Wonderland Volume 5 Paperback – Illustrated, February 3, 2015

Wonderland is my favorite of all of the Grimm Universe Realms, but boy sometimes you have to wade through some pretty obscure stuff to figure out even part of what's going on. This Volume 5, which collects issues 21 through 25, starts out in the worst way possible, with pages of incoherent garble. But then, just as I was ready to throw in the towel, it all came together; huge info dumps, (compliments of Void/James Franco), explained the backstory and the current story, and the rest of the arc proceeded as clear as a bell to a satisfying conclusion to the story that has occupied the first 25 issues of Wonderland. (The next story arc, "Renaissance", starts fresh with the one character who prevailed at the end of this Volume 5, and seems to be a reboot of the whole Wonderland franchise, or at least storyline.)MILD SPOILERS. Once we get through the head-trip cute stuff, we catch up with Calie, who's headed back in to Wonderland. We hook up with Hazel, (the assassin who's on the sidelines). We pick up Violet. We are joined by the Queen of Diamonds and the Queen of Clubs. By the time we become this odd "Magnificent Five" we know who is who, how they all ended up where they are, who the Void is exactly, and who the deep background bad guy is. Then it's off to confront the bad guy, winner take all. By the end of the final issue, which is the magical double anniversary issue #25, the dust has settled and all of the story lines from the first 24 issues have been resolved, (or as resolved as they're ever going to be).The drawing here isn't as fantastical and over the top as it was when Wonderland started; it has been toned down into a more traditional style. Maybe that's in recognition of the fact that the authors are actually trying to be clearly understandable for a change. There is more wooden dialogue than usual, again, I suspect, to accommodate info dumps and monologuing. That was O.K. by me because the final confrontation was very well done, and even sort of touching, and it was nice to have a clear build up to a very satisfying conclusion without any head scratching or "what-the-heck-was-that?" ambiguity right at the end. This isn't to say that the volume is just boring resolution. There are some very nicely drawn panels, and a good deal of snappy dialogue. The angsty stuff is a bit more restrained than usual, and there are a bunch of inside jokes for long time readers. And I still get a smile out of the decision to have "the Void" represented by a James Franco avatar.So, this is a fine and surprisingly complete and satisfying resolution to the Wonderland story thus far. It's a little pat and some of it feels rushed, but they did have to fit a lot in to the finale. If the volume as a whole doesn't hit some of the highs of earlier issues, it doesn't hit the lows either, and it struck me as an honest effort.Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

MY REVIEW I started this series awhile back and I loved it . It is out there and the characters are so dam cool. In this issue Callie is heading back to Wonderland to help her daughter . There are some parts at the beginning of this book that will make you WTH and try and figure them out but as you dive into the story you find it becoming more polished and refined , taking the crazy factor down just a bit. You are taken on a wild ride through the pages. There are a myriad of characters in this book . You meet the Queen of Diamonds , The Queen of Clubs . Callie hooks up with Hazel , who is an assassin. We also find out who Void is and the true bad guy hiding in the background . And he is evil and I mean evil. After all the puff of the first chapters the author dives right in and explains the characters and how they came into being . Over all this graphic novel is a fun escape . The illustrations are not so over the top as last issues . But done very well , the story finally lets us in on a lot of background which is good seen as the next edition is the wind up for the book. It was a good read that will keep any comic geek reading all night long. So if you are a geeky comic book geek like me check it out .

Well as the Dark Queen's darkness spreads, Wonderland is going to hell and Calie must make a final stance. The Void, who looks like James Franco except he/it is still a major prick. We get a new player, in one of the Void's crazy games, Hazel who quickly joins forces with Calie. Of course, Violet is always on her mom's side and in a leading to the "end", the Queen of Diamonds and the Queen of Clubs also join to finally bring an end to the evil Queen of Spades. The art as always great, love that women are the leads and they don't need a male sidekick, however, this one lost points with me because the final fight was not climactic enough.Although, I will say that in the end, everyone gets a somewhat happy ending, especially Diamond and Clubs. Plus, don't fret we will see more of Wonderland in Age of Darkness. Rating 4 out of 5Read@Book