Readers of Zenescope main focus will know that the main universe involving Sela Mathers has a tendency to push its way into all the other series in one way or another. Those series that stand alone are best able to deal with their own storylines without being bogged down by the stories about the five realms and Myst and all the other stuff that goes hand in hand with the main series and its spin-offs. The stories of Wonderland have manged to stay mostly free of the confusion, even if they occasionally get dragged in by way of association to the company wide events. The titular White Queen in this series is Calie Liddle from Wonderland, which bodes well for this series, but this is an Age of Darkness tie-in miniseries, which does not bode well for the series.
The story follows Calie as she is given a task by the Dark Queen. Calie doesn’t have the option of refusing, because her evil counterpart controls the locket which can end Violet’s life. She is bound by certain obligations as a Queen and by certain obligations as a mother. She is to murder a group of refugees seeking passage across Wonderland, but she tries her best to figure a way out of the deal, to satisfy the conditions but not to murder and to keep Violet safe.
The duality of the series and even the company as a whole is shown as a microcosm in this series. The parts where Calie is forced to deal with the Dark Queen are laborious, but when she is allowed to cut loose on her own the story picks up a lot of momentum. For those who enjoy comics for their action sequences, they are unlikely to find a more interesting fight sequence this week than when Calie takes on the killer mushrooms, which is noteworthy for both its whimsy and its brutality, even if it is a bit short on length. In the end the story ends up slightly bogged down again by the Dark Queen, but the overall result is still enjoyable, and more so for fans of the Wonderland series.
Story: Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Troy Brownfield Art: Luca Claretti
Story: 7.8 Art: 7.8 Overall: 7.8 Recommendation: Read
Zenescope provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review
