Review: Harrow County #16

Harrow County #16 isn’t what you think it is. According to contemporary comic narrative structure, this issue should be the climax of the arc. This should be the part of the story which settles all of the recent questions brought up in that past couple issues, while also possibly settling some of the major questions which have plagued the series since it’s beginning. But it doesn’t do that. It doesn’t give you the answers you want. Instead, it continues to build, aiming high to make something that doesn’t fit the normal five issue arc. Depending on how you read it, it could be a sub-par conclusion or an interesting end to a long introduction. When most of us start reading a series, we expect there to be a structure we are familiar with. Four to six issues should be a complete storyline. These issues should contain a beginning, middle, and an end. And these issues should answer a few questions. From its onset, Harrow County has denied us this sense of knowing. Subjects like The Abandoned, Emmy’s magical limitations, even the history of Harrow County itself still remain, for the most part, unknown. Writer Cullen Bunn keeps all of these details smoldering under his hat, occasionally letting us catch a whiff of what they might be. For the most part, this has worked well, with the lingering mysteries at the heart of the series bringing readers back issue by issue. However, in this issue, and the few issues preceding it, the lack of answers makes the narrative come across a little uneven. Small Spoilers Ahead.

As I said earlier, this comic felt like it was supposed to be a climax. This most recent arc has been centered around Emmy’s “true family.” They have all come together to discuss Emmy’s future and by extension the future of Harrow County. When to tell Emmy that they have decided to destroy Harrow and all of its inhabitants, it becomes clear that this was their endgame. This is the moment when Emmy must defeat them or join them. I was a little-taken aback by the idea that these new characters would be leaving so soon. I really enjoyed these characters, all of whom are compelling and have interesting abilities. And in addition to leaving, I was also surprised at how little of a fight they put up. Now granted Emmy may have gotten free thanks to a loophole in their rules. But I feel that now that we have a definition of Emmy’s power, all of the others in the group seem small by comparison. I feel like the stakes have been lowered a bit since Emmy seems to be the most powerful witch in existence.

Not that there are no strong points in this issue. A small portion of the story sheds some light on “The Abandoned” (or as I refer to him, the big yellow-eyed bull monster). Which until this point has remained one of the bigger mysteries in the series. This scene is especially gratifying because of the members of Emmy’s true family; Levi is the one who interacts with it. I don’t want to give anything away but let's just say that because Levi seems to be one of the higher ups in the family, this scene has, even more, weight than it would have with another character.

The art continues to make Harrow one of the best books out there. Haunting and dark, I have yet to come across an issue that doesn’t deliver. Whether they’re drawing sweeping landscapes on the title page, conveying a massive wasteland through a single panel, or projecting menace in a close-up, each one is crafted with the same care and attention to detail.

If you read this comic like I did the first time around, you will probably be disappointed. This isn’t a climax issue. This is a plateau, an experiment in how comics are told. It’s one of those issues that’s true worth won’t be known until the arc is resolved. Despite its flaws, it’s still one of the better books out there. And if the story is going where I think it’s going, I think the real answers should be coming in soon.

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Harrow County #16 Writer: Cullen Bunn Artist: Tyler Crook Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

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Review: Conan the Slayer #2

I was originally going to frame this issue as another solid comic, a good pick for fans of the sword and sorcery genre and Conan lovers. But something about that treatment didn’t seem right to me. So I reread it a few times and then I went back and took a look at issue #1 of this series. That was when it hit me. This isn’t just a good comic; it’s a stepping-stone. I read the first issue of Conan the Slayer the old-fashioned way. It was before I was working here on the site, so I went to a shop and bought a copy. In the first few pages, I noticed something wrong. In Conan’s first dramatic panel, the narrator describes his attack as silent, making a point to say that a lesser man would have screamed as he turned to engage his pursuers. On the same page the art depicts Conan jumping out from behind a boulder, eyes wide and mouth open, clearly screaming. I bring this up because that panel is a great summary of the comic. It felt off-balance, like Cullen Bunn and Sergio Davila hadn’t found their groove yet. This issue, on the other hand, feels like they’ve found their flow.

Davila’s style is great for this genre. Kinetic and full of energy, Davila has a talent for connecting action. The layouts are simple but efficient, mirroring the barbarian’s ability to slice through his enemies. There are a few great bloody splash pages, a staple of the Conan series. His monsters are also creepy and well detailed. A huge improvement over the last issue, I think Davila is just starting to get a feel for the series, I’m hoping for more great panels to come.

As for the plot, Bunn isn’t playing any games. The story is straightforward for most of the issue, ending with a twist that is surprising but not out of left field. He does an excellent job of hinting at his intent to surprise. This issue revolves around the family of a tribe leader Conan has befriended. The leader of the tribe and his sons are not the deepest of characters, but each has a clear motivation. As for Conan, he’s a little bit older in this series, cynical but at this point in his life it’s a hard-earned cynicism. We’re still early in the story, but given the twist at the end of this issue, the ending is still open-ended.

My only real critique of this issue revolves around character design. I don’t know if it was a collaborative process or strictly Davila or Bunn’s doing, but the tribe’s leader, Mykylo, and his two sons, Taraslan and Kyrylo, do not make any kind of design sense. First, Mykylo the father, is a white guy with a light brown Mohawk and mustache, leading a group of people who look nothing like him. Both his sons as well as every other tribe member in the community have very different facial features and black hair (everyone pretty much has the same body builder tan). It really doesn’t make any sense and I hope there is some kind of explanation later in the book. At least that way he would make some kind of sense in the narrative. The bigger problem with him is that once again the creators have put a white guy in charge. There is really no reason to do that. It makes the story harder to tell because now you have an audience wondering why there is a white guy running the show. If the creators had stated that the tribe was a multicultural one, it would be fine, but according to the younger brother Kyrylo, they see themselves as an individual ethnic group.

Speaking of sons, their character design also presents a confusing problem. The oldest son, Taraslan, is set to become the next leader of the tribe, but when compared to his younger brother Kyrylo, he appears years younger. It is as if Davila has intentionally made him look less mature than his younger brother. It’s a small problem, but it does take me out of the story a bit when I have to remind myself that the older brother isn’t the one with the stronger features and mustache. The older one is the baby-faced guy with the little tuff of hair. Can we at least give the Taraslan a decent man-bun?! Or have his hair be at an impressive length? This could be intentional; it is possible the creators are trying to emphasize Taraslan naïve personality by giving him a younger feel. I can understand their effort, but when you have characters this early in the series, and they are pretty much solely defined by their position to the leader, this type of design does more harm than good.

These are small problems. And in some case, my critiques can still be fixed through storytelling. Overall this issue is a dramatic improvement from the last issue. I feel as though the team is working their way up. The pacing is there, and the art feels strong enough to deliver. It’s problems still bring it down to the ranking of “good”, but it’s a “good” that has the potential for more.

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Conan the Slayer Writer: Cullen Bunn Artist: Sergio Davila Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

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