It appears Calie Liddle is experiencing a “Dallas†moment. The raven haired beauty woke up in her bedroom at the end of Escape from Wonderland #3 to find that all is well and Wonderland was nothing more than a dream. Or was it?
Escape from Wonderland #4
Raven Gregory, Daniel Leister, David Nakayama
Have you ever had a dream where you were certain it was reality? Dreams have a funny way of fooling us. You could have sworn you felt the warm breeze brush against your skin as you walked along the beaches of Mexico and your taste buds tingle at the thought of devouring that amazing slice of pizza. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between dreams and reality. All too often I’ve dreamt of a conversation or an outing involving the people in my life and later discover that it never actually happened. Then there are the nightmares. We experience hellish scenarios as we sleep which sometimes expose us to our greatest fears. Sadly events occur in our lives that are best described as nightmares. It could be a variety of things; the death of a loved one, a divorce, loosing a job or suffering a major injury. We are sometimes given the option of escaping a dream by simply waking up. Other times we are not so fortunate and must live through the nightmare. Which of the two has Caile found herself in? Is she still in Wonderland, a place that is very real or was it all a dream? The answer may or may not surprise you and I will let you discover the outcome for yourself. I will tell you that Calie has found happiness. Her parents, Alice and Lewis, are present along with her brother Johnny and her boyfriend Brandon. It’s as if the events from the last several months (or years? I’m not quite sure on the time line) never happened.
The issue is written by creator Raven Gregory who offers this latest twist in the Wonderland trilogy. Escape from Wonderland #4 has some truly shocking and horrifying moments and the ending will leave you on the edge of your seat. Only two more books remain in this series and the biggest question I have is; will Calie survive? I’ve grown quite fond of the character and have enjoyed seeing her evolution throughout the trilogy. I am constantly wondering if she will make it out of this in one piece. I would love nothing more than for her to have a happy ending but if there’s anything this series has taught us it’s that this isn’t your mother’s version of Alice in Wonderland.
I like the surprising direction this issue took. Although I guessed correctly on whether the reunion at the Liddle house was real or not, I never guessed where the story was going beyond that point and that made for a captivating read. The scary elements were very disturbing and fun. As always, the artistic team of Daniel Leister and Nei Ruffino is flawless. I give Escape from Wonderland #4 five stars.
2 Comments
I guess this is Raven’s way of reassuring us that they aren’t going to say the whole run has been a dream like people fear so much on tv shows. I can’t wait to read the whole series straight through when it’s done! Issue sounds like a lot of fun!
It does sound like a good read.
Is not being able to determine the time line between months or years an intentional quality to make everything mor surreal and fantasy-driven or is it a fallacy on the part of the writers?
The colorist for the illustration presented here needs to work on their skill a bit. Calie is beautiful (as pretty much all comic book females are) but the high gloss coloring makes her look plastic and frozen instead of frightened and vibrant.
Speaking of beauty and illustrations, Victoria, I see you have a new picture for yourself as well. This one has a more assertive quality that is well-suited for really important matters…like Major Spoilers reviews. ;-)