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Alice in Wonderland, Vol. 1 #1-6 (2012) #1-6
Alice in Wonderland
The one thing known is that her time spent in a world full of insanity left her a broken adult. However, her courageous will to survive is what ultimately saved humanity. Now the story of Alice's visit into Wonderland is fully revealed and the truth of the terror will be told in full! From the minds behind Grimm Fairy Tales and Return To Wonderland, follow Zenescope back down the rabbit hole and re-discover a world of madness like you've never seen before!
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2012
About the author
Raven Gregory
571 books87 followersExecutive Editor/Staff Writer of Zenescope Entertainment
Raven Gregory was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1979, the youngest of three brothers.
Discovered in 2000 by then Vice President of Publishing at Top Cow Productions, Renae Geerlings, his first professionally published work was the critically acclaimed creator owned independent comic series, The Gift, in 2003. The hit series would later be published by Image Comics as the writers' popularity continued to grow.
Years later, the young writer would come to attention of Zenescope Editor in Chief and co-founder, Ralph Tedesco, who recruited the writer to the newly created position of Executive Editor and Staff Writer of Zenescope Entertainment. Gregory would go on to co-create and write the best selling Wonderland Trilogy series with fellow co-creators Joe Brusha (President/CCO), and Ralph Tedesco as well as numerous other Grimm Fairy Tales spin offs, Crossovers and Creator Owned titles.
Known for his incredibly dark, yet realistic stories of horror, the writer's use of relatable personal tragedy, and powerful themes have made the writer a fan favorite creator across the nation.
After suffering the loss of a close friend to a car accident in June 2012, and the death of his ex-wife and mother of his children, Kourtney Keiser, to a hit and run accident one year later in 2013 Raven began work on his most personal story to date entitled NO TOMORROW. The story is currently set to debut August 28th, 2013.
Upon the debut issue's release it will be the 200th published story by the writer.
Raven lives in Arizona with his four children, a Pitbull named Wacko, and a Chichuana named Zombie.
Best selling fan picks: The Wonderland trilogy, FLY, The Theater, Irresistible, and the Dream Eater Saga
Raven Gregory was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1979, the youngest of three brothers.
Discovered in 2000 by then Vice President of Publishing at Top Cow Productions, Renae Geerlings, his first professionally published work was the critically acclaimed creator owned independent comic series, The Gift, in 2003. The hit series would later be published by Image Comics as the writers' popularity continued to grow.
Years later, the young writer would come to attention of Zenescope Editor in Chief and co-founder, Ralph Tedesco, who recruited the writer to the newly created position of Executive Editor and Staff Writer of Zenescope Entertainment. Gregory would go on to co-create and write the best selling Wonderland Trilogy series with fellow co-creators Joe Brusha (President/CCO), and Ralph Tedesco as well as numerous other Grimm Fairy Tales spin offs, Crossovers and Creator Owned titles.
Known for his incredibly dark, yet realistic stories of horror, the writer's use of relatable personal tragedy, and powerful themes have made the writer a fan favorite creator across the nation.
After suffering the loss of a close friend to a car accident in June 2012, and the death of his ex-wife and mother of his children, Kourtney Keiser, to a hit and run accident one year later in 2013 Raven began work on his most personal story to date entitled NO TOMORROW. The story is currently set to debut August 28th, 2013.
Upon the debut issue's release it will be the 200th published story by the writer.
Raven lives in Arizona with his four children, a Pitbull named Wacko, and a Chichuana named Zombie.
Best selling fan picks: The Wonderland trilogy, FLY, The Theater, Irresistible, and the Dream Eater Saga
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
September 4, 2015
Raven Gregory’s take on Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland is essentially a godawful mashup of softcore porn and metal stupidity.
For no discernible reason, Alice’s grandparents send her down a rabbit hole where she ends up the prisoner of the evil Jabberwocky – I won’t bother saying “evil” anymore as every single character in this version of Wonderland is evil. Alice grows up, gets put into stripper clothes, and eventually escapes. She bumbles around meeting the famous characters – the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Queen of Hearts, etc. – without actually developing one of her own. Also missing is a plot even though every character in Wonderland wants Alice – again, for no discernible reason. The book drags on until it ends stupidly. This was also my first and last Zenescope comic!
As you might tell from the chest-acular Alice on the cover, this is a book aimed squarely at lewd dewds who luv bewbs – and ONLY bewbs because quality writing and art, and all that entails, is entirely absent from this trashy comic. This entire endeavour seems to be one opportunity after another of getting upskirt shots of Alice when we’re not getting gratuitous flashes of her cleavage. In fact, all the women in this book are underdressed with tiny waists and giant racks, ie. the Barbie look.
Our protagonist is a personality flat-line, there is no story – the other characters? They’re all redundantly horrific versions of the originals. Cheshire Cat is a giant monster cat. Walrus is a giant man-eating walrus and the Carpenter is a serial killer. The Mad Hatter is a shape-changing sadist, the March Hare is on steroids – all to no effect. They’re all predictably and drearily sinister and dark. Boring. Nobody can die in Wonderland either so there’s no tension/stakes in anything that happens - all that threatening behaviour towards Alice for nothing.
I suppose “spoilers” on the next part but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read this crap so who cares really?
Raven Gregory laughably pretends Alice the non-dimensional character has an arc when she inexplicably, and for no reason other than SOMETHING has to happen at the end, becomes a warrior queen of an army and fights the Queen of Hearts and her army. This transformation is so unconvincing and is yet another reason for Alice to appear in an even skimpier costume, tits out towards the reader (when she’s not sticking her bum in the reader’s face). So much objectification...
The conclusion makes no sense and anyway you apparently had to read about half a dozen other tie-in titles (NOPE!) to understand the full porn, I mean story, of this version of Alice in Wonderland. Then the volume closes out with, what else?, a variant cover gallery showcasing Alice in various forms of lingerie.
I suppose some of the layouts are imaginative – like when Gravity distorts the comic’s structure - but I didn’t like Robert Gill’s art on the whole.
Wow! What a terrible, misogynistic, utterly stupid, horribly written book! Raven Gregory’s taken a massive dump on a literary classic. I’d be more outraged if it were popular but Zenescope is a very minor comics publisher for a reason. That and it’s hard to care much about something quite so pathetic.
For no discernible reason, Alice’s grandparents send her down a rabbit hole where she ends up the prisoner of the evil Jabberwocky – I won’t bother saying “evil” anymore as every single character in this version of Wonderland is evil. Alice grows up, gets put into stripper clothes, and eventually escapes. She bumbles around meeting the famous characters – the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Queen of Hearts, etc. – without actually developing one of her own. Also missing is a plot even though every character in Wonderland wants Alice – again, for no discernible reason. The book drags on until it ends stupidly. This was also my first and last Zenescope comic!
As you might tell from the chest-acular Alice on the cover, this is a book aimed squarely at lewd dewds who luv bewbs – and ONLY bewbs because quality writing and art, and all that entails, is entirely absent from this trashy comic. This entire endeavour seems to be one opportunity after another of getting upskirt shots of Alice when we’re not getting gratuitous flashes of her cleavage. In fact, all the women in this book are underdressed with tiny waists and giant racks, ie. the Barbie look.
Our protagonist is a personality flat-line, there is no story – the other characters? They’re all redundantly horrific versions of the originals. Cheshire Cat is a giant monster cat. Walrus is a giant man-eating walrus and the Carpenter is a serial killer. The Mad Hatter is a shape-changing sadist, the March Hare is on steroids – all to no effect. They’re all predictably and drearily sinister and dark. Boring. Nobody can die in Wonderland either so there’s no tension/stakes in anything that happens - all that threatening behaviour towards Alice for nothing.
I suppose “spoilers” on the next part but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read this crap so who cares really?
Raven Gregory laughably pretends Alice the non-dimensional character has an arc when she inexplicably, and for no reason other than SOMETHING has to happen at the end, becomes a warrior queen of an army and fights the Queen of Hearts and her army. This transformation is so unconvincing and is yet another reason for Alice to appear in an even skimpier costume, tits out towards the reader (when she’s not sticking her bum in the reader’s face). So much objectification...
The conclusion makes no sense and anyway you apparently had to read about half a dozen other tie-in titles (NOPE!) to understand the full porn, I mean story, of this version of Alice in Wonderland. Then the volume closes out with, what else?, a variant cover gallery showcasing Alice in various forms of lingerie.
I suppose some of the layouts are imaginative – like when Gravity distorts the comic’s structure - but I didn’t like Robert Gill’s art on the whole.
Wow! What a terrible, misogynistic, utterly stupid, horribly written book! Raven Gregory’s taken a massive dump on a literary classic. I’d be more outraged if it were popular but Zenescope is a very minor comics publisher for a reason. That and it’s hard to care much about something quite so pathetic.
April 9, 2021
I wanted to read this because of the cover. I thought it looked intriguing, but wow, what a hot mess!! This almost seems like the drawings came first and then the story tried to follow after, but just couldn’t.
The drawings were somewhat interesting, which is why I gave the two stars, but I was not interested in the characters. Unfortunately, this wasn’t for me at all. The characters were not fleshed out enough for me to care, it jumped all over the place, and Alice was only a pretty girl to look at.
I believe there are people who will enjoy this, but I’m sorry to say that I am not one of them.
Check out this review and others on my blog https://shannarareads.com/?p=387
Thanks!!!
The drawings were somewhat interesting, which is why I gave the two stars, but I was not interested in the characters. Unfortunately, this wasn’t for me at all. The characters were not fleshed out enough for me to care, it jumped all over the place, and Alice was only a pretty girl to look at.
I believe there are people who will enjoy this, but I’m sorry to say that I am not one of them.
Check out this review and others on my blog https://shannarareads.com/?p=387
Thanks!!!
October 4, 2012
I take it that most of you know what curiosity killed - which was pretty much my rationale for picking up Zenescope's latest offering in the adult comic Grimm's Fairy Tale series with "Alice in Wonderland."
I took it that this was a followup story to some of Zenescope's other series including "Return to Wonderland" and "Tales from Wonderland." It was my first read from that extension of the series, and I'm torn as to what to feel about it. I didn't mind the dark root of the story, and the violence I could swallow because if you've read any of the series by Zenescope in this vein - you can expect the tales to be dark, violent, and have some kind of twisted moral through the story intended for an adult audience. There's a fair degree of objectification that I personally didn't care for, but I was a little more forgiving just for the measure that the story caught my attention, as well as the consistency in the characters.
But here? I'm not sure what happened. I'll admit I was rather bored and rolling my eyes through much of this narrative. A story of Alice's terror as she was trapped in Wonderland? Not really, considering Alice was pretty much a bubblebrain throughout her experiences. Let me recap the basic plot of the story and go from there.
Alice is a young girl when she's sent in the rabbit hole, and gets trapped in Wonderland. Desperate to go home, she makes a deal with the Jabberwock, who agrees to show her the way out of Wonderland, but he tricks her into making a deal she wasn't aware. Thus, Alice is imprisoned and grows up to an adult in captivity until she's freed and escapes into the heart of the craziness that is Wonderland.
Quite many of the major players from Carroll's tale are here: the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, etc. All of them particularly sinister. It's an alternative take on the stories, but it can be hard to follow for those who haven't read the other entries in Zenescope's series - it isn't meant to stand alone, so fair warning for those who are picking it up for the first time. I was able to follow along with the story fine despite some of the gaps, but I found the development in this story fairly lacking for what it offered. For one, Alice was a character that was hard to identify with. She stumbles along from place to place, gets caught/fooled quite easily, and doesn't really have much defining her even when - as the story unfolds - she decides to step up to the plate and make herself find a way to reach homeward - with some notably heavy costs in tow. I didn't start fully clicking with the story told until around the time the Queen of Hearts showed up, and by then it was a good way into it. Most of the time before that point, I kept thinking "Pick up story, please pick up - you have an interesting theme you're working with, but it's not showing." Though there were a great deal of other things showing. *coughs*
In all seriousness, I'm for characters growing from a point of weakness into becoming kick-butt and take names in order to get what they aim for, but Alice didn't really have a natural point of getting to (or through) those stages, not without reference to incidents that weren't contained in this volume, so there were some significant story holes to be had here. Also, the "fanservice" was particularly apparent in this versus focusing on the story elements, and that disappointed me in comparison to some of my former reads with this particular series.
I don't know. This is the kind of work that could go either way depending on what you're looking for. It's a light read, I thought the illustrations were decent and had good coloring - some panels had much better consistency than others in some of the chapters. Yet I was disappointed because the tale wasn't nearly as interesting as it could've been in spurts, and the element of sacrifice didn't have nearly as much weight to it as the story purported it to be. Overall, so-so, but not nearly as interesting as some of the fairy tales that were in the earlier Grimm's series.
Overall score: 2/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Zenescope Entertainment.
I took it that this was a followup story to some of Zenescope's other series including "Return to Wonderland" and "Tales from Wonderland." It was my first read from that extension of the series, and I'm torn as to what to feel about it. I didn't mind the dark root of the story, and the violence I could swallow because if you've read any of the series by Zenescope in this vein - you can expect the tales to be dark, violent, and have some kind of twisted moral through the story intended for an adult audience. There's a fair degree of objectification that I personally didn't care for, but I was a little more forgiving just for the measure that the story caught my attention, as well as the consistency in the characters.
But here? I'm not sure what happened. I'll admit I was rather bored and rolling my eyes through much of this narrative. A story of Alice's terror as she was trapped in Wonderland? Not really, considering Alice was pretty much a bubblebrain throughout her experiences. Let me recap the basic plot of the story and go from there.
Alice is a young girl when she's sent in the rabbit hole, and gets trapped in Wonderland. Desperate to go home, she makes a deal with the Jabberwock, who agrees to show her the way out of Wonderland, but he tricks her into making a deal she wasn't aware. Thus, Alice is imprisoned and grows up to an adult in captivity until she's freed and escapes into the heart of the craziness that is Wonderland.
Quite many of the major players from Carroll's tale are here: the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, etc. All of them particularly sinister. It's an alternative take on the stories, but it can be hard to follow for those who haven't read the other entries in Zenescope's series - it isn't meant to stand alone, so fair warning for those who are picking it up for the first time. I was able to follow along with the story fine despite some of the gaps, but I found the development in this story fairly lacking for what it offered. For one, Alice was a character that was hard to identify with. She stumbles along from place to place, gets caught/fooled quite easily, and doesn't really have much defining her even when - as the story unfolds - she decides to step up to the plate and make herself find a way to reach homeward - with some notably heavy costs in tow. I didn't start fully clicking with the story told until around the time the Queen of Hearts showed up, and by then it was a good way into it. Most of the time before that point, I kept thinking "Pick up story, please pick up - you have an interesting theme you're working with, but it's not showing." Though there were a great deal of other things showing. *coughs*
In all seriousness, I'm for characters growing from a point of weakness into becoming kick-butt and take names in order to get what they aim for, but Alice didn't really have a natural point of getting to (or through) those stages, not without reference to incidents that weren't contained in this volume, so there were some significant story holes to be had here. Also, the "fanservice" was particularly apparent in this versus focusing on the story elements, and that disappointed me in comparison to some of my former reads with this particular series.
I don't know. This is the kind of work that could go either way depending on what you're looking for. It's a light read, I thought the illustrations were decent and had good coloring - some panels had much better consistency than others in some of the chapters. Yet I was disappointed because the tale wasn't nearly as interesting as it could've been in spurts, and the element of sacrifice didn't have nearly as much weight to it as the story purported it to be. Overall, so-so, but not nearly as interesting as some of the fairy tales that were in the earlier Grimm's series.
Overall score: 2/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Zenescope Entertainment.
July 30, 2013
I saw this on NetGalley and had to give it a try. There are so many great artistic possibilities with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland story. And I have to say that the author and illustrator really took advantage of that. The episodic nature of Alice's travels in Wonderland is really interesting - there's never a dull moment and you really get to see a lot of the characters that fascinate so many of us.
The Jabberwocky plays a huge role in this, and in fact the ending leaves you a little bit hanging as to what ultimately happens to him. He's the reason that Alice is brought to Wonderland though, sacrificed really. Which is an interesting spin on the falling down the rabbit hole. She follows a white rabbit for a little while, gets lost in the land of dreams, and ends up in Wonderland. As the prisoner of the Jabberwocky she must tell him stories of her world. Years and years and years pass this way, and eventually Alice grows up (and apparently out of her clothes...)
When she gets the chance to escape she takes it. But the saying: Out of the frying pan, into the fire, never was so applicable. I loved some of the spins they took on the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, March Hare etc. The illustrations of them were all superb, and intriguing to look at. The Queen of Hearts, Queen of Spades, and Gravity herself were very interesting here. I'd definitely like to see more of their stories.
Unfortunately, the part that seemed to suffer the most was Alice herself. She was a bit of a cipher; with no real personality, merely jumping from one insane situation to the next. I would have liked to see a bit more character development from her. And maybe have her wearing some more clothes occasionally. On the one hand, I get it, but on the other - honestly, she doesn't need to be half naked to be appealing.
I did really appreciate the use of the panels, and pages to tell part of the story. At one point - which doesn't work so well digitally - the pages rotate around as Gravity starts messing with this. It really brought the story to me, I thought. Also, the fonts and speech bubbles used for the characters were unique to each one, and it made it very easy to determine who was speaking.
I enjoyed this graphic novel - Alice could have used a bit more personality, and I definitely felt like I was missing things (obviously based on the editor's notes placed occasionally throughout the text), but all in all it was a good, fun, and different read. I liked this unique look at Wonderland. And I think I'll be looking for more of the Grimm's Fairy Tales comics.
The Jabberwocky plays a huge role in this, and in fact the ending leaves you a little bit hanging as to what ultimately happens to him. He's the reason that Alice is brought to Wonderland though, sacrificed really. Which is an interesting spin on the falling down the rabbit hole. She follows a white rabbit for a little while, gets lost in the land of dreams, and ends up in Wonderland. As the prisoner of the Jabberwocky she must tell him stories of her world. Years and years and years pass this way, and eventually Alice grows up (and apparently out of her clothes...)
When she gets the chance to escape she takes it. But the saying: Out of the frying pan, into the fire, never was so applicable. I loved some of the spins they took on the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, March Hare etc. The illustrations of them were all superb, and intriguing to look at. The Queen of Hearts, Queen of Spades, and Gravity herself were very interesting here. I'd definitely like to see more of their stories.
Unfortunately, the part that seemed to suffer the most was Alice herself. She was a bit of a cipher; with no real personality, merely jumping from one insane situation to the next. I would have liked to see a bit more character development from her. And maybe have her wearing some more clothes occasionally. On the one hand, I get it, but on the other - honestly, she doesn't need to be half naked to be appealing.
I did really appreciate the use of the panels, and pages to tell part of the story. At one point - which doesn't work so well digitally - the pages rotate around as Gravity starts messing with this. It really brought the story to me, I thought. Also, the fonts and speech bubbles used for the characters were unique to each one, and it made it very easy to determine who was speaking.
I enjoyed this graphic novel - Alice could have used a bit more personality, and I definitely felt like I was missing things (obviously based on the editor's notes placed occasionally throughout the text), but all in all it was a good, fun, and different read. I liked this unique look at Wonderland. And I think I'll be looking for more of the Grimm's Fairy Tales comics.
January 4, 2021
2/5 ⭐️
Okay what the fuck
Boobs boobs and more boobs and a weird messed up plot...
Yeah no.
Okay what the fuck
Boobs boobs and more boobs and a weird messed up plot...
Yeah no.
October 31, 2012
This book had a lot of hits & misses. I must commend that we get a solid gritty story set in the world of Alice in Wonderland.
The biggest thing I want to pick at is the adult portrayal of Alice. It was very annoying, for me, to see her G-cups staring at me in nigh on every frame. Very sleazy. So I thought, well, maybe her dress shrank, when she grew. Hmm, maybe indeed? Although, I truly doubt that a 8-10 yr old wears a garter belt. Don't even get me started on the panty shot in front of the marching army. oh, brother! If they insist on cladding the characters in stripper garb I will not be a long term reader.
All that comes to mind is, "What the **** were they thinking!". I was willing to look past the art and read the entire first volume. I have read a few issues by zenescope, they are usually near pornographic til you crack the cover. Every female still gets the jessica rabbit makeover, but that's par for the course when reading any comic / graphic novel.
Onto the story. I liked it. I really did it might even encourage me to pick up other books by the same writer.
The characters. Not gonna lie, hollow, as empty as a show box. Most where interesting, but lacked the page time to build anything solid. Alice in particular was one-dimensional at best. She runs away through most of the volume, til the end when she turns full on Xena warrior princess, complete with red sonja bikini.
I would recommend it for the story line only if you can stomach over-Sexualized characters.
Preview courtesy of Netgalley & zenescope
The biggest thing I want to pick at is the adult portrayal of Alice. It was very annoying, for me, to see her G-cups staring at me in nigh on every frame. Very sleazy. So I thought, well, maybe her dress shrank, when she grew. Hmm, maybe indeed? Although, I truly doubt that a 8-10 yr old wears a garter belt. Don't even get me started on the panty shot in front of the marching army. oh, brother! If they insist on cladding the characters in stripper garb I will not be a long term reader.
All that comes to mind is, "What the **** were they thinking!". I was willing to look past the art and read the entire first volume. I have read a few issues by zenescope, they are usually near pornographic til you crack the cover. Every female still gets the jessica rabbit makeover, but that's par for the course when reading any comic / graphic novel.
Onto the story. I liked it. I really did it might even encourage me to pick up other books by the same writer.
The characters. Not gonna lie, hollow, as empty as a show box. Most where interesting, but lacked the page time to build anything solid. Alice in particular was one-dimensional at best. She runs away through most of the volume, til the end when she turns full on Xena warrior princess, complete with red sonja bikini.
I would recommend it for the story line only if you can stomach over-Sexualized characters.
Preview courtesy of Netgalley & zenescope
March 3, 2013
I am a big fan of the Alice in Wonderland stories and I'm always on the look out for variations on the themes in the book so I was more than happy to dive into this comic to see how it would play out. I have to say that as far as the core story goes and the inventiveness of the way that the writers reimagined a lot of those familiar characters is excellent. They took some great ideas and really made them their own and the art work and typographical choices really make the book something fun and interesting to read. I particularly love the fact that the Queen of Hearts' speech bubbles are always hearts which are delighful but also make it really easy to figure out who is talking. It's these little details that make the book for me as well as the concepts that they are working with. Why I can't give it more than three stars is the character of Alice herself. While her lack of personality can be a little attributed to her background as per the book, I still feel like I don't know her very well and that they could have done more to flesh out her as a character. I also felt like her wardrobe choices could have been a little more developed. I don't care necessarily that she's scantily clad but I feel like it was a distraction to the reading experience. Alice is the most important character and yet she is also the least interesting and least dressed which starts to feel a little like fan service at the end. It's not enough to stop me from reading more but I was a little disappointed by the treatment of the heroine, particularly when the other female characters were more interesting and better developed.
June 10, 2012
I did not read this in graphic novel form. I actually ended up buying all the comics individually because I could not wait to read them. I love, love, love pretty much anything related to Alice in Wonderland and I had to scour the web to get my hands on these since they sold out pretty much everywhere.
The story basically has Alice being sent down the rabbit hole as a sort of sacrifice and she is held captive by the Jabberwocky for years. Eventually, she manages to escape and is forced to deal with a very dark and twisted Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat is super creepy and the Mad Hatter is even crazier then usual. I don't want to get too deep into explaining the plot since I do not want to ruin it. But essentially, it is a different take on the story of Alice.
This was my first experience reading anything released by Zenescope. I have been meaning to read their other Wonderland books as well as their Grimm Fairy Tales series. I figured this series was a good place to start and I adored it. It is screwed up and violent and I think that is part of why I liked it. I do wish I had read the other Wonderland books since there is a bit of related items in there, but I think they did a good job of not making it confusing for those that had not read anything in this world before. Although, now I am eager to try and get my hands on all the other Wonderland books. I recommend this to anyone who likes darker, more adult comics/ graphic novels and loves the world of Wonderland.
The story basically has Alice being sent down the rabbit hole as a sort of sacrifice and she is held captive by the Jabberwocky for years. Eventually, she manages to escape and is forced to deal with a very dark and twisted Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat is super creepy and the Mad Hatter is even crazier then usual. I don't want to get too deep into explaining the plot since I do not want to ruin it. But essentially, it is a different take on the story of Alice.
This was my first experience reading anything released by Zenescope. I have been meaning to read their other Wonderland books as well as their Grimm Fairy Tales series. I figured this series was a good place to start and I adored it. It is screwed up and violent and I think that is part of why I liked it. I do wish I had read the other Wonderland books since there is a bit of related items in there, but I think they did a good job of not making it confusing for those that had not read anything in this world before. Although, now I am eager to try and get my hands on all the other Wonderland books. I recommend this to anyone who likes darker, more adult comics/ graphic novels and loves the world of Wonderland.
October 18, 2019
From Grimm Fairy Tales comes Alice in Wonderland, a sexed up, ultraviolent take on Lewis Carroll’s classic. After falling into a hole in a tree and being imprisoned by the Jabberwocky, Alice grows to be a teenager when she is finally freed with the help of the White Rabbit and must battle her way through the savage, bizarre magical world of Wonderland. The plot’s kind of hard to follow at times, and there are numerous editor notes referring to events in other Wonderland comics (as Alice is actually a spin-off series). However, the artwork is really well-done; homaging the Heavy Metal style with its erotic character designs and gratuitous gore. And the panel layouts are very creative, and accentuate the topsy-turviness of Wonderland. It’s not for everyone, but Grimm Fairy Tales’ Alice in Wonderland has an enchanting sort of charm in B-grade horror sort of way.
October 26, 2012
Alice in Wonderland (Graphic Novel) / 9781937068400
I love Alice in Wonderland adaptations (as well as the source material) and I really wanted to like this graphic novel, but while I feel like the idea for this volume is commendable, I think the execution -- particularly the writing and drawing -- is unfortunately rather poor.
First and foremost, I feel that the object here is titillation to the detriment of the actual artistry. The outfit Alice is wearing on the cover is far more modest than her actual outfit in-text; she spends pretty much the entire book in a cleavage-busting corset and a midriff-bearing skirt. I like the female form, so I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is the fact that after Alice's stomach and breasts are rendered in a panel, everything else seems optional. Legs come and go, costumes are altered between panels, and facial features change radically. Of the four major women characters in this novel, many of them are rendered with identical faces that nevertheless shift and change from panel to panel. I don't think this is a commentary on the changeable nature of Wonderland; I think it's just lackluster artistry.
Though I like the concept underlying this story, the actual writing is not very good. Points are repeated numerous times, and whoever was inking in the dialogue boxes seems not to have understood which words needed emphasizing in the jokes. For example, a card-suit character makes a joke that soon people will "call me the suicide queen". This is an obvious reference to the King of Hearts being called the "suicide king" because his sword is positioned behind his head. But in the dialogue bubble, the wrong word is bolded for emphasis: she doesn't say "call ME the suicide queen" (to differentiate herself from the King of Hearts), nor does she say "call me the suicide QUEEN" (to point out that there's been a gender-swap). Instead, she says "call me the SUICIDE queen", which rather ruins the joke in my opinion and makes me wonder if the artist was unaware of the reference. The rest of the humor is pretty lackluster: there's several jokes where the "punchline" is basically that some people in the world are fat. Very original material, this.
Of note here is the strange "footnotes" that exist in text. Frequently characters will reference things that took place in different volumes of the series, and a footnote will say something like "Editor's Note: See Call of Wonderland." This does nothing to clarify what is going on in-text, and the little sarcastic notes that accompany some of them (like "weren't you paying attention?") aren't nearly as witty as the editor seemed to think. As a reader, this strikes me as a bad attempt at marketing: I'm not likely to put down the current book to go get the backstory, and if I'm able to puzzle out the relevant backstory, I won't go get that volume later because I already know what happens. I know it's not easy to make an interconnected series, but I feel like there are better ways to reference off-screen events than with a non-explanatory footnote telling me to stop reading and go read something else.
Here I will insert a minor but nagging point. (Spoiler!) Death isn't permanent in Wonderland, but Alice needs to defeat a dangerous enemy for good. Early on, a mystical blade is introduced as causing permanent death, and this *feels* like a decent setup for a Chekov's Gun. But after the death of two minor and utterly unimportant characters, the blade is carried off by a mouse and we... never see it again. Maybe it shows up in a later volume, but a *lot* of the book feels like this: details are introduced, but then shuffled off stage and forgotten. After awhile, the reader starts to feel like half the book is just killing time rather than weaving a coherent narrative.
Beyond anything else, I'm somewhat saddened by how flat and one-note this Wonderland is. The writers have decided that if everyone in Wonderland is insane, then therefore they must all be *violently* insane. There's a lot of limbs and guts and gore flying, but everything is one-note. There's none of the sadness of the Mock Turtle, none of the cheer of the Cheshire Cat, none of the questionable work ethic of the Duchess and the Cook that added so much dimension to the source material. Instead, pretty much everyone Alice meets is immediately interested in killing her, full-stop. Alice's own inner narration even pokes fun at this, asking when she'll stop trusting people, but though this question deserves an answer, we never receive one. Alice just blunders through, heartily wishing to leave Wonderland behind, and eventually the reader may feel the same.
NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.
~ Ana Mardoll
I love Alice in Wonderland adaptations (as well as the source material) and I really wanted to like this graphic novel, but while I feel like the idea for this volume is commendable, I think the execution -- particularly the writing and drawing -- is unfortunately rather poor.
First and foremost, I feel that the object here is titillation to the detriment of the actual artistry. The outfit Alice is wearing on the cover is far more modest than her actual outfit in-text; she spends pretty much the entire book in a cleavage-busting corset and a midriff-bearing skirt. I like the female form, so I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is the fact that after Alice's stomach and breasts are rendered in a panel, everything else seems optional. Legs come and go, costumes are altered between panels, and facial features change radically. Of the four major women characters in this novel, many of them are rendered with identical faces that nevertheless shift and change from panel to panel. I don't think this is a commentary on the changeable nature of Wonderland; I think it's just lackluster artistry.
Though I like the concept underlying this story, the actual writing is not very good. Points are repeated numerous times, and whoever was inking in the dialogue boxes seems not to have understood which words needed emphasizing in the jokes. For example, a card-suit character makes a joke that soon people will "call me the suicide queen". This is an obvious reference to the King of Hearts being called the "suicide king" because his sword is positioned behind his head. But in the dialogue bubble, the wrong word is bolded for emphasis: she doesn't say "call ME the suicide queen" (to differentiate herself from the King of Hearts), nor does she say "call me the suicide QUEEN" (to point out that there's been a gender-swap). Instead, she says "call me the SUICIDE queen", which rather ruins the joke in my opinion and makes me wonder if the artist was unaware of the reference. The rest of the humor is pretty lackluster: there's several jokes where the "punchline" is basically that some people in the world are fat. Very original material, this.
Of note here is the strange "footnotes" that exist in text. Frequently characters will reference things that took place in different volumes of the series, and a footnote will say something like "Editor's Note: See Call of Wonderland." This does nothing to clarify what is going on in-text, and the little sarcastic notes that accompany some of them (like "weren't you paying attention?") aren't nearly as witty as the editor seemed to think. As a reader, this strikes me as a bad attempt at marketing: I'm not likely to put down the current book to go get the backstory, and if I'm able to puzzle out the relevant backstory, I won't go get that volume later because I already know what happens. I know it's not easy to make an interconnected series, but I feel like there are better ways to reference off-screen events than with a non-explanatory footnote telling me to stop reading and go read something else.
Here I will insert a minor but nagging point. (Spoiler!) Death isn't permanent in Wonderland, but Alice needs to defeat a dangerous enemy for good. Early on, a mystical blade is introduced as causing permanent death, and this *feels* like a decent setup for a Chekov's Gun. But after the death of two minor and utterly unimportant characters, the blade is carried off by a mouse and we... never see it again. Maybe it shows up in a later volume, but a *lot* of the book feels like this: details are introduced, but then shuffled off stage and forgotten. After awhile, the reader starts to feel like half the book is just killing time rather than weaving a coherent narrative.
Beyond anything else, I'm somewhat saddened by how flat and one-note this Wonderland is. The writers have decided that if everyone in Wonderland is insane, then therefore they must all be *violently* insane. There's a lot of limbs and guts and gore flying, but everything is one-note. There's none of the sadness of the Mock Turtle, none of the cheer of the Cheshire Cat, none of the questionable work ethic of the Duchess and the Cook that added so much dimension to the source material. Instead, pretty much everyone Alice meets is immediately interested in killing her, full-stop. Alice's own inner narration even pokes fun at this, asking when she'll stop trusting people, but though this question deserves an answer, we never receive one. Alice just blunders through, heartily wishing to leave Wonderland behind, and eventually the reader may feel the same.
NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.
~ Ana Mardoll
October 26, 2012
If adore Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll and a bit traditionalist, you'll be more likely to hate this book. And parents, if you saw your teenagers having a collection of this book, you should worry.
If you read Alice in Wonderland, you'll notice that Lewis Carroll is very much a mathematical and literary genius he is. There's puzzle theory and randomness that was hard to imitate by anyone including Disney. Other than that, Lewis Carroll does carry some bit of facination to young female child as he was a friend to Alice Liddell, one of his inspiration for Alice. But it does not mean he's a pedophile, it means he had somewhat naive. Same goes to CS Lewis but that's another story.
This graphic novel is possibly the polar oposite of what Alice in Wonderland is. Its a collection of the Alice in Wonderland graphic novel serials so if you haven't read the other books, you can be at lost with some of the plot where the writer 'advise' reader to read the other volumes related to this series.
The story started with Alice being persuaded by her grandparents to go inside a large hole in a tree. There she fell and was caught by a Jabberwocky and became hispossible sex slave until a white rabbit save her. Then she met with a ferocious Cheshire with very sharp teeth and wanted to eat everything including Alice. Soon she began to find Wonderland is much more cannibalistic sick and twisted than she could possibly imagine.
Well, honestly, it is a good reading. I do enjoy the story. But in some context, I find the serials is more a perversion to 'Alice in Wonderland' as a derivative work.
One of the main issue I was having was the voyeuristic way of Alice portrayal. I was enjoying the gore, the blood and the flesh being torn apart but what I don't get was; the constant bodice ripper from Alice to the Queens. Every one of them have C-cup and crotch shots and filled with sexualized female portrayal that was overdone. And it does look like cheap pornography to me, if you add sex scenes, it would be a complete.
I know its intentional and probably 'harmless fun' for the readers. But I can't balance quality graphic with cheap publishing tactics to attract people with unrealistic female body fetishes.
I really like the colourings and the story but the constant bombardment of bouncing anatomically-impossible and possibly suffocating boobs and buttocks doesn't do a thing to me. And it's just page wasting for me and distract the story.
The story is complicated and the plot can be unreliable and sometimes chauvanistic. Yes, there are strong and bitchy female characters and some moral values in it. But I could hardly find fault in men's sexual gratification in any cases because its intended for the demographic and I shouldn't complain about it.
But for curiousity reason, if you ever found this book or the image from this book, I would recommend it but I still think if Lewis Carroll is subtle with his naive girl fascination, this book is rather overdone by the whole sexual imagery which could work without because I really like the whole gore thing.
And if the female HAVE to be all those one-and-quarter-naked and sexually-inviting, why couldn't the men be good looking and sexually-inviting too? Honestly, shoving half-naked girls on my face won't change the fact that I'm not attracted to it. Basically, all it does is losing the demographic of people like me who basically aren't turned on by constant boobs bombardment every couple pages more than the actual plot.
The review copy is supplied by the publisher via Netgalley. The graphic novel will be published on Oct 23 2012 by Zenescope Entertainment.
If you read Alice in Wonderland, you'll notice that Lewis Carroll is very much a mathematical and literary genius he is. There's puzzle theory and randomness that was hard to imitate by anyone including Disney. Other than that, Lewis Carroll does carry some bit of facination to young female child as he was a friend to Alice Liddell, one of his inspiration for Alice. But it does not mean he's a pedophile, it means he had somewhat naive. Same goes to CS Lewis but that's another story.
This graphic novel is possibly the polar oposite of what Alice in Wonderland is. Its a collection of the Alice in Wonderland graphic novel serials so if you haven't read the other books, you can be at lost with some of the plot where the writer 'advise' reader to read the other volumes related to this series.
The story started with Alice being persuaded by her grandparents to go inside a large hole in a tree. There she fell and was caught by a Jabberwocky and became his
Well, honestly, it is a good reading. I do enjoy the story. But in some context, I find the serials is more a perversion to 'Alice in Wonderland' as a derivative work.
One of the main issue I was having was the voyeuristic way of Alice portrayal. I was enjoying the gore, the blood and the flesh being torn apart but what I don't get was; the constant bodice ripper from Alice to the Queens. Every one of them have C-cup and crotch shots and filled with sexualized female portrayal that was overdone. And it does look like cheap pornography to me, if you add sex scenes, it would be a complete.
I know its intentional and probably 'harmless fun' for the readers. But I can't balance quality graphic with cheap publishing tactics to attract people with unrealistic female body fetishes.
I really like the colourings and the story but the constant bombardment of bouncing anatomically-impossible and possibly suffocating boobs and buttocks doesn't do a thing to me. And it's just page wasting for me and distract the story.
The story is complicated and the plot can be unreliable and sometimes chauvanistic. Yes, there are strong and bitchy female characters and some moral values in it. But I could hardly find fault in men's sexual gratification in any cases because its intended for the demographic and I shouldn't complain about it.
But for curiousity reason, if you ever found this book or the image from this book, I would recommend it but I still think if Lewis Carroll is subtle with his naive girl fascination, this book is rather overdone by the whole sexual imagery which could work without because I really like the whole gore thing.
And if the female HAVE to be all those one-and-quarter-naked and sexually-inviting, why couldn't the men be good looking and sexually-inviting too? Honestly, shoving half-naked girls on my face won't change the fact that I'm not attracted to it. Basically, all it does is losing the demographic of people like me who basically aren't turned on by constant boobs bombardment every couple pages more than the actual plot.
The review copy is supplied by the publisher via Netgalley. The graphic novel will be published on Oct 23 2012 by Zenescope Entertainment.
November 25, 2012
You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:
http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/...
I remember reading Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a kid, and being somewhat intrigued with it. The story however never really resonated with me beyond some key plot points that I still remember. I’ve seen some cartoons over the years and tried to see that Johnny Depp starrer with its own unique take on the story, but none of that has stuck with me either. Raven Gregory’s dramatically different take however, with its very adult focus, is something that I think I’ll remember for quite a while.
The story begins and ends as you would expect it to, but there are a hell of a lot of differences (from what I recall of the original version) that make this a much more engaging read. For instance, the characters such as the Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and the Chesire Cat, are portrayed very differently. The difference mostly deals with how dark a setting Gregory’s Wonderland really is. Its not the “simplistic” fantasy world of Carroll’s creation, but one that is full of monsters, wild magic, and the great and powerful monster known as the Jabberwocky who holds a young Alice in captivity for a number of years until she grows up and escapes with some help from the White Rabbit.
On a purely entertainment level, Alice in Wonderland is just fantastic. The story is engaging, the characters are wonderful, and the art is just great. Yeah, there is some risque stuff here and there, particularly with how the female characters are shown, but that didn’t strike me as anything different from what happens with the big studios. Could it be better? Of course, but one of the selling points of most Zenescope titles is their risque nature, and when that’s a consistent theme across the board for the studio, I find I can go along with it and not complain as I usually do with the big studios. These are specifically adult comics after all, much like Dynamite Entertainment’s various Vampirella and Dejah Thoris titles.
The only thing that I didn’t like about these comics was the fact that there were a lot of allusions to other titles that tie-in to these, like Tales From Wonderland andBeyond Wonderland. It prevented the comics from being a complete experience in full (if that makes sense). I still enjoyed the scripts, especially when everything goes really time-wonky, with Alice falling down the rabbit-hole for example. I absolutely want to read more of these comics!
The artwork, provided by the trio of Robert Gill, Jason Embury and Jim Cambell is fantastic, and the covers for the series were one of my attractions to to the title. Together, these three really capture the weird, other-worldly feel of Wonderland that Gregory has been going for. The colours in particular are really rich and vibrant, making for a really exciting visual experience. These are the kinds of art panels I would love to see more of in the titles put out by the big studios. From the other Zenescope titles I’ve read (or am reading) such as Neverland and Jungle Book, the studio definitely has the market niche on truly stunning internal comics art.
Rating: 9/10
http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/...
I remember reading Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a kid, and being somewhat intrigued with it. The story however never really resonated with me beyond some key plot points that I still remember. I’ve seen some cartoons over the years and tried to see that Johnny Depp starrer with its own unique take on the story, but none of that has stuck with me either. Raven Gregory’s dramatically different take however, with its very adult focus, is something that I think I’ll remember for quite a while.
The story begins and ends as you would expect it to, but there are a hell of a lot of differences (from what I recall of the original version) that make this a much more engaging read. For instance, the characters such as the Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and the Chesire Cat, are portrayed very differently. The difference mostly deals with how dark a setting Gregory’s Wonderland really is. Its not the “simplistic” fantasy world of Carroll’s creation, but one that is full of monsters, wild magic, and the great and powerful monster known as the Jabberwocky who holds a young Alice in captivity for a number of years until she grows up and escapes with some help from the White Rabbit.
On a purely entertainment level, Alice in Wonderland is just fantastic. The story is engaging, the characters are wonderful, and the art is just great. Yeah, there is some risque stuff here and there, particularly with how the female characters are shown, but that didn’t strike me as anything different from what happens with the big studios. Could it be better? Of course, but one of the selling points of most Zenescope titles is their risque nature, and when that’s a consistent theme across the board for the studio, I find I can go along with it and not complain as I usually do with the big studios. These are specifically adult comics after all, much like Dynamite Entertainment’s various Vampirella and Dejah Thoris titles.
The only thing that I didn’t like about these comics was the fact that there were a lot of allusions to other titles that tie-in to these, like Tales From Wonderland andBeyond Wonderland. It prevented the comics from being a complete experience in full (if that makes sense). I still enjoyed the scripts, especially when everything goes really time-wonky, with Alice falling down the rabbit-hole for example. I absolutely want to read more of these comics!
The artwork, provided by the trio of Robert Gill, Jason Embury and Jim Cambell is fantastic, and the covers for the series were one of my attractions to to the title. Together, these three really capture the weird, other-worldly feel of Wonderland that Gregory has been going for. The colours in particular are really rich and vibrant, making for a really exciting visual experience. These are the kinds of art panels I would love to see more of in the titles put out by the big studios. From the other Zenescope titles I’ve read (or am reading) such as Neverland and Jungle Book, the studio definitely has the market niche on truly stunning internal comics art.
Rating: 9/10
October 8, 2012
Disclaimer: Free ARC via Netgalley
Over the summer, someone asked me about Lewis Carroll and if he was weird. She wanted to know if he was a pedophile before she read Wonderland and Looking Glass. I suppose the question crass, but when you think about it, Wonderland itself is problematic. Lewis most likely never touched the young girls, but those photos? Then considering what Playboy voted Lolita as a sexy novel, maybe we shouldn’t wonder about that. And what is Wonderland, a fairy tale? A fable? A fantasy?
Wonderland, and Carroll himself, raise these questions and also lend themselves wonderfully to the dark side. Wonderland might be magical, but there is so much beheading and darkness there. Even Alice sees it and recognizes it for what it is. People have also picked up on this – there is an Alice video game where she quests for her sanity. It’s not surprising, therefore, that this comic is a dark retelling of the tale.
In some ways, this Grimm Tales’ take on Alice owes much to the video game mentioned above. This Alice finds herself split, sanity and self are separated. She is a little girl in the body and the clothes of a Playboy centerfold. She is a stereotype, passive blonde, except when she is not. She is wholesome but not winsome. IN short, she isn’t a very interesting character. This short coming is more than made up by the other use of stock Wonderland characters – in particular the Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit (there is a very interesting nod to dolls with the character of the Queen of Hearts). This is even true of the unnamed voice in Alice’s head.
Incidentally, Alice looks very much like Marvel’s The White Queen, not just in looks but in costume. This isn’t surprising, I suppose. Look closing at the posted signs in the forest as Alice runs and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
This book is like Wonderland in many ways. The reader finds it hard to keep her footing, just as Alice finds it hard to keep her sanity. In some ways, mostly because Alice has things happen to her instead of doing things, it feels like a tour. Perhaps that is the point. We are all tourists in our heads in a way. But the passiveness borders on stupidity. When Alice finally does something, the reader wants to cheer, except then she goes right back to being passive. Perhaps this is the raging against the dying of the light? Regardless, when the minor characters who appear for a few panels are more interesting than your main one, you have a problem. Additionally, the ending, the tell all, felt very much like an info dump. One wonders why it didn’t happen before.
So why three stars? Because what the novel tries to do, or seems to be trying to do, deserves some credit. It is always difficult to write and illustration mental health problems. The ending, too, is very brave and very dark. It is about cost and life and sanity. This isn’t a great book, but it is a good try.
Over the summer, someone asked me about Lewis Carroll and if he was weird. She wanted to know if he was a pedophile before she read Wonderland and Looking Glass. I suppose the question crass, but when you think about it, Wonderland itself is problematic. Lewis most likely never touched the young girls, but those photos? Then considering what Playboy voted Lolita as a sexy novel, maybe we shouldn’t wonder about that. And what is Wonderland, a fairy tale? A fable? A fantasy?
Wonderland, and Carroll himself, raise these questions and also lend themselves wonderfully to the dark side. Wonderland might be magical, but there is so much beheading and darkness there. Even Alice sees it and recognizes it for what it is. People have also picked up on this – there is an Alice video game where she quests for her sanity. It’s not surprising, therefore, that this comic is a dark retelling of the tale.
In some ways, this Grimm Tales’ take on Alice owes much to the video game mentioned above. This Alice finds herself split, sanity and self are separated. She is a little girl in the body and the clothes of a Playboy centerfold. She is a stereotype, passive blonde, except when she is not. She is wholesome but not winsome. IN short, she isn’t a very interesting character. This short coming is more than made up by the other use of stock Wonderland characters – in particular the Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit (there is a very interesting nod to dolls with the character of the Queen of Hearts). This is even true of the unnamed voice in Alice’s head.
Incidentally, Alice looks very much like Marvel’s The White Queen, not just in looks but in costume. This isn’t surprising, I suppose. Look closing at the posted signs in the forest as Alice runs and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
This book is like Wonderland in many ways. The reader finds it hard to keep her footing, just as Alice finds it hard to keep her sanity. In some ways, mostly because Alice has things happen to her instead of doing things, it feels like a tour. Perhaps that is the point. We are all tourists in our heads in a way. But the passiveness borders on stupidity. When Alice finally does something, the reader wants to cheer, except then she goes right back to being passive. Perhaps this is the raging against the dying of the light? Regardless, when the minor characters who appear for a few panels are more interesting than your main one, you have a problem. Additionally, the ending, the tell all, felt very much like an info dump. One wonders why it didn’t happen before.
So why three stars? Because what the novel tries to do, or seems to be trying to do, deserves some credit. It is always difficult to write and illustration mental health problems. The ending, too, is very brave and very dark. It is about cost and life and sanity. This isn’t a great book, but it is a good try.
March 3, 2013
A note for anyone walking into this with no idea of what they’re getting into: This is NOT an adaptation of Carroll’s novel. This is a continuation of Zenescope’s horror-infused, twisted, gory take on the classic. Please note: Horror. Twisted. Gore. If you don’t like those things, please go somewhere else.
Onwards:
Having read the rest of Gregory and the Zenescope teamn’s take on Wonderland, I enjoyed finally getting to read the whole of Alice’s story. Gregory is still weaving an interesting tale, though at times it gets confusing with its lovely non-linear way of going about things. Still, it’s a fun ride if you can sit back, not thing too hard about consistency, and don’t mind gratuitous comic T&A at its finest. Zenescope is quite fond of their busty ladies and skimpy, skimpy costumes, but both the art and the colors are wonderfully rendered and pair well with the story, which is more than I can say for some of the other big-company comics I’m reading.
I’m very much looking forward to moving onto the Wonderland ongoing series, to see where Callie’s adventures take us, and how Violet and perhaps even Alice will fit in.
Onwards:
Having read the rest of Gregory and the Zenescope teamn’s take on Wonderland, I enjoyed finally getting to read the whole of Alice’s story. Gregory is still weaving an interesting tale, though at times it gets confusing with its lovely non-linear way of going about things. Still, it’s a fun ride if you can sit back, not thing too hard about consistency, and don’t mind gratuitous comic T&A at its finest. Zenescope is quite fond of their busty ladies and skimpy, skimpy costumes, but both the art and the colors are wonderfully rendered and pair well with the story, which is more than I can say for some of the other big-company comics I’m reading.
I’m very much looking forward to moving onto the Wonderland ongoing series, to see where Callie’s adventures take us, and how Violet and perhaps even Alice will fit in.
December 8, 2012
This is my second Oh My! review in as many reviews. Alice is grown up in a very hourglass way. She has gone mad and survived, but cannot seem to find enough clothes to wear! In fact, none of the women like loose fitting clothes!
She is also pretty handy with tools, which she uses on the random occassion. The cheshire cat has grown up a little into a nasty and large beast with quite sharp claws. The Queen of Hearts doesn’t mind a bit of the old swinging a weapon action either.
This is quite beautiful in a very graphic way. Robert Gill has done some truly incredible drawings. The style is clean and easy to read. The characters are drawn well (what until you check out the rack on Alice!!), and follows the original story very well.
This is a bloody, evil and sexy take on the Alice in Wonderland story. If you ever wondered what Alice would be like if it had been written today, then Raven Gregory would have been the author. Well worth the read (look) if you don’t mind skimpy costumes, blood and malicious monsters.
She is also pretty handy with tools, which she uses on the random occassion. The cheshire cat has grown up a little into a nasty and large beast with quite sharp claws. The Queen of Hearts doesn’t mind a bit of the old swinging a weapon action either.
This is quite beautiful in a very graphic way. Robert Gill has done some truly incredible drawings. The style is clean and easy to read. The characters are drawn well (what until you check out the rack on Alice!!), and follows the original story very well.
This is a bloody, evil and sexy take on the Alice in Wonderland story. If you ever wondered what Alice would be like if it had been written today, then Raven Gregory would have been the author. Well worth the read (look) if you don’t mind skimpy costumes, blood and malicious monsters.
December 31, 2012
The book that finally brings everything all together! We get to find out what made Alice go mad, how everything fits together with the other Wonderland stories, and the answers to most of the questions any reader was probably asking when they were reading the other stories leading up to this one. I would recommend reading the previous Wonderland series and the Tales from Wonderland series before reading this book just to make sure you can catch all the references that come up during the story. I haven't read Tales from Wonderland Vol. 3 so I missed out on a lot of the back story for the last part of the book, but I still enjoyed the story from beginning to end without knowing everything from the back story.
This is a must read for anyone that has read the previous Wonderland stores or is just a massive fan of the stories in the Grimm Universe.
This is a must read for anyone that has read the previous Wonderland stores or is just a massive fan of the stories in the Grimm Universe.
January 1, 2014
Return to Wonderland 2007 to 2008
Return to Wonderland Annuals 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Beyond Wonderland 2008 - 2009
Escape from Wonderland 2009 - 2010
Wonderland V1, V2, V3 2012 - 2013
Tales From Wonderland 2008 - 2009
Alice = 2012
Down the Rabbit Hole 2013
Throught the Looking Glass 2013-2014
Call of Wonderland 2012
Madness of Wonderland 2013
Return to Wonderland Annuals 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Beyond Wonderland 2008 - 2009
Escape from Wonderland 2009 - 2010
Wonderland V1, V2, V3 2012 - 2013
Tales From Wonderland 2008 - 2009
Alice = 2012
Down the Rabbit Hole 2013
Throught the Looking Glass 2013-2014
Call of Wonderland 2012
Madness of Wonderland 2013
February 6, 2016
1.5 stars as I didn't hate it but was unaware this was a second 'series' to this story (hints throughout saying look back at #XYZ for backstory/details). Plays with the tropes and characters but without the other part of the backgrounds comes across as messy (not in a horror/play with time way).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2015
A twist on the classic childrens story. Wonderland is insane, no longer is the mad hatter alone in his madness.
August 4, 2025
We're reached a new peak of corporate comic vibes with this entry in the Wonderland series. We're repeatedly supplied with editor's notes that point to the various spin off books, and the fact that none of the characters can die is really starting to settle in. Perhaps that's especially pressing because this book is a flashback to the mother of the main character from the rest of the series. What's worse about being locked in an eternal battle: the battle part or the eternal part?
As a writing exercise, how does one break one of these fantasy magical stalemates? The answer is almost always going to lie in contrivance. You can defeat an immortal foe by trapping it somewhere, and you can trap it because it has ill-defined powers of possession, and it has bound its essence to somebody... it's a spaghetti strand of plot that's just never going to feel satisfying to me. In order to understand the stakes, we have to be able to understand the rules. It may be thematically appropriate for there to be no rules in a place like Wonderland, but for those who aren't already a bit mad, it can be a frustrating way of doing business.
As a writing exercise, how does one break one of these fantasy magical stalemates? The answer is almost always going to lie in contrivance. You can defeat an immortal foe by trapping it somewhere, and you can trap it because it has ill-defined powers of possession, and it has bound its essence to somebody... it's a spaghetti strand of plot that's just never going to feel satisfying to me. In order to understand the stakes, we have to be able to understand the rules. It may be thematically appropriate for there to be no rules in a place like Wonderland, but for those who aren't already a bit mad, it can be a frustrating way of doing business.
June 14, 2020
I have to admit that I do like some of the art by Zenescope's artists. But this is simply stupid and is only an excuse for the art, which is honestly simply soft-core porn, or pinup art if we want to be generous.
It also convinced me that the traditional comic book format with its insistence that you have to acquire a half dozen or more offshoot titles to begin to understand anything going on is absolute capitalistic consumerist bullshit. Every point of the plot that involved any character's motivation was accompanied by one of those little editor's *boxes saying something like "You have read issue X of this other title." There really is no story here and I doubt even if one had accumulated all those other pieces and read them in the right order that there would be a story. And what about all the other places those titles pointed at.
Seriously, it just made me mad at this form of publishing. Soft core porn is fine with me if there is an actual story involved. There is absolutely none, at least not anything coherent, here.
DPL hoopla
It also convinced me that the traditional comic book format with its insistence that you have to acquire a half dozen or more offshoot titles to begin to understand anything going on is absolute capitalistic consumerist bullshit. Every point of the plot that involved any character's motivation was accompanied by one of those little editor's *boxes saying something like "You have read issue X of this other title." There really is no story here and I doubt even if one had accumulated all those other pieces and read them in the right order that there would be a story. And what about all the other places those titles pointed at.
Seriously, it just made me mad at this form of publishing. Soft core porn is fine with me if there is an actual story involved. There is absolutely none, at least not anything coherent, here.
DPL hoopla
January 17, 2025
I'm not sure if this book adds any real backstory to the 'Tales in Wonderland' book, it was much the same as other entries. The Alice character is not developed to any extent the nightmare of Wonderland is not explained any further. It also has the same feverish pace as the other volumes and there are no characters of note who don't have some kind of agenda concerning Alice. This book is less gory than some of the others have been but it still involves a lot of running. What saves this book for me is the final battle between Alices' army of chess pieces and the Queen of Hearts army of card soldiers battling it out. During this sequence the fervent pace and simply characters earn their keep. The final confrontation is not only well drawn but it is violent without being gory and even has some craziness thrown in. This last battle saves a story from becoming a retread of other Wonderland books and provided a satisfying end to a lightweight book with more cheesecake style than substance.
May 17, 2017
I knew the moment I saw the Alice and Wonderland comic that I had to dive right in. A dark twisted spin on the classic story. Alice is stuck in wonderland on the run from some of my favorite characters. Will she survive and escape wonderland or end up stuck with the jabberwocky forever?
I love the artwork in each book it's detailed, with detailed work on each page. I love that they are in color it just inspires my imagination more. I really enjoyed the unique take on Alice in wonderland it just works so well. The author has taken an old story added some a new exciting spin and created a beautiful piece of artwork. This is one of those comics I ended up reading the whole series one after another all in one sitting. I had to know how it would play out with Alice. I highly recommend checking it out if you are fans of Alice in Wonderland.
I love the artwork in each book it's detailed, with detailed work on each page. I love that they are in color it just inspires my imagination more. I really enjoyed the unique take on Alice in wonderland it just works so well. The author has taken an old story added some a new exciting spin and created a beautiful piece of artwork. This is one of those comics I ended up reading the whole series one after another all in one sitting. I had to know how it would play out with Alice. I highly recommend checking it out if you are fans of Alice in Wonderland.
August 10, 2018
This is a prequel to Zenesope's original trilogy (Return To Wonderland, Beyond Wonderland, Escape From Wonderland). As with the original trilogy, reading some of the character backstories in Tales From Wonderland GNs will help, and they are frequently cited in editor's notes. The story tells of the part of Alice that remained in Wonderland and how escaped from the Jabberwocky with the help of the Queen Of Spades. The story is complete in itself (despite being called volume 1, there is not a volume 2), but it ends where Return begins. It also sets up for the ongoing Wonderland series in which the Queen of Spades plays a greater role.
June 14, 2020
If you read the Return to Wonderland, Beyond Wonderland, and Escape from Wonderland trades or the Wonderland Omnibus and thought that Alice was just a timid background character then you need to read this book. It explains how essential Alice's role is in these amazing stories. She is more than just the mother of Callie.
This trade also clears up and goes into further details of events in the books I previous listed. I highly recommend you read those books first to fully appreciate this story.
The art is really good with excellent coloring.
This trade also clears up and goes into further details of events in the books I previous listed. I highly recommend you read those books first to fully appreciate this story.
The art is really good with excellent coloring.
July 27, 2017
Alenka trochu ináč. Eroticky ladená, monológom vedená a bezducho utekajúca po šialenej krvavej krajine zázrakov, kde všetci sú zlí a chcú se jej z nejakého záhadného dôvodu zmocniť. Teda až na červa, toho motív je jasný. Priznám sa, že som ten koniec moc nepobral. Čo prečo ako... no a k osvetleniu plno vecí je treba prečítať plno dalších diel z roboti sveta. Príbeh sa nimi len hemží. Ako grafika fajn, ale po chvíli má už jej vyskakuje poprsie nezaujímalo.
November 21, 2022
The ending brought this down to two stars for me. I like that this comic actually took advantage of the lack of physics/logic in Wonderland by having some pages be sideways, upside down, etc. The art was great when showing the gorey scenes, but seeing page after page of women with the exact same body type and lack of clothes made me remember why I've never tried reading the Grimms Fairy Tale comics before.
September 4, 2018
This was a pretty good one, but the plot was mostly running. The art is pretty cool, but we are back to covers that are just sexy, with no relation to the story, other than characters. I did like seeing the Queen of Hearts and Queen of Spades again, they are pretty cool characters.
Pick it up from the library or cheep first.
Pick it up from the library or cheep first.
October 25, 2017
It’s hella crazy then the Disney version that’s for sure maybe a 3 and a half stars. But I like Alice in wonderland retelling so I guess four stars. I have a feeling I only know so much this comic books seems to have a big universe... so this is one side to an insane storyline.
August 28, 2017
A little gory for my Alice in Wonderland tastes...
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