Emmy’s newfound ‘family’ welcome her into the wider world with open arms. But the promise of power and answers comes coupled with a direct threat to the home she’s built herself in Harrow County.
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Tyler Crook
Emmy has learned that she is not as alone in the world as she thought. Other beings, each possessing dark and terrifying powers, have arrived in Harrow, and they claim to be her true family. They promise to reveal the mysteries of her origin and the truth about the evil witch Hester Beck, but if she accepts their claims, she may condemn everyone she’s ever known
The idea of family has been a recurring one throughout Bunn and Crook’s glittering horror comic. Whether it’s Emmy’s realisation that she’s ‘related’ to wayward witch Hester Beck, the revelation that so many of the townsfolk of Harrow County are less blood relatives and more mud relatives, or the more subtle examinations of the fraternal bond between small town folk, complex family dynamics seem to be a fundamental part of the fabric of this book. Last issue saw Bunn add another dimension to “Harrow County”s familial bent with the introduction of an ancient cabal of beings ready to claim Emmy as one of their own.
“Harrow County” #15 carries on pretty much immediately from the events of the previous issue, as Odessa, the most maternal member of this council, takes Emmy on a stroll through Harrow County and expands her horizons. It’s revealed that this collection of individuals have been around for as long as any of them can recall, shaping the world with their varied gifts, and dabbling in the lives of the mortals around them. Hester was once counted amongst their number, but her increasingly power hungry actions finally earned her exile from the group, and trigger the series of events that spiralled all the way to the formation of her homunculi and possibly of Harrow County itself. Most importantly, Odessa reveals that Emmy’s potential is far greater than she first thought. With the right tutelage, Odessa believes that Emmy could become the strongest witch the world has ever seen, but to do so she first needs to step out of Hester’s shadow, a decision that could have devastating ramifications for the inhabitants of Harrow County.
If this seems like a lot of information to absorb in a single issue, that’s probably because it is. In a less skilled writer’s hands, this level of world-building could come across as clunky and forced. But Bunn manages to effortlessly expand the borders of the county he’s built for Emmy and Co without the extra mythos seeming incongruous or forced. There’s something so smooth and homespun about Bunn’s dialogue that Odessa’s monologuing feels fluid and in character, rather than simply like a functional exposition dump.
And speaking of strolling through Harrow County, I struggle to think of an artist who I’d prefer to take me on a peaceful pastoral romp more than Crook. His soft shifting watercolours are just as mesmerising when their depicting the verdant greens and browns of nature as they are conjuring up countless haints and horrors. Bunn doesn’t give Crook too much in the way of out and out magic in this issue, as the majority of “Harrow County” #15 is taken up by Emmy and Odessa’s conversation. But Crook’s delicate faces and strong use of two-shot panels means that this exchange undulates and shifts in a fascinating way. Crook manages to capture a potent mixture of respect, intrigue, suspicion, and fear that flows both ways between these characters, and it’s great fun to watch it develop.
As Odessa and Emmy make their way through the county, Bunn has Emmy greet a few tertiary characters, who all shower her with good-natured greetings. Initially, it seems like nothing more than set dressing, but as the issue continues Odessa points out that the influence Emmy has garnered for herself feels perilously close to the thrall that Hester held her subjects under. This observation, while understated, twists the whole issue so subtly that it honestly made me gasp out loud. Bunn’s control over the world he’s building is commendable, and the breadcrumb trail of clues that he leaves are what make this horror book truly sinister. It’s little touches like this that give me faith that, no matter how large and sprawling the story of “Harrow County” becomes, Bunn will still be able to pull us back to the deliciously unsettling core of the narrative.
Continued belowThis issue also gives us a bit of an understanding of the different powers of the new ‘family’ of witches that Bunn and Crook touched on in the previous issue. There’s a fantastically evocative montage of panels that show the variety of powers and personalities that we’re about to dive into, from Odessa’s seemingly nurturing connection to nature right through to Corbin’s bloody necromancy. Crook is able to capture something of the spirit of each of these characters with a single image for each. It’s a teasing glimpse of a host of powers that we’ve, as of yet, not really explored in the world of Harrow County, and it feels like a pregnant promise that we’ve only scratched the surface of the magic on offer.
With the introduction of these new, ancient figures, as powerful as they are morally ambiguous, Bunn has upped the potential scale of his story considerably, from the borders of Harrow County to the rest of the world. This sudden, seismic shift in the focus of what has been, up until this point, quite a contained story, could make for a big change in the style of stories being told here. It’s a gamble, considering the critical and commercial success that “Harrow County” has been receiving for its current run, but with only one more issue left of this arc, perhaps it’s time to shake things up a bit. Whatever direction Bunn and Crook decide to take this book, one thing’s for sure: the promise of more magic and more convoluted family drama means that I’ll definitely be picking up the next issue.
Final Veridict: 8.4 – Simmering with a slow-burning sense of peril, “Harrow County” remains a must read for fans of horror, as well as fans of solid storytelling.
