Manor Black by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt & Tyler Crook

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Manor Black
Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt, writers; Tyler Crook, art & lettering
Dark Horse Books, 2020

The manor house of the title is the home of a powerful family of sorcerers. Patriarch Roman Black knows that his extended life span (almost 200 years) is about to come to an end, but is not happy about any of his corrupt children heading up the family in his stead. Freakish things start happening with fire--including the town sheriff spontaneously combusting--when a young woman named Ari appears on the manor grounds seeking sanctuary. She had been pursued by what the sorcerers refer to as "wild magicians," and is supposed to be the guardian of a powerful fire totem (which explains the fire incidents). In the end Ari manages to contain the totem, and we find out that one of Roman's children is colluding with the wild magicians to take control of the family. It is very much an unfinished story, so I am happy to see that a second arc is presently in progress. These creators are responsible for Harrow County and The Sixth Gun (a couple of my favorite horror comics), so I am surprised I overlooked this one. I'm glad I did, because now I don't have a long wait to see what happens next.