I Hate Fairyland #2

ART:

I love Skottie Young, he's got one of the most distinct and fun art styles in recent memory. However, it's not exactly the case that every artist is good at both pin-ups and sequentials. I read another Young series a while ago, Rocket Raccoon (though I haven't reviewed it since I didn't really get along with it and dropped it about midway through), and thought that Skottie's sequential work was great there. In I Hate Fairyland, I have to say that it's a gorgeous looking title where that qualm about pin-ups vs. interiors can be laid to rest. Young definitely has a versatility in his work, and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the interiors of IHF (I could make an I Hate Everything joke, but I won't) are as immaculate as the cover work. It has this sort of "adult Seuss" vibe, and mixes the cutesie factor with some pretty horrible, visceral gore well. If you want to see some fucked up shit, IHF has got ya' covered. It flows beautifully, and looks incredibly polished in general. And I can't give enough props to the colorist, Jean-Francois Beaulieu (no, Wikipedia, Nate Piekos is the letterer; not the colorist (I'll probably fix that)), who is a longtime collaborator with Young. I often don't credit colorists enough, but Beaulieu does a phenomenal job making IHF pop. It's one of the most pleasantly colorful comics I've seen and that's really important when it comes to how well this series works on a visual level. Coloring, when anemic (haha, Daniel), can kill otherwise good pencils and inks, but fortunately IHF's is top-notch. The covers, as previously hinted at, are phenomenal. There's an obvious typo in volume 2, but that's hardly a big deal. The character and environment designs are all lovely.

WRITING:

Being a comedy, you would think that the comedy is one of the most important aspects in terms of writing for this series. And it is, and IHF is certainly no slouch in terms of humor. Boasting a variety of comedic styles and types of jokes, the series makes the most out of its sense of humor. It's damn funny, basically. The characters are all fun too, and help the comedy come together. They're silly, zany, and just a joy to read. The narrative is fairly straightforward, but it plays into the jokes to an insane degree. I think it might even take some cues from Chew, and any series which makes me think of that series is clearly doing something right. The series is fast-paced, with a lot of jokes and new things always happening. The dialogue in IHF is mostly quite snappy and rolls off well. The banter gets high marks. The action is enjoyably bloody, going full on with its gore in its own cartoonish way.

GRIPES:

Now time for some gripes: I Hate Fairyland tries the whole Batman Beyond thing of making up nomenclature for its world. Which is cool and all, but I think the slang here just gets grating because there's so much of it. Schway and such are fine because they're used sparingly and help build the world, but IHF uses phrases like "mother fluffer" way too much. And it's not very consistent--there are about five phrases which are used in the place of the same cuss word, and that's just jarring. Another problem is that some jokes are reused over and over again. I like overly long-running gags, but usually those are supposed to carry on a good joke, whereas here it's a lot of basic slapstick which gets repeated like seven times. It also felt like some plot devices were just up and forgotten after they served their use, which is understandably annoying.

CONCLUSION:

I Hate Fairyland is an incredibly charming and enjoyable series with a sadistic edge. If you want to go mad with some bloody Wonderland fun, you'll really enjoy this series. This is yet another hit under Image's belt, which makes me think that those guys have some sort of wizardry they're hiding when it comes to publishing top-notch stuff. If you're not a fan of black comedies then you'd probably find yourself not enjoying I Hate Fairyland (you might even find yourself saying "I hate I Hate Fairyland"), but anyone like me will adore it.

SUMMARY:

Despite some overused stand-in profanity and jokes, I Hate Fairyland is a fast-paced, disturbingly fantastic looking, and macabre riot. Full of excellent comedy, a colorful cast of messed up characters, great and bloody ultra-violence, and great dialogue, fans of Skottie Young's work and fans of dark comedy will adore I Hate Fairyland.