CREDIT: Image Comics
Rating: 5/5 – Skottie Young…UNLEASHED!
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Al Sparrow.
Chances are you own a comic with Skottie Young’s artwork on the cover or within the pages of the book. His child-sized takes on beloved superhero franchises know no peer, as did his Marvel Wizard of Oz books with Eric Shanower. So what would happen if Young suddenly released a creator-owned title – his first – and it involved a skewing of all things Alice in Wonderland via the Wizard of Oz? Well, you’d get a book you absolutely can’t live without, wouldn’t you?
Gertrude was a little girl who once made a simple wish – “to be taken to an amazing world filled with wonder and magic and laughter and joy” – and with horrifying consequences, that wish was granted. She was whisked away to a magical world just like she’d imagined. A world called Fairyland. Just like Alice and Dorothy, she immediately begins a quest to find her way back home from this dream/nightmare world. It’s been quite some time of her being in Fairyland when we, the reader, are finally invited to join Gertrude’s ongoing quest. To tell you more would ruin the fun.
Young’s artwork is perfect for this humorous deconstruction of this genre of storytelling, and I get the impression he has always wanted to cut loose like he’s doing in these pages. Gertrude is Public Enemy No. 1, has had just about enough of living in Fairyland, and will stop at nothing…and I mean nothing…to escape. I only wonder how far Young is willing to take it, and I’m certainly on board to find out.
Reviewed by: Al Sparrow
(al@comicspectrum.com)
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