Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland #5 (of 6) (Zenescope – Gregory / Leister / Ruffino) – Calie has come face to face with the terrifying Cheshire Cat and her next move will determine her fate. Will Calie escape the madness of Wonderland or is she doomed to be trapped in this world forever? You don’t want to miss this penultimate issue of one of the most talked about series of the year that includes a cliffhanger last page that you will have to see to believe. Every series has high point issues that blow away and amaze the reader and every series has issues that don’t spark at all. Unfortunately this issue is one of those dark, un-sparkly ones. I have truly enjoyed this series up until #5. While this issue did give us some background on Alice (mom) and John (little brother) and did move the plot along just a tiny bit, this was all about reaction. This fractured fairy tale has been in the horror genre the whole time and has been very good at it… but it moved from a psychologically disturbing thriller to simply a blood gore hack and slash. The scenes in here will make you flinch, but the story will not. The big cliffhanger ending was not that startling and was seen from miles away. I hope Wonderland gets back on the track where it started. Pullbox Warning: Like the comic says, Intended for mature audiences due to violence / gore.
Issue Grade: C-
Series Grade: B
