While there have been ongoing subplots and recurring elements in this limited series and the one preceding it thus far, this is the first Courtney story that really goes beyond a single, self-contained issue. The first two issues clearly were just building blocks for a larger story, and I find I'm quite engrossed in the mystery and underground politics of a secret, magical society. Harry Potter be damned... he's got nothing on Courtney Crumrin and the darker, more concise storytelling of Ted Naifeh.
A reclusive witch named Madam Harken -- one of Aloysius Crumrin's former students -- is stricken with a curse that prevents her from communicating with those around her. Harken's one-time night-thing pet, Skarrow, is blamed by the other mystics for Harken's affliction, but Crumrin and his young niece, Courtney, know Skarrow is not to blame. As the witches and warlocks demand Skarrow's head, Courtney and her uncle try to figure who really cursed Harken... and each does so in his and her own unique fashion.
With every new issue of Courtney Crumrin, readers are treated to new characters... and that means new designs. The cloaked figures at the end of the story are twisted and horrific. The design reminds me of the sort of Victorian horrors one might find in a Guy Davis book like The Marquis or The Nevermen. With each new issue, Naifeh also stands out more and more as a unique artistic voice. When I read the first Courtney story, it seemed as though Naifeh was a true Dan Brereton follower, just as Bryan (The Ultimates) Hitch was once seen as an Alan Davis follower. But little touches here and there are adding up, and while the Brereton influence is clear, Naifeh's own style definitely stands out as his own, as something more than just the product of influence.
Where this second limited series distinguishes itself from the first is how much more prominent Courtney's Uncle Aloysius is this time around. We're really getting to know the man more in this series, and in this issue, he's portrayed as something of a rogue rather than part of the supernatural establishment as he was in a prior issue. His confidence, intelligence, compassion, disdain for ignorance and his sincere feelings for Courtney all shine through in this issue.
There's a greater sense of menace here than ever before by the end of the issue, but what really grants the story a grave tone is the more political threat of a coven acting more like a lynch mob than a governing body of a society of magic-users. Courtney isn't really the main protagonist here -- at least not always -- and the expanded cast and supernatural sociological elements give the book an even more sophisticated quality while never abandoning the morbid fun that, at its heart, marks the property's greatest appeal.
