Alice Never After #2 – Boom! Studios

Creative Team: Dan Panosian, Giorgio Spalletta, Francesco Segala and Jeff Eckleberry

Welcome to another New Comic Book Day review from the N.I. Bullpen!

Today we are going even further down the rabbit hole with this review. If you are looking for a wholesome Alice In Wonderland clone this is not the book for you. If you love macabre plots and slightly disturbing fantasy elements then you have found the right review!

Let’s get into the second issue of this 5 part series from Boom! Studios, Alice Never After #2.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**

Quick Recap

When we last left Alice, in the real world, Alice’s sister and father were both on their way to meetings about Alice. Instead of the usual doctors or psychiatrists, they were both on their way to different prisons to meet with Alice’s former abusers, Doctor Madsen and Mistress Hulda.

Meanwhile, back in Wonderland, Alice has just come back to the castle after being lost in the forest looking for the White Rabbit. After she was found and guided back to the castle by her friend Dodo. Dodo had also told her that there were rumors of “a shadowy figure lurking about” and that she should be very careful. 

Back at the castle, Alice reunites with the rest of her friends, and they have a gift waiting for her. The gift, it turns out, was a dress that used to belong to the wicked Queen of Hearts before Alice defeated her. They have proclaimed Alice to be the New Queen of Hearts.

Banished… Yet Here Again

The issue opens with Alice getting into her new dress as Queen of Hearts. She and her friends are debating the amount of red in the dress. Alice thinks that she would make a better Queen of Diamonds because the dress is VERY red. Her friends from Wonderland of course, think there should be even more.

During the dress debate, a member of the royal court enters the room, telling Alice that she is needed at the High Court at once. As Alice correctly assumes, it must be serious if it demands her appearance at the highest court in Wonderland.

She has another debate, this time with her head judge in the courtroom over whether she should administer beheadings or not. Alice is steadfastly against any beheadings while she is Queen of Hearts in Wonderland. After this back and forth, the reason for the trial is revealed. Someone has come to make a plea to the court. It’s someone who Alice herself banished from Wonderland forever after the defeat of the previous Queen. The Cheshire Cat has returned, and he is asking the court for re-entry to Wonderland claiming to have changed.

Meanwhile…

We then shift back to the real world, where Alice’s father is meeting with one of her former abusers, Mistress Hulda. They discuss why Alice is medicated, so that she would forget about Charles, her father, robbing graves for teeth to re use in his dental practice. This included the teeth of her own mother. They also discuss Charles putting in a good word with the prison’s warden, in order to try and get Hulda released.

We then see Charles greeting Alice as she is reading a book. The book is Humpty Dumpty and she is reading it upside down. She says “People think he fell. But…they’re reading it wrong.”

Back In Court

In the trial of The Cheshire Cat, the shapeshifting trickster is twisting everything said during the preceding. From having many of the courtiers nearly allowing him to have a vote in his own banishment, to very nearly tricking the High Court into letting him stay in Wonderland without a vote at all! By the end of the trial however, Alice loses her temper with the whole affair.

She orders her guards to remove the Cheshire Cat immediately by saying “The Queen of Hearts commands it!” After the Cheshire Cat is removed from the court, Alice is once again stricken by pains and feelings of illness. She returns to her room to rest.

After Alice wakes up, The White Rabbit finally returns. Alice then informs him that she is now the Queen of Hearts. Rabbit then tells Alice that before the prior Queen took the throne, she was very much like Alice. This concerns Alice, because she just can’t imagine that she could become anything like the last Queen. The White Rabbit clarifies that he didn’t say that Alice would turn bad like the last Queen of Hearts, only that the last queen was very much like Alice a long time ago. Then, as usual, the White Rabbit tells Alice that he must leave yet again. 

Alice tries, again, to chase after the White Rabbit to see where he is going. She says that he is the only one he can really talk to. As she tries to leave, she doubles over and vomits.

Newgate Prison

In the real world, Alice’s sister Edith is at an appointment of her own. Again, not with any kind of doctor… not a free one anyway. Edith is at Newgate Prison, visiting another of Alice’s former abusers, Doctor Madsen.

One of the main factors in Alice’s mental impairment is a surgery performed by Doctor Madsen in the past. Edith is visiting Madsen in order to find out if there is a way for him to reverse the surgery he performed on Alice.

He reminds Edith that Christmas is coming, and that he misses his plants. Madsen asks Edith for Oleander seeds and Earl Grey Tea leaves, in exchange for all the information he had on Alice and the surgery he performed on her. Edith agrees, and leaves the prison. There are now two members of Alice’s family making deals with her former abusers. How will this play out?

Every Queen… Needs A King

We go back to Wonderland and Alice is seated upon her throne. One of her attendants states his surprise at the fact that she is there so early, saying that she must be as excited as everyone else. 

Alice, yet again, has no clue what he is talking about. So she asks “Excited about what? What’s going on now?”  There are visitors in the castle, Sir Ostrich of Yogurt, Lord Tiger, the Archduke of Tiny Harbor (Gilbert) and the twins Tweedledee & Tweedledum. Alice is just tired of all the craziness at this point and wants to know why they are all here? Her attendant responds “Shouldn’t it be obvious? Every Queen needs a King, Alice!”

What is Charles plotting with Hulda? Will Madsen actually help Edith and Alice? Is Alice getting married?!?! We’ll have to wait until the release of issue #3 to find out!

Story Review

Panosian hits another home run with this issue. Jumping between the real world and Wonderland seems like it should be confusing, but I never feel lost or confused in this issue. The writing is just that good.

The plot is thickening with Charles and Hulda. Just judging by their facial reactions, and the fact that Charles was the one originally medicating Alice to being with, it doesn’t seem like anything good is coming from those two.

We are starting to see that Alice’s health in Wonderland is directly tied to her health in the real world. Her illness only seems to be getting worse, and there is no end to her stress now that she is Queen of Hearts. The Cheshire Cat is attempting to come back and now she is being told she needs to get married!

I’m also interested to see if Madsen will actually give Edith anything useful in her attempt to heal Alice. Is he just a crazy doctor who is craving some tea in prison? Or is he really willing to trade information for some Earl Grey and Oleander seeds?

Artwork Overview

Wonderland has never looked more fantastical than when Spalletta and Segala put their spin on it. The colors are bright and warm especially when Alice is in her throne room or in the chambers of the High Court. I especially like the design of The Cheshire Cat in this series. He oozes mistrust and deceit. From his eyes and mouth to his “knotty” way of speaking, everything about the Cheshire Cat is designed to make you not trust him, and I love it.

Victorian era London feels gritty and dirty thanks to Panosian. The colors are more neutral toned and the environments are all very angular and squared off. The drastic difference in color pallet and character design between Wonderland and London doesn’t throw off the reader either. Instead, it actually helps the reader keep track of where they are in the story on any given page. 

The artwork in this series is nothing short of breathtaking.

Overall Score: 9.5 OUT OF 10 – “Must Pull”

Issue 2 is another win for this creative team. The plot is expanding, we are getting more background on the real world trauma that Alice is dealing with and we see that being the Queen of Hearts isn’t always everything it’s cracked up to be.  

This is not the Alice In Wonderland story you know from Disney. This is a darker tale, but if you like dark, fantastical stories and plots that twist and turn quickly, you’ll love Alice Never After #2 from Boom! Studios!

As always everyone Be Safe, Be Kind, and Take It Easy!