Zenescope Entertainment 2017
Written by Dave Franchini
Illustrated by Renzo Rodriguez
Coloured by Leonardo Paciarotti
Lettered by Kurt Hathaway
Before Alice, before the madness, there was a peaceful realm of dreams called Wonderland. This is the story of corruption, the birth of madness, and how the realm of dreams became the realm of nightmares.
Sometimes you don’t know that you need to know the story of how something has come to be. It’s just accepted that it is and has been for seemingly ever. But there was a time when Wonderland wasn’t a madhouse it was a happy place to be and that alone makes everything we know about Wonderland come into question.
Actually I like the idea behind this story. From the sisters the source of the corruption it really weaves a tale that explains how such depravity came to Wonderland. There’s a double edged sword to the work that Dave does here and it’s that I WANT to talk about what we learn inside but if I do then I spoil the whole thing but I REALLY want to. I will say this much I really enjoy seeing the pre-madness Wonderland and the hints that the Madness which comes to infect it isn’t really that far from some people’s truth’s.
The characterisation here is extremely well done. Meeting two sisters who seem to be at the center of it all much like Mother and Daughter Liddle kind of set the precedent for what we’ve come to expect. Also it took a second read through before I noticed that character sitting on the mushroom smoking his hookah is much more traditional than we’ve seen in these pages. Ah the innocence of a pre-madness Wonderland might have been magical and wonderful but it seems predictable, boring and stagnant. Perhaps i’m wrong and someday Dave will revisit this world he’s introduced us to and we’ll see.
Lenzo and Leonardo interior’s here left me with a mixed feeling. I liked the imagination and creativity that’s on display. Didn’t care for the skirts so short we can see her camel toe undies I mean I know it’s Zenescope but I thought we were getting away from that. I mean we can tell a wondrous story without making the men fully dressed and the women slutty as hell or just make everyone look slutty as hell. There’s also this really cartoony style going on here that kind of lessens the impact for me, more so when we see faces that seem to change shape from panel to panel so it’s look like the same person is a different person in each one, see Ada at the dinner table talking about the cave.
There’s potential here for stories centered around both the past, present and future that are introduced through this one-shot. A new world of possibilities to be explored alongside some new chills and thrills as that which awakened the madness is now revealed. I have to say putting that character in that role was a stroke of genius because of everything now that is available from it. Also I have one nagging question that remains when did Madness become cause for wholesale slaughter? Craziness, silliness and a disassociation from reality sure I get it but that Madness equates to murder sprees is a bit of a stretch i’d like different definition of why the world became so bloodthirsty, which is another interesting avenue to go down.