'I Hate Fairyland Volume 3: Good Girl' – Skottie Young (Image Comics)

Now I'm back in the saddle with 'I Hate Fairyland' (and am finding it hard to get into anything else but that's another story...) it's like I've got my second wind with this series. That's volume 3 read then and I'm looking to read volume 4 by the end of the week; if only I could read everything else so quickly but anyway... It'll probably be a shorter review than normal though as I'm reaching that point where you struggle to find something new to say about a series that is comfortably in it's own groove, by now, and is cruising along nicely thanks very much for asking ;o)

That's not to say that 'I Hate Fairyland' is getting dull though. Skottie Young does have a couple of little tricks up his sleeve to keep things fresh, for a few pages. Let me tell you about one of them at least (if I tell you about the other one... well, that's the ending well and truly spoilt)

Before I do kick off, I'm not going to talk about the artwork any more as that really would be a case of me repeating myself. Lets just say that if you've enjoyed it, in previous volumes, then you'll enjoy this. If you haven't, well... why are you still reading these books? That's a half serious question actually. If you're not enjoying the artwork in a series that is heavily dependent on said artwork to tell the tale, would you keep reading just for the plot/dialogue...?

I'm getting distracted though, back to the book.

Gert finally realizes that being such a murderous maniac might be the reason she’s not been able to find her way out of the candy-coated world of Fairyland that has been her nightmare for over forty years. She sets off on a new quest to redeem herself and tries to earn her way back home with good deeds and kindness and love an whatever other mushy, touchy-feely things she can manage.

So, what do you do when the 'homicidal forty year old stuck in six year old's body' starts to wear just a little thin? The answer is simple if you're Skottie Young. You turn the whole thing upside down and take a look at how things would turn out if Gertrude was good (via a Fairyland Convention that doubtless says a lot about Young's experiences on either side of the signing table). The joke is that whether your intentions are good or evil, it really doesn't matter when you're Gertrude and you have the attention span of a hyperactive goldfish. As someone all too capable of having the best intentions but screwing up anyway, it's just the best (and funniest) feeling to be able to watch it happen to someone else and you're safe on the other side of the page. It's even funnier when it's Skottie Young writing it, he just knows where the vein of humour runs and he mines the hell out of it to great effect.

So, we've established then, that there is a lot more to doing good than just wanting to and that Gertrude is never likely to get that without learning some hard lessons first. Gertrude being who she is (and Young displaying a keen eye for just knowing what his characters will do), promptly goes off to cheat her way to the prize by becoming good through magic. What this means for us is a trip through a suspiciously familiar looking Labyrinth run by a well endowed gentleman that Getrude sees through straight away. The commentary on 'Labyrinth' is a little heavy handed but really, it's stuff that we were all thinking anyway (I love the film but it is creepy and not in a good way) and it's wrapped up with a nice little dose of humour which is the best way to get your message across. If you like your humour all smutty, this part of the story is what you didn't realise you were waiting for.

Like I said, I'm not going to go into the ending because if you do read these books, I really want you to turn the page and see a certain moment for the first time. Then, I want you to see what happens next, it's worth it.

What I will say though is that Skottie Young times the change of direction, in this book, perfectly, freshening things up delivering a whole load more laughs with a character that you can't help but love. I've read volume 4 before but I'm still looking forward to reading it again.

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