I Hate Fairyland
– Fluff My Life
I Hate Fairyland – Fluff My Life cover
Date
  • June 15, 2016 (Part 1)
  • July 20, 2016 (Part 2)
  • August 17, 2016 (Part 3)
  • September 21, 2016 (Part 4)
  • October 19, 2016 (Part 5)
No. of issues5
Main characters
  • Gertrude "Gert"
  • Larry Wentsworth III
  • Duncan Dragon
PublisherImage Comics
Creative team
WritersSkottie Young
ArtistsSkottie Young
Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz (Part 3)
LetterersNate Piekos of Blambot
ColouristsJean-Francois Beaulieu[1]
CreatorsSkottie Young
Jason Howard[2]
EditorsRian Hughes
Original publication
Published inI Hate Fairyland
ISBN978-1-6321-5887-1
Chronology
Preceded byMadly Ever After
Followed byGood Girl

I Hate Fairyland – Fluff My Life is a graphic novel, written and illustrated by Skottie Young that was released in five parts throughout 2016 by Image Comics, as the second volume of the comic book series of the same name, set in the Image Universe. Part 1, Fluff My Life was released on June 15, 2016, Part 2, How to Drain Your Dragon, was released on July 20, 2016, Part 3, Put Your Quarter Up (co-illustrated by Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz), was released on August 17, 2016, Part 4, Splat in the Hat, was released on September 21, 2016, and Part 5, Final Fantasy, was released on October 19, 2016.

The series follows Gertrude "Gert", a bitter, hard-drinking, sarcastic, murderous young woman who has spent decades on a "one-day quest" through Fairyland on being transported there for the key that will allow her to go home, trapped as her unageing six-year-old self with pretty green curls and a bow, and accompanied by her equally sarcastic, top-hat-wearing housefly quest companion Larry. Now the Queen of Fairyland, Gert inadvertently brings ruin to the kingdom before seeking out a new route of returning home. Preceded by Madly Ever After, it is followed by the story arc Good Girl.[3]

The series has received a universally positive critical reception.[4]

Premise

Part One: Fluff My Life

"All hail Gertrude, the new Queen of Fairyland!" After decades of wreaking havoc across the magical world to find her way back home, Gert must overcome her biggest challenge yet: ruling the place she hates most in the universe.[5]

Part Two: How to Drain Your Dragon

Following her impeachment, Gert resumes her never-ending quest to leave; after another child, Duncan (dressed as a dragon) finds himself in Fairyland, Gert recruits him in an attempt to escape again.[6]

The title is a reference to the 2003–2015 novel series How to Train Your Dragon and the resulting franchise.

Part Three: Put Your Quarter Up

Gert must rumble her way through a Fairyland fighting tournament within the arcade game-inspired "Tower of Battle" to get what she's looking for.[7]

The title is a reference to the 2001 Molemen single "Put Your Quarter Up".

Part Four: Splat in the Hat

With something deeply wrong inside of Larry's bowler "Hat of Holding", normally capable of summoning anything, Gert must venture inside to fix things so-as to win her poker game.[8]

The title is a reference to the 1957 children's book The Cat in the Hat.

Part Five: Final Fantasy

Gert is faced with two paths, one which will send her home, and the other which will lead her to the eventual end of times for Fairyland, where 100 years in the future, her blunders have brought Fairyland to its final days, as the now fully-dragon Duncan lays waste to Fairyland.[9]

The title is a reference to the 1987 video game Final Fantasy and the resulting franchise.

Development

In April 2016, Skottie Young revealed the second story arc of I Hate Fairyland, ultimately entitled Fluff My Life, would be set in a "weird Bloodsport, Street Fighter Arcade Land – doing a little bit more, I don't want to call them "one and dones," but maybe just a little bit more episodic nature of storytelling allows",[10][11] on consulting with uncredited I Hate Fairyland co-creator Jason Howard from having Madly Ever After as "your movie" with Madly Ever After, subsequent arcs would comprise "your television show",[2] featuring guest artist Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz in a "fun stylized story sequence" in the third part, and publishing imagery of I Hate Fairyland cosplayers who had taken to Madly Ever After with the first,[2] while describing the narrative as:

"[Something] I didn’t get to do in the first arc of the series [was to] explore the weirdness of Fairyland, so in [Fluff My Life] I'm going to do that. It's going to be less driven by big plots. Each issue will be a little story with an overall thing to tie the stories together over time. In one issue, we might catch Gert playing poker in Las Fugus and end up lost inside Larry's hat. In another issue, we could see her end up in a Street Fighter blood sport tournament. All these things can happen because the world is endless. We’re going to focus on the character and her mishaps and adventures. We're going to slow down and unfold a big plot slowly over the next couple arcs rather than stuff it into five issues– like a TV show. It keeps things fresh for me and for readers."[2]

In October 2016, Young retrospectively described Fluff My Life as having been about "building up Gert's [own] stamina for this world [strolling] along, taking time to look around the place, soaking in the scenery. Also a blast [like Madly Ever After], just in a different way. Treating the first two arcs completely differently [having been] my way of showing the different ways I'll be approaching this book for the rest of the run. It's a free-for-all, and anything goes!".[12]

Reception

Issue # Publication date Critic rating Critic reviews Ref.
1 June 2016 8.8/10 7 [13]
2 July 2016 8.1/10 5 [14]
3 August 2016 8.8/10 2 [15]
4 September 2016 8.0/10 2 [16]
5 October 2016 10/10 1 [17]
Overall 8.7/10 17 [18]

Collected editions

Title Material collected Published date ISBN
I Hate Fairyland: Fluff My Life I Hate Fairyland (vol. 1) #6–10[19] December 7, 2016[20] ISBN 978-1632158871
I Hate Fairyland Book One I Hate Fairyland (vol. 1) #1–10 December 12, 2017 ISBN 978-1534303805

References

  1. ↑ Lehoczky, Etelka (May 1, 2016). "No Pink, But Plenty Of Red, In Hack-N-Slash 'Fairyland'". NPR. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Lu, Alexander (June 14, 2016). "Interview: Skottie Young On the "Street Fighter Blood Sports" of I Hate Fairyland's New Arc!". Comics Beat. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  3. ↑ Johnston, Rich (August 13, 2018). "The Top 500 Most-Ordered Comics and Graphic Novels in July 2018". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ ComicBookWire Staff (November 13, 2017). "Review: I Hate Fairyland Vol. 2 – Fluff My Life". ComicBookWire. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  5. ↑ Waller, Chad (June 14, 2016). "I Hate Fairyland #6 Review". We the Nerdy. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ Graven, Sam (July 20, 2016). "Review – I Hate Fairyland #7 (Image Comics)". Big Comic Page. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  7. ↑ Revolver, Shay (August 19, 2016). "Review: I Hate Fairyland #8". Graphic Policy. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ Waller, Chad (September 21, 2016). "I Hate Fairyland #9 Review". We the Nerdy. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ Graven, Sam (October 19, 2016). "Review – I Hate Fairyland #10 (Image Comics)". Big Comic Page. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ Lovett, Jamie (April 5, 2016). "Skottie Young On The Magic And Madness Of I Hate Fairyland". ComicBook.com. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ Stewart, Scott (April 27, 2016). "Skottie Young Talks I Hate Fairyland (Interview)". NerdSpan. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ Young, Skottie (October 19, 2016). "I Hate Fairyland #10 Letters Page". Image Comics. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ "I Hate Fairyland #6 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. June 15, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  14. ↑ "I Hate Fairyland #7 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ "I Hate Fairyland #8 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  16. ↑ "I Hate Fairyland #9 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  17. ↑ "I Hate Fairyland #10 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  18. ↑ "I Hate Fairyland: Fluff My Life Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  19. ↑ Johnston, Rich (September 29, 2019). "Image Comics' Twenty-Five Best-Selling Titles, Right Now". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  20. ↑ Young, Skottie (December 7, 2016). "I Hate Fairyland Volume 2: Fluff My Life". Previews World. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
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