I Hate Fairyland

I Hate Fairyland is a black comedy fantasy comic written and illustrated by Skottie Young, and published by Image Comics, which started publication in October 2015. It stars Gertrude, a 6-year-old girl who is transported to Fairyland. She spends almost 30 years in the world, resulting in her becoming a crazed, violent misanthrope. The main plot involves her search for a key that will allow her to leave Fairyland.

Publication History

The first issue was released on October 14, 2015. It sold an estimated 50,300 copies and was the 42nd best selling issue of the month by units.,^[1]" A collected edition that published issues #1-#5 was released April 20, 2016. In an interview with Paste Magazine, Young claims Mad Magazine, Lobo and Tank Girl as influences.^[2]

Plot

The plot starts with Gertude falling into Fairyland as a six-year-old. She spends 27 years looking for the key with her insect sidekick Larry, resulting in her becoming a violent psychopath. After terrorizing Fairyland, Queen Cloudia, the ruler of Fairyland sends after many 'villains', such a witch named Horribella. With many failed attempts, Queen Cloudia then decides to kill her personally. She consults the Fairyland Council and they devise a plan to rid of Gertrude. As the Queen cannot directly harm any guests, Cloudia invites another child, Happy, into Fairyland, to make Gertude a citizen of Fairyland. Gertude confronts Happy and shortly tries to kill her, but is easily defeated by Happy. After Gertrude recovers, she visits Queen Cloudia and asks her what is going on. Cloudia tella her she's too late, and admits she helped Happy on her quest to find the key. Sometime after, Happy does find the key. Annoyed by this, Gerturde finds Darketh Deaddeath, who she asks to help her defeat Happy. He agrees to help her, only if she proves herself. She survives his dungeon, and insults him. He then decided to help her. Happy is about to use the key to exit Fairyland, but then Gertrude stops her in her tracks. After a battle, Gertrude defeats Happy and then kills Cloudia. Before she can return home, Larry informs her that killing the Queen makes her the Queen herself, resulting in her unhappily taking the throne.

Reception

According to review aggregation website Comic Book Round Up, the first issue of I Hate Fairyland received an average score of 8.6/10 from critics, based on 21 reviews. "^[3] National Public Radio's Etelka Lehocky described it as "a great palate cleanser for anyone who's recoiled from pink-princess politics" and praised "Young's clever storytelling".^[4] IGN included it as one of the "Top Comics to read this week" ^[5]

References