Harrow County, Library Edition, Volume 2: Snake Doctor & Family Tree by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Tyler Crook, Carla Speed McNeil, Hannah Christensen, and Jenn Manley Lee

Dark Horse, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1506710655

Available: Hardcover, Kindle, comiXology

There is so much happening in this second library edition of Harrow County. Eighteen-year-old witch Emmy Crawford feels alone in the world in terms of her abilities, but a group of strangers appear in Harrow County claiming to be her kin. Emmy learns more about her past, opening more questions for her and the reader. Cullen’s storytelling is brilliant, in that the more we find out about not just Emmy, but her friend Bernice, the more intricate and entwined their stories become. I find myself wondering about the future of these young ladies and what their relationship will look like in the future. Finding out more about Hester Beck has also been intriguing. She is a terrifying figure to be sure, especially since we get more than just a glimpse of what she was capable of.

The reader meets the first of these beings when the skinless boy, Emmy’s familiar, is taunted and hounded by a long haired man, Levi, who kills a bird to play it as he walks along. He talks of pickled pigs’ feet being no substitute for his favourite meat, long pig. Levi coaxes the skinless boy to find his home, discovering what he is and who created him. Clinton and Bernice discover there is another witch in Harrow County after the former’s Uncle Early starts acting strangely after confronting a cottonmouth in the berry bushes. When his uncle ends up missing, Clinton goes to Bernice to help find him out at Old Lady Lovey’s cabin. What she finds out about herself in the process will help protect the people of the county. Emmy ventures to Creech’s County after hearing rumors about a haunted house where the children are hunted by something that wishes to do them harm. She soon discovers there is more to the house than she and the family originally thought. Emmy and Bernice hunt for a lost Clinton in the corn field, only to be attacked by the scarecrows. After Bernice is able to fend them off with the help of a gift from Old Lady Lovey, they come face to face with Levi and a hypnotized young Clinton. They are led to the spot by bloody footprints, who Levi introduces as Mildred. He insists they are related to Emmy, but she is a hard one to convince. When he takes her to meet the rest of her kin, her decision to go with him could mean the destruction of Harrow County.

This library edition collects volumes three and four of Harrow County and includes a sketchbook with notes by Crook, McNeil, and Christenson, essays, and more. The short comics under the title “Tales of Harrow County” written by Tyler Crook with art by David Ruben, the amazing Kate Leth, Kel McDonald, Brian Hurt, Matt Kindt, and Jessica Mahon, are a great addition to the second library edition.

Contains: some blood and gore

Highly recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker