Strangehaven: Arcadia

I wasn't surprised at all, after reading the first collected edition of Strangehaven, "Arcadia," that it has been compared to Twin Peaks. I would be quite surprised if Gary Spencer Millidge wasn't inspired by the show to some degree, as the atmosphere of his book, the way the story unfolds, drew comparisons for me to nothing else. The story follows Alex as he is taken in by a small secluded town, Strangehaven, following a car accident. The supernatural circumstances that caused his accident carry on through the story, although the eccentric residents of the town are thrust to the foreground of the tale. Among the strange characters of Strangehaven are a man who claims he's an alien stranded on earth with x-ray vision, a shaman from an Amazonian Indian tribe and an elderly lady whose house is filled with animals that she has conversations with. While the story meanders to all of the different corners of the town, the main events center around Alex and his budding relationship with young Janey, and the strange society of the Knights of the Golden Light who make all of the goings-on in Strangehaven their business. Strangehaven is beautifully illustrated realistically with an odd panel thrown in here and there to unnerve the reader, and with just enough sinister inuendos to keep us on edge through the tame soap opera happenings.