Anodyne
(US Youth Culture Magazine) March 1997

Benign Bizarrities
Reviews by Kip Manley

Two self-published efforts this month, one from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England; the other from just over the hills in Beaverton. Guests first: Fans and pros alike are gushing over Millidge's Strangehaven, the story of an unemployed teacher (Alex Hunter) who, while on holiday in the south of England, finds himself prevented from leaving the quaint little village of Strangehaven, just off the road between Dunscoombston and Eggbeer Bishop. Necessity thereby forces him to get involved with the cheerfully quirky residents as he finds himself a house, a job, and a budding romance, in suspiciously quick succession.

It's most often compared with Twin Peaks, but I find Strangehaven has more in common with another television show about small-town oddities: Northern Exposure. Twin Peaks was misanthropic to the core; and while Strangehaven does have a dark side (there are those mysterious cutaways to the woman's body in an enormous fish tank) and a central mystery to solve, this comic mostly stays on the sunnier side of the street. Like Northern Exposure, it's a celebration of a tight-knit community, an idyllic snapshot of a place where we can simultaneously belong and be ourselves. Adam, the alien from the planet Nimoi; the fussy food freak Brian Dempsey; those dotty Masons; these are all fundamentally nice people.

Nice like the comic itself, and like Millidge, one imagines. The art is flat and stiff at times, relying on simple lines and (apparently) photo reference, but sporadically manages some wonderfully naturalistic body language and facial expressions. The writing, on the other hand, flows gracefully at a satisfyingly slow pace through everyday conversations and situations - with an occasional odd bobble like the bizarre lingerie-modelling sequence in issue four. Millidge also manages to pull off a character I'd never have thought to see done well: Megaron, the Amazonian shaman-out-of-water, whom he manages to imbue with a quiet dignity. I'd thought all but impossible for that particular archetype to achieve these days.

OAZ, on the other hand, is neither quiet nor dignified - which is just fine. These are the adventures of Moe, Investigator of the Odd, and his sidekicks Robin (a hilariously inept talking mime) and Moose (Moe's bartending landlord). The smith brothers - Ty draws, Ian writes - have obviously read and understood the Tick and the Flaming Carrot; something in all the lighthearted silliness makes me wonder if, in their moldering stacks of comics, they don't also have a few issues of To Be Announced!, dead now these past ten years.

But enough obscure references. Issue one presents us with Ethan Gordon, a brilliant-but-frustrated taxidermist with a unique disfigurement, and the revenge he plans to take on an uncaring world. Ty's wonderfully clean cartooning complements Ian's breezy script as it flits from one whimsy to the next, throwing in the occasional weird science fact (as the, ah, demanding plot allows). Funny stuff - I guarantee you won't ever again take sloths for granted.

Seek these comics out, folks. Both Millidge and the Messrs. Smith could have a lot of fun with the comics industry, if they find their audience. Besides, you know that handcrafted comics - local or imported - are better for you than that corporate swill.

©1997 Kip Manley

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

All text and images (c) copyright Gary Spencer Millidge/Abiogenesis Press All rights reserved.