Seven Gerts Enter, One Gert Leaves!: Reviewing ‘I Hate Fairyland’ #7

Got a Gertrude problem? Well, there is clearly only one way to stop a Gert, get a bunch more Gerts. King Cloudeus has gathered Gertrudes from across the Fairyland multiverse with one purpose: kill the ‘prime’ Gert.

Anyone that is a fan of the no holds barred bloody gory moments of I Hate Fairyland will be quite happy this month. There are a few moments of setup and character beats, but this is heavy on the fight scenes.

What works about this series is that it at times is fully crude and bloody as advertised, yet there is more to it. The entire first issue very much deals with trauma in its own way, as does a lot of the first arc. Gertrude is a rude, crude, and violent individual but in some ways, we can understand and sympathize with her. Having one’s childhood stolen and becoming stuck in a never-ending fairytale will do that.

Within this arc, we’re getting to see Gert coming face to face with her own self and her issues. Both emotionally and physically since we have various manifestations of the character. Basically, she’s living out the idea of the paths not taken. Using her own flaws against herself to dwindle the field of Gerts is a solid move and pretty much a Gert thing to do. Even the surprise ending where possibly the ‘wrong’ Gert wins is very much a self-exploration type of moment.

What would you do if you were confronted by a version of yourself beaten up by life, dejected, and broken? Many would choose a healthier option, but Gert chooses to get rid of that version to own the day as the younger still not quite broken version.

Emotion, and chaos, mixed with things meant to be cute are all pretty trademark for Skottie Young at this point. An artist that gained fame for many things including adaptations of stories and covers featuring baby versions of heroes. Only to turn out to be a super powerful writer as well, dropping numerous powerful fantasy related often ‘adult’ books along the way.

While Young isn’t doing the art for this series anymore, the same energy he created lives on. Brett Bean has captured that energy but transformed it into his own along the way. I Hate Fairyland must live within the shared realm of ‘cute’ fantasy childlike wonder but also deeply disturbed adult humor/violence. Some might have trouble pulling off that balancing act, but not Bean.

Every single emotion, positive or negative, is rendered brilliantly so that it radiates off the page. We get plenty of the gory bloody fight panels through this issue that are full of fluid-like kinetic energy. Alongside them are some great full-page montages focused on parts of the quest, delivered beautifully. I would pull them out and frame them if I had the option to do so.

Bridging the two artistic visions for this world are the bright, dense, colorful, and bloody colors from Jean-Francois Beaulieu. Fantasy realms of childhood fairy tale types are generally overly vivid and colorful in a cutesy sort of way. Beaulieu brings that same feeling to every part of Fairyland, while also giving it a bit of that necessary darker edge. Gert is not the only character with some inner issues and permeating darkness.

As colorful and bright as this world might be, everyone from royalty down to individuals like Larry has exasperated, tiring, and brutal elements to their personality. We’re given coloring that represents this duality and enhances it throughout. We’re lured in by the bright vivid colors that complement Bean’s fun artwork and then both parts of the artwork unleash the darkness. Which is also very fun in its own dark demented way.

All the same, can always be said about what Nate Piekos pulls off with the lettering. We get all the great dialogue and bits that tell us what is going on and what people are saying. Alongside that, we also get the final component that brings all the emotional tonal energy. A few bolds here or there, font that changes sizes, or bits of color added to dialogue and we’re cooking. It all makes sure that we hear the words in our head as we’re meant to from beginning to end.

Piekos goes the extra mile with lettering to make sure it fits the aesthetic of the series. It’s not just writing down the words in bubbles and calling it a day. We need them delivered in just the right way to make the whole dish coherent and complete. With Piekos and the rest of the creative team, we always get a brutally energetic coherent devilishly delicious dish.

I Hate Fairyland #7 is now available from Image Comics.