GFT Retrospective #113: Wonderland #5

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a. The Retrospective Ticketmaster.

I've been dreading this one, Ticketholders!

Not because I remember it being bad and didn't want to read it; I dreaded writing the review after I read it, because today's issue is one that I didn't think I would have much to say about, similar to the third Wonderland issue, but for different reasons.

So I tried to find things to elaborate on, but don't be surprised if this runs short.

Wonderland #5

First of all, um...Daniel Leister? Why did you make the Queen Of Spades look like Dr. Girlfriend from the Venture Bros. cartoon?

The other thing you'll notice is that the credits page directly refers to Calie's final form in the previous issue as the White Queen. Unlike Black Berserker (which is a term I made up to refer to her outfit from Escape From Wonderland, as it was never named in the trilogy), White Queen is official Zenescope branding, and it was established in this issue first. This, like Violet's Hatter outfit, is an example of a common tactic in the comic book industry that I've referenced before, used to build hype and (deceptively by way of technicalities, so it's "okay" because spoilers are "worse" and speculation has never been bad for the comics industry, just like my sarcasm) attract readers with the promise of a new development in an ongoing story. Yet another difference between American and Japanese media, because Japan doesn't give a gilded testicle about spoilers.

DanDaDan reference!

Anyway, I'm glad the art has been somewhat consistent for the series so far; Sheldon Goh deserves props for his detail, action paneling, and body horror these past two issues, and his work on the majority of the first Volume, where he's also shown off some cool facial expressions and tense, dramatic atmosphere.

The fifth issue is basically one, long fight, which is why I felt this review would be just as lacking in substance.

As promised by the end of Call Of Wonderland, the Queen Of Spades uses her powers to smash Julie and Salome together in a two-page spread of body horror so dark and sticky that it was used for Volume One's Table Of Contents background.

Spades gets her Heart Queen, but because Wonderland is a mad cesspool of blood and irony, the fusion doesn't go entirely as planned (recall that she meant the new Queen Of Hearts to be a perfect union of logic and emotion with the powers of art and the written word at her command), and the two women's conflicting personalities are twisted and amplified into opposition with each other in the same body, morphing and contorting between the logical, agreeable Julie form (one of the original Queen Of Hearts' halves was also named Julia) and the violent, passionate Salome form, with even their heart-shaped speech bubbles gradienting from white to red and back. The middle lines of text during these transitions can be hard to read (grey text on pale pink), but I love the effect, pun intended.

Several well-paneled and -composed pages of bloody combat ensue (including a decently unique take on the "you and what army?" trope as the Salome Queen nearly gets the upper hand on the Queen Of Spades) before the issue suddenly turns into an NSFW corruption manga when Spades fills the Salome Queen with enough legally distinct Klintar juice to turn her into a low-level Supernatural demon (because black eyes).

It doesn't entirely make sense that Spades couldn't just control Hearts from the beginning (seeing as how she was created with Spades' shadow powers) aside from her one line about their fight being a test, and the "I used the Jabberwocky's powers to make you even though the readers were just told that his remaining power was the naked people he didn't eat or corrupt before he was killed and I turned them into my army a few days ago" retcon may just hold the new record for fastest instance of whiplash-by-literature. Fortunately, it's also a card (puns!) that Zenescope manage to hold onto for an impressive length of time (into the Age Of Darkness, I think?).

Well, it's less Hall Of Justice and more Car Of Fleeing To LA.

Once the brainwashed Queen Of Hearts has sworn loyalty to Spades, we're treated to that always infuriating transition phrase, "Elsewhere, on Earth—" (as if the Queens' battle in Wonderland took place on Earth, even though we know they are two different Realms; something a new reader would likely not know), and the issue ends with Calie and Violet packing their go-bags and making a beeline (which isn't as direct of a path as colloquial usage would imply) for Hollywood, because hiding from Wonderland in a busy metropolis worked out so well in Beyond Wonderland, and staying in one place worked out even better over the previous four issues, but neither were as effective as my sarcasm. On a positive note, though, the dramatic weight Calie is written with here (big tragic tiger-mom energy) is palpable and sympathetic, making me think of Escape From Wonderland and the Dream Eater Saga One-Shot, and draw parallels to Sela in her last appearance. When she says "I won't let Wonderland get you, too," it's unclear whether she's referring contextually to Harold (who died last issue) or mourning Johnny (ditto), but you can feel that it's both.

Next week is kind of a freebie, so Stay Tuned for the Zenescope - Omnibusted on Volume One, 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 get consumed by the madness of the modern world, 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 (including tomorrow's TBT '25 push of Anchorman).

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

• 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,

Having more to say than I first thought,

But now,

I'm Out.