in the series. Although several writers and illustrators collaborated on the various issues, Daniel Noah was the driving force behind the series. He contributed to each story and billed himself as the series’ “showrunner.”

The collection’s only decent story is set in 1983 and written by Christopher Cantwell. A young woman working out of her basement invents a computer device that can repair any damaged computer. She takes her father out to celebrate, only to get involved in a car crash in which he is killed. Somehow, he miraculously returns to life, none the worse for wear. Anyone who has ever encountered a story like this knows that the “miracle” isn’t as wonderful as it first seems. The eventual explanation for Dad’s recovery reminded me of some gloriously bloody moments in similar horror comics.

Unfortunately, the remaining stories in High Strangeness range from mediocre to incomprehensible. The 1967 story is the tale of an investigative magazine reporter (based on the real-life author of The Mothman Prophecies) who is sent to a small town in Indiana to investigate a report of a UFO sighting. Most of the story involves images of the reporter looking like he just guzzled ten gallons of coffee as he hears bizarre noises all around him. Those images were intriguing to see at first, but soon grew tiresome, as did the story’s lack of depth. The 1975 story concerned a Bigfoot encounter. Here, Bigfoot was a pair of large red eyes surrounded by a white mixture of fur and heavy snow that were impossible to tell apart on the pages of the comic. I’m still not sure what the point of the story was other than to posit that Bigfoot exists and shows up in blinding snowstorms.

The 2001 story had some promise, but squandered it. A young woman decides to live her entire life by the result of a coin flip. Eventually, her chance decisions led her to some otherworldly encounters. There didn’t seem to be any reason for her coin-flipping fixation other than to create a few good panel images. Further, the last few pages of the story made very little sense, even by the standards of this subgenre. If the 2001 story made little sense, the “Infinity” story made none whatsoever. As far as I can tell, it’s the story of a woman who turns blue and then has encounters with giant grasshopper aliens against a backdrop that resembles a psychedelic painting from the 1960s. Bigfoot, the investigative reporter from 1967, and the coin-flipping woman all show up in this story as well.

A series of essays by various writers follows the stories. Except for Daniel Noah, none of the essay writers received credit for any of the stories in High Strangeness. As I read the stories, it immediately became clear to me that these writers were true believers in UFOs, Bigfoot, out-of-body experiences, and the other phenomena they reported. They described their own encounters with the paranormal and otherworldly in the essays. The bios that accompany the essays showed that most of these writers are veteran paranormal reporters, with their own podcasts and published writings. The writers’ overwrought tone made the essays resemble writings from a religious tract designed to convince readers of some essential Truth. For example, podcaster Michael Phillip describes his out-of-body experience: “Liftoff occurred. Mentally, I still felt like me but not physically. I became something else. Not quite electricity, not quite water, but something like a vibrational synthesis between the two.” With some skillful editing, Phillips’ description might have formed the basis for a decent short story. As a purported factual description, it was underwhelming.

High Strangeness Deluxe Edition was a major disappointment for me, especially after having read some of Oni’s other recent comic book editions. Mostly, the stories are confusing or annoying, with artwork that quickly overwhelms readers. One essay by Timothy Renner on the history of Bigfoot sightings was informative but not persuasive. However, the remaining essays were dull, pedantic, and annoying. High Strangeness certainly lived up to its name. Strange, it was. However, entertaining, informative, or convincing, it was not.  

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.