To think Skottie Young of baby comic book cover fame was so damn dirty. He’s writing and drawing the new fairy tale-inspired series that’s filled with gore, humor, and a very pissed off girl who’s been trapped in Fairyland for 30 some odd years. She’s still in her eight year old body though, and filthy as a sailor. Sounds hilarious, but is it good?
I Hate Fairyland #2 (Image Comics)
Essentially this story started out innocently enough, as a girl was transported to Fairyland and set on a quest to find a magic key. Unfortunately she stinks at locating the darn thing and has been trapped there ever since. She’s wickedly fed up and is going on a killing spree of sorts. This has pissed off one of the queens who has set Gertrude in her sights as someone that needs to be rubbed out. Too bad it’s nearly impossible to kill the girl.
Why does this comic book matter?
Skottie Young has an artistic style that’s reminiscent of kids’ books, but with a flair for the dramatic. On top of that he draws brains and gore like no other. This series wraps that into a funny affair as it’s way over the top and subverts the usual fairy tale motifs. If you like fairy tales you’re going to at least want to take a peek at this and see what he’s doing.
She just smashed something icky.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Well, the art obviously. You haven’t seen mashed up eyeballs and mouse entrails until you’ve seen this issue. Young can take a quarter of the page and instantly bring you into the scene. Take for instance a moment as we cut to a wicked witch who lives near The Bog of Madness. In a wide panel taking up a quarter of the page we not only see a haunted house, but a bridge, a monster tree and a red eyed troll under the bridge. There’s a lot of detail going into so many of these panels it’s as if we’re getting more comic for the buck. Plus the color by Jean-Francois Bealieu is jaw-droppingly good, with everything popping nicely. Bealieu gives the read a sickly sweet feel that helps the humor work as it’s way over the top and gory, yet the colors are straight out of Saturday morning cartoons.
The story is also fun as it plays around with fairy tale motifs. Take for instance the cursed fruit trope we all know very well, but in this case it’s actually rotten brains. Or how about the late night bar scene filled with princes and rough-and-tumble characters, yet the eight year old Gertrude is the rudest of them all. It works well as it plays against our expectations.
Run dude!
It can’t be perfect can it?
While the plot progresses just enough to call this a worthwhile affair it does spend quite a bit of time, about seven pages or so, in the bar room scene. Spending time in one scene is fine, but this scene really serves to tell a couple of jokes and not progress the story at all. While Gertrude’s wish is grotesquely comical it does feel like it runs on too long in the grand scheme of things.
How does she know he’s peeing?
Is It Good?
So grotesquely comical you’ll feel sick from its juxtaposing the sweetness with the filthy protagonist.
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