When the supernatural hits you, it never lets go. This type of phenomena comes in various forms and varying degrees of being lethal. One of the most common is the witch’s curse. Cullen Bunn takes this on in “Harrow County†with art by Tyler Crook in one of the better-written horror stories to date.
A convicted witch was hanged and burned on a tree in Harrow County. Years later a farm girl named Emmy keeps having nightmares about the tree that keeps calling to her. On the eve of her 18th birthday Emmy falls head on into the horrors surrounding the tree.
This is essentially the set up to a late 80s/early 90s horror movie. Though to be fair the first issue does read like it is better written than most of those movies. Emmy does come off as a well-developed character with an identifiable persona, wants and needs.
The curse in this story so far is handled pretty well. It is not rubbed in your face and the only important thing in the story. Bunn does the right thing by having Emmy slowly come into contact with it and spends most of the story developing Emmy as a character.
One of the downfalls comic book writers fall into is wanting to write narration into their comic. Usually this causes harm in the comic by bringing the action to a grinding halt rather than aiding it. Here, Bunn’s narration does help with the story. However, there are times where it does fall into that trap, making the reader skim over it. These instances aren’t plentiful, though.
Crook’s art can be described as a comic book version of Southern Gothic art. The way Crook brings this farm which is normally peaceful, hard working scene and uses colors to make it scary. The colors used look a lot like watercolors, especially when he uses reds and oranges. It actually works well and makes for a rather eye pleasing comic.
The first issue of “Harrow County†is a great start to what may be a great series. The writing and characters are strong and the art works perfectly with the setting. Though not being that scary, it does look like it’s promising to make readers jump out of their seats.
Leave a Reply