Harrow County, Vol. 3: A Encantadora de Serpentes

Harrow County

by Cullen Bunn

O Rapaz sem Pele tenta compreender os mistérios do seu passado, Emmy investiga uma casa assombrada, e umas serpentes maléficas infectaram as mentes dos habitantes do Holler. E só Bernice poderá opor-se a este novo mal – mas será que pedir ajuda à sombria e temível Lovey Belfont a vai colocar num perigo ainda maior?

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Supernatural

136 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2016

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the first thing I should mention is that I haven't been able to read volume 2 of Harrow county yet. Apparently, something happened to my library's copy, so after a few months of waiting...? Yeah, I just decided to go ahead and read this anyway.



But even without having read the previous storyline, I still thought this was pretty cool. The issues seem somewhat self-contained, even if they're interconnected as a whole. I'm sure I missed out on quite a bit doing it the way I did, but it really couldn't be helped.



I really do enjoy the backwoods country-voodoo vibe this has. Spooky redneck magic is just inherently scary to everyone.
Or is that just the superstitious southern girl in me talking?
Nah. Skinless Boy is fucking freaky - I don't care who you are.


I'm looking forward to continuing on with it when I can get my hands on whatever comes next.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of smaller stories, 2 of which feature guest artists. The first story is about the skinless boy and a mysterious stranger who appears to be a threat to Emmy. Then we get a 2 parter focusing on Bernice where she meets a snake charmer so to speak, which leads into a larger story later. Finally, Emmy takes on a haunted house. I like how the townspeople are realizing Emmy is a good person and warming up to her. Tyler Crook only illustrates two of the issues and he's sorely missed on the other two. It's amazing to me how much his art is a part of the story as Cullen Bunn's writing.

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cullen Bunn’s wonderfully imaginative southern-fried horror series continues. This volume's centerpiece is a creepy two-parter about a witch and her poisonous snakes, beautifully illustrated by regular artist Tyler Crook. It is one of the most haunting story arcs so far, and it comes book-ended by two one-shots, both illustrated by guest artists. The first one, centered on the skinless boy’s encounter with a mysterious stranger, is also very good; the second one, about a haunted house, a bit weaker. At the end of the day, though, Crook’s lush, organic-looking visuals are the perfect match for the rich, Gothic folklore of Harrow County, so here’s hoping he’ll be around for the rest of this great series!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume collects a two-part story by the regular creative team bookended by two one-shot stories illustrated by guest artists. Unfortunately, neither of the guest artists are up to Tyler Crook's standard and it makes this volume feel a bit like filler material.

It's a shame, because the two-parter in the middle is excellent and the one-shots aren't bad stories in themselves. I just couldn't get past the feeling the book was killing time until they could get back to the main story.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third volume of a "southern gothic fairy tale" is maybe a tad less good than the first two volumes, overall, but the Bunn-Crook team does the middle two issues and these two are just about the best work they have done on this series. Tyler Crook just keeps getting better and better on this one. Hannah Christenson and Carla Speed McNeil book-end those two issues with good work, without question, but for this volume it sort of pales next to the artwork of Crooks. And the middle issues tale sets up the next volume, for sure. I might say 3.5 or so, but I definitely am going to still keep reading. I like (the main character) Emmy very much, I like how the town supports her in her work. I like that rural southern talk. I like the snake story. Creepy. What the heck, I'll round up that 3.5 to a 4, the more I think of it.

[L. McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is sure building up!

What is it about?
There’s some weird things happening in Harrow County, mostly involving snakes.

Pros:
The stories are pretty interesting. It’s definitely building up which I like. I enjoyed getting more history of the county here.
Most of the art is awesome and works very well for the tone and creepiness of this book.
The characters are very interesting and well written.
The horror is so well done! It actually scared me because of the theme... snakes! F*** snakes, I can’t stand them, it doesn’t matter how cartoony you make them, if I see it I get paranoid that something’s crawling up my leg or snuck into the house and before you know it- bite, ouch, death. So yeah, the theme this time scares me, good job.
This story continues to be very suspenseful.

Cons:
This volume unfortunately is not as exciting as usual.
Most of the art is good but there’s a reason I say most. The final issue in this collection has terrible art. It’s messy and Emmy is meant to be a pretty, young woman- she looks like a fugly old man in that final issue. I hope that the artist change is just for that issue.

Overall:
This series is still good though I think it goes downhill after the first volume. Still good and interesting, I’d still recommend it but I unfortunately don’t love it as much as I did when I first started the series.

4/5

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep waiting for this one to break through to the heights of Bunn's work on The Sixth Gun, but it just never quite gets there, at least until the 2-part story arc focused on Emmy's friend Bernice and the witchy-woman Lady Lovey. Wow, was that good, from the folkloric aspects of the story to the lovingly-rendered art by Tyler Crook. Unfortunately, this is book-ended by two very lesser stories, each with a different guest artist. Hannah Christenson's work on the haunted house one-off is definitely not up to the standard set by Crook. So, I guess I'm still waiting for this comic to really take off for me. There are signs here and there, but it hasn't happened yet.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

First volume with an unfinished arc..

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third volume of the Harrow County tales isn't quite as good as the first two volumes.

It starts out well. The first story is well done and creepy. The stories about Bernice and the young kid Clinton are of a slightly lower quality. The final story with Emmy was the weakest of all. The art quality had really gone downhill by the last story.

Still the first few stories, while not of the caliber of Vol 1&2, are pretty good. The artwork seems to be going downhill, with the culmination of its lowest quality reserved with the last story. That being said Harrow County still pulls off the weird creepy vibe. But, it's almost as if they needed some time to develop Emmy's story and so decided to cover Bernice, her friend and the young Clinton.

If you enjoyed Vol 1&2 then you will likely enjoy this one. Though, I felt the overall quality of the stories to be less than the first two volumes' tales- I am hoping this was a one off "mediocre" issue. Hopefully this will not be the start of a downhill slope.

Thus Harrow County continues to do what it does well-tell a creepy story. The quality of the artwork and the story seems to not be to the high standards of the previous Volumes but this is no reason to not read this excellent series. Let's hope Volume 4 goes strong.

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

Very disjointed. And the final issue with the guest artist totally sucks @$$ - I think I drew better at 8. (Yeah I know, everyone says that.) I hope this story has a focus again - and the original artist, Tyler Crook! Because it's kinda becoming very bland and meh.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was a little all over the place and I didn't care for the artist change in issue 12 (I'm hoping it was a temporary thing!), but otherwise, another great volume. It was neat to learn more about our little skinless boy familiar. ♥

✨ Representation: Black side characters

✨ Content warnings for: violence, gore

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harrow County continues it's dark and moody adventure but this time we take a little side step into smaller, self contained stories.

This is where we learn of the evil that might be plotting against our hero witch. It actually centers on Skinless Boy running around while the mysterious man tries to either trick him or force him to turn. Then we have another story about the Snake Lady! It's almost fairy tale like and the ending gives a character more meaning. The last issue really focuses on Emmy going to a house to see if she can help a family but when it all turns against her we get a little clue on where the next arc might go!

Good: The skinless boy might not talk much but just him following around the new big evil is pretty great. I also enjoyed the Snake Lady tale which leads to some interesting moments and a little bit more background of why everyone hates witches.

Bad: The art isn't the same throughout and sometimes it looks pretty poor in comparison to the regular art. I also thought the last issue was just okay and while the ending was neat it didn't blow me away.

Overall a solid, good volume but the weakest so far. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In volume 3, the story of Harrow County shifts focus slightly to Emmy’s childhood friend, Bernice. After the discovery that she herself was part of the sordid history of Harrow County, Bernice struggles with how to understand her place in it and how to be friends with someone who has the kind dark power (whether she uses it or not) that Emmy does. While trying to find a lost friend, Bernice stumbles upon the path to the house of a woman rumored to be a dangerous witch and finds herself entangled with a different sort of power.



I’ve enjoyed Bernice as a character since her introduction as Emmy’s friend in Countless Haints so it was really fun to see more of her perspective on the events in Harrow County. After having discovered the strange origins of the people in Harrow County (including herself), Bernice is really struggling with her identity and the kind of questions that that kind of experience brings up. After all, if you’re made out of mud, do you count as a person? What does Emmy’s connection to the witch Hester Beck mean for Bernice and the other less powerful residents of the town? And how do you stay friends with someone whose own history is directly responsible for your life and could take it away at any moment if she turned evil? I like seeing more of Harrow County from Bernice’s perspective and particularly because she doesn’t feel like a stereotype. Her confusion and frustrations really help to make her a very compelling character.

While volume 1 introduced Bernice as a sidekick/BFF type character, in Snake Doctor, Bernice gets to explore her own path a bit and separate herself from Emmy. I’m looking forward to seeing where Bunn and Crook take Bernice in future volumes and whether this path is going to lead her into conflict with Emmy.

Full series review here

[Amanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume contains a single issue story about the boy whose skin has become a mostly separate entity from his body, a two issue story about Emmy's only friend, and a single issue story about Emmy freeing a family from their haunted house (while also making them homeless probably).

This volume is pretty lackluster and doesn't really forward the characters much. The art also has some changes, particularly in the last issue that I personally didn't care for. I like the idea of getting to know the skin boy better but this little teaser story didn't do enough. But once again, these are super quick reads so pick up this volume if you have half an hour to kill.

for more reviews and content please visit my new blog amanjareads.com

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus is on the supporting characters. The last story has not so good artwork. The story with Bernice was great, however.

[Zedsdead · Rating 3 out of 5]

In v3 we abandon a central story arc for a small collection of short stories. Definitely my third favorite of the three volumes so far.

--Uh oh, new bad guy. A smiling hobo hops off a train in Harrow county, waxes nostalgic about long pork, and screws with Skinless Boy's head.
--Bernice runs afoul of yet another misunderstood scary hermit witch and finds herself unexpectedly apprenticed. Also, SNAKES.
--Emmy goes toe to toe with a vicious haunted house. A big artistic step down from the sweet spookiness of the last volume.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my mad dash to get to the conclusion of this horror comic series, I might have forgotten to mention that while you should read these in order, they are in some respects standalone stories. In this installment Emmy is a background character, and two others get the spotlight. There isn't as much character development in this one as the previous two, but the art pulled me though. Those pages with the larder of canned - well I don't want to spoil anything - but honestly I was so creeped out that I had to take a breather.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm tearing through the series and the quality has remained consistently excellent --- so this review will be repeated till a stumble requires alteration.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume, we get some stand-alone stories that do some world-building for Harrow County. But I most enjoyed the middle story that centered on the appealing Bernice. It turns out Emmy doesn’t have the corner on magic, and Bernice becomes an apprentice of sorts to a snake-handling witch who hunts out snakes that are manifestations of evil. This should lead to Bernice being more of a partner to her best friend, which is a promising direction.

Two other artists are featured in chapters one and four and I did not like it at all. They don’t even try to mimic the style of Tyler Crook, and it is his evocative art that defines the series. I have always liked series that were consistent with their author and artist such as Locke and Key, Revival, The Walking Dead, Manifest Destiny and The Wicked & The Divine. (Actual rating 3.5/5)

This review (plus V2 & V4) can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/02/2...

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 estrellas.

Hasta ahora mi menos favorito de los volúmenes que he leído... lo cual no quiere decir que sea malo, sólo que los anteriores eran MUY buenos.

La historia le quita el foco a Emmy y se dirige hacia su querida amiga Bernice. A través de lo que ella está viviendo, se incorporan elementos interesantes que siguen creando ese ambiente de gótico sureño tan característico de este cómic. Por ejemplo, aparecerá otra bruja que vive apartada de todos, en una cabaña y en torno a la cual se escuchan extrañas leyendas... pero como siempre pasa en Harrow County, las cosas no son lo que parecen.

La historia que cierra el volumen me gustó, sin embargo, el estilo de dibujo del artista invitado no me gustó para nada y eso le cortó la magia, como dicen por ahí ¿para qué arreglar algo que no está roto?

En fin, acabó en un cliffhanger buenísimo, ¡no puedo esperar a seguir leyendo!

[Pinkerton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dunque, le storie mi piacciono però qui i capitoli sono slegati fra loro, aggiungeteci una cadenza aperiodica delle uscite dove l’unica costante è un esoso lasso di tempo tra una e l’altra. Inoltre in questo volume su 4 capitoli 2 soli sono illustrati da Crook (il migliore). È un buon fumetto e le tematiche sono intriganti, però ho anche un sacco di riserve per questo non me la sento ancora di promuoverlo o dargli una valutazione degna di nota.

[Aldo Haegemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Valéria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almsot threw up seeing #9 artwork. Besides that all was wonderful as in previous ones.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series, just amazing! The dark mythos of Harrow County in Vol.#3 starts to really expand throughout the telling of Harrow's character backgrounds. Creepy mystery chills here. Brilliant storytelling. On to Vol.#4 soon.

[Des Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less exciting than the first two volumes, Harrow County volume three spends some time away from the main narrative. Instead of a complete arc, we get three short stories, on two of which, Tyler Crook is notably absent. Each story was decent. I want to know more about the hobo, and the spooky house was a fine twist on a ghost tale classic, but without advancing the plot in any meaningful way, these stories read mostly like filler episodes; fine filler episodes, but filler none the less. The guest artists really stick out, changing the book tonally for both of their issues. This is just the sort of unfortunate stuff that happens in comics these days. Maybe I'll be proven wrong down the line, and these short stories will be meaningful in the future, with mighty aha moments sewn into the series' history. For now though, I just wasn't all that excited reading this volume.

[Dennis Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this TPB lower than the two first not due to the story, but the use of other artists and a style that greatly clashes with Tyler Crook's. I really love Crook's take on the characters and the sudden change after so long had a jarring effect and really hurt the book.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Family is falling out of the rotten woodwork!

I think this is what happens when you win the lottery, which Emmy kindasorta did in a long stretch of a way, I suppose.

But can this guy be trusted? And what about Emmy's BFF? What's going on with her?
And who is real? It's so hard to tell.

[Z-squared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have been five stars, but issue four was weak. The art was just not as engrossing or as evocative of the era as the other issues. And episodically, the story in issue four was also the weakest.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah!

Continues to be good and fun to read. Amazing artwork by Mr. Crook as always! \o/