Tyler Crook

Mike Mignola's comic book universe based around Hellboy and the BPRD is a fine and amazing thing, but this is an unusually distinctive entry that stands out a bit. 1881, and Sir Edward Grey, England's official Witchfinder, is dispatched to the town of Hallam to investigate the odd death of a Crown official. At first disgruntled at what he perceives to be a mundane murder mystery, he soon finds himself attacked by giant eels, and so starts to feel right at home. Hallam is the source of a show more popular health tonic, a model industrial town reclaimed from the marshes. naturally there are all sorts of evil goings-on going on, secrets and mysteries and monsters for Grey to explore unravel and fight.

It all has the feel of a wonderfully British period gothic Hammer horror. There's a terrific and loving attention to detail, with glimpses of life in a town dredged from ancient marshes and propelled to a glorious and progressive future by a reforming baron of industry. The cylinders of instructive music played to the workers in the factory, the penny dreadful version of the constable's suspicions, the touches of local dialect, successfully used without mocking or demeaning the speaker and effortlessly touching on tensions between class and education, and eels, lots and lots of eels. It also has a rather bleak sting at the end, a vision of the glorious future everyone's heading towards, and tying in with later evens in the Mignolaverese too, I think.

A splendidly entertaining read that can be enjoyed without much reference to other titles in series, but why deny yourself the pleasure? It's a lot of fun, even if this is a particularly rich and satisfying example. show less

A good conclusion to an engrossing and heart-felt story. Sure, it's horrific and deals with some pretty interesting supernatural creatures, but through the battle, good wins. As usual, it comes at a cost and I was surprised at the choices Emmy made throughout her ordeal. I was annoyed at Bernice's hot-and-cold reactions to her though - one minute they were besties and the next she'd have to driver her out with violence. The artwork was different at first, but settled back to the beautiful, show more folksy and vaguely watercolor-ish style I love. Am continuing on with the supplemental post script series, Tales from Harrow County. show less

I don't read comic books often, but once in a while a series captures my attention and I go for it. So glad I did with this. The artwork is phenomenal. Stylistic and full of detail and watercolor washes. The soft style with muted colors really suits the time period which looks to be 1930s America or thereabouts - somewhere in the Appalachians I think. Beautiful scenery, buildings, clothing and other details really come together and I took lots of time over many of the scenes. I really like show more some of the ways sound and vocal changes are depicted as well. There was a shift in the drawing style at some point along the way, but thankfully it didn't last long. If it had I probably wouldn't have continued with the second omnibus, however it was an interlude that encapsulated a specific time and place in the story.

The story is a tad weaker in terms of how it's told - a lot of blunt statements and sentences, but there is sometimes poetry in the various voices of the characters. That's one thing that comes across well - everyone sounds and speaks differently. The world and its laws work well once you grasp them. I felt that Emmy's realization of her powers/real identity came a bit fast. She just knew how to use them and the skinned boy didn't frighten her at all - that was a bit much. I would have rather seen her at first scared, but then coming to realize that the haints wouldn't hurt her for the most part, and the ones that wanted to could be controlled. But I guess they wanted to get on with the story. I really liked Bernice and her side story with the snakes; it will be interesting in she develops her powers in a similar way to Emmy.

It is otherworldly as you imagine, but it's also sort of reassuring in the very clear lines between good and evil. Emmy is a force for good although she is quite aware of the darkness within her; like all of us. As the story unfolds there are allies and enemies, but the tone is always hopeful. Some of the images are gory, but not drawn in such a realistic way as to really horrify. I've now purchased the second omnibus and am happily back in Harrow County. show less

When does homage just become a string of generic cliches and tropes? In this tribute to 1980s teen superhero books, all the kids spend more time crushing on each other and training than they do having adventures. In a 1990s flash forward though everyone has forgotten their past, but when one of the heroes remembers he sets out to get the band back together to fix their last disastrous adventure. Even then, they spend more time fighting with each other than the greater evil.

These Black Hammer show more spin-offs are getting increasingly blah, bland, and bad. Maybe I'll just stick to the core title from here on out.

I'm not a fan of Tyler Crook's art either. show less