Illuminations # 257
(UK Fanzine) August 1996Strangehaven # 4
Review by Mark Eastwood.This is a strange kettle of fish and no mistake. Already, other reviews have made comparisons between this title and the likes of Twin Peaks and The Prisoner. While I can see elements of those (and other) shows, there's also something unique about Strangehaven. At the moment there seems to be so many plot strands that it's difficult to keep track of them all - the quarterly schedule doesn't help in this respect - although I suspect that future issues will bring some of them together into a larger central story. So far, schoolteacher Alex has crashed his car and awoken in the village of Strangehaven after seeing a vision of a woman in the middle of the road. The woman herself is actually dead, her body currently the central showpiece of somebody's aquarium. How she died, why she died and who did the dirty deed are just some of the questions waiting to be answered. Meanwhile the village has more than its fair share of oddball characters - including an Amazon shaman, a self-proclaiming space alien, a policeman who collects other peoples' finger-clippings and assorted members of the local secret society.
Self published by Gary Spencer Millidge, this is a title that deserves a much wider audience than just a cult following. The artwork is clear and detailed, although a little static at time, and the various tales are totally absorbing. Even the more mundane ones, such as the villagers having an affair, has me trying to work out if there's a connection to the murder! This was the first comic I read from my latest parcel - and the only one to be read twice. Recommended.
©1996 Mark Eastwood/Martin Averre
If you've read any notable pieces concerning Strangehaven that may have escaped our attention and does not appear here, we'd like to hear about them! E-mail us at webmonkey@millidge.com