GFT Retrospective #109: Wonderland #1

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a. The Retrospective Ticketmaster.

Today is kind of a perfect day to start this, Ticketholders! It's the first of a new month (which happens to be October; the month of Halloween) and I'm reviewing the first issue of a new (at its time) comic series' first Volume. So there are plenty of ones involved here, if you have a weird numerology brain like mine. Welcome to October, and welcome back to Wonderland!

The first Volume of the Wonderland Ongoing series is a standard compilation affair with no specially redesigned covers or in-between pages, and the ComiXology version and the scanned version are identical, so sorry if that doesn't leave me with much of an intro in which to critique or complain about the overall TPB experience. I will include a bonus tidbit at the end of the Omnibusted compilation because Volume One's extra content is a preview of the sixth issue, in much the same way as the Call Of Wonderland Trade had a preview of the 2012 Annual at the end of it.

But until then, this first issue has given me plenty to talk about....

Wonderland #1

The first thing you may notice about Wonderland's first issue is that the credits page doesn't feature any miniature cover art, which is something we haven't seen before from Zenescope...and that's because there are twelve of them!

Well, technically, there are only six that you could consider as unique; the rest are "rare" recolors or reskins of more "common" covers for those who want to see Calie and Violet dye-free or in different outfits or something.

It instead has text hyping up the "series every Zenescope fan has been waiting for" and explaining its placement in the franchise's timeline (which is surprisingly straightforward relative to previous entries, especially the Alice material).

I also like that, as of the 2012 Giant-Size and Call Of Wonderland, Zenescope had been utilizing forgotten plots and characters (like the Red Queen and Knight). This holds true in the ongoing series, as well, as the story proper begins by addressing Escape From Wonderland's cliffhanger.

Prior to being eaten by the Dream Eater to the tune of a scream that transcended time and space, the Julia/Bethany Queen Of Hearts worked at a carnival house of mirrors, where no one batted an eye at the sudden mass-child disappearances or the increasing staff shortage since she started (though the former did get press coverage, according to the clippings found with Calie's journal), and she handed off the Mad Hatter's hat to a boy named Sammy (whom I like to think is the boy in the ghost costume from the Monkey's Paw Halloween Special). And because reasons for sequels get less original over time and villains get quippier and more sympathetic at a similar rate (though, the original had a pretty sympathetic backstory that I like), we've gone from Jack the Ripper to Malec's Collection house to Drake Liddle (an abusive child-rapist)

to Johnny Liddle (Uncle D's favorite recurring victim) to now Sammy (who is just Johnny again without the sexual assault because Sammy's father likes to have "manual conversations" with Sammy's face whenever he feels like he isn't the center of attention). Sammy had too much fun at the carnival for his father's liking and his mother is a drug addict, so a "talk" ensues, after which point, Sammy returns (practically drowning in the hat, so he looks ridiculous), and delivers some...sharp...pointed rhetoric to his old man's throat that removes his ability to speak (or "speak") or do much of anything for the indefinite future.

In Wonderland, the Queen Of Spades reminds us of another obscure, featured character: her medieval underling, the Grey Knight. We know from Call Of Wonderland that its course of events are the beginning of the Queen Of Spades' efforts to take over the Jabberwocky's position as ruler of Wonderland by creating a Queen Of Hearts in her image with the power to counter any expected future threats. Which is sure to work out perfectly in Wonderland, just like my sarcasm. Anyway, she goes to the abandoned Cave Of the Jabberwocky "where the shadows themselves cannot be trusted" (the Queen Of Spades can manipulate and travel through shadows, by the way) to claim the remnants of the Jabberwocky's power for herself.

That was the cliffhanger ending for the first issue, but what's meant to be the focus (and Prologue even though it takes up all but two pages) of the issue, aside from the Hatter legacy stuff and the Spade Queen's plotting, is Calie and Violet moving into a new house somewhere called Daresbury (fictional in America, but an actual town in Cheshire County in England, so nice reference there), which I think is where Sammy just happens to live. It's basic "family on the run moves in with minimalism in mind" stuff with a Wonderland twist that made me think of The Skeleton Key both times I read this,

and flavored up with Calie's usual inner dialogue of paranoid logic vs. morbid pessimism and a warm mother-daughter dynamic. It feels at once like the writers don't know how to progress Calie as a character (because she's learned the same lesson twice but still doesn't want to share everything with Violet even though she already did) and are speedrun-contriving a reluctant heroine narrative similar to what Sela has already spent seventy-five-plus issues on. Enter the Innocent, who meets Calie in a dream to annoint her as the future savior of Wonderland. And just like those times Sela forgot fairy tales were real and that she can do magic, Calie calls bullshit on the dream-invading cosmic entity despite having been to, experienced, survived, and been haunted and hunted by, Wonderland.

This franchise makes very Liddle sense (been a long time since I used that one), but I like the effort that the series is starting out with in terms of continuity, tone, art style (V. Ken Marion & Thomas Bonvillain), and character usage (outside of the lead, of course).

The preview page reminds us that back in the day, Zenescope posted free comic book previews online, including the second issue of the Wonderland Ongoing series (which I will review next week), so Stay Tuned and please remember to Become A Ticketholder if you haven't already, leave a comment at the bottom of this post and any others you have opinions about, help out my ad revenue as you read so I don't have to wear any strange hats at work, and follow me on BlueSky, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my wonderful content.

Here again is the release calendar for the rest of 2025, presented for your benefit, as well as my SMART-ness and sanity:

• October 8: GFT Retrospective #110: Wonderland #2
• October 15: GFT Retrospective #111: Wonderland #3
• October 22: GFT Retrospective #112: Wonderland #4
• October 29: GFT Retrospective #113: Wonderland #5
• November 5: Zenescope - Omnibusted #36: Wonderland Volume One (with One-Shot and Annual)
• November 12: GFT Retrospective #114: Wonderland #6
• November 19: GFT Retrospective #115: Wonderland #7
• November 26: GFT Retrospective #116: Wonderland #8
• December 3: GFT Retrospective #117: Wonderland #9
• December 10: GFT Retrospective #118: Wonderland #10
• December 17: Zenescope - Omnibusted #37: Wonderland Volume Two
• December 24: Zenescope - Omnibusted #38: Madness Of Wonderland
• December 31: Zenescope - Omnibusted #39: Down the Rabbit Hole (plus annual address)

Ticketmaster,

Out.