"Very interesting...Very Interesting INDEED."
A few months ago, I reviewed the #0 issue of a peculiarly named series. Now, two months later lets look at issue #1!
The Looking Glass is Shattered
As users who looked at my past review will remember, this series is based on Lewis Carroll's tales from Wonderland. However, this is not your grandmother's wonderland (and most defititly not your great grandmother's wonderland!). Roger Langridge brings us something new and different. We don't see an Alice in this story. Instead, it focuses on the more obscure characters; such as The Walrus and The Carpenter. Who, you might be wondering, are they? They are our unlikely main characters!
The Walrus and The Carpenter
Wilburforce J. Walrus and Clyde McDunk are con men. They don't work. They just depend on conning other people to not have to pay. In their first appearence in issue #0, they paid for a paper, but the Walrus quickly stole back his coin with a thread (like Bender!). They also tried to to rob the palace claiming they were Snark Inspectors, which failed, but they did succeed in meeting Prince Rusty and Princess Scarlet. At the begining of this issue, they con a butcher out of meat just with a library card! I wonder if I could do that....nah...
Princess Scarlet and Prince Rusty
In addition to the Walrus and the Carpender, we also have the royal characters named Princess Scarlet and Prince Rusty. If you didn't know, Princess Scarlet is a younger version of the Queen of Hearts (abit different though), who has the same familiar pressence with some childhood fears of Snarks mixed in. Prince Rusty is a little younger than a preschooler. he does not speak. Their mother the Red Queen who died when Rusty was very young and their father, the Red King, has been lost at sea for 3 months, which is really what starts the adventure: either they excape to find their father or his evil advicers will manipulate Rusty!
The Cheshire Cat
In this version, the Cheshire Cat is more…sane (if that’s possible). It really moves the plot along through this issue, which I think was very cool. When Rusty and Scarlet are walking down a hallway in the castle, Rusty points out a painting of the Cheshire cat and explains that it protects the family when in need. I really this a very cool idea. I mean, In Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire cat was there for alice, so why could it be there for these characters too?
Carrol Cameos
I have said before and I’ll say it again: I love cameos. All those suttle references and jokes which only a few learned people will recignise. This series also contains cameos. For example, on a map of the city, a tavern is listed as being called the “Rabbit Hole” (a reference to the way Alice got to Wonderland). There is also cameos of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.
Conclusion
This is a great series! And the art and writer are clever and wonderful! Normally, I am weary of the artist and the writer being the same person (after that disaster of a series with Batman Odyssey…which I’m surprised they continued), but Roger Langridge actually pulls this story off and does an excellent job doing it! I’m glad Boom! decided to let him have his own series. From what I’ve heard, the Muppet comics were pretty good, so him having full reign on creating new characters with new adventures seems perfect!
I look forward to see what else Langridge has in store for this story! I’ll keep you posted on what happens when I get the next issue! As for my response to this issue:
