Alice Never After has been delivering an intriguing exploration of mental health through the utilization of Wonderland. Thus far we’ve seen how the impact of what Alice went through in the previous series is impacting how she views the world. How that is reflected in the developments in Wonderland creates a lot of questions as to how Dan Panosian and Giorgio Spalletta plan to go with the story. We got a chance to check out an early copy of Alice Never After #3. Find out how it turned out with our advance review.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Dan Panosian
Artists: Dan Panosian, Giorgio Spalletta, and Cyril Glerum
Colorist: Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli
Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
SOLICITATION
“Alice is primed to bring new life into Wonderland… meanwhile, a familiar smile returns to watch her every move.
And just as Alice becomes overwhelmed by suitors and nearly ready to leave Wonderland behind, Edith discovers something that may help Alice escape-forever!” – BOOM! Studios
REVIEW
The more time we spend in Wonderland the better sense we get of where Alice is mentally at this point in the story. With Alice Never After #3 spending a majority in Wonderland that dive into how Alice sees herself and world provides a lot of great insight. Though it is the developments outside Wonderland that will grab the reader the most.
Dan Panosian finds a good balance of letting the imagination of the Wonderland setting created by Giorgio Spalletta and Cyril Glerum then be grounded by the real world events. It speaks to how well the Wonderland setting is portrayed by Panosian, Spalletta, and Glerum that you get lost in it as much as Alice does. The time spent is enough to believe this is all where the story is taking place. Which makes the moments where we see the illusion of Wonderland break to be even more jarring.
There are moments when certain Wonderland characters are talking where they look more like their real world counterparts. Some of these moments are more obvious than others. It all works into how Alice’s mental health continues to be explored. Because what could be viewed as an escape is actually just continuing the prison for Alice. And that is reflected in how Alice openly speaks her mind with the Wonderland characters while still being shutdown in the real world. Which all adds to how Alice tries to maintain Queen of Hearts status but runs into conflict against force she can’t control.
This in turn adds to the major developments we see take place around Alice with her family. Once again Edith stands out as the person trying to help her sister. Panosian does such a good job at writing Edith that her side of the story should get more screen time then it does. Though given the twist at the end of Alice Never After #3 that looks to be something we may get. At least that is the hope as Edith and others around Alice have much more story to tell with this latest development.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Giorgio Spalletta and Cyril Glerum steal the show with how they bring Wonderland to life in Alice Never After. The stunning visuals make how Dan Panosian continues to explore how Alice interacts with both Wonderland and the real world reflective of her mental health state. With a strong twist Alice Never After #3 sets up the second half of the series to be even stronger than the first half.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10