Harrow County #16

Script: Cullen Bunn
Art and lettering: Tyler Crook
Publisher: Dark Horse

This month's issue of Harrow County is the conclusion to the series' 4th arc, bringing some closure on the without answering all the questions posed on previous issue. Bunn and Crook have been building up this universe at a slow and steady pace and while every arc feels somewhat self-contained and thus every trade is something you could hand to the proverbial new reader, the creative team has always seemed happy to end their stories with some ambiguity.

Despite being very far removed from superhero stories, Harrow County deals with many classic themes from that genre. This is a story about Emmy and her power, and the morality of her actions has been the plot's main thread for most of the series. But because this is not an action-oriented, Bunn can dispose of the antagonists without a long fight scene. It does feel anticlimactic but it serves the book right, after all Emmy, our protagonist, basically wants to be left alone. The mix of familiar themes with somewhat unorthodox execution can be disconcerting but Bunn and Crook have found their own, distinct tone for the series.

And while the story being told in Harrow County is good (I'm very obviously invested in these characters), the highlight of the book for me has been Tyler Crook's art. Crook might be my favorite artist working right now, his versatily is unheard of in modern day comics. He draws, colors, and letters the series and he excels at all of those things. There are so many aspects of how this comic looks that I love, from the seamless inclussion of sound effects into certain scenes to the coloring of the big forest outside Harrow County. The artist chooses a dark tone of red for the walls of the lodge where the coven of witches keeping Emmy captive and that makes the panels that gives this issue a menacing undertone. And the scenes where Emmy and Odessa go up against each other and their powers manifest look amazing against that crimson backdrop.

The serialized back-ups, written by Crook and drawn by Brian Hurtt and Matt Kindt ends with this issue as well. The story followed one of the bodyguards of Kammi, Emmy's evil twin, as he went to jail and plotted revenge.. against her creator!! I was kind of dissapointed when I found out the story because I'm afraid of change and I had liked the previous one-shots a lot but the story stands on its own and I've liked Matt Kindt's watercolours since I read the first volume of Mind MGMT (I should probably finish reading that one soon).

One of the books I look forward to the most every month, Harrow County delivers another quality issue. Tyler Crook's art keeps getting better and better with every issue, and his lines alone are worth the price of admission.