Interview: A First Class Ticket to FAIRYLAND With Skottie Young

You know him from Rocket Raccoon, The Little Marvel covers and current mini series, Marvel’s Oz titles, and maybe even his run on Human Torch over a decade ago. He is one of the most popular artists in the industry today. He is Skottie Young. Recently, I was able to catch up with Skottie to discuss the upcoming Image Comics title, I Hate Fairyland. In this illuminating interview Young discusses the genesis of the series, what readers can expect, the fact that this is his very first creator owned book, and his long time creative partner in crime.

John Ernenputsch: Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us today. I wanted to start by saying the first issue of I Hate Fairyland is an absolute blast. How long had the idea for the series been swimming around in your head before you pulled the trigger?

IHF001_previewRGBjpg_Page1Skottie Young: My pleasure, and thank you. It’s great to finally start getting feedback on the book outside of my circle of friends.

I think it’s been kicking around for about four years now, or sometime close to that. My family was on a trip to Michigan to visit Jason Howard and his family. While the kids and our wives hung out at the pool, Jason and I did want comic people do. Go off, grab coffees and talk comics. I was really starting to get the itch to tell my own stories and had been throwing ideas around for awhile but it that was the day I randomly tossed out the concept of a kid getting trapped in a children’s fantasy world and being stuck there for years. At first, it was a boy who grew to be a big, roughneck looking man still dressed as a kid. Over the years it took many shapes until landing on our adorably insane little Gert. I don’t want to give too much away about those other forms because a lot of them have found their way in to other arcs of the story. So luckily all those ideas and the time put into them will get put to work.

JE: Over the past few years you have undoubtedly become one of the biggest names in comics. Even the few readers that don’t recognize your name at the very least know the amazing work you’ve done with your Marvel variant covers. What many of your fans might not even realize is that I Hate Fairyland is your first creator owned series. What made 2015 the right year for you to dip your toes into the creator owned waters?

SY: 2015 was really he right time because I blew it in 2012, 2013, and 2014. lol. I wish I could give a romantic answer on why this year makes it the right time but it’s mostly because I hesitated for all the years leading up to it. I overthought things too much. I started developing I Hate Fairyland about four years ago but start developing about ten other ideas since then as well. As soon as one idea would start to take shape, I’d turn my head and the first sign of a new concept. Then i’d dive deep into that until it looked doable and turn to another again. Rinse and repeat, you know. Finally, 2015, unromantically, time opened up, i finally just went back to my Fairyland idea and did it. Grabbed it and ran.

IHF001_previewRGBjpg_Page7JE: In the back of the first issue you mention a piece of advice given to you by fellow artist Jason Howard. In regards to all of the ideas you gathered over the years, he told you to “Just pick one, and go do it.” What is the general premise of I Hate Fairyland, and what aspects of the series made it the one idea you picked for your first creator owned title?

SY: It’s very simple. Kids wish to be carried off to other magical worlds all the time. But what if it actually happened and you realized you didn’t like it, wanted to go back home but couldn’t. That’s Gert’s story. She stuck in a world she’s grown to hate over thirty years. She looks like a child but is an adult on the inside. Watch what you wish for, and all that.

I think it’s the perfect first series for me. It covers the aspects of what I enjoy most creatively. I love drawing worlds of imagination and whimsy but also love writing and drawing over the top characters and situations. I wanted to start off with all my childhood influences and throw them in a book. Mad Magazine, Looney Tunes, Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Seuss, Trencher, Lobo, Tank Girl, and a few others have found their way into my DNA and I wanted to put that in a book. I also figured I would do a book that wouldn’t make sense at Marvel or DC. I heard and interview with Joe Casey once and when asked about the kind of books he does at Image he said “If you’re going to do creator owned, do books no one else would publish.” That stuck with me. I think I Hate Fairyland fits that perfectly. I have a great time on Rocket Raccoon and Little Marvel so I should do something completely different than that when it’s my own book.

JE: One of the most surprising, and welcoming, aspects of the first issue is just how far you’re willing to push the envelope. With the level of violence, and general mayhem, this is most certainly a comic for adults. The art style, and nature of the script combine to create a dichotomy that is unlike anything else in comics today. At any point in the process did you have any second thoughts about doing a mature readers title.

IHF001_previewRGBjpg_Page8SY: I always knew I wanted to go full tilt with it. I mean, the working title for most of it’s life was FUCK FAIRYLAND. So it was always meant to be hardcore in the most over the stop, cartoonish ways. There were times that I questioned it though. I played the mind games a bit too much and wondered if I would cut off the audiences who enjoyed OZ or the Baby Variants. I mean, would the person who dug the adorably Wolverine picking his nose also enjoy the Moon getting his LITERAL brains blown out of his skull all over the night sky? Eventually I just stopped thinking and made the book I wanted to make, not thinking of the market or audiences or anything like that. Just tried to make myself happy. The only point I went back on was the title. I decided to clean up the name so shops could shelve it. But still over the original title as a variant for the shops that can sell books with a F Bomb on the cover.

JE: What has it felt like creatively to play against expectations, and show a side of yourself you haven’t necessarily been able to before now?

SY: It feels great. It feels natural. It feels exactly me. I’m the kind of guy that will listen the the Harry Potter audiobooks for the thirteenth time while working then listen to NWA on the way home from work. I’ll read Mouse Guard followed directly by Tank Girl. One of my favorite movies is Labyrinth and when it’s over I will watch Django Unchained or Mad Max Fury Road. It feels good to be able to play with both sides of my interests in one book. I think I stared down that road a bit with Rocket Raccoon, but that still had some traffic cones for me to navigate which is good for a book like that. But this, we swept away those cones.

JE: With the first issue alone you’ve  managed to take, and completely turn a lot of fairytale tropes, and character archetypes on their head. Can you discuss the art of doing this while maintaining enough of the original concepts that they are still recognizable? You seem to strike the right balance, because the comic still feels like a fairytale, albeit a very messed up fairytale.

SY: Luckily for me, fairytales are part of every persons DNA in one form or another. So a lot of the work is done for me. We all understand the general premise of stories when they begin with Once Upon a Time. I wanted this is be satire on the tropes, but not exact parodies of the stories we know. I’m not doing Shrek. I’m more interested in Gert as a character in world of whimsy and fable. The challenge has been to make sure the things I come up with are interesting enough to stand on there own and not have you wishing it was Pinocchio, or Rapunzel or any other characters you’re aware of. My goal is to present original ideas inside the familiar concepts, if that makes any sense at all.

IHF001_previewRGBjpg_Page9JE: The idea of flipping the script on a classic concept is no more apparent than with the main character of the series. Just who is Gertrude and what makes her unique? Who are some of the other citizens of Fairyland that you’re excited for readers to get to know?

SY: Gertrude is a grown ass woman who is tired of riddles, and maps, and fairies and all food being made of pure sugar, and looking like a damn child. Right now i’m answering these questions with a truck doing the back up beep outside my window. It’s been going on for twenty mintues. I’m three minutes away from going back there and pulling the driver out and making his day pretty shitty. lol. Gert is like that but the beep has been going on for thirty years.

As far other characters go, I don’t want to give too much away. We’ve got Larry the Fly. Her guide and trusty sidekick. He as tasked with helping her on her Quest and must stay by her side until is is over. I love him. His expression is almost always “I don’t give a fuck” because he gives exactly zero fucks. Then there’s Queen Cloudia. She’s the current ruler of Fairyland. She’s great because her hair is pure cloud and changes according to her emotions. And with Gert stuck in her land for three decades, she has a lot of emotions. There’s a few other cool characters on their way but i’ll save them for the read!

JE: A big development in the past year or so is that you’ve been able to add “Writer” to your résumé. How has that transition been for you? Has writing changed the way you approach the art side of the creative equation?

SY: It’s changed in the way that I now work on books that are tailored to EXACTLY what I want to do both with story and art. Collaboration is fun but there is nothing like having a idea and taking that idea from start to finish on your own. (and with the help of Jean-Francois Beaulieu, my long time right hand colorist!) The only hard part of the transition was waiting for feedback. I know I like what I was making but i wasn’t sure how it would land out in the world. Years in now, and it seems to have found a soft enough place to land. Regardless, I’m having a blast so I’ll keep at it and try to grow and learn and get better.

IHF001_previewRGBjpg_Page10JE: It rare to say this, but you cut your teeth as a writer/artist at Marvel where you had an editor, and more of a team behind you. Not only is I Hate Fairyland your first creator owned title, but as the writer/artist you have complete creative autonomy. Was that as daunting as it was exciting for you?

SY: Not at all. It felt so natural. I’m going to be honest, i’ve not had many walls put up around me at Marvel since i’ve been writing and drawing. There’s the normal boundaries you have when working on a property owned by a company but I’m aware of those going in so it’s fine. But those are very small walls. breaking them down for my now project wasn’t daunting all. The opposite, actually.

JE: The one other name on the cover of I Hate Fairyland is color artist Jean-Francois Beaulieu. As usual, the color work here is stellar. Can you talk a little bit about working with Jean-Francois, and the success that you two have had working together?

SY: Jean is amazing. And this year marks 10 years that we’ve been working with each other. We started back in 2005 with New Warriors and he has colored every page of comics I’ve drawn since. We’re a package deal. I’ve said this a million times and I’ll say it a million more. His colors make me look better and smarter than I am. He’s amazing. Not only is his work great but the ease in which he collaborates is the best. There’s no ego at all between us. We start new projects and spend a bit of time throwing pages back and forth until we hit the look we want. He’s never “this is what I do”, instead “here’s some options on what this can be.” It’s a great relationship. I’m lucky to have him by my side.

JE: If the debut issue is any indication it seems as if you are having an absolute blast on this book. Here’s a hard hitting question for you. Just how much fun are you having?

SY: I’m having ALL the fun. i have to assume that other creators realized they were having less fun on their books because i came in and stole all the fun. it’s really just the best time i’ve had making comics.

JE: The first issue is done, it’s been solicited, you’re starting to do press, and soon the orders will be coming in. In less than two months your first creator owned series will be let out into the world. What has been the most surprising part of this journey you’re taking for the first time? What have you learned? Are you enjoying the process?

SY: The most surprising thing is how excited and nervous I am. I’ve been making comics professionally for almost 15 years and it’s easy to get lost in the process of publishing. You’re constantly working months ahead so you lose track of when your issues come out. This makes the release dates come and go, sometimes with out me even knowing. But this has reenergized me. I feel like I did when I first broke into this business back when there was no electricity to run the computers and internet that didn’t exist. It’s exciting and i’m enjoying it more than ever.

JE: As we wrap up, is there anything else about I Hate Fairyland that you want Comicosity readers to know?

SY: Just that I’d love to have them all along for this strange and wild ride. I have have three arcs floating around in my brain and if everyone shows up on the all the Wednesdays and tells your comic shops that books like this should fill their shelves, then I can telling all the tales in Gert’s Fairyland!

Thanks for your time Skottie! I Hate Fairyland will be released on October 15th. Make sure to tell your LCS as soon as possible if you want a copy, and trust me, you want a copy.

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