Welcome to Fairtaylia
Once upon a time there was a boy named Tommy…When Tommy was twelve years old, he and his friends made a wondrous discovery in an old theme park.
A magical doorway to Fairtaylia, an enchanted realm full of wizardry and wonder.
Here, the Fearless Five, would go on many adventures beyond their imagination.
But one day, Tommy broke the one rule that was never meant to be broken: he told his parents all about it.
After spending his teenage years in a psychiatric ward, he finally emerged “cured” from his delusion and became a child psychologist with a mission:
“Get REAL! Imagination is your enemy.”
But a few days before his wedding a talking squirrel shows up and implores him to help save Fairtaylia from an unspeakable evil. Now, it’s up to Tommy to face his past and convince his childhood friends to join him:
A bestselling children’s book author with writer’s block. An actress with anger management problems. A big pharma CEO a bit too fond of drugs. And oh yes, the frickin’ President of the United States.
Themes and tone
Fantasy vs. reality. Staying young and growing old.Being stuck or growing up.
This is what “Back to Fairtaylia” is all about.
Imagine the kids from “Stranger Things”, but the Upside Down being more like Disneyland on Ecstasy. Or the Losers Club from “IT”, but the scary underbelly of Derry not being scary at all, but super-nice and with less clowns and more dragons to ride on. Or Peter Parker and his friends in “Spider Man: Far From Home” on a never-ending school trip to “R”-rated Narnia with no parental supervision.
Heaven on earth, right? Too good to be true. Which means it can’t last. Every school trip has to end, heaven turns to hell, we all have to grow up.
Or do we?
What if you did grow up but suddenly got the chance to go back to the paradise of your childhood, where life could be a Never-Ending Story? Would that be the best thing that could ever happen to you or would it be a recipe for disaster?
Would you take the chance to reawaken your inner child or would you corrupt an innocent world with your adult self?
“Back to Fairtaylia” is about how we rely on fantasy, make-believe and our geeky obsessions to get us through our daily lives, even as supposedly responsible, grown-up-adults—and the need to find a balance between being rigidly down-to-earth and staying always head-in-the-clouds.
That’s the journey our heroes will be sent on in our book; which also means they’ll have to confront some hard truths about themselves that they have ignored all their lives.
But mostly (let’s be honest) we just want to have fun with this. Because we’re all developmentally arrested and like this kinda stuff.
Which also means the tone will be funny, but never cynical, arch and self-consciously hipsterish (like the thematically adjacent “The Magicians”, for example), more like “Good Boys Grow up and Go F***ing Disney”, or if “The Chronicles of Narnia” was made by Trey Parker & Matt Stone, or a Seth Rogen movie performed by easily excitable musical theater nerds on a constant sugar high: sweary but sweet.
So, let’s f***ing do this. Let’s go “Back to Fairtaylia”…
Protagonists
The gang who has to save FairtayliaTommy Driscoll
When Tommy was twelve years old, he and his friends made a wondrous discovery in an old theme park. A doorway to the realm of Fairtaylia, an enchanted land full of magic and wonder. Here, the Fearless Five, as the kids proudly call themselves, would go on many adventures beyond imagination. But one day, Tommy broke the one rule that was never meant to be broken… He told his parents all about it. And they didn’t believe him.
Not at all!
Johnny Boscarelli
The fast talking, Ritalin infused fast food junkie has turned his knack for Fairtaylian alchemy into a burgeoning career in real world big pharma.
Annalee Leary
The headstrong orphan whose shape shifting powers in Fairtaylia have prepared her for a successful acting career in another fantasy world: Hollywood.
Li Carter
The secret leader of the gang (don’t tell Tommy). She was the only one in the whole of Fairtaylia who could conjure an Ember Dragon in less than five seconds. As a grown up, Li has used her “spelling” talent to turn her childhood “fantasies” into a bestselling YA book series rivaling Harry Potter in popularity. Unfortunately at the moment she’s battling severe writer’s block that may or may not have something to do with her girlfriend having proposed to her.
Stinky Pete Carradine
The bumbling idiot of the gang who once almost drowned in a cauldron of charisma potion has transformed into a scorchingly hot “Prince Charming” who’s so irresistible he managed to enchant the entire country to change the constitution and elect him the youngest President of the United States.
The team
Everyone who brought ``Back to Fairtaylia`` to lifeJörg Alberts & Roland Heep
WritersJörg Alberts & Roland Heep are veteran TV writers from Germany. Over the past 20 years they have co-written more than 100 episodes for some of Germany’s highest rated crime and action dramas. In addition, they co-wrote thirteen network TV-movies (some shot on location in Moscow, Istanbul, the Dominican Republic and Mexico), co- wrote an episode of the British crime drama “The Bill“ and successfully developed several original shows into production.
P.R. Dedelis
Pencils and Inks
P. R. Dedelis is an artist from Poland who’s been drawing since reading his first Donald Duck comic book at the age of 5. Since then, he hasn’t stopped and has been drawing professionally for nearly a decade now, working on titles like 5 Seconds and Word Smith (Sigmate Studios), Team Synergy (HB Comics), many more and now “This Land”.
Liezl Buenaventura
Colors
Liezl Buenaventura is a digital painter and comic colorist. She holds degrees in Visual Communication and Studio Arts: Painting from the University of the Philippines, and has worked with Scout Comics, Zenescope Entertainment, Upper Deck, TPub Comics, Alterna Comics, and many other entertainment publishers. She has also worked as a User Interface designer, game artist, and graphic designer for various ad agencies and game studios.
Her comic book work includes: Stabbity Bunny, Kate’s Really Good At Hockey, The Last West, Ivory Ghosts, and Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: The Jungle Book.
Mike Stock
Lettering
Mike is an experienced comic book letterer from the UK. Originally trained as a graphic designer, Mike began to teach himself to letter comics a decade ago, and a steady list of credits has followed (you can find them at michaelstock.co.uk). A perfectionist by nature, he enjoys pushing himself to constantly improve and enjoys the variety of challenges each new story and creative team brings. He is ever grateful to his partner for allowing him to work more evenings and weekends than he should.
If you have nothing better to do then you can keep up to date with Mike on social media at fb.com/comicbooklettering or @sheriffstocky on Twitter.