lumenmews's Reviews (258)

I am so glad I had the opportunity to purchase this printed edition of the web comic series. There's something to be said for the tangible reference book. And that's really what this is... more than just a story. Minna creates an intricately detailed world for her readers to get messy and emotional in. I spent immense amounts of time studying her "cheat sheet" pages, where she provides things like etymology & language crossover references, cat usefulness rankings, and maps of the known world, complete with breakdowns of population, immunity rates, safety degrees of different regions, etc. Essentially, the first 100 or so pages are about setting up the world and easing the reader into it. 

And then hits Chapter 3...

Don't worry! I'm not going to spoil anything. ;)

Just know this. Minna reached out her hand and pulled me into this incredible place with these lovable people, where I get to rediscover our world 90 years into the future, now permeating with strange creatures, cultural remnants, and deafening silence. ...I never want to leave. <3

I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of Harrow County. Generally with comics, the text is much more heavily weighted toward discourse, rather than narration. This was not the case here. There is much exploration of our protagonist's perceptions and feelings, which is interesting, and yet, it still lacked. I suppose I feel that the story failed to grip me at my core. I had a hard time truly feeling for any of the characters, which is surprising given how heavy the subject matter is.

What truly gave this four stars for me, and what will essentially keep me reading more, is the art. So much care is taken to create an ambiance that is at once cozy and eerie. Items which I would have had trouble imagining myself were perfectly crafted to be both beautiful and horrifying (a skin with no body; a body with no skin...).

The story is still young, and am plenty hopeful that it will develop into something I can get messy with. In the meantime, the art satisfies my ever persistent thirst for horror.