Harrow County #18

Harrow County #18
Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: November 23rd, 2015.
Written by: Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by: Carla Speed McNeil
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The opening sequence of this eighteenth issue of Harrow County shows us that the meeting lodge would just appear during 'times of strife,' somehow it knew when it was time for a conclave. None in the family would refuse its call, but on this on particular occasion, it seems that Malachi had the gumption to do just that. Nobody knows where he is, not even Amaryllis.

Levi starts to get mouthy about this, accusing Malachi of creating laws that he expects others to abide by but not honoring those laws himself. He gives quite a dramatic speech to the others that is interrupted when Malachi himself shows up and accuses him of killing his brother. Malachi denies it and blames 'the long pigs' - he says that they thought they were killing the mythical beast, 'Ol Buck,' the subject of their folk stories. Malachi knows that one of their own had a hand in this, however. He leaves the room. He's done with this. He intended to bring Hester into the fold, but instead leaves her there with the others, instructing them to raise her as he raised them.

Emmy is hearing all of this second hand from the beast that Malachi thought to be dead as the two of them stroll through the woods of Harrow County in the middle of the night. They talk of Hester, how Malachi left her expecting she'd work his well on the family in his place but how he instead planted a bitter seed in her heart. Malachi created her, just like Hester would go on to create so many others, and for better or worse she was the closest thing to an actual human he ever created. She was supposed to take his place and turn the family into something better.

And then we learn just what she took from Malachi's tutorage, how the family came to fear her. Amaryllis took her under her wing only to suffer a foul betrayal, and what happened to Malachi, what he became, after he left…

This is a big one, an issue that ties together a lot of the loose threads from the last four of five issues in a completely surprising way while still leaving the door open for plenty more mystery and weirdness in the issues to come. Bunn's story is engaging - sometimes touching and sometimes terrifying but always one that pulls you in. And just when you think that the story is losing focus on Emmy, its central character from the very start, the rug gets pulled out from under you in the best way you can imagine. The background details on Hester's origins are really well told, she's at once captivating and sensual but also wholly bestial and completely sinister. There's a great dichotomy there, and you have to wonder how much of that will eventually take hold of Emmy's future.

Guest artist Carla Speed McNeil, still filling in for series regular Tyler Crook, does a beautiful job of bringing all of this to life. The scenes of horror deliver plenty of impact, there are a few panels here that really stick in your craw and get under your skin, but the quieter moments have a nice sense of… ominous intent to them that sort of bubbles up underneath. There's a lot of great detail here, some really gorgeous line work and panel layouts. Jenn Manley Lee's coloring job is also excellent. This series is always great, but this issue is the best one on some time. So much of what came in the issues before builds to this that you can't help but be a little blown away by it all.

The back pages have a few interesting letters from readers, some of which tell their own weird tales, and a Tales Of Harrow County one pager entitled Priscilla written by Tyler Crook and illustrated by Aud Koch.