Alice in Wonderland Review: Espinosa Does it Again, Sort of

Rod Espinosa is making a career out of taking classic stories and adapting them into comic book form. His best work to date is “A Christmas Carol: The Night That Changed the Life of Eliza Scrooge,” where he had a female Scrooge that worked perfectly. His most recent escapade into the classics adaptations is Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and, though enjoyable, it does not equal to his earlier standards.

For those unfamiliar with the story, a young girl named Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole to a strange world where animals and objects talk, everyone’s mad and things make very little sense. There’s also a tyrannical queen who will behead anyone at the drop of a hat. All Alice wants to do is just find her way out of this strange world before she goes mad or loses her head.

The main problem with adapting a classic story is how to go about it without angering the fans and still making the story enjoyable. Espinosa does just that. He is able to retell Carroll’s classic tale faithfully in an enjoyable manor that is not boring or forced. It flows well and every plot in the book is there and told well and not rushed.

The art is in the manga style and this is taken to eleven. The human characters are well drawn in this style if not a bit weird which fits perfectly with the theme of this world. The Queen’s design is particularly interesting in that she has that Japanese aristocrat look going for her, fan, large wig and everything. It’s actually a very unique look to her and can be put to much use in a Japanese version of “Alice in Wonderland.”

The way the characters react are the classic over the top manga reactions we all know and still laugh at no matter how times we se it. What’s funnier is that this is Alice doing the reactions, which makes them even funnier.

Even though the human characters are well drawn, some of the animals are a mess. The white rabbit looks something out of somebody’s nightmare and was put together in one minute without any thought. Those eyes are just way too creepy and his design is out of place in this comic.

Espinosa’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” may have a few bumps in the art department, but the interesting narration and some intriguing takes on character designs still make this an enjoyable comic book adaptation.