Harrow County by Cullen Bunn & Tyler Crook
The Dylan Dog Case Files by Tiziano Sclavi
Reviewed by Craig Brownlie
Comics may be the most unforgiving medium. We often encounter them at a young age because their combination of picture and text is deemed a bridge to “real” reading. This can lead to dragging Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes off to a safe chair to read in the privacy of your own head. That intimacy breeds expectations.
We want words and art which combine seamlessly in support of a story which flows from panel to panel with an understanding of the space between those panels. In this regard, we expect the 400-page graphic novel to function as well as the single-issue story told in 22 pages. Equal are the expectations that the epic tale flow as smoothly as the three-panel daily strip.
When it happens, the heart overflows. When it happens in a story appropriate for the adult as well as the inner child, then joy becomes uncontainable.
Harrow County brought me joy. Don’t let me confuse. It was… harrowing. The twists came at the right moments. My emotions floated and fell to an unpredictable rhythm, yet effective. I love a good Eisner riff with title cards and Harrow County is full of gorgeous first pages. This is the story of a young woman coming of age in rural America and facing the supernatural origins of herself and her surroundings.
Dylan Dog is a human supernatural detective in the vein of Jules de Grandin and all those who have followed Seabury Quinn’s creation. He is based in London. The original comics were published in Italy, but Dark Horse brought out a collected edition in 2009. These were a massive seller internationally and worth the trouble to locate if you like Hellboy or Harry Dresden. Tiziano Sclavi created Dylan Dog and works with a different artist through each story arc (or case file). Uniformly, the storytelling is excellent.
The Dylan Dog Case Files and Harrow County are not reinventing the wheel here. They are essentially taking deep dives into the eternal fight between good and evil. They have done all the heavy lifting of creating interesting characters in whom readers invest. Interesting settings abound. Set pieces flow. Background is shared at an appropriate pace. But the delivery method requires an extra shot of creativity and collaboration. Because Cullen Bunn & Tyler Crook, Tiziano Sclavi & Angelo Stano, Andrea Venturi, Giampiero Casertano, Luigi Piccatto, Bruno Brindisi made the investment, their tales differentiate themselves from what can be done in other media. Consume comics like these for the special relationship you can have with words and pictures.
Just to veer for a moment, I have suddenly been hearing and seeing “haint” all over the place, which I was reminded of by Harrow County. I knew the word, but it had been a long time. Maybe this graphic novel is catching on or I just missed the memo that another folk term would be having a moment. I hope it’s the former.
Before I wander away from your eye sockets, let me sing the praises of newsletters that offer reading recommendations. I had read a number of works by Cullen Bunn but had not touched Harrow County. That changed because Sadie Hartman included it in her list of graphic novels to read. So many suggestions and reviews fly across the ether that it can be hard to pay attention. For me, I pay attention to Hartman, the suggestions of other authors, and the reviews right here on good old https://www.uncomfortablydark.com/.
Bring a flashlight under your blankets when you read these highly recommended books!
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BIO FOR CRAIG BROWNLIE
Craig Brownlie was born in East Orange, New Jersey, and grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. Among other endeavors, he has washed dishes, spun records on the radio, directed and designed stage shows, joined the Pennsylvania and Federal Bar Associations, and managed software development projects.
Look for Craig's recent work in Demons and Death Drops, No More Resolutions, Lovecraftiana, Sci-Fi Lampoon Magazine, and Unspeakable Horrors 3. He will have three books out by mid-October in his Little Books of Pain series: Hammer, Nail, Foot, Thick As A Brick, and A Book of Practical Monsters. These are in addition to the re-release of his middle-grade novel Comic Book Summer.
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