Comic fans know that the first Saturday of May is Free Comic Book Day, also known to many as Merry Comics Day. Comic shops everywhere have lines out the door as people swing by for the freebies (and to grab deals on other comics and items that many shops put on sale that day). Many publishers re-release a previously published comic as a free book or combine stories from a couple of their titles to introduce to readers. But a few release books created specifically for FCBD. This year, one of the best was I Hate Image. 

Using the premise and main characters from the popular (and often oh so wrong) I Hate Fairyland, I Hate Image sees Gertrude (a 30-something stuck in the body of a little girl) completely decimating the Image universe. Artist Skottie Young had a field day in perhaps the largest cross-over comic ever. All the big titles and characters from Image were skewered (some quite literally) – Bitch Planet, Saga, Walking Dead, Paper Girls, Wicked + Divine, Savage Dragon, Spawn… and so many more.

If you know the original, this book has everything you would expect. From the bright candyland colors to Gert’s attitude to the smart ass one liners, I Hate Image is everything you could ask for. You can tell Young had a great time drawing this story and killing off all of these characters. If you didn’t grab it on FCBD, check if your local shop still might have a copy. It’s a quick, fun read, though obviously not for young kids.