5 out of 5

When I’d read that this issue of Harrow would highlight the skinless boy, I was a little worried that Bunn might be playing his cards a bit too soon; that the world hadn’t been developed enough to merit stepping away from it for a side story.  Thankfully – and encouragingly, that HC might follow in the fascinating steps of Bunn’s best (by my opinion) series, Sixth Gun – that’s not exactly what this one-shot is.  It certainly does focus on the boy, lured out into the woods by a tune played upon an interestingly fashioned flute by a creepy rail-rider, but the book remains mysterious as all get-out, not “cheating” to tell us more about skinless by voice-over; he still only emits hisses and rattles, with his “skin” able to whisper a few choice words, which it does upon the boy’s return the following day.  At the same time, we do get a few more clues on the character, while still moving the book along, presumably toward its next enemy and next arc.  Carla Speed McNeil isn’t as creepy art-wise as Tyler Crook, but the colors by Jenn Manley Lee are beautifully gloomy, which softens McNeil’s style a bit – for the better of the book – and makes her take on skinless and the rail rider essential versions.

The kind of restraint and promise displayed in this book is exactly what HC needs.  Hopefully Bunn will be able to keep that approach, letting loose his wilder ambitions on his more actiony titles like Hellbreak.