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 ; Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards ) proves himself a master spinner of yarns with Far Arden . Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Newcomers to Cannon’s 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 world’s most energetic storytellers, and his minimalist artwork, far from cramping its subject matter, has its own eye-catching charm. --Carl Hays