When Dan and I travel, we like to imagine what it would be like to live in the city we’re visiting. We would have moved to Boston in a heartbeat. Tampa and St. Petersburg had possibilities. St. Louis and Kansas City… not so much. (Sorry, Missouri.) Playing “Pretend to live in a city” is way different from “I live here now”. The first game means you get to sleep in your own bed at the end of the adventure. The later game involves boxes and trucks and sweat and crabbiness and it’s not fun.
In I HATE FAIRLAND, written and drawn by Skottie Young, 8 year old Gertrude wishes that she could live in Fairyland. As luck would have it, her wish is granted and off to Fairyland she goes. Once there (actually on the way there), Gert realizes that she wished too soon and she wants to go home. Queen Cloudia, ruler of Fairland, tells Gert that she can go home once she finds the key to unlock the door back to her world. Gert is given a map and guide, a fly named Larrington Wentworth III, and sets out to find the key. This should be a snap and Gert will be back in her bed in no time. Right? Guys? Oh.
27 years later, and Gert and Larry the fly are still trying to find the key. The pair have destroyed everything in their path on their quest. The queen, desperate to restore order to Fairland, conspires to find a way to get the visitor that has overstayed her welcome out before Gert burns it all down. It’s a race to see who will survive: Gert or Fairyland.
While visiting Fairyland, Gert has continued to age, but only mentally. On the outside she still looks like her 8 year old self, bright green ringlets and all. Gert has built up some anger and rage on her journey through Fairyland. A lifetime of sugary meals and living in a such a colorful land will take its toll on a girl. Her language gets a little salty, but it’s still OK for the ears of the Fairyland residents. Gert will tell Larry to “Shut the hug up” or exclaim “What the fluff happened to me?” And then there’s my personal favorite Fairyland swear, “Muffin fluffer!”
Skottie Young’s writing and art make this book so much fun. The story is unlike anything on the comic book racks today. Young explores a lot of fairy tale tropes, but twists them in ways you never saw coming. And his artistic style makes this murderous tale feel like a fairy tale.
The colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu set the book apart. What should be an incredibly dark tale of a little girl destroying everything in her path, is actually brightly colored and looks like a Candyland game from hell. So much blood and gore and battle axes….
I haven’t been able to tell enough people to read this book. This is the first comic book this year that I’ve been this excited about. So read this book. You’ll love every panel of it… MUFFIN FLUFFERS!
Kate Malmon
