Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 ~ Diving In Too Deep (Spoilery Comic Book Review)

In this second issue of Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk, we unfortunately see the rescuers now needing rescuing themselves. Can you say “Oops”?

Cullen Bunn (Harrow County) is the writer for Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2, as he was for the first issue. Emily Schnall is also still the artist for this comic book, as well as the cover artist. Tyler Crook is the letterer, and is also responsible for the sole variant cover art. And finally, Dark Horse Comics is the publisher for this issue of this comic book and the previous issue.

Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 went on sale on August 18, 2021. You can purchase print copies at your local comic book store. However, if you’re fine with the digital version, you can download it directly from Dark Horse Comics.

Warning: spoilers for Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 below. If you have any interest in finding out what is waiting for you in the dark beneath Harrow County, stop here, and come back once the fae give you back…maybe.

Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 ~ Plot Summary

Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 picks up where the last issue left off, with our main characters Bernice and Georgia staring at an effigy of Emmy after wandering down in search of a goblin friend named Priscilla. The fae themselves explain that they created it to worship Emmy like a goddess and offer sacrifices to. Emmy wants neither worship nor sacrifice. Unfortunately, the fae disagree. They seem to want to turn Emmy into their goddess, and Bernice is the key to that.

Yeah, as it turns out, the fae offering to help Bernice back in the previous issue of Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk was a trap to lure her down there. The fae quickly take Bernice and Georgia prisoner, and throw her in a cell. Good news: Priscilla the goblin turns out to be in the same cell, so they’ve accomplished their initial mission! Bad news: they’re stuck in the cell with her with no way out. The fae are evil, but they’re not stupid. Their cell is just a cave dug into a rock wall, and sealed with a solid metal-barred door. The Goa’uld could’ve learned a thing or two from these fae about good prison design. None of the main characters get out until the fae let them out.

Yeah, the fae aren’t opening their cells to let them go free. Turns out, the fae want Bernice to remove that memory wipe spell she’d cast on everyone in Harrow County to make them forget Emmy. Their rationale is that when the townsfolk remember the godlike powers of Emmy, they will worship her just as the fae do, and make her come back. Bernice refuses. The fae make her reconsider with a threat against Georgia. Bernice accepts this offer, and cancels out that memory wipe spell. Everyone remembers Emmy now, and somehow, that makes the Emmy effigy move and start marching out the cave. The fae march out with it, but not all of them. Some of them remain behind to deal with Bernice, Georgia, and Priscilla. Will they succeed? Well, we’ll find out in the next issue of Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk.

Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 ~ The Good

So far, the story of Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 is a pretty nicely done dark fantasy and horror story, with unsettling villains and setting throughout. Bonus points for this particular dark fantasy taking place in an underground cave. It’s a literal dark fantasy. Get it? I’ll just show myself out now.

That said though, the fae are somewhat sympathetic villains when you stop and think about it. They seem to just simply miss Emmy, and want her back no matter what they have to do to achieve that goal. Sure, they’re complete jerkwads about it, and they seem to worship Emmy as a goddess more than anything else. But you can still kinda understand that they simply miss her.

Lastly, as a yuri fan, the yuri relationship between Bernice and Georgia also gets a plus from me.

Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 ~ The Bad

Oddly enough, it’s actually the yuri relationship between Bernice and Georgia that I want to complain about. I feel like so far, it’s not very well-developed. Georgia so far is basically a side character with no role in the story other than being Bernice’s girlfriend. Maybe she’s supposed to be the audience surrogate because she’s a normal human being or something, I don’t know. I just want Georgia to have a bigger and more impactful role in the story, other than just being a hostage for the fae to ensure Bernice’s cooperation. Damsel in distress roles are so outdated.

Conclusion

Tales From Harrow County: Fair Folk #2 delves deeper into the world of the unseelie fae here from where the first issue left off. Bernice and Georgia aren’t as prepared as they think they are, and they end up unwittingly unleashing a mobile scarecrow backed up by an army of fae onto the surface world. Oh, and a bunch of fae stuck around to try to kill them before they can interfere with whatever it is they want to do. Will they succeed? Well, we’ll have to wait for September 22, 2021 to find out what happens next when Dark Horse Comics releases the next issue in this comic book series.

Source: Dark Horse Comics