Grimm Fairy Tales presents Wonderland: Asylum #5 Review

By Harrison Rawdin on Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Should fans avoid this one? Read on to find out.

The official description from Zenescope:

As the Void’s Asylum is filled with brand new horrors that the mysterious Lory has brought to Wonderland, Violet is left to deal with the fallout. Will she embrace her destiny as the Mad Hatter and join the carnage, or will she fight and die as a human?

The action-packed, emotional ending to Violet Liddle’s story is coming!

It’s a difficult thing to do when you have to come to terms with something that’s new or terrifying. You stare down a great precipice hoping to find something to work with and in the end that’s exactly where you don’t want to be. Even so the creative team makes sure that we all embrace this, no matter how bizarre things get with each page turn.

Raven Gregory works with scribe Pat Shand to bring this chapter of the Liddle family saga to a fitting close. From Dark Cheshire to the Void there were a lot of players hanging around, but the strong focus is on Violet as she grapples with the key decision now facing her. Destiny and the role of the Mad Hatter come into play as Wonderland gains and loses players while the realm faces hurdles that are simply born from its own attempts to evolve. There are some hammy bits of dialogue but for the most part this a compelling script that yields a rock solid conclusion.

The illustrations by Elmer Cantada are consistent but rather bland. Each pencil stroke informs the text but more often than not I found them to be underwhelming. There were some bright parts, especially near the end as the release called for some dramatic interactions and the talent delivered well enough. But what kept the piece moving smoothly happened to be the outstanding colors by Francesca Zambon. In short: it’s a passable experience that slightly hinders the overall journey.

Grimm Fairy Tales presents Wonderland: Asylum #5 carries with it a fitting a conclusion for this yarn. And despite my gripes it manages to earn a recommendation from me.