Strangehaven
Strangehaven (1995-Present)
Written and Drawn by Gary Spencer Milidge
This series is something else. As much as I enjoy my superhero comics or "capeshit" as my superhero burned out brother calls it, every now and then I do need a break. Sometimes that's a break to movies or video games or even independent comics. So when I finished watching through all of Twin Peaks (the original series, Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks the Return) I was left with the emptiness of having no more Twin Peaks to watch and went to my bookshelves to try and fill the void. I stumbled on three volumes of Strangehaven that I had purchased because one of my favorite youtubers had introduced me to in a video (that I will link to below). The plot of this series is that a man named Alex Hunter crashes his car and is taken to the village of Strangehaven where he meets strange and quirky characters and finds himself discovering the town's secrets, but that's where the Twin Peaks comparisons ends. This series has it's own flavor completely that like Twin Peaks is completely unlike anything else. I was so engaged watching townspeople go through the mundanity of their everyday lives while secret societies plot the towns future underneath it all, that I read all three volumes (18 issues) in less than 24 hours. It may be too slow for some people's liking, but I believe that the pace is deliberate and really helps you to fall in love and understand these characters. ((I think that the Christmas issue, (#8 I think?) is the perfect example of this.))
I have failed to mention the most fascinating aspect of the series for me. Gary Milidge is the series creator and singlehandedly wrote, drew, inked printed, published and distributed it all on his own in order to keep total creative control. But more than that, Strangehaven is a recording of it's creators skills. He was still learning how to draw comics, and shade it in the first issues and has thoroughly mastered his craft by making his art almost photorealistic.
Now I know what you're thinking? Wow this series is amazing does it even have a downside? Well random person on the internet, unfortunately yes it does. As I mentioned Gary Milidge is responsible for every single aspect of this fantastic series which is a herculean feat that no person could ever maintain for long if at all. Strangehaven has been on going and on hiatus depending on what life throws at Mr. Milidge. The last trade ends with issue # 18, which was published in 2005. There have been snippets of new issues published in the independent comic magazine called Meanwhile starting in 2014. Gary Milidge is still committed to crafting the finale for this award winning series, but who knows when or if it will come. Normally I would not recommend something that is not complete, but Strangehaven is so good that I will make it the exception to this rule. So if you are of a mind then click on the title for a link to buy the first trade if your interested or click on the link below to In Praise of Shadows in depth video that goes into the comic and ongoing publishing history of Strangehaven.
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