‘Hillbilly Volume 3’ – Eric Powell (Albatross Funnybooks)


The evil in the hills has put aside it’s differences and has united to form an army the likes of which hasn’t been seen since time out of mind. It marches on the villages now and will not stop until all is dead and desecrated. Even Rondel and his friends aren’t enough to stop this threat; they need the villages to unite but the villagers cannot see beyond their own farms and refuse to believe there’s a problem. It’s all coming down to one final fight but will anyone, from the side of good, be left to fight it? Rondel cannot fight this one on his own…

So… Three volumes in and a series that I’ve had a lot of fun with (here are my reviews for Volumes One and Two). Now it’s time for a climax/finale of sorts. I thought it was going to stretch out a little longer, to be honest, but I’ve learnt never to grumble when a storyline comes to an end (says the guy waiting for a certain story to continue, you know the one…) so here we are. Lets get going, shall we?

Volume 3 of ‘Hillbilly’ is very straight forward and aimed directly at the finale for this arc. And to be fair, have you ever come across a faceoff between good and evil that hasn’t been straightforward? Nope, me neither. That’s the whole point really isn’t it? Have the two sides facing off and by the end of the book, have a victor to celebrate. That is exactly what Volume 3 does and it does it very well. There’s a nice build up of tension as monsters are slowly introduced in the face of continued apathy from the villagers; in particular Hansel and Grendel who are just brilliant and a neat little twist, on the original, from Powell. Are Rondel and his friends too powerful? Possibly but it still comes across as a fairly even fight and that’s the main thing, having that sense that things could go either way, even if you secretly know how it’s going to end. Powell’s heroes never get off lightly and you can’t help but feel sorry for Rondel come the end, that’s all I’m saying.

Volume 3 isn’t as straightforward as it first appears though. Scratch beneath the surface as there’s a fascinating exploration of stories, storytelling and the power that these can wield. Stories can be a warning from the past, to the future, and they will always be something to rally behind when things are at their most bleak. That’s all looked at here but what caught my eye the most was what can happen when stories collide. The tale of the ‘Iron Child’ has been a recurring motif and now we see it collide with, and become a part of, Rondel’s own tale. We know that Rondel was never the Iron Child (or was he…? No, he wasn’t…) but it’s fun to watch Powell run with it and see how this snowballs into Rondel finally leading the army that he needs to overcome the witches. A story doesn’t need much of a push to start rolling and when it does, it will carry you along with it. And that’s how Volume 3 works really, give it a little push and watch yourself be carried away with it.

There’s not a lot that I can say about Eric Powell’s art that I haven’t already said and I do try not to repeat myself but, sometimes you have to. Powell’s art complements the story perfectly. It’s creepy, it’s dreamlike (which ties brilliantly into the whole thing about stories) and once you’ve finished reading, you just can’t imagine this story without that artwork. It’s amazing and I love it.

So that’s Volume 3 then, a more than fitting way to end this arc. I won’t leave it so long before getting stuck into Volume 4.

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