Hatter M, Vol. 1: Far from Wonder

This is a companion graphic novel to the book, The Looking Glass Wars. While the book was well written, it didn't work for me. However, this book was much better - we have the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Wonderland's Body Guard, looking for her daughter, Alyss, who is lost somewhere in time and space in our world. Its written from the perspective a group of investigators who follow the actions of the Mad Hatter through his journeys in Europe.

While there is no great story nor is there a much in the lines of character development, the action is great, the story is fun, and its a great read. It stands alone from the book.

The first volume and the graphic novel version of Beddor's famous 'The Looking Glass Wars' series where some characters from Wonderland find themselves lost in our world.

So many people have recommended this series to me so when I saw the graphic novel versions of the books, I jumped at the chance and I'm so pleased I did.

Firstly, the art is fantastic. It suits the mood of the story and the characters to a tee and the detailing is both intricate and sparse all at once. Character development was well thought out and ultimately believable, enabling the reader to really engage with the story and appreciate the delivery format to its full extent.

As for the story, well I think I might be a convert. The idea that Hatter Madigan is a member of show more the White Queen's millinery in Wonderland and the Queen's personal bodyguard is a great twist on the original Lewis Carroll story. The evil Red Queen attacks and so the White Queen orders Hatter M to take her daughter Alyss Heart and jump through the pool of tears to our world and to safety. Except, not everything goes according to plan..

The Hatter's hat is a deadly weapon when thrown by knowing hands and the Hatter himself is highly skilled in blade arts which is quite handy considering the amount of people that keep crossing his path on the other side. I find him a very simple, black and white character which is maybe what I enjoy most about him. Oh, and that dark brooding type always gets to me I guess.

Without divulging the story too much, I can say that this is a great introduction to these Beddor books and I will definitely be chasing down the original form soon. I first have to read Volumes Two and Three in the graphic novel format but I can say that part 2 has started out incredibly well.

Highly recommended. show less

Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars, Volume 1 is the first in Frank Beddor’s series that follows the quest of Hatter M to find, rescue and restore the Princess Alyss to her rightful place as the future Queen of Wonderland.

Hatter M is a fresh twist on the works of Lewis Carroll stories of Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Ordered by his Queen to take her daughter Alyss from Wonderland and keep her safe, Bodyguard Hatter M is distraught when Alyss slips from his arms during the transformation and is now lost in our world. It is 1859 and he is faced with battling the forces of Black Imagination while trying to pick up the glow of the Princess. He starts in Paris and moves on to Budapest, although he succeeds in a rescue, it is not show more Alyss and his search must continue on into other books.

While I found the idea of this book fascinating, the actual book itself seems to have missed the mark slightly. I found that the story jumped around rather abruptly and I had a hard time figuring out exactly what was going on, perhaps because I haven’t read the actual trilogy of books that these graphic novels are based on. The artwork was strangely distorted, but I felt that it fit the style of the story wonderfully. I will probably pick up the next volume at some point as I am now interested in where this story is going. show less

An interesting companion work to Beddor's Looking Glass Wars which does not necessarily stand so well on its own merits. The art is sketchy and atmospheric in nature, and this can make following the story confusing at times.

This graphic Novel it intrigued me from the first page. Usually I don’t read this type of format, but I decided to “shut my eyes”, and give it a try. My curiosity was awarded with an inter-dimensional travelling with a dynamic and intricate plot that carries you in a frenetic quest around the globe. I started my quest with a dilemma Alice in Wonderland the true story, or Alyss in Wonderland the girl who was lost and who appears in this quest a glamour that carries the action further into an unknown world? This book it is a direct invitation to let your imagination free. Mr. Hatter the royal guard is a Sherlock Holmes that has come from the Looking Glass Wars to search for his lost princess. The graphic has a classic arrangement of show more the elements of a traditional fairy tale. We have the good princess, abducted by an evil force, the good guy, who is not so good because in order to protect the innocent and poor, has to kill some other fellows. Hatter Madigan has some allies such as the boy, Abraham (Bram) Stoker, the journalist, Magda Pushkin, and an innocent girl Edwina who has powerful physic energy. The rest of the story is a battle between good and evil, some vampires and zombies are killed in the process. I didn’t get bored and I felt like watching a movie. I think I got the graphic beginner fever… I need volume 2. show less

This is the first book that tells the story of Hatter Madigan as he starts his search for Princess Alyss after they were forced to flee Wonderland and this and subsequent volumes are companion books to the original story The Looking Glass Wars.

My reaction to the art was decidedly mixed. For the most part I did not like it. I twas unpleasant and sketchy and had a vaguely unfinished feel to it, but in some cases it worked quite well. I loved the use of color and felt it helped with the story far more than the drawn figures did.

The story started out rather disjointedly and abrupt, though I guess that fits what was happening IN the story. Still I found it annoying. Once things settled down and the authors and artist settle down and get to show more the point of telling the story things flowed a lot better and I found the characters and circumstances quite engaging and fascinating and while I would have liked to have spent more time with some of them, I also think that their brevity was part of their strength.

Not a book I would like to own, but one I enjoyed reading overall. show less

I read Beddor's Looking Glass War series and enjoyed it but I wanted to know more about Hatter M! I was excited to see that this graphic novel was supposed to cover just that...Hatter M's backstory. Unfortunately the artwork was vague and hard to follow and the story itself didn't add nearly as much as I had hoped.

This graphic novel starts the story of Hatter M's years searching our world for Alyss. In this novel he finds a girl he thinks is Alyss and tries to save her from an evil Countess who is set on draining her imagination. Also drawn into the story is a reporter who wants a good story from Hatter M.

I had a hard time with this graphic novel. I didn't find the story all that engaging and the artwork was hard to follow. For large show more portions of the story it was hard to even tell what Hatter M was doing from frame to frame. The writing itself is pretty sparse so you are depending on the illustration to add a lot to the story. With the illustration so hard to follow it just didn't work for me.

There some interesting elements in the story. Hatter M gets involved with a secret society that is trying to drain white imagination from imaginative children. It is also amusing to watch as Hatter M tries to navigate the differences between Wonderland and our world. We get flashes of back story that show what transpired when Hatter M was forced to leave the Queen's side and hide Alyss; we get to see how Alyss was lost as well.

Overall I found the whole novel to be okay. There are some interesting additions to the story; it was great to get some more background on Hatter M and to fill out some of the events that transpired while Hatter M was searching for Alyss. The inclusion of this mysterious society in our world adds to the mystery in the story. The artwork is very hard to follow though and the story is sparse. With the story so dependent on the artwork and the artwork hard to follow I was a bit disappointed. I don't think I will reading future installments in the Hatter M graphic novel series. This might be a good read for a die-hard Looking Glass Wars fan; but it didn't add enough to the story for me to stay interested. show less