Far Arden

Meet Army Shanks — crusty old sea dog and legendary brawler of the high Arctic seas! He's got just one mission: to find the mythical island paradise known as Far Arden, which lies hidden (so they say) in the wintry oceans of the far North. But there's more than just water standing between Shanks and his goal: he'll have to contend with circus performers, adorable orphans, heinous villains, bitter ex-lovers, well-meaning undergraduates, and the full might of the Royal Canadian Arctic Navy! Not to mention he's not so sure how to get to Far Arden in the first place...

In his first solo graphic novel, Kevin Cannon (Top Ten, The Stuff of Life) proves himself a master spinner of yarns. Far Arden is an epic journey through a world not quite our own, written and drawn with strokes bold and swift. As readers hurtle toward the stunning conclusion, Cannon assembles countless details, characters, and relentless plot twists into an astonishing whole far greater than the sum of its parts. Thrilling, eccentric, lusty, genuinely moving, and often hilarious (with sound effects that alone are worth the price of admission), Far Arden may be the best adventure comic you'll read all year.

"In this fanciful tale set in arctic Canada, disparate characters struggle to find a mythic paradise island, Far Arden. Despite far-fetched aspects like the evil, bureaucracy-controlled Royal Canadian Arctic Navy, a half-man/half — polar bear and a conniving university professor of psychology, the story becomes mundane through the intertwining character relations and attention to detail in constructing the world. The protagonist, a stoic, rugged arctic pirate, Army Shanks, searches for the island to reunite with his mentor, Simon Arctavis, but is hindered by old acquaintances and ill-fortune. Slowly, the reader becomes immersed in this alternate arctic world. Commonplace and strange are fused, as rants on the dangers of global warming transition into a battle with a polar bear. The thick crosshatched backgrounds and simple fluid characters further ground the story. As the entwined pasts of Army, his ex, her current husband, a college couple and an orphan bent on revenge for his father's murder are revealed, entwining pasts become clear and the full range of this engrossing story is revealed." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"One amazing slice of storytelling magic." Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"Cleverly plotted....Cannon is one of the comics world's most energetic storytellers, and his minimalist artwork, far from cramping its subject matter, has its own eye-catching charm." Booklist

"Far Arden is one of the most unruliest and unpredictable adventure comics I’ve read in a long while, and yet the story weaves itself into a complex and consistent whole...the best of two worlds: the purely spontaneous burst of comics creation and the carefully constructed adventure saga." Dave Baxter, Broken Frontier

"The character of Army Shanks is one that readers can really sink their teeth into....He's a man with all the personality conflicts and defects and emotional confusion that make us human. And even when he surprises you by bringing a dead fish to a party at the governor's palace, it doesn't seem at all out of character." Sean Kleefeld, Kleefeld on Comics