Zenescope Entertainment 2015
Written by Troy Brownfield
Illustrated by Luca Claretti
Coloured by Leonardo Paciarotti
Calie, sick of the Dark Queen’s malicious orders, consults the spirits of Wonderland. With their help, she learns why the Dark Queen cannot rule Wonderland herself and how to exploit that weakness. However, it seems one more obstacle stands between Calie and freedom... the cunning Trickster.
I’m a fan of the Trickster her outfit is just sweet and her madness is the delightful kind, reminds me of the 60’s Batman television show writing of it’s villains which is a high compliment in my humble opinion. So to open this issue with the final fight between her and Calie was indeed the way to go. This demonstrates Calie’s intelligence, willingness to do what she much and her inner strength and compassion. This sums up why she’s been a perennial fan favorite since she was introduced.
Luca and Leonardo do some wonderful things with the interiors here. The fight between these two women is full of emotional swings and their faces, stances and actions really make those emotions shine. I really enjoy the way the pages are laid with the panels the backgrounds are used sparingly but effectively and I really like that this isn’t cheesecake pin-up artwork!
This issue is also the final confrontation between the Dark Queen and Calie with Violet’s life hanging in the balance. What this did was surprise the hell out of me. Troy’s writing here is really phenomenal he really has Callie doing a psychological number on the Dark Queen after she learned about her past and where she was born. While the Dark Queen looks and acts a lot like Regina, Once Upon a Time, she’s much more madly intense. I’m not sure how this affects next weeks Wonderland issue or the series in general but we’ll find out as that series continues.
This little mini-series continues to showcase the new direction that Zenescope has headed. Smartly crafted stories with powerful writing and demonstrative interior artwork that stacks up with the best the industry has to offer. This shows that you don’t need gimmicks or T&A to tell stories. Oh and the huge ending is one that needs to be seen to be believed.