Crater XV review

Part of my appreciation of Far Arden, the comic that precedes this one, had to do with writer/artist Kevin Cannon’s creation of the nearly 400 page comic. He held a series of personal 24 Hour Comic challenges, one per month, which eventually led him to create a much longer work. With its sequel, Crater XV, you can clearly see that Cannon had more time to write, draw and work out the story as whole before putting pen to paper. The art is crisp, but it maintains the same cartoon style and frivolous energy of Far Arden. The story is also different. It’s not one main story chugging along with smaller stories being added to it. It’s not built the same way as the previous comic. Multiple stories are introduced early on and they progress in parallel to one another regularly and eventually they all come together. There’s a sense of momentum that builds and continues to build into a grand conclusion.

Far Arden wrapped up quite nicely. I can’t recall a part of the story that Cannon didn’t wrap up and because of this, I had no clue what Crater XV was going to be about. Where else could the story go? The title and cover art suggesting space exploration. My first reaction was less than enthusiastic. Space exploration? Army Shanks is a hardened sailor, not an astronaut. My second thought was more positive. At least Cannon will avoid rehashing the same old story. The actual story has very little to do with the plot of Far Arden but it retains the storytelling style and surprisingly flows forth from the events that took place during that first story. Shanks is deeply troubled by the events of Far Arden and he’s even contemplating self-imposed exile in the opening pages of Crater XV and starts to act on it. Of course, being the star of the series, Shanks gets over his problems but he does so with incredible difficulty. After reading both comics, it’s very easy to understand why Shanks is sometimes a jerk; he’s had a very difficult life.

Everything I enjoyed about Shanks’s first story also applies to Crater XV. I love the energy of the comic. I love the zany over-the-top feeling of it all and I’m blown away by the sheer imagination of the story. How all of the different plots fit into a coherent story about space exploration, orphans, spies, clean energy, dealing with death, and so many other things is just mind boggling. Had I not just read this comic, I wouldn’t believe all of those ideas could seamlessly fit together into a larger story. What makes Crater XV a special comic isn’t that dozens of interesting ideas are thrown together; it’s that they’re connected through human interactions and real emotion. I understand Shanks better at the end of the story as I did at the beginning. I understand other characters better at the end than I did at their introduction in the series.

Though I’m only really talking about Shanks, most of the characters have an interesting progression from the beginning of Crater XV to the end. I’m only talking about the old seadog on the cover because I don’t want to spoil anything. Most of the main characters in Crater XV are entirely new. The scale of the story is huge but it’s all centered on characters. The plotting is also spectacular. Cannon continuously undermines your expectations to wonderful effect. The ending of Far Arden was completely unexpected and though I’m really glad Cannon didn’t repeat the same kind of twist ending (I’m not even sure I can call it that because the ending, in retrospect, was rather organic in its development) he provides the reader with regular little twists and turns along the way.

Parts of the comic are absolutely charming because of the emotional undertones which are evenly spread throughout the comic. Scenes like the ones at the orphanage have heart breaking and gut busting scenes taking place on the same page. With Far Arden I was impressed with Cannon’s ability to write an improvised story that had so much energy, heart and fun that also managed to be a good story that had a distinct beginning, middle and end. With Crater XV, Cannon surprised me yet again but this time it was for many of the same reasons as before in addition to his skill in writing believable human drama amidst all of the resurrected space exploration programs, high sea adventures and hilarious mayhem taking place once again in the Canadian high arctic. The situations in which the characters create for themselves are ludicrous but Cannon deals with them with such earnestness that I can’t help but share their pain and their joy. I was sceptical that Cannon would be able to pull off a sequel to the impressive Far Arden but he pulls it off. Cannon’s imagination is seemingly limitless and his cartooning style is very endearing. It’s a killer combination and it would delight fans of adventure stories for many more years. If you haven’t taken the time to read Far Arden, give it go but pick up a copy of Crater XV at the same time because you’ll be looking for it next. 

Far Arden by Kevin Cannon review

Far Arden is a pretty interesting comic even before you read the first page. Written, drawn and lettered by Kevin Cannon, Far Arden is the result of an extension of the 24-hour comic challenge. A friend of his challenged Cannon to attempt “The 288 Hour Graphic Novel Challenge”. The idea is that you would do a 24-hour comic one a month for a whole year. At the end of the twelve months you would have 288 page graphic novel; the whole thing only having taken 288 hours to make 288 pages of story. Cannon was able to maintain the page of one 24-hour challenge per month for four months. Afterwards he continued at the pace of 24 pages per month but he worked on Far Arden in the evenings and on weekends. It's crazy to think that he managed to write a comic that is nearly 400 pages long while continuing to work on other comics projects.  To top things off, Cannon wrote a short comic about the creation of Far Arden in which he explains things much better than I just did. Read about it here:  “The 288 Hour Graphic Novel Challenge”.

The 24-hour challenge has a specific set of rules and Cannon admits to having broken one of them: he came in with ideas for a story. His honestly is appreciated but I think he’s being hard on himself. The idea for his story was rather undeveloped:

 “A crusty sea dog named Army Shanks searches for a mythical tropical island in the middle of the Canadian High Arctic.”

That’s essentially the main story: Army trying to find the mythical island of Far Arden. But it’s also about so much more. Part of the book is a man’s struggle to live up to expectation. It’s about an orphaned boy trying to understand his origins and avenge the death of his father. It’s about a born explorer living in a world that has been completely mapped out and trying to find purpose for his life. It’s about a woman having an adventure and just enjoying herself in the High Arctic, about a misguided young man learning to do what’s right. It’s about so many different things with a single constant throughout, it’s all interrelated with Far Arden as its centre.

The art is as interesting as the story because of the conditions in which Far Arden was created. The art is very fluid. Characters don’t really have elbows or knees. When they punch or kick or gesticulate wildly their limbs form long U-shapes. They look very rubbery. Even splashes of water are drawn to look like they’re made out of clay or some sort of plasticine. The book regularly looks rushed in the first 100 pages or so but I don’t mind for three reasons: 1)He drew each page in approximately one hour per page; 2) The art remains clear; and 3) The rushed art contributes to the sense of energy which is something that the comic strives on. The art tends to be clearer when panels focus on characters’ upper torso and face. I simply enjoy the overly expressive and freestyle storytelling taking place on every single page of Far Arden. It’s quite masterful how Cannon can achieve so much using simple lines.

The writing is also very impressive. Cannon manages to juggle several subplots all at once happening in many different geographical areas. All of the characters are linked in one way or another and the story weaves in and out of so many different subplots that the reader feels trapped in a whirlpool of a story but it’s all told with such clarity that is makes for a very enjoyable read. Cannon is also surprisingly adept at conveying strong emotions and getting big laughs from one page to the next. Far Arden is a very, very funny read but it’s also have its fair share of heart wrenching moments.

Even though it’s a funny read the humour doesn’t get old because the comic isn’t just a comedy. Otherwise, 400 pages of action-centric onomatopoeia sound effects and ridiculous gags would get tiresome before reaching the halfway point. Far Arden is a mixture of nautical adventure, comedy and tragedy. By mixing the story in such a way, Cannon kept me interesting in the comic. It never lets up, not even for a moment, the whole story constantly moving forward. It just happens to also be a very funny comic.

I would like to talk about the ending but it’s the kind of book where I can’t do so without spoiling it and I really wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone because it’s that important to the work as a whole. The ending could be a deal breaking for some of the readers but I think that’s what makes the book work. Cannon has the story move at such a quick pace from the very first chapter that it’s surprising that well past 300 pages the whole thing is still moving at full speed. The story doesn’t quietly slow down to a happy finish, it rolls along at incredible speed and stops sharply, shocking the reader. A quick epilogue then brings the whole thing to a bitter sweet end. The reason it feels so unexpected is because most of the book, up to that point, was either ridiculously enjoyable humour or a fun sea adventure but because of the frenetic pace of the story, it’s easy to forget there was a good helping of dark subplots, evil (or at the very least, misguided) characters and their actions served as a precursor to the powerful ending. It doesn’t come out of left field but because Cannon balance the tone of the book so carefully the darker elements can be missed upon first reading.

If you’re still unconvinced that Far Arden is a uniquely enjoyable read, you can sample a few pages on Kevin Cannon’s website. In fact, you can read the whole thing online. I haven’t post any picture in this review for that reason, they’re all available on his website and you can see them in all their glory there. I’ve recently reread Far Arden because I found out Cannon wrote a sequel: Crater XV. I knew I had forgotten a lot about it and I wanted to refresh my memory before reading the follow up comic. I also remember really enjoying it and so I knew I would have a good time revisiting the work. I did and I’m really, really looking forward to reading Crater XV.