in 1998. McNeil was nominated for Lulu Award Lulu of the Year in 2001 and 2002, and for an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist in 2001. Finder won the Ignatz for Outstanding Series in 2004 and 2005. Her work has been nominated for Eisner Awards in several categories over the years, and won "Best Webcomic" for Finder in 2009. Finder: Voice won the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In recognition of her work Finder, Comics Alliance listed McNeil as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition. In 2017, Finder was nominated by readers for NPR's "Let's Get Graphic: 100 Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels," and was chosen for the list by a panel of award-winning comic artists.
