In FANNY GALACTIC: TUCK TO THE FUTURE, available now on Gumroad, an aging drag queen suddenly finds herself thrust into the near future where drag queens have turned into murderous crazies and a mysterious villain has taken over the world. When future rebels declare Fanny the savior from their prophecy, it’s up to Fanny to save the day and find a way home.
The Details
- Written By: Chris Fildes
- Art By: Edward Bentley
- Letters By: Edward Bentley
- Cover Price: €15 (that’s about $18)
- Release Date: Available Now
Was It Good?
Yes. I liked it. FANNY GALACTIC is so bright, colorful and over the top, you can’t help being fascinated. In our recent interview with Chris Fildes, he remarked this graphic novel is not like anything you’ve ever read before, and that is 100% correct. But if you need a little help to get a flavor for what you’re in for, it might go something like this:
Take the tone and time travel concepts of Austin Powers: Goldmember (2002). Strip out the spy elements. Draw the graphic novel in the style of the Archer cartoon series. Have it co-written and co-directed by John Waters and RuPaul, and cast Harvey Fierstein as the lead.
That at least gets you into the ballpark of what you’ll experience. This graphic novel has great art, a thoroughly amusing (albeit occasionally nonsensical) story, and nuanced themes that speak to the heart.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Fanny Galactic is an aging drag queen bored with the monotony of her stage performances and a stagnant career.
A recent, unexplained crime occurred where Fanny saves the day and becomes a local hero. Fanny’s heroic act makes the local news, much to the jealous disappointment of Fanny’s younger, cattier friends.
As the Fanny bitch-fest makes its rounds, one of the catty crowd, Sybil D’Sorder, receives a strange holographic message telling her “It’s time.”
During the next evening’s show, Fanny begins a performance but a nearby wind machine explodes. The machine was apparently sabotaged by Sybil in an effort to kill Fanny. For some inexplicable reason, the explosion transports Fanny to the future.
No, time travel via exploding wind machine doesn’t make any sense, but you’re so entranced by the spectacle that you take the story for what it is — a comical farce. Trust me, it works.
Fanny wakes up in the year 2120 in a back alley. Faceless robots are hunting rebels and killing indiscriminately with Buck Roger-esque ray guns. During the chaos of a hunt, Fanny gets knocked out and wakes up later in one of the rebel hideouts. A tied-up Fanny is searched, and the rebels find mundane items such as a driver’s license that lead them to believe Fanny has arrived to defeat The One — the last of the drag queens.
Gaining some small trust, the rebels release Fanny and explain that a kind of mind control outbreak occurred years ago that turned all drag queens into ravenous killers. They believe The One was responsible for the outbreak and used the chaos to seize control of world governments, becoming the ultimate Queen *ahem*.
So far the story sounds ludicrous, and if you over-analyze the story, it won’t make a lick of sense. But every character plays it straight, so there’s an earnestness to every interaction. You can feel the characters care about each other and the events going on, so while the setup is bonkers, the sincerity is palpable.
What happens next? We won’t cover all the details, but the rebels hatch a plan to overthrow The One, rescue their friends held captive in the palace, and find a way to get Fanny back home. Do they succeed? You’ll have to pick the book up to find out.
Final Thoughts
FANNY GALACTIC: TUCK TO THE FUTURE, available now on Gumroad, takes a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and entirely engaging time travel adventure and turns it on it’s head. The art is stellar, and we encourage everyone to try something a little (Oy! a lot) different.
Score: 8.5/10
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