Tales from Wonderland Volumes 1, 2 and 3

I bought all three Tales from Wonderland graphic novels when I was reading the Wonderland trilogy. I was originally planning a separate entry for each volume, but the stories are all interconnected in ways that don't make much sense until you have read the entirety of the Grimm Fairy Tales Wonderland series. So rather than trying to separate everything, here they are altogether.

Volume 1 has four stories, with one ("The Experiment") rather longer than the other three. The three shorter stories give the origins of the Queen of Hearts, the origins of Mad Hatter, and the story of how Alice "escaped" from Wonderl

and. The final story ("The Experiment") actually ties into the Queen story, and shows how the King of Hearts came to be.

Volume 2 tells the story of what happened to the Cheshire Cat between Beyond Wonderland and Escape from Wonderland. During that time he was trapped as a house cat and taken in by a Japanese college student. This was a great story because it gives the origins of Lina, the girl with him who was never explained in Escape from Wonderland.

The story about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum didn't make a lot of sense in the scheme of things until the end. It actually explained who exactly the Carpenter is. The story about the Red Queen was another really cool tale, but it didn't make sense to me until after I read "The Arrangement," which is the story of how Dodgson bargained with Wonderland to live through his illness. Finally, there was another Mad Hatter story. This one showed the Hatter at peace, and set the stage for his war against the Queen of Hearts.

So that brings us to Volume 3. Volume 3 had a few more origin stories, starting with the White Knight, who becomes corrupted and finally serves the Queen of Spades. There is also the story of the Red Rose, who voluntarily went to Wonderland long before Dodgson made his bargain. Then we get the war between the Hatter and the Queen. And finally we see how Dodgson tried to break his pact with Wonderland all in the name of love.

As I said above, only after you've read all six volumes (the Wonderland trilogy and the Tales) do you really get the full story of Wonderland. So if you have any interest in the trilogy, be sure to give these a read as well!

Escape From Wonderland

Well here it is: the final part to Calie's story. At the very end of Beyond Wonderland, Calie's newborn daughter was taken from her by her brother Johnny. Johnny has become the Mad Hatter and is serving the evil of Wonderland. They need Calie's daughter so that the evil can break free of Wonderland and invade the real world.

But this time, Calie is through with running and hiding. So she heads back to her home and storms Wonderland with the intention of saving her daughter.

Escape from Wonderland was an epic conclusion to the Wonderland story. As a quote on the back of the book from pendragonpost.com says: "This is very much a thrill ride from start to stop." The artwork through the whole series was fantastic and I am extremely happy to have read this story. Yes it is a darker version of Alice, much darker than pretty much everything I have encountered thus far. But it is a brilliant reimagining of the tale and well worth reading for yourself!

Beyond Wonderland

Beyond Wonderland takes place a few months after Return to Wonderland. Calie and Brandon have started a new life together in New York City. But Calie is suffering from nightmares of Wonderland. She tries to tell Brandon about what happened but he doesn't believe her - he thinks she's suffering from mental illness like her mother was.

So Calie attempts to go about her life but starts to question her own sanity. On top of that, Brandon goes missing (she believes he leaves her), then her best friend is brutally mauled to death in her apartment. And when her friends throw her a baby shower, a mysterious package shows up - with the dress she found in Wonderland in it.

While a little slow at the beginning, Beyond Wonderland really continued to draw me into the continuing saga of Calie Lidel. I can't wait to finish this trilogy off!

Return to Wonderland

For my birthday, a friend of mine got me the Grimm Fairy Tales Wonderland trilogy. Before reading it, I decided to reread Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and to read Through the Looking Glass for the first time. Now that I have read both of those (and watched both Disney versions of Alice), I was finally ready to start reading the Wonderland trilogy.

Return to Wonderland is mainly the story of Calie Liddle, Alice's daughter. Alice herself is mentally ill and attempted suicide as the story begins. To help Alice recover, the doctor recommends that her family get her a pet: a white rabbit.

Calie comes home to find the place a wreck. Her mother is in tears, hiding in a closet, with her rabbit missing. Calie follows it into the basement where she falls into a hole and ends up in Wonderland.

But this Wonderland is a gruesome place. She finds the Carpenter and the Walrus (or what's left of him). The Carpenter then tries to kill her too. Escaping, she continues on the path, following rather closely to the path of Alice in Alice in Wonderland but everything has a gruesome twist (and is trying to kill her). Luckily Calie manages to escape with the help of her mother, but she returns to a rather darker home life. The madness of Wonderland is starting to bleed through to the real world, and nothing short of a human sacrifice will stop it.

Yes, it is dark and rather gruesome. But Return to Wonderland had an excellent story and I can't wait to read about what happens to Calie next!

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

I'm really not sure what to make of this one. I finished rereading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and started reading the sequel almost immediately afterwards. But right away I found it more confusing than the first book (although that may be because I have read the first story a few times, while this is only my first time reading Through the Looking Glass).

Where Alice's Adventures in Wonderland uses a deck of cards, Through the Looking Glass revolves around chess. Alice herself is a pawn who must travel across the entire board to be crowned Queen. Along her travels, she meets both the Red and White Queens, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, a White and Red Knight (who fight over her), and many other characters. While it isn't explicitly stated, she also encounters the March Hare and the Mad Hatter from the first book (but she does not recognize them).

Through the Looking Glass is a crazy adventure. It's worth reading, especially if you are interested in all of the newly envisioned Alice stories (like those I mentioned in my last post), particularly if you are interested in seeing how some of the well known characters like Tweedledee and Tweedledum fit into her story. But overall I enjoyed the first book better.

Reread: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

A number of years ago, I wanted to read Alice in Wonderland. So my brother bought me a copy as a present. But before I read that copy, I ended up reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in a treasury I bought for a Children's Literature class. With the wealth of Alice related stories that are now out there, such as the made-for-TV movie I really enjoyed, the video game, and even the new Disney movie, I decided that it was high time I reread the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. And it was high time that I read the version that my brother bought for me!

Alice is a ridiculous but fun romp through Wonderland. After witnessing a rabbit check his pocket coat watch and run off, Alice follows him through a rabbit hole. While attempting to follow him, she meets many strange creatures and has many strange adventures. From growing and shrinking in size, finding a never-ending tea party and playing crochet with live flamingos and hedgehogs, Alice never has a dull moment in Wonderland.

As I said, I originally read Alice for a Children's Lit course. I'm actually really glad that I did so, because I wouldn't have gotten the allusions had I simply read it on my own. Alice likes to try showing off her learning, and every here and there she attempts to recite what were well-known poems at the time the story was written. But Wonderland is a backwards place, and all of the poems turn out wrong. Luckily I was familiar with some of the original poems because I had read some of them earlier in the class, and the others were referenced within that edition of the book.

Alice is a quick read and it was fun to go back to it. But now I am excited because I am going to read Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There for the first time ever!