This Long Strange Trip: Strangehaven is 30 Years Old

Pretty much exactly thirty years ago, before eBay and Google, before there was Harry Potter, before the Macarena, before Toy Story and the first Mission: Impossible film, before Sex and the City and The Sopranos, when William S. Burroughs, Carl Sagan, Tupac and Princess Diana all still walked this planet, the first issue of my self-published Strangehaven reached comic shops across the world. 

I’m not exactly sure what week it shipped, as documents from my printer in Texas, USA appear to  contradict themselves, but it was either the last shipping week of June, or the first of July 1995.

In fact, a lesser seen eight-page ‘prequel’ episode (never reprinted) which appeared in issue #24 of Caliber Press’ Negative Burn anthology may even have beaten Strangehaven #1 into the shops by a week! The strip was due to appear in issue #26 but was brought forward to #24 without my knowing about it.

Either way, as I finally approach the saga’s completion, this madcap little creative pursuit of mine is celebrating its 30th anniversary (but hold the champers until the final page is inked and coloured, please). It wouldn’t have happened without my wonderful, dedicated following of readers like you. 

Don’t forget you can help me to finish Strangehaven by supporting me on Patreon for a couple of bucks a month. Please take a look at the various benefits available to my paid patrons, or sign up to the free tier to show your support and receive occasional unlocked posts. Your support helps me more than you know to get this behemoth over the finishing line. 

Above: The first two pages as they appeared in the first printing of Strangehaven issue #1, July 1995

So…after eighteen Strangehaven comic books, three short stories, three Strangehaven trade paperback collections, eleven colour Meanwhile…episodes, dozens of completed pages of Strangehaven: Epilogue and thirty years of persistence, has it all been worthwhile? 

Kinda hard to say without knowing what the alternative might have been but I’d like to think so. To quote T.S. Eliot, “Culture may even be described simply as that which makes life worth living” and it’s been a privilege to contribute to that culture in some small way.