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Beyond Wonderland HC
Release Date: December 23, 2009
Publisher: Zenescope
Writer: Raven Gregory
Pencils: Daniel Leister
Collecting Issues: Beyond Wonderland #0 - 6
Price: $24.99
Reviewer: Eric
Zenescope puts all their time and effort into the Grimm Fairytale series. If
they are not adding more issues to that never-ending series then they are
branching off in other directions. Beyond Wonderland is actual the second part
of the Return to Wonderland series, a six parter that wasn’t all that bad when
it first came out in 2007.
Beyond Wonderland is the tale of Calie Liddle. Months have passed since the
terror that is known as Wonderland. Calie is trying to live a new life under a
new name, far away from where she used to live. While living in the city things
start to get better for Calie until her past begins to haunt her in ways you
could not imagine.
Something from Wonderland has found its way to the city where Calie lives.
Instead of going after her right away this someone or something is toying with
her, ruining her life by taking away her boyfriend and then her best friend.
Anyone who gets close to Calie seems to vanish, which is not a good thing
because Calie is pregnant with a baby girl.
I thought Return to Wonderland was good but Beyond Wonderland just goes to show
you that Raven Gregory is not able to strike gold again in the second Wonderland
miniseries. The story is just so goddamn bland. I was never able to get into the
story and the worst part is one simple fact in the story just drags on and on.
It is a game of cat and mouse and it doesn’t end until the very end. Everything
with the fucking game is stupid filler that doesn’t do much of anything. I
really hate how Gregory introduces Calie Liddle’s best friend and all of the
sudden she is no longer in the book. Literally 5 or so pages down the shitter,
it is incredible.
Raven Gregory also throws in some pulp culture into the mix. I could give a
rat’s ass that one of the characters love Heroes and Lost. What does that have
to do with anything? Oh wait it just goes to show you that the inner geek in
Gregory goes into his story, even if it makes no sense.
The artwork from Daniel Leister is another letdown too. Some of the pencil work
is way too rough that it makes Nei Ruffino’s color work look amateur-ish.
Leister also changes the way characters look too either by their weight or
facial structures.
Leister’s art was only good when violence was filling the pages. There is a cool
part towards the end of the hardback that should get horror fans happy but it is
screwed up right away with the rest of the art. This isn’t Daniel Leister’s
worst work but it is definitely not his best.
Final Verdict
I was really disappointed in Beyond Wonderland. Zenescope puts too much focus on
these comics so everyone of course is going to get excited. That is why it hurts
that much, I was excited and all I got was a pile of garbage that is going to
sit on my shelf until I decide to torture myself again in reading all of these
damn pages.
Rating
4 out of 10
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