Tales From Harrow County #1

Tales From Harrow County #1

Dark Horse Comics 2021

Written by Cullen Bunn

Illustrated by Emily Schnall

Lettered by Tyler Crook

Fresh off the loss of her goblin friend to a strange portal, Bernice must weigh her responsibilities as protector of Harrow County with her desire to get her companion back safe and sound. But the past weighs heavily and the fair folk use Bernice's and her memories against her. And something more disastrous than she could have feared may be around the corner to threaten both the worlds of humans and of haints.

What an absolutely delightful and charming book this is and I really like that this is set way in the future after the events of Emmy leaving. I also love the fact that Bernice having known what happened and having been a part of it all knew what she could do about it afterwards. Magic isn’t gone just because Emmy left but many folks were happy to forget that whole episode actually happened, even if they had help in forgetting. There is something magical about this place and these characters that makes it such a pleasure to revisit. Also that we’re seeing things being expanded and that there is so much more to Bernice than anyone could have thought is just pure magic in and of itself.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter really does wonders in how we see them portrayed. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we’re transported back into the feelings we had for the original run.

I am enjoying the way that we see thig being structured and how the layers within the story being to emerge and grow. I like the avenues we see opening up here and how they show Bernice’s life now and what she’s got planned. The layers within these avenues whether they work with the main arc or circle around it add depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved extremely well.

I am loving the interiors here. The linework is fantastic and how we see the varying weights and techniques bing utilised to create the detail work is great to see. When we see backgrounds utilised they do wonders in enhancing the moments and bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The creativity and imagination that we see is delightfully rendered and particularly like their guide. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is divine and how how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is incredibly well rendered. I am really impressed with how the colour adds dimension and depth with its brushstrokes.

​

I really thought we’d get to see more of Emmy and what she was up to when she left but I’m more than pleasantly surprised and far more interested in what we’re seeing here. The cliffhanger style ending is a great way to ensure we’ll be back but lets be honest we are all coming back regardless of how the issue ended. Though now I’m more curious than ever about the friend she was originally looking for. With some great writing and characterisation along with the most charming interiors make this a welcome addition to the franchise.