Manor Black Volume 2: Fire in the Blood
Written by Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt; line art by Brian Hurtt; colors & lettering by Tyler Crook
Dark Horse Books, 2022
There was a long wait between this collection and the first volume, so it is surprising that so much of this installment is devoted to history, although it is directly relevant to the situation in the present. A lot of it is devoted to Roman's return home after World War II (which is presented visually in evocative black and white). He is faced with a very elderly father who appears to be losing his faculties, and who has taken up with a fire mage. Things escalate quickly when family members start dying by fire, and before long we find out how the family's original manor burned down. It all revolves around the blood mage needing a fire mage to save his house, which echoes Roman's current situation. On the final page we learn that Roman has another son. So, this is a rich chapter in the story, even if it does not advance the plot by very much.
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