Strangehaven
| Strangehaven | |
|---|---|
Cover of Strangehaven #1 By Gary Spencer Millidge.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Abiogenesis Press |
| Schedule | Irregular |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | 1995–Present |
| Number of issues | 18 |
| Main character(s) | Alex Hunter and others |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Gary Spencer Millidge |
| Artist(s) | Gary Spencer Millidge |
| Creator(s) | Gary Spencer Millidge |
| Collected editions | |
| Arcadia | |
| Brotherhood | |
| Conspiracies | |
Strangehaven is a self-published comic book series created by Gary Spencer Millidge. It is not published to a regular schedule, and the series began an indefinite hiatus in 2005.
Alex Hunter almost runs over a woman while driving through the British countryside, swerving and crashing his car into a tree. He wakes to find himself in the picturesque village of Strangehaven, where a young woman named Janey Jones convinces him to stay. He finds a spacious cottage to rent and a job as a teacher at the local school, but it soon becomes clear that something is awry in Strangehaven. A secretive cult calling themselves The Knights of the Golden Light have taken over all positions of authority, a pagan coven is plotting something out in the woodlands, the woman Alex saw in the road seems to be haunting his dreams, and no matter how far he drives, the village itself will not seem to let him leave.
While Strangehaven appears to be nothing more than another small Devonshire village, it is clear from the earliest issues that something is not quite right about the village. A number of characters have unusual quirks or gifts, such as the mechanic, Alberto, who is able to restore any car to pristine condition, no matter how badly it is damaged; also Adam, who claims to be an alien with x-ray vision, and Elsie, an old woman who is depicted as being able to communicate with animals. There are a disproportionately high number of twins in the village, including the village doctor and his alcoholic brother, and Janey and Jeremy Jones, who were born on either side of midnight.
The village is home to a secret sect called The Knights of the Golden Light, whose members include all high-ranking villagers, including the doctor, the policeman, the headteacher and the solicitor. The group's motives are unclear. However, it is not until issue four that something explicitly supernatural happens, when Megaron, a half-Amazonian shaman, teaches Jeremy Jones to see through a bird's eyes. Supernatural elements are hinted at in earlier issues, most notably in the way that Alex is unable to leave the village without the road seemingly curving back into Strangehaven, and in the visions Alex has of The Woman on the Road, whose physical form also seems to be kept in a fishtank in the house of an unseen villager.
Although Alex is unable to leave Strangehaven, it is implied that this is unusual, and few of the villagers have expressed any knowledge of this phenomenon. Suzie Tang leaves the village in one issue to return to Hong Kong, and Billy Bates also flees Strangehaven, so one can assume that some are able to travel outside it. Communication with the outside world is also possible, as Alex is able to press for divorce with his estranged wife through the village solicitor. In issue seven, Alex meets "Surfer Steve", who claims that Strangehaven is conscious and only allows people to leave if "she" wants them to.
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