Strangehaven: Arcadia

Strangehaven #1

by Gary Spencer Millidge, Dave Sim (introduction)

Alex Hunter, driving through the remote rural English countryside, swerves and crashes his car to avoid an apparition in the winding road. When he awakens he finds himself in Strangehaven, a gently off-kilter village that he first doesn't want to leave - and then finds himself entirely unable to escape. He soon encounters some of the village's bizarre inhabitants, including an Amazonian shaman, a man who claims to be from the planet Nimoi, a woman with talking pets, and more. But who is the woman in the fish tank?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Mystery, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Horror

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Bill Hsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very Lynch-ian, mostly quiet and unsettling. It's good that I've only read this as a graphic novel. I can't imagine following the original issues every month or three; there are so many characters, so much village chitchat, I probably would have overlooked some of the quietly presented, uncanny magic realist details, and spaced out on the connections.

So it's slow, sparsely populated with events, but quite strange (duh). Volume 2 seems to pick up a bit though.

[Berna Labourdette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una sorpresa también. El autor, amigo de Alan Moore y autor de una biografía sobre él que espero poder leer pronto Alan Moore: Storyteller, desarrolla una historia (que eso sí, aún no termina) sobre la vida cotidiana en un pueblo donde nada es lo que aparece (ya su nombre nos indica algo de lo que viene). Con una trama similar a la serie de TV "El prisionero", nos cuenta sobre la llegada al pueblo de Alex Hunter, luego de un desengaño amoroso, donde se queda de manera fácil un tiempo, mientras conoce a sus habitantes. Un asesinato y la propuesta de una logia masónica secreta (y su contraparte) harán que comience a cuestionarse la verdadera realidad del pueblo en el que vive. 

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not quite sure what to think about Strangehaven, I was immediately drawn in and intrigued by the setting, premise, and atmosphere. The odd characters and sense of mystery also kept me reading… but it felt like I was being teased with mysteries and potential plot threads a bit too much. If the curtain was pulled back a bit more this would have been a lot more enjoyable, but I was left a bit frustrated after the constant meandering. I’ll continue this series in the hopes that it’ll pick up, there’s a lot of potential here so I’m hoping that the next volume will deliver!

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Twin Peaks done, I’ve began searching in earnest for books and shows to fill that void. Strangehaven is a comic series that came up more than a few times, and the series is delivering so far. This first volume introduces this quiet little town tucked away in an area that doesn’t appear to show up correctly on maps, with a weird cult in town, and with enough strange happenings throughout that keep you guessing as to what’s relevant and what’s not. The strange aspects of this have not materialized outside of a few small but important scenes, but I will say that I was absolutely riveted by this and had to stop myself from just going straight into the second volume.

Very solid read, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

[Facundo Aqua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difícil para cualquier fan de Twin Peaks no caer rápidamente en el hechizo de Strangehaven y enamorarse un poco también de la locura y la pasión de Millidge dedicada a este proyecto: un cómic que comenzó en los 90, se sigue publicando y todavía no llegó al número 20. Pero no es solo está rareza de culto la que lo ha hecho legendario sino un elenco de personajes tan particulares como memorables y un misterio que mezcla lo mundano con una serie de enigmas más grandes de lo que podemos imaginar. Pura magia.

[DrCrower · Rating 5 out of 5]

TODO LO QUE ME GUSTA EN LA VIDA LO TIENE ESTE CÓMIC.
"Strangehaven" es la historia de Alex Hunter, un joven profesor de primaria que tras un accidente de coche (tras cruzarse con una mujer en un camino por la noche que, igual me engaña la vista, me recuerda a la Laura Palmer de la Logia Negra) queda atorado en la pequeña localidad costera que da título a la serie, un pueblo que no aparece en los mapas. Alex pronto se enamora tanto de la localidad como de lo peculiar de sus habitantes, y en especial de Janey, una joven del lugar con la que vivirá una especie de romance maldito que nunca puede llegar a buen puerto. A pesar de su intento de volver a casa (a una vida que no le gusta), Hunter descubrirá que no puede salir de Strangehaven: pero Alex no es Número 6, si las puertas del paraíso se han abierto para él, ¿para qué resistirse?
Poco a poco comenzaremos a conocer el entramado de personajes del lugar. Como Suzie, la mejor amiga de Janey, que mantiene un romance con Peter, encargado de la tienda de comestibles que engaña a su esposa. O a Adam, un sujeto que dice venir del planeta Nimoi y está construyendo un aparato para comunicarse con su mundo. O el fascinante Megaron, que parece parcialmente inspirado en Charles Crossey, el personaje al que daba vida Alan Bates en "El Grito", y que a pesar de su pulcro aspecto de profesor británico dice haber sido criado en el Amazonas para ser un chamán, y entabla un vínculo cada vez más especial con Jeremy, el hermano de Janey, e hijo del Sr. Jones, director de la escuela y uno de los líderes de una de las hermandades que opera de manera secreta en el pueblo...
"Strangehaven" bebe de "Twin Peaks" y de "El Prisionero", y si no fuera suficientemente maravilloso tener esos dos referentes hay tramas que parecieron haberse reflejado posteriormente en series como "Perdidos". Pero lo extraordinario es su acercamiento cotidiano a lo místico, y lo místico a lo cotidiano. Como si Aleister Crowley fuera un personaje de "Love and Rockets" y nos interesara tanto su compra en el supermercado esa semana como su ritual del domingo noche. Cuando la descubrí ya lo dije por aquí: "este cómic es como un sueño hecho realidad, como si me hubieran preguntado bajo hipnosis que ideas, conceptos y tramas me gustaría ver en una serie. Magia. Sociedades secretas. Una comunidad aislada. La presencia de lo extraño en lo cotidiano. Con ese toque británico que hace parecer que su contenido más culebronesco introduzca una versión bizarra de los personajes de "Gent del barri" ("Eastenders") en Summerisle, el pueblo de "The Wicker Man". Quiero más. Quiero un episodio nuevo a diario hasta el día que me muera. Si algún día me cruzo con el autor quizá le haga un "Misery". (Esto último dependerá de lo que me guste el desenlace definitivo, mmjmjmjmjmj...)

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects the first six issues of Gary Spencer Millidge's wonderfully strange and weird (unfinished) little gem of a British comic.

I was recommended this comic at a comics studies conference I attended this year, as a forgotten piece of weird fantastic comics fiction, which was sadly never finished (three volumes collecting all 18 published comics issues exist), and when I saw that my local library had the first volume in the system, I could not resist checking it out. I certainly do not regret that decision.

Teacher Alexander Hunter suffers an very mysterious car accident and wakes up in the little village of Strangehaven, which he seems unable to actually leave. Strangehaven is a community filled with a set of characters unlike most others, and while some people – not without point – draw parallels to the old British TV series The Prisoner, I am more immediately reminded of Twin Peaks, but with a very clear British foundational sentiment and a clear orientation towards the comics medium in which this narrative is told. We as reader encounter freemasonry, South American indigenous practices, a self-claimed alien, local trysts and infidelities, secrets, mysticism, and much more.

I for one will commit to reading the remaining material, despite it being unfinished.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically Twin Peaks in comic form. Alex Hunter, a schoolteacher going through marital issues, finds himself lost on a road trip towards Cornwall and is stranded in the unmapped town of Strangehaven. The denizens of Strangehaven are a little odd, but nothing that really makes Alex question his surroundings. The story doesn't just follow Alex however; we are treated to several subplots. There is Jeremy, a young man who finds himself befriending an South American shaman, Petey who balances an affair, Adam who claims to be an alien, Janey who tries to seduce the outsider Alex, and an occult group known as the Knights of the Golden Light. While much of Strangehaven does feel like a story about an offbeat village in the middle of nowhere, it's the light dose of magical realism and rather Lynchian tone that keeps the story very unpredictable and rather unnerving at times. It's not true horror in any sense, but there is a clear level of dread that permeates the various subplots of Strangehaven.

Millidge's artwork is crisp throughout, with some pretty imaginative choices in terms of layouts. He adheres to a rigid grid system, but it does make the characters all seem kind of stilted as if they were marionnettes which only lends to the uncanny tone of the series. I found this strangely appealing and felt like I was at the edge of my seat with each page turn. I do wish the end of this volume had a bit more in terms of answers, but overall I can't complain since this is really surrealism at its best.

[Gonzalo Milano · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sé cuantos números abarca esto, pero a notar por el número de páginas supongo que serán los primeros 5.Digo esto porque yo, al menos, lo leí de forma individual y no en estos recopilatorio.
Encontré este cómic por un video de YouTube que explica la realización del mismo. Este había sido hecho con tanta dedicación y amor por contar historia que decidí darle una oportunidad.
Es extraño como en los primeros números el ritmo es súper lento, los personajes tienen poco desarrollo y el misterio es tan misterioso que no deja ver ni siquiera para donde se dirige.
Aún con todo esto y quizás por las contadas 30 páginas de cada número hace que sea una experiencia adictiva o llevadera.
Se nota como cambia la forma de dibujar de Gary y a la vez como se suelta más en la escritura, haciendo ver la introducción como un trabajo amateur, pero llegando hasta el final de estos tonos con una confianza más centrada en los personajes.
Espero que se mantenga así, haciendo las cosas más misteriosas e interesantes, sin desentrañar los secretos del pueblo por completo de forma apurada.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big re-read of Strangehaven has begun, in preparation for the new chapters available via that nice anthology series called Meanwhile... Blimey, this takes me back a bit! I bought the book in the Bristol Forbidden Planet around 15 years ago, enjoyed it, then got the second collection and the comics that eventually make up the third book. It reads well if you 'binge' on it like those modern TV shows, and you'll enjoy it if you like strange English villages, secret organisations, "eranu", The Prisoner, and a bit of soap opera style drama in drawings form.

[James Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going to be a while before I read the other volumes. It's like season 2 of twin peaks without any plot, its just like constant teases of something actually happening but nothing ever does. Some of the dialogue is so painfully boring too. I hate to be mean but finishing it was just punishing so I have to be.

[kerrycat · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was okay, BUT

after that introduction, I was prejudiced against it, I admit that. seriously, Dave Sims? knocking The Prisoner? who even does that? if he was hoping to buck up reader excitement for Strangehaven, it did the exact opposite for me. don't do GSM any more favors, Dave.

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely want to read the other two now.

[James Fittzzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

ah yes, the Twin Peaks season 1 of Graphic Novels

[Dan Seymour · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

[D.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like that Goodreads offers a little notation to guide us through the star rating system, because it keeps me honest on what deserves five stars. Goodreads' system says five stars means 'it was amazing,' and that's a hard bill to fill in my book. But Strangehaven is amazing.
Since the first issue was released nearly 20 years ago, Gary Spencer Millidge's single-handed mysterious-little-English-village yarn has had my unflinching attention. I can still remember the occasional delays in release schedule that ended in the junkie-like satisfaction of a new issue, which I'd devour almost immediately.
Even after all this time, and after as many times as I've read the series by now, Millidge's book and this odd little village still grabs me and keeps me every step of the way. He's taken an unabashed love of The Prisoner (our main character moves in at Number 6, Patrick Hill Road!), lessons learned from the best minds in the comics industry (of which he was a part on the retail end years before the book) and guidance from a stunning array of sources both fictional and factual, and melded them into a perfect story world. What could have been a train wreck of a comic in someone else's hands is here a finely crafted and real (even at its most unreal moments) bit of storytelling. Collected in this fashion, the evolution of Millidge's art is apparent, but even at its most basic it's still considerably better than many comickers' best.
The absolute downside to reading and loving Strangehaven is the same every time, and may remain so for quite a while longer: Millidge never finished the series. He was forced to close shop when real life overtook him, and has never again reached a place that he could return and satisfactorily continue or even conclude the tale he began.
I can't see anyone really minding, though: Strangehaven is a marvelous accomplishment as it stands, and a fine addition to anyone's shelf.

This edition collects issues 1-6 of the original series, including black & white reproductions of the stunning (originally colour) covers. It adds: an introduction from self-publishing patriarch and Cerebus creator Dave Sim; an 'Author's Note' about the beginnings of the project; acknowledgements including the names of models for Strangehaven's citizenry; a bibliography of some of the non-fiction source material organised by topic; a glossary of Britishisms, dialects and Italian phrases; and a short biography of Millidge with a photo to match.

[Jeremiah Genest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangehaven is like a soap opera, but with more wierd elements set in a slow, drifting sense of time.

Alex Hunter, driving through rural England, swerves to avoid an apparition in the winding country road and ends up in Strangehaven, a gently off-kilter village that he first doesn't want to leave - and then finds himself entirely unable to escape. A delicious stripe of weirdness runs through this book; a somewhat inbred-looking secret society and a local rainforest shaman spice the kitchen sink drama wonderfully, in the periods where the main plotline rests.

[Max Kalinin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't know what to think of it too much. I like the individual stories of some of the characters, like Meg, or Adam... The whole feeling around this spooky place kind of were trying to give you the chills, and than it just stopped. I will read the next chapter, but can't say that I am moved too much by it. Also knowing that it gets cut short, somehow makes me not want to read anymore, knowing that there isn't much to be done about the characters, plus, I just can't seem to care too much about what's going to happen. oh well 3/5 for the atmosphere.

[Sergio Mori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't too taken by the artwork at the beginning, but I slowly got into it. However, I was immediately taken by the story. Or stories, rather. It has a distinct Twin Peaks feeling about it, or even comedy-less Northern Exposure: there is something fishy in this village, something fishy that makes you want to keep on reading. I want more, more of the alien guy, the creepy sect people, the doctor, more of everything.

[Claire O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled upon this graphic novel after listening to a BBC Radio 4 documentary about the standing stones at Avebury. The documentary mentioned the similarities of this book with the brilliant children's programme 'Children of the Stones' so I had to check it out.

It's a very intriguing read that poses more questions than it answers. I've ordered book 2 and look forward to reading it.

[severyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curious and strange in that British kind of way that produces The Whicker Man, The Avengers, Alisadair Gray, 2000AD, where you're never quite sure if something is going to happen of if it's just a meander.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this series. sadly, after the third volume, issues have become extremely infrequent.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting....very strange. It's Twin Peaks meets Wicker Man with a dash of The Prisoner. So many mysteries and mysterious characters that I want to continue.

[Jarad Coats · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic series. Weird, dark, personal and voyeuristic. Great books.

[Joss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, along with the other two trade paperbacks, was a re-read in preparation for the continuing saga in Meanwhile. One of my all time favourite comics and so glad it's back!

[Mallika Soni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing. Interesting. Seductive art.