I Hate Fairlyand (#2)

• Writer: Scottie Young
• Artist: Scottie Young, Jean-Francois Beaulieu
• Published by: Image
• Pages: 30, Publish Date: November 18, 2015, Price: $2.99
• Notes: Monthly series

Synopsis:

“Does Gert die by the axe of her assassin, Bruud The Brutal? Spoiler: Probably not..”

Personal Thoughts (minor spoilers):

If you read I Hate Fairyland hard enough, you can break a tooth.

Which is the one reason there is no review for I Hate Fairyland #1 on the Stranger Worlds site. I read it as a fan of the great Scottie Young artistry seen on Marvel various covers and those magnificent OZ books from the same company. I wasn’t much familiar with his writing, so I dove in holding my breath with the début issue of I Hate Fairyland. I came out gasping for air, runny snot, nearly drowning on the sheer madness of that disturbing mix of shrooms, cannibalism, and murdering of questionable things.

I recall the words of Lord Humongous in Mad Max: the Road Warrior, “Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.” So I did, filing away the first issue, and deciding to not ponder over its colorfully deranged pages again.

But recently, came the second issue of I Hate Fairyland. I glanced over the cover. More of the same? Can this continue? What else is there? We know Gertrude is a crazy psycho robbed of her adulthood and will continue to recklessly murder strange cartoonish caricatures. So, what else could there possibly be? I peeked upon the opening pages, and there something odd that drove me but couldn’t put my finger on…

Nor could I put it down, so I decided upon to buy it, and venture again in the disturbing psychedelic world of Fairyland with Gertrude. The second round was a bit of the same with much horrific violence toward the unrealistic. I would not recommend this to children, with this imagery. Yet, we have the child trapped within us as readers reading out about a deranged adult trapped within. I feel I am a bit of both, as I read on. This book is a paradox to my pseudo-intellectual senses.

And with all worthwhile reads, we have some character development. Poor Gertrude lives her own fairy tale, complete with selfish desires. Now, she has a wish, to grow up and perhaps be normal with an adult body. Also, to leave Fairyland and join us in the real world.. That’s a real hero’s journey there. Except she rejects all companionship except for a talking fly-like creature whose life could end at any panel. This leads to a continued quest in issue #2, with new challenges and adversaries. Some of them are laughable done away with, others are preludes to future issues. She continues to deny all that is sweet and wonderful, to the point of violent resistance.

She adds to it with drunk and senseless emotion, leading me to question what will become of her. I am pretty damn curious, which is what I think drove me back into this book. Also, because a reader could identify with Gertrude as a person trapped in her own narrative. Some may face the same dilemma on different levels with a dead-end job, stale relationships, constant bills and over-consuming technology. Can our time be slowly wasted with no real chance to grow, set-up by a world forcing us to follow set paths guiding us; or do we resist the conformity and go against the tides? A battle-axe and a sense of murder is not the answer; but I feel it’s enough to pick and a pencil, keyboard, whatever and unleash some creativity.

There’s a weird kind of visual bountifulness that Scottie Young brings in the art and writing. I Hate Fairyland is sequential and traditional in form, and cartoonish and stylish with fantastic coloring. The details are magnificent, especially with the gore and emotional presentation of characters taking the panel stages. It all comes together, in a darkly funny setting. Also, the lettering is at times quite magnificent, with playful additives thrown in to express what is said beyond mere words.

I Hate Fairyland is all that is presents and more. It’s not for those who accept the universe as an orderly, wonderful place favoring the pure. It alienates the perfect and wonderful order of things in any universe, while swinging a battle-axe against conformity. It also goes for those not willing to take the world or its possible realms and forced tropes seriously. To take part in the anarchy is wonderful, and if you agree..than perhaps I Hate Fairyland is for you.

Or not..

– Orion T