Unlike the first two story arcs (Countless Haints and Twice Told) of Dark Horse's Harrow County comic book series, this third volume, Snake Doctor, is neither here nor there. It consists of three stories (and not just one, as was the case with its predecessors), and neither is very engaging, thorough or conclusive. They feel like vignettes and chunks of potentially good ideas, but possess not a coherent length to sustain a narrative worth being moved or enchanted by.
In the first story of Snake Doctor, the series creator and writer Cullen Bunn returns, but this time with a new artist, Carla Speed McNeil. Their tale consists of a mysterious drifter who arrives in Harrow County late at night, and then proceeds to harass Emmy's friend, the skinless boy, about the absolute necessity and need to discover his own name. By the time we reach the end of the tale, the effect is anti-climactic and less than stellar. The only thing that shines throughout is McNeil's artwork, which vibrates with life and atmosphere in every single frame.
In the longest tale of the volume, young Bernice tries to solve the new local problem with venomous snakes in HC, and her plight will lead her to Lovely Belfont, an old woman long believed to be a witch by everyone in the community. As Bernice is told a little bit about the snakes' history, she is also pulled into the art of witchcraft, as the last few pages hint at. The fact that this tale supposedly includes a "to be continued..." at its end, and doesn't actually continue, leaves this reviewer a bit puzzled. However, the artwork by the series original Tyler Crook is strong and creepy.
The last and the least of the three tales brings back our heroine from the prior two volumes, the young witch Emmy, and it involves her helping a needy family rid their house of an otherwordly evil. As still written by Bunn, this tale introduces us to new artist of the series, Hannah Christenson, and her illustrations are just too inconsistent, and therefore a far cry from the previous styles that befit this series more appropriately. All in all, Harrow County is still a very relevant and effective series, and Snake Doctor is proof that for every couple of influential and successful tales (as in the first two volumes), there is a less than inspired three-quel. Let's hope this is just a minor bump in an otherwise very strong and solid road.
C+
No comments:
Post a Comment