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Far Arden

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

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

"One of the best graphic novels of the year." — The AV Club

"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." — Carl Hays, Booklist

"Riotous, exciting, and ridiculous." — New York Magazine

"Cannon's graphic novel is an adventure, a comedy, a mystery, and a tragedy ... What begins as a slightly silly lark becomes an engaging, even haunting story about desire and loss." — Karin L. Kross, Bookforum

"Cleverly weaving together his extraordinary cast of characters through past histories and present events, the author neatly ties everything up in a satisfying ending. The images in each panel skillfully match the tone of the story and beautifully support the characterization of individuals and events as they unfold. Cannon has proved himself to be a riveting storyteller with this fast-paced adventure that features polar-bear fights, kidnapping, conspiracy, misinterpretations, and double-crosses." — Lara McAllister, School Library Journal

"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

"Kevin Cannon's Far Arden is an unassuming series of masterstrokes ... His spindly post-clear-line characters may act like expressive marionettes but they are multi-faceted once you get past Cannon's hyper-active narrative pace." — Kyle Lemmon, Under the Radar

"Kevin Cannon is spinning one huge, huge yarn here; a classic adventure story that delights in ridiculous set-ups, far-fetched schemes, hidden treasure, mysterious strangers, outlandish characters and ridiculously contrived threats leading to even more ridiculously contrived rescues. Everything in Far Arden connects, every character is there for some reason implicit to the simple plot of one sailor attempting to reach the mythical Far Arden, a tropical island paradise in the middle of the barren and desolate Canadian Arctic. And it's a great, great adventure." — Richard Bruton, Forbidden Planet International

"Starting off madcap, slapdash, and more than a little ridiculous, somehow, over the course of roughly 375 pages, it transforms into a sad, thoughtful, even stirring book." — Jillian Steinhauer, The Daily Cross Hatch

"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

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...

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 6, 2009
      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.

    • School Library Journal

      July 1, 2009
      Gr 10 Up-Known best for his prowess in illustration, Cannon has written a fun and exciting modern-day pirate tale. Army Shanks, a rugged sailor, is infatuated with locating Far Arden, a mythical haven in the Arctic, complete with lush fruit trees and flowers, waterfalls, and exotic women. His quest to find this elusive paradise is filled with twists and turns, trials and tribulations as he meets an odd assortment of seemingly unrelated characters, including an ex-lover, two college students, undercover "environmental cops," an orphan, a corrupt circus warden with his captive "man beast," and a ruthless professor who will stop at nothing to discover Far Arden. Cleverly weaving together his extraordinary cast of characters through past histories and present events, the author neatly ties everything up in a satisfying ending. The images in each panel skillfully match the tone of the story and beautifully support the characterization of individuals and events as they unfold. Cannon has proved himself to be a riveting storyteller with this fast-paced adventure that features polar-bear fights, kidnapping, conspiracy, misinterpretations, and double-crosses."Lara McAllister, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia"

      Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Library Journal

      November 23, 2009
      On the copyright page, Cannon's (T Minus: The Race to the Moon) book is described as nautical fiction first and a graphic novel second. Indeed, while it may not grip hard-core Patrick O'Brian readers, it is a rip-roaring nautical adventure, with hints of Herman Melville, Jack London, and the Three Stooges. Cannon's archetypal characters are delivered with a wink and include a stowaway orphan with an outlandish Dickensian name and a jaded author trapped in a scenario straight out of Stephen King's Misery. Cannon's background in nonfiction is evidenced by the research he has seamlessly injected into this fluid story. But although Cannon illustrates in a rougher but equally engaging style as Craig Thompson, he overuses a convention that has become an indie comic staple of late: his action panels showing a punch include the word "PUNCH!" while another panel of a kick to the face includes the wording "FACE KICK!" All tongue-in-cheek, of course, it gets tired. Verdict This is more Pirates of the Caribbean than Master and Commander, but its charm, wit, and humor make it an enjoyable experience.-Robert Young, Charleston, SC

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      April 1, 2009
      Newcomers to Cannons rapidly sketched drawings can be forgiven for thinking the tales they illustrate are equally unembellished. Yet anyone reading to the end of his cleverly plotted graphic novels should feel proven wrong, and happily. Use his latest yarn, about enterprising arctic pirate Shanks, as a test case. Holed up in an abandoned whaling station on Devon Island, Shanks bides his time until he can find a way to commandeer the Aeropagitica, a vessel currently operated by Royal Canadian Navy (RCAN) underlings. A former RCAN sailor himself, Shanks stays a step ahead of his erstwhile cohorts efforts to swipe a map pinpointing the location of Far Arden, a tropical island paradise anomalously situated somewhere in the North Sea. A twisting, guns-and-fisticuffs-laden plot sends Shanks and his allies to Far Arden while they fend off RCAN officers, a scheming professor, and even a deranged polar bear. Cannon is one of the comics worlds most energetic storytellers, and his minimalist artwork, far from cramping its subject matter, has its own eye-catching charm.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

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