That is the sound of over a month's pent up air rushing out of my lungs after an utterly hectic June. It is also the sound of disappointment. No, not the kind of disappointment that follows unmet expectations but instead, that acute sense of loss felt both right in the middle of the chest as well as deep within the cranium after a fantastic experience comes to a close.
In this case, the experience that left me devastated was a book series and more specifically, Kevin Cannon's set of two graphic novels, Far Arden and Crater XV. These tales, told in words and pictures had me absolutely cackling and grinning as I followed the irascible main character Army Shanks, a former member of the Royal Canadian Artic Navy but now rogue Artic pirate, on a series of crazy and campy adventures.
The first installment, Far Arden, finds Shanks on a search for a mythical utopian island afloat in the Canadian Artic. Sounds simple enough (and just crazy enough to make for a great tale on its own). But of course author Cannon can't leave it at that. Instead, readers are treated to man-eating polar bears, crazed circus performers, angry ex-lovers, orphans, numerous heinous villains, and of course, the whole of the Royal Canadian Artic Navy. And that is all before Shanks even gets to the island.
If that wasn't delightfully zany enough, Crater XV throws Shanks a-sea with many of the same antagonists and protagonists but this time, Cannon stirs in bloodthirsty walruses, rogue astronauts, abandoned moon bases, Siberian pirates, and a handful of power hungry politicians. This madness arises out of a farcical moon race in an effort to claim rights on a newly discovered energy source drawn from that cratered siren in the sky. Whewww again!
Both of Cannon's many stranded tales are as over-the-top as they sound. Yet these yarns are heavy-handed in such a purposeful and ridiculous manner that one can only smile, then cackle, and then join Shanks for the shenanigans. It certainly helps that Army and the rest of his cohorts are likeable characters that manage to both defy their stereotypical roles while fulfilling them in just the proper allotments. Furthering my love of Cannon's tales are his loose, fast, and appropriately exaggerated drawings that are so chock-a-block full of energy that it can't help but rub off on readers.
And rub off it did as all told, Far Arden and Crater XV were both the perfect antidote to a very, very busy June as well as pure graphic novel gold.
