Tommy Kovac

What I like about this book: the artwork is beautiful! Every page is so detailed and intriguing in its artistic style. However, the sad part is that this is the only part I liked. This graphic novel tells the story of the White Rabbit's maid, Maryann, who was absent in the original material of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. There are many of the same characters in fact. And they say all the same sort of things they said in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

To me, this book basically seemed like a mashed up version of Alice in Wonderland with a less interesting main character whose only focus is wanting everything to be clean at all times. And when I say mashed up, I also mean that to convey the chaotic, hodgepodged ordering of this story. Everything seems to jump around, trying to make sure each of these familiar characters are shown. And the puns. I have nothing against puns, but the thing about them is that they can't be overused and they have to be well timed. Neither of these criteria are met in this book. And the over-usage of them, which would typically be attempting a comic effect, is not even comical; therefore the reaction they did get from me was annoyance.

It is true that Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is fond of word play and of chaos but it is of the witty, meaningful sort. The charm of Wonderland comes from the many layers Lewis Carroll weaved seamlessly into his story. On a final note, Maryann's dialect does not seem at all to suit her and I feel as though the tale is kind of derogatory and stereotypical towards people who do such jobs as work as house maids or cleaners.

Even though there are many of the same characters, the whole story has an entirely different feel to it and so I honestly would not even recommend this to someone who just wanted to see more Alice in Wonderland-esque adventures. Sadly, having to give this book 2 stars: the art is truly awesome, and it was at least a delight to look at each page closely and see all the details. However, the story was more of a collage of a moments that seemed to fall short of being what they aimed to be. Perhaps part of the disappointment may come too from it trying to be in the same timeline and world as Alice's adventure, so comparison between the two is inevitable.… (more)

I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought. Wonderland tells the untold story of Mary-Ann, the White Rabbit's housemaid, who the Rabbit mistook Alice for in the original Alice in Wonderland book. This graphic novel expands on the mythology of Wonderland (far more successfully than the recent Alice In Wonderland movie directed by Tim Burton) including the fates of the other card queens and kings. Kovac gets the wacky characters, the world logic and the overall surreal aspects of Wonderland and Liew makes it all come to live with his fabulous illustrations. This book is a definite hidden gem.… (more)

Tremendous fun for an Oz fan with a sense of humor, although I can see why it might have annoyed some more thin-skinned purists; even more, it's fairly obvious why this didn't succeed in the same way as Kovac's Wonderland, which is similarly based on an existing property. The difference is that Wonderland really only assumes a very general, pop culture awareness of Lewis Carroll's fairyland, while Royal Historian goes full throttle with a lot of very specific references and jokes for Oz die-hards. I'm a little shocked this was published mainstream, in fact, just because it feels so niche.

The plot is pretty thin, and it ends abruptly (again, not unlike Wonderland); most of the enjoyment of the book comes from stuff that will sail straight over most comic readers' heads to those of us who "get it" - and hopefully, don't mind being poked at a little. If nothing else, it's worth it for Andy Hirsch's highly original interpretations of the Oz characters; his Patchwork Girl is especially wonderful. Mind you, the one brief glimpse we get of a Kovac-drawn Oz looks like it would have been special, too - albeit in a different, more ethereal way.… (more)