Review: I hate Fairyland Volume 1 by Skottie Young

From superstar writer and artist Skottie Young (Rocket Raccoon, Wizard of OZ, Fortunately, The Milk), comes the first volume of an all-new series of adventure and mayhem. An Adventure Time/Alice in Wonderland-style epic that smashes it's cute little face against grown-up, Tank Girl/Deadpool-esque violent madness. Follow Gert, a forty year old woman stuck in a six year olds body who has been stuck in the magical world of Fairyland for nearly thirty years. Join her and her giant battle-axe on a delightfully blood soaked journey to see who will survive the girl who HATES FAIRYLAND. Collecting Issues #1-5 for only $9.99. "Skottie Young is an Eisner Award-Winning, New York Times Bestselling cartoonist who has been making comics and children's books for over fifteen years. Books such as Rocket Raccoon, the Wizard of Oz graphic novels, Little Marvel and Fortunately, The Milk have made him a fan favorite, critically-aclaimed writer and artist. Jean-Francios Beaulieu is the colorist behind the award-winning Wizard of OZ graphic graphic novels and has worked with Skottie Young for over ten years. Nate Piekos is an award-winning letter and designer who has created some of the industry's most popular fons and has used them to letter comic books for Marvel, DC, Oni Press, Dark Horse and many more."

Oh my glob, I can't recommend this title enough. The series's premise is fantastic and the artwork is top notch, as it fits the IHF's satirical tones pretty well. It's a fast and easy read, as I was able to devour this in only one sitting.

What makes this comic work so well is that Gert's descent into sheer bloody madness happens almost immediately in the book. Her initial impressions of Fairyland are far from pleasant, as the child is initially terrified by being swallowed up by a magical portal that plops her into the skies of Fairyland... where she immediately plummets thousands of feet to the ground. With an introduction like that it's no wonder that she's turned into a hardened killing machine intent on only one thing: escape. To make matters worse she's physically a child while her mind has aged to that of a thirty-something year old woman.

Gert's tasked with finding a key that would allow her to leave Fairyland, but her travels have been so long and bloody that the Queen of Fairyland has lost patience with her. The land's rules don't allow her to harm Gert, something that I found a nice touch, so she tries a variety of different indirect ways to accomplish just that, including finding a rival child for the key.

This was a highly enjoyable read and one that I can easily see myself buying on my own. While this is the first volume the story is wrapped up with enough of a conclusion to where Young could have walked away from this instead of making it an ongoing series. I'm kind of glad that he didn't, as there are still plots to be unraveled and fantasy tropes to poke fun at. In lesser hands IHF would have been a one trick pony that wore off its welcome early on in the series, but Young has done an excellent job of creating a series that's incredibly fun to read. The series might not have much of a focus beyond showing Gert slicing and dicing her way past anyone who makes her mad (and almost everyone makes her mad), but Young fully embraces this aspect and pulls it off spectacularly.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

5/5 stars