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Comicphiles: Ancient Avengers Hate Fairyland

Comicphiles: Ancient Avengers Hate Fairyland

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Welcome back to Comicphiles, where we check out some new comics and let you know what’s worth a mad dash to the comic shop and which might just be worth a miss. This week was full of new comics with Marvel rolling out they’re All New, All-Different titles and everyone else working hard to keep up!

I Hate FairyLand

I-Hate-Fairyland-01I Hate Fairyland reads like you’ve just eaten 20 gigantic bags of Skittles, binge-watched only the most violent movies and fallen into a sugary, gore filled fever dream. Gertrude is a six year old girl who wishes to go somewhere wonderful, somewhere with singing trees, ice-cream mountains and the cutest talking woodland creatures your candyfloss addled brain could ever imagine. Luckily(ish) for Gertude, her dream comes true and she finds herself crashing into fairyland, literally. Imagine Alice and Dorothy but with more blood. bruises and a couple protruding bones. She’s given a mission to find the key that will bring her home, a journey should only take two shakes of a bogglezig (about a day, for the uninitiated) and off she goes with her flying companion, Larrington Wentsworth III.

Thirty years later Gertrude looks, apart from the bags under eyes and a particularly maniacal glimmer, exactly the same. But on the inside Gertrude is a middle-aged, severely jaded person, with a penchant for violence, a tongue sharp enough to cut right down to your heart and an impressively pessimistic outlook. And she’s still trying to find the darn key.

I Hate Fairyland is definitely unique. It’s fresh and at times genuinely funny. The violence jumps easily to a nasty, spurty Itchy and Scratchy level but it doesn’t stifle the story at any point, in fact it generally works with the story and gives us new information. It’s a strong start, vibrant and super gross. The art is exactly what you would expect from Skottie Young, the colours are almost violently bright and obnoxiously fun and the story flows easily. The world building fast and seamless and the writing is witty and never crosses the line to offensive.

Will I Continue Reading? Yep, it’s a fun and easy read!

New Avengers

STK685875-300x455It’s been eight months since the end of Battleworld and things have changed a little. One of the teams working to make sure no more super villains take the world, rip it up and play with the entire population like they’re cute lil action figures is the New Avengers.

In our first adventure with the New Avengers the inhabitants of Paris are suddenly becoming… crystal heads? The threat is a strange one and it doesn’t read or feel like an avengers story, it almost feels a little more Steven Universe appropriate. Actually, that would be a pretty cool Steven Universe episode. But here it falls flat. It might have worked if everything else around it worked but unfortunately that isn’t the case. The team itself lacks chemistry, it’s hard to see how and why the team was formed. The lack of chemistry is a pity as some of the character work is solid and smaller dynamics feel strong and sincere. The good aspects are drowned and do little but highlight the weaknesses. The art is hit and miss but a little more miss than hit. Some of the character designs, like Squirrel Girl, are jarring and uncomfortable. The over-the-top shapes don’t suit every character and can be incredibly off putting. Squirrel Girl, one of my personal favourite characters, feels like she accidentally wandered into the wrong book and no one quite know how to tell her. The awkwardness is borderline cringey.

Despite some good writing the issue is dragged down by weak components that just don’t work together.

Will I Continue to Read? Nope, even Tippy Toe can’t save this one.

Switch

STK685985Switch has already lived a full life as a popular webcomic and now Image have brought it to the shelves. The story is about a Ufology obsessed teenage girl who finds herself in control of some pretty intense power. She’s the latest in a long line of amazing women chosen by an ancient artifact to wield it’s power.

As always, Stjepan Sejic’s line work and colours are stunning. His work is warm and inviting, beautifully conveying thoughts and emotions and filling action scenes with energy and movement. The main characters are likeable and endearing and our protagonist Mary’s development throughout the first issue is magnificently paced.

The dialogue is a little clunky and falls flat here and there but it’s held up by the gorgeous art and personable characters. The overarching story can be a little confusing and history heavy. It can sometimes feel like you might have somehow skipped a page but generally the answers are just around the corner.    

Switch feels like an epic story condensed into a biteable chunk, a little more set-up would help ease the reader into such a lore filled world but if you can get to the end of the issue it’s satisfying overall.

Will I Continue Reading? Yes but I might wait for the trade and read it all together.

Let us know what you’ve been reading this week in the comments below!

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