Review: I Hate Fairyland Vol. 3- Good Girl

Quick Summary

Pros: This book is just as wacky and humorous as previous volumes. Gertrude’s quest in this book gives a bit of nuance to each chapter. The ending is great and provides a perfect setup for the next volume. Everything in this book looks fantastic and is incredibly detailed.

Cons: Some of the humor can be childish at times.

Overall: This might just be the best volume in this series so far. All of the best aspects of previous volumes return to create a book that is funny and ridiculous in its own unique way. However, this book provides just enough of a new twist to keep things interesting. If you have been enjoying this series, or if you like dark humor, this is definitely a book to check out.

Story

Scottie Young’s I Hate Fairyland Vol. 3: Good Girl continues the success of its predecessor by amplifying its positives and minimizing its negatives. In this volume, the trademark dark humor and over-the-top violence return, while minor changes in story keep the book from becoming too stale and formulaic. This is a deadly mix that ends up turning this volume into what may be the best of the series so far. In addition, a killer ending provides a wonderful setup for the future and has me more interested in reading the next volume than ever before.

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The main story in Good Girl is kicked off when our lead character, Gertrude, meets her biggest fan. In a moment of self reflection, Gertrude sees all of her flaws in the young girl desperate to copy her every action. While jumpstarting character development like this might seem a bit simplistic, Young’s use of satirical meta commentary to achieve these ends actually turns the whole endeavor into one of the book’s better jokes. It also helps establish the premise of this story arc: Gertrude’s quest to be a better person.

From here, Gertrude and her companion, Larry, go on several misadventures that are just as humorous and unique as they were in the previous volume. Her samurai battle is weird and unexpected, Larry’s daydream is so depressing that it ends up being funny, and her time in the labyrinth has one of my favorite moments in this collection: the unexpected return of Duncan. My only complaint with these adventures is that the humor seems to be a little more childish than the previous two volumes; crude jokes and sexual innuendos pop up a bit too often. Otherwise, these are entertaining stories that easily match the quality level of previous volumes.

While misadventures like these are fun, they are enhanced further by Gertrude’s new mission to be “good.” Every action she makes is tempered with her new alignment, often leading her to undertake tasks she normally would never do. It adds a new dimension to the story that is small enough to not change the series entirely but large enough to keep it fresh and interesting.

This “good girl” story arc concludes when Gertrude uses magic to turn completely good, allowing her to finally discover a way to escape Fairyland. Seeing a reformed Gertrude is unique on its own but seeing her actually make progress toward leaving Fairyland is even more unbelievable. Paired with this is Larry’s reluctance to let Gertrude go, despite always complaining about her. It shows how much he really enjoys their time together and provides a small moment of sincere wholesomeness in an otherwise dark book.

These pleasantries don’t last long however, as Gertrude dies at the end of the volume. Upon waking up in Hell, Gertrude is back to her normal self again. She also finds herself face to face with Happy, a girl she killed in the first volume. This is a wonderful twist for everyone who has been reading this series for a while and a great way to build up excitement for the next volume.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Though the story and verbal humor in this book provide a good deal of entertainment, the crown jewel of this collection is undoubtedly the artwork. We have discussed, in prior reviews, how Scottie Young’s bizarre mix of childish drawings and over-the-top violence come together to create some hilarious situations. This collection is no different and is probably one of the only places where readers can see a fairytale version of an arms exposition or a young girl fight a pack of samurai mushrooms.

However, it is also worth mentioning how impressively detailed the artwork in this book is. I only managed to get to the second page before I had to stop for a full five minutes in order to examine everything that was going on in front of me. Splash pages, in particular, are a real treat and will provide readers with gorgeous, or hilariously disgusting, scenes that they will not find anywhere else. It is clear that there is a lot of work going into the visuals for the entirety of I Hate Fairyland series, so readers can be sure to find some great looking artwork here.

Continuity

I Hate Fairyland Vol. 3: Good Girl is published by Image Comics, a creator owned publishing company who’s titles do not often crossover with each other. Thus this title, like many other Image Comics, maintains its own continuity. This means that all you need to do to understand this book is read I Hate Fairyland Vol. 1: Madly Ever After (Review) and I Hate Fairyland Vol. 2: Fluff My Life (Review).

The story here continues in I Hate Fairyland Vol. 4.

 

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