We Need To Talk About Gertrude: Reviewing ‘I Hate Fairyland’ #06

Fairyland has a Gert problem…again. Double-crossed and abandoned, adult Gert presents quite a crisis for the new King and council. As they always say though, the solution to one Gert is to recruit a whole bunch of Gerts.

Pretty sure that’s definitely a saying.

Returning to worlds and stories from the past is a common thing in the artistic realms these days. To successfully pull it off, though, the creative team must capture the energy of the old while also presenting something new. Rehashing the same thing you did previously can work a bit for nostalgia, but it just ain’t gonna cut it for longevity.

Good thing for us that I Hate Fairyland hits that sweet spot of familiar, but new.

That entire first arc was nothing but pretty much new because of the smart choice to not even be in Fairyland proper till the end. Re-introducing us to an older, and even more broken Gert helped set the tone. Now with this second arc, we can pull back the curtain to see what is up with Fairyland while also unleashing chaos.

Skottie Young continues to deliver the emotional character-driven fantastical gory spectacle that defines the series. Gert is not a great person, not even close, but through all the gore and bluster, we understand why. Anyone sucked into a fantasy realm as a child and stuck there is sure to be messed up just a bit. Now we add in being thrust back into a real world that she couldn’t quite fit into, and of course, Gert is a bit extra messed up.

What I especially loved about this issue is how it’s almost all characters talking, yet it still found a way to be itself. There is tons of talking between Gert and the reunited Larry (as well as his new charge) as well as the King & council. Everyone is taking stock and trying to figure things out. A well-placed double-page spread full of Gert-tastic gore and maiming breaks things up. We get the big bloody action piece as a fantasy representation of the King describing what she’ll do to a bunch of hunters.

A very funny gag, instant fleeing, is always a funny standard that makes sure to deliver part of what the series is known for in a new way.

Such a series always needs an artist that can balance the more real grounded elements with the over-the-top often gory stuff. With this new series that is very much Brett Bean. Right off the bat, it was clear that Bean was able to re-create the dark animated energy that Young had perfected in the first volume of the series. Doing that is important, but there is far more beyond that which makes this art sing.

I noted that there is a lot of talking going on here, but even if those words were to vanish, we would essentially know the story. As we saw with the pretty much silent rock and roll issue last time, Bean is a master of capturing facial expressions/body language. It’s clear what characters are feeling, and often even thinking, thanks to the expressive and detailed work. On top of that, the world itself is deep and always fleshed out, even when the background is pulled back.

Also, can’t forget the creative approach to paneling, eschewing the standard for the most fun style that sees panels of every shape and size. Essentially a series like this needs to always feel fun and Bean nails that.

As does Jean-Francois Beaulieu who has done color work on this series all along. While the artist can change, a consistent colorist helps bring visual consistency. Their work might shift a bit to compensate for differences in artist style, but overall, it will remain distinctively their work. With Beaulieu, that means living in that space between overly vibrant fantastical colors and elements that are a bit more toned down or closer to reality.

We’re in a space that is loud and colorful and beyond our own world, but there are elements that are meant to be softer and closer to what we know. Too many of the overly bright, cheery, or fun colors would be overwhelming. It’s like putting too much sugar in something, a bit too sweet to handle. Balancing the sweet with a bit of sour is always a winning combination, and that’s what we get visually in this series.

I mean we get a spread of a station wagon blasting through time and space and it looks epic. That’s the good stuff.

Artwork and colors set the overall tone of a series, but are just two pieces to that puzzle. Unless you’re doing a more silent issue, the third piece needed is lettering that does more than just relay dialogue. Seeing the emotions on a face tells us a ton but then having little artistic flairs to the words coming out of their mouths takes it even further. Nate Piekos is a letterer that does that and more, allowing us to instantly know and feel the tone/volume of any dialogue.

Beyond that is where the fun also comes into play. All the colorful censored words, different colored bubbles, stretched-out screams, and all the big loud SFX. It takes what could be routine and simple and make it louder and grander, which is this series in a nutshell.

I Hate Fairyland #6 is now available from Image Comics.