Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars, Volume 1

Like I said a bout the second one the service was great and they books showed up faster then I had expected them too. The books themselfs are full of great art and the storys are awesome. Can't wait for book 3.

I "fell" for Ben Templesmith's art when he teamed with Ellis to do, yeah, FELL. So, when I happened upon this compilation called HATTER M, and saw that it had art by Ben Templesmith, I picked it up and bought it, without even glancing at the story blurb. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. Then again, I like dark retellings of familiar tales (such as the updated fairy tales that Datlow/Windling offered us for the last decade plus in their fantasy anthologies). In this case, we have a Hatter who is mad--as in furious--but not crazy. Although, okay, perhaps if you happened upon him in 1859--the year he popped into our reality from Wonderland after escaping the massacre royale contrived by the evil Redd, sister of the Queen and aunt to young Princess Alyss--and saw his crazy hat and crazy knife-throwing skills. Maybe you would think he was MAD. But he's simply an honorable bodyguard to the Princess of Wonderland, brimming with white imagination who, in escaping from the massacre back home, was separated from the young princess, and now must search for her and protect her from the forces of Black Imagination. We open with Paris in the 19th century, where hatmakers--imaginative and honorable in their professsion--first draw our Hatter's eye. Wherever there is imagination--in art, in music, in children who are "especially juicy" with it--there is a glow. Our Hatter follows that glow, because Alyss herself will, naturally, glow with the wonderlandishness of her own imagination. We come across imagination vampires, an evil baronness, gypsies, hungry zombies, an intrepid Russian female reporter, and even Jules Verne. But in the end, what's most interesting is slowly piecing together what is going on from a disorienting, action-packed start. By chapter three, we are given a flashback to the evil goings on in Wonderland and feel more grounded. My favorite chapter dealt with the orphanage that trained children in conformity. Little Edwina and her colorful butterly delighted me. The bit of humor with the dogs, her utter childlike trust in the Hatter, just simply shone for me. Templesmith's art, like in FELL, leaves a lot of blurry space and it uses color in such a way that you feel the dark, mysterious atmosphere suited to the subject matter. There is plenty of violence (this is NOT for the very young), and some sly dark humor, and a big thematic cheer for, yes, of course, nurturing imagination of wonder. You could have guessed that, though. The machine at the orphange adds a definite steampunky element for those of you who like that. (I DO!) The war is on. The Hatter is on the hunt. And I will be wanting to see where his journeys take him and his amazingly lethal hat. I wish the whole storyline was in comics format(as I'm not inclined to read the young-adult novels in the trilogy). I guess I'll wait for more in the Hatter M vein. Mir

Lewis Carroll could never have seen this coming, but Frank Beddor did. Frank, Liz Cavalier, and Ben Templesmith have created a moody, compelling masterpiece, complete with magic, myth, and mayhem. Hatter Madigan, in his pursuit to protect Alyss, travels through space to Budapest , and Paris only to find himself in a place he does not quite understand, searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack. This is an intense journey, in more than one sense. The physical transition from Paris to Budapest, and from there to the Benevolent Orphanage for Girls by Baroness Dvonna is violent and dangerous. Spiritually, the Baanskratar mind control cult is bleeding the young orphans dry, and the quest for Alyss takes Madigan into combat with those who would destroy imagination. Gaining an ally in Magda Pushkin, Madigan continues his search armed with a fierce determination to succeed! There is so much more to this book that makes is equal to "Through the Looking Glass". The art is stunning, and Ben Templesmith creates a world and look so symbolic that even his panels edges are not what they seem. What seems to be real just may not be. Touches like color captioning on the children as they escape the Orphanage, and side portraits of those who would batter Madigan ooze creativity. There is also social commentary within. The Orphanage run by the Baanskratar focuses on mind control, and a concerted effort to kill our imaginations. Is that our modern media and entertainment industries? What about the dead who feed on the living? What do they represent? Is Hatter Madigan in his quest for Alyss on a journey of his own without knowing what he will find? I can hardly wait for Volume Two...and more Looking Glass Wars. www.lookingglasswars.com Tim Lasiuta

I picked up the hardcover edition of this book at San Diego Comic-Con last year. I already was a fan of the The Looking Glass Wars novel trilogy, so felt this was a "must-have"--and I was not disappointed! The book follows Hatter's adventures looking for the lost Princess Alyss in our world, expanding on what is a tiny sequence in the first of the prose novels. The art is amazing; I wasn't familiar with Templesmith's work prior to Hatter M, though I have since sought out 30 Days of Night and some of his other books after being introduced to him here. Truly a unique artistic style. Since I'm not really a comic book person, it grabbed me in a way a lot of comic artists do not. And the story is a lot of fun, too, a worthy companion to the prose it compliments.

What if Alice in Wonderland really existed? And Lewis Carroll got the story all wrong? One character from the children's story, body guard Hatter Madigan, is looking for princess Alyss Heart. Stumbling into our world, he not only loses his beloved hat but also the princess. Labeled le monstre by those in Paris, he continues to search for Alyss. He ends up in a place where less imagination is the norm. Will he find his beloved princess? This graphic novel companion to the bestselling novel THE LOOKING GLASS WAR is a surreal twist of Victorian fantasy touched with madness. Fans of the novel are sure to enjoy this tale. Beddor creates an imaginative world where Wonderland might have indeed existed. This novel is a treat. I can't wait for Hatter 2 and where he will end up next.