I Hate Fairyland #45 // Review
Gert is trying to get back home. Getting all the way back home involves getting to a specific island at a very specific time. It’s not going to be easy. Gert is many things, but she isn’t exactly nautical. So it’s going to be difficult for her to fins a way home without finding some sort of help. Gert isn’t exactly good with people, so the whole affair could be more than a bit of a problem in I Hate Fairyland #45. Writer Skottie Young and artist Jay Fosgitt continue a fun, little adventure serial with color artist Jean-François Beaulieu.
Gert isn’t going to be in a really good position to look for someone to get her out to the island. However, there is someone who has recently entered public domain would be very good at getting her there. Perhaps one of the best, in fact. However, even with a legendary sailor man to ate her in her quest, there are going to be problems. And perhaps the biggest problem is that sailor man's love interest. She might get a little jealous. She might feel a little awkward. Can things might get a little confused. Under the circumstances, it's totally understandable.
Young finds a perfectly clear moment at which to bring Gert in contact with one of the stranger crossovers of the year thus far. It's kind of a fun journey given the nature of the two characters in question. However, it doesn't quite have the kind of resident it could have had if Popeye was allowed to be a little bit more himself. As it is, he's a bit of a flat character against which Gert needs to navigate in order to get where she's going. If Popeye had been allowed to be a little bit more himself, it might be a little bit more interesting.
And, honestly, a good portion of what would have made Popeye a little bit more himself would have been artwork that was a little bit more sympathetic to the style of Popeye creator E.C. Segar. While it has a similar overall dynamic about it,Fosgitt’s art is a bit at odds with the Segar’s style. I'm more accomplished, approached to the visual aspect of the story. You might have been one that openly embraced the style of the early Popeye strips and fused it with the look and feel of Fosgitt’s Gert.
Popeye has only been in public domain for a few months now. It's only a very early version of the character who has been in public domain. But it's cool to see a couple of creators whose heart is generally in the right place as far as bringing the character a little bit more attention. He's one of them more iconic early comic strip characters. But he deserves a little bit better than what Fosgitt and Young are bringing to the pate in this particular issue. It's a fun idea. It would be a lot more fun if it was just a little bit more in a line with the character who had become popular on the comics page nearly a century ago.
