| Sadly Never After | |
|---|---|
| Date |
|
| No. of issues | 5 |
| Main characters |
|
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Creative team | |
| Writers | Skottie Young [1] [2] |
| Artists | Skottie Young |
| Letterers | Nate Piekos of Blambot |
| Colourists | Jean-Francois Beaulieu [3] |
| Creators | Skottie Young Jason Howard [4] |
| Editors | Rian Hughes |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | I Hate Fairyland |
| ISBN | 978-1-6321-5887-1 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Good Girl |
| Followed by | Gert's Inferno (story arc) The Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland! (spin-off) |
Sadly Never After (also known as Gert: A Real Muffin Fluffer) is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Skottie Young as the fourth volume of the American comic book series I Hate Fairyland . Published by Image Comics, following the death of Gertrude "Gert" in the previous volume, the series follows two new storylines, as Gert is condemned by the devil, Bill, to eternally repeat her quest in an identical copy of Fairyland in a pocket dimension within Hell, while in the real Fairyland, Gert's former companions Duncan Dragon and Larry seek to resurrect her in order to save Fairyland from "Dark Cloudia", revived by Horribella. Produced as the final volume of the series, it was followed by the spin-off anthology series The Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland! in 2021, [5] and a revival series, beginning with the story arc Gert's Inferno , in 2022, again written by Young with a new illustration team. [6]
The series has received a universally positive critical reception. [7] [8]
In June 2018, Skottie Young quietly announced that the then-ongoing fourth volume of I Hate Fairyland would be its last, via a variant cover for Gert In Space!. On the release of the final issue in July 2023, Young elaborated on his reasoning for ending the series and the potential for the series to return, stating:
"That's right, I just finished inking the last panel on the last page of I Hate Fairyland #20. What I've known for a while, but you just found out, was that's the last page of the series, at least for now. I know, some of you are probably cursing my name right now while some of you are saying, "It's about time." Either way, I knew it was time for me to bring Gert's story to an end for the time being. I LOVED writing and drawing this series [and] was blown away by the support and love you all had for it [but] as much fun as this was, I started having other ideas [and] knew that I didn't have the time to carry on writing and drawing an ongoing series [and] develop a brand new project [and so] made the choice to bring [I Hate Fairyland] to the ending I always saw for Gert." [9]
Sadly Never After received good reviews. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [7] [8]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Hate Fairyland: Sadly Never After | I Hate Fairyland (vol. 1) #16–20 [19] | August 22, 2018 [20] | ISBN 978-1632158871 |
| I Hate Fairyland Book Two [21] | I Hate Fairyland (vol. 1) #11–20 I Hate Image: FCBD Special #1 [22] | September 17, 2019 | ISBN 978-1534312487 |
| I Hate Fairyland Compendium One | I Hate Fairyland (vol. 1) #1–20 I Hate Image: FCBD Special #1 | June 25, 2024 | ISBN 978-1534397729 |
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)The final battle wraps up and Gertrude, after nearly forty years trapped in Fairyland without aging, gets the ending she truly deserves – one that is sadly never after. At least she finally seems to have learned something and gets a brief moment of catharsis before it's all over. It's weird seeing her grow as a character when she's still just a mad sociopath.