The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M

(Image, 2005-2006, 2008-2016)
™ and ©2005 Desperado

What if Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was more than a children’s story by Lewis Carroll? What if Carroll juvenilized actual events for his most famous book? That’s the basis, (some might say conceit), for this comic, which itself springs from a novel by Frank Beddor originally named, The Looking Glass Wars.

Alice Liddell, (in reality, Alyss Heart, future queen of Wonderland), is lost on Earth and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, is scouring the world searching for her. Far from a “mad hatter,” Madigan is a career soldier and expert bladesman, and his seemingly normal top hat unfolds to become a swirling circle of blades. Set in Paris in 1859, Madigan’s interaction with the local populace is at times comical and at other times, deadly. The somewhat abstract art by Ben Templesmith is intriguing but not always easily readable from a storytelling standpoint.

The concept of appropriating a children’s story and giving it an “everything you know is wrong” spin has a built-in cachet, but when that novelty fades, then the reader is only left with feelings of exploitation.

— George Haberberger

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

Hatter M begins with Madigan exploding through a puddle on the Champs Elysee in 1859 looking for Alyss on the orders from his Queen. Madigan loses his enchanted hat and encounters a dark magician presiding over a Feast of the Dead in the catacombs of Paris who must have the hat at any cost. The citizenry of Paris don’t quite know how to react to him. Who is the Queen? Why does she need a bodyguard? Who is Alyss? How can he leave a trail of dead Parisiennes behind so quickly?

The team of writers Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier and artist Ben Templesmith do a marvelous job of creating a mid-19th century myth. Full of the dark mood and atmosphere that make Jack the Ripper (and the Victorian) tales popular, Hatter M is a compelling beginning to a moody masterpiece.

— Tim Lasiuta

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