Who Is The Monster Is Pretty Clear — Reviewing ‘I Hate Fairyland’ #46
by Scott Redmond
Overview
No body, living or dead, is safe from Gertrude as the chaotic force of nature sets her sites on classic literature in the worst way possible. Another fun entry in the series as it dabbles more with familiar characters and tropes in a whole new way.
Overall
9/10Victor Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro, eat your hearts out, there’s a new monster making baddie making their creative mark. Marvel, quiver in fear, and behold the majesty of Gertenstein’s Monster (and BFF)!
It’s a monstrous good time in I Hate Fairyland #46 from Skottie Young, Derek Laufman, Jean François Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos.
With the latest chance to get home obliterated, Gertrude (and an unwilling Larry) has a new mission- Creating life, thanks to reading the one book she has with her, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.
There’s something very different about the route that Young has been taking with the book in like the last year. It hasn’t lost any of its edge or bloody chaos, but there is more of a bubbling level of fun that comes with peppering in classic literature and characters from public domain. From Dorothy from Oz to Popeye the Sailor Man last issue to now this tribute to Shelly’s classic monster.
(It’s well timed of course with the aforementioned del Toro film having hit Netflix last month.)
It’s just some great fun with Gert becoming obsessed with creating life and the silly ways she goes about making her monster. Not to mention the backfiring that comes from the monster’s personality and the move to create a (seemingly) more dangerous best friend for the monster.
Everything that Laufman draws here has the usual softer whimsical edge to it while still being strikingly firm and rough. It’s detailed as all get out, with perfect depth and heftiness in every panel. There’s a grandness to what is on the page as we move from space to space, really utilizing the panels and gutter space to their maximum.
Colors swirl around on every level of the spectrum under Beaulieu’s guidance. Plenty of darker and denser tones really add to the overall mood of the story, with a lot of the flashier bursts of vibrancy that the series has always been known for. It delivers that darker gothic element while not forgetting that this is a silly popping fairy tale world it’s taking place within.
Plenty of spots emerge for Piekos to go wild with the lettering, per usual. Big bold colors, shifting balloon styles and sizes, and so much more. He really ups the usual visual energy to a big level that befits the bombasity of the overall story direction.
I Hate Fairyland #46 is now available from Image Comics.
