Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Alice in Wonderland #5
Publisher: Zenescope
Writer: Raven Gregory
Artist: Robert Gill, Daniel Leister, Vic Drujiniu, and others (cover by Stjepan Sejic)
Colors: Jason Embury, Jeremy Colwell, and others
The Queen of Hearts has a serious mad-on at her troops because of Alice escaping. Alice is now in the presence of the Queen of Spades, and she’s no picnic either. The Queen tells Alice that she’ll help her defeat the Jabberwocky, because they want the same thing in the end. This is an obvious play at a double-cross, but Alice agrees to trust what she says anyway. The Queen takes her to see someone that they supposedly need in their quest to overthrow the Jabberwocky and the Queen of Hearts. They go and visit the imprisoned Red Queen, and at first she won’t help, for the simple reason that she knows of the Queen of Spade’s treachery. After some begging from Alice, she agrees to give a portion of her power to Alice to help raise an army to ambush the Queen of Hearts’ forces. All of this seems to be working out perfectly, as Alice and the Queen of Spades travel to the birthplace of the Jabberwocky, and do indeed raise an army of their own!
The best part of a story sometimes isn’t always the action or the depth of the story, but a combination of both. This story is a great representation of that fact. There isn’t a ton of action in this issue per se, but the small amount is just enough to spice things up a bit. One caution about this book in particular, though; if you aren’t well read in the Wonderland universe, you might be a little lost with all the characters. It’s not a huge turn off, but certainly tough to figure things out. The interaction between Alice and the Queens is a strong point of the book, for sure. Alice does have a certain sappy, kind of child like quality about her that is endearing and almost annoying at the same time. She plays the part of the innocent little girl that doesn’t have a clue. The problem is that she’s been in Wonderland long enough to know better than to trust someone like the Queen of Spades.
The artwork, according to the book, was by a committee of men, lead by Robert Gill, who had done the previous issues. It blends together well, even if it was by a few different artists. The colors were also very good, and Jason Embury and four others were credited with that as well. Now, on to the cover! The phenom himself, Stjepan Sejic, is responsible for the “A” cover, and although it’s a bit bloody, it still shows off his grand talents. I honestly can’t think of a better cover artist of this generation. There are some greats, no doubt, but I think he stands above the pack. This series is really starting to crank it up, and I know there is an ongoing in the near future, so don’t miss out now, pick this up! (Alternate cover below by Sean Chen.) Rating 3.5/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
