Every so often I come across a comic that just jumps out of the shadows, grabs me by knifepoint and drags me back to its URL. Often it is story that inspires reviews out of me, though spectacular or untraditional artwork can also catch my attention. But in rare cases, it’s the theme of a comic that draws me in. Urban Fey is an example of the latter, with a story about fairies that have adapted to living in the city and embody various aspects of city life (including fey that embody (and sometimes control) traffic lights, graffiti, and even body piercings and tattoos).

While the concept behind Urban Fey is intriguing, it is the storyline that helped solidify my enjoyment of the comic. UF focuses on the efforts of two fairies, Lord Neon and Lady Hestia, to create a unified Urban Court for the fairies, while dealing with the intrigues and manipulations of the Great Courts of the Fey, who seek to keep the urban fairies divided and at each other’s throats. It is the political intrigue and personality conflicts that helps UF stand out from so many other comics. There are no epic quests looking for arcane artifacts to save the day, or the doldrums of day-to-day life here. Instead, there are intrigue and manipulations that drive the story along.

The artwork works nicely with UF. The use of greyscale and of textures and lighting help give the art a certain grittiness that works nicely with the urban setting. And while it would be good to see Rhea Ewing work more on background art and integrate it more regularly into the comic (instead of backgrounds being primarily to set the scene before vanishing into a haze of greyscale fades), the comic doesn’t suffer much for their lack. In addition, Kimberley Long-Ewing does an excellent job of character and plot development. It is this partnership between effective character development, political intrigue, and artwork that helps Urban Fey stand out. It has earned a place on my regular reading list, and I have no reservations in recommending it.