Showcase: Air Vol. 2, Return to Wonderland, and Nova Vol. 1

[Stephanie]

Welcome to another graphic novel Showcase! This time we'll trot the globe with Amelia Earhart in Air Vol. 2: Flying Machine, be late for a very important date in Return to Wonderland, and splatter some Bugs in Nova Vol. 1: Annihilation Conquest.

Air Vol. 2: Flying Machine

Writer G. Willow Wilson begins with an original yet completely ordinary idea and transforms it into something truly creative and fresh. Blythe, a flight attendant with a fear of heights, stumbles into a world of conspiracies and terrorism, superior technology and faith—and, as she soon learns, a realm where time skips a beat. Volume 2 of Air reinvents the impressive tale of the famous and ground-breaking pilot, Amelia Earhart. Amelia invites Blythe into her past and present, introducing new possibilities and fear alike as she gives her air-cruising friend a lesson or two in the mysterious field of hyperprax flight.

The challenge and intense focus involved with hyperprax flight allows Blythe to step into a state of being utterly defined by the limits, or lack thereof, of her own imagination, but the most freeing opportunity quickly becomes the most suffocating one when Blythe's fears consume her and threaten the stability of reality for her and those around her when she's practicing. Time becomes irrelevant as Blythe's spirit drifts into another's consciousness: that of her romantic interest, Zayn. While she experiences his life and can choose to willingly manipulate how it unfolds or simply let events take their natural course, a new fear grows out of the event. Together with Amelia and Northfield, Blythe must search for the immensely powerful but dangerous hyperprax device before it falls into enemy hands, and the path she takes along the way addresses her doubts about Zayn's questionable loyalties. The trio might have the strength to avert global peril for now, but a narrative trip into the past hints at the depths of an ancient power coursing throughout the book.

Air's greatest triumph is also it's downfall. The comic operates on abstractions and obscurities, which often makes the reading difficult to wrap your head around or swallow with conviction. However, the book impresses more than it leaves its reader in the dust. The story's reliance on faith and the way it can so strongly influence our lives, for good or evil, makes it a winning and refreshing work. Air sucks you in from the beginning, rising above the mundane with genuine moments that will make you smile and exhilarate you at the same time. The comic reminds us as much of the wondrous and playful power of the imagination as the incredible force of spiritual faith with which it goes hand-in-hand. Wilson brilliantly parallels the ferocity of optimistic faith in the impossible and the troubled but magnificent religious waters that mix with it, presenting an insightful look into traditional religion and the modern age of spiritual belief that takes us across the sky and beyond to a new horizon.

Return to Wonderland

Zenescope is known for their dark twist on the Alice in Wonderland series, along with other fairy tales and folklore. Return to Wonderland sets the standard. Not only does it pay proper homage to the Lewis Carroll original with dozens of minor allusions sprinkled in between the obviously familiar, but it reinvents the story with new characters among the old.

Written by Raven Gregory, Return to Wonderland begins years after Alice Liddle came back through the looking glass. The little girl once dressed in blue and white who followed a delirious white rabbit into a realm of nonsense and ordered chaos grew up and became a mother to two children: Carroll, nicknamed Callie, and Johnny. Their happy family life crumbled after Alice abruptly spiraled into catatonic depression. Her husband prefers to find his pleasure in extreme forms that only bring him shame, Callie seems to float along without a care, and Johnny suffers in sadistic excitement with a secret he keeps to himself along with a childhood trauma. But when a pet white rabbit enters the mentally paralyzed Alice's life and begins to taunt her with foreboding thoughts of what's soon to come, it's not long before Carroll finds herself being dragged into her mother's world and Johnny's fits grow unwieldy.

The comic quickly grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go. Although the blood and gore might sometimes feel excessive, once the rest of the story unfolds it becomes evident that it's a commentary on the larger plot behind the mad realm known as Wonderland, whose existence threatens reality and sanity in the real world outside of it. The story itself doesn't come light—Return to Wonderland packs in the dialogue and narration, and the story moves at an impressively well-handled pace considering its length, which ends shy of 180 pages. Blurring dreams with nightmares and confusing reality with childish fantasy, the comic never falls short and captivates you in its persistence, always raising the bar as Callie meets the strange characters of Wonderland and fulfills her hereditary destiny handed down by her mother. The already demented world of Wonderland transforms into a much more frightening one full of heart-pounding moments and jaw-dropping panels. The trade doesn't hold back, much to the reader's delight, as you'll find yourself mesmerized by Callie's adventure. But when she manages to return from the hungry jaws of Wonderland, she learns more about its secrets than she did while inside its mangled lair. What she does to keep the peace, though, comes as a surprise, but not one without proper consequence.

Return to Wonderland continues the mad legacy of Alice by revealing its tenebrous history and taking us even further down the rabbit hole into a merciless world rich with creativity and its fair share of bloodshed that does more than add lifeless gore to the pages. As soon as Callie dons the outfit of her would-be murderer early on in her exploration of the mad world, it clicks: She's accepted her invitation into Wonderland, and so have we.

Nova Vol. 1: Annihilation Conquest

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning present Annihilation Conquest, which takes place after Annihilus' forces destroyed the Nova Corps in the early hours of the Annihilation Wave. Richard Rider, an unlikely Nova from Earth who remains the sole survivor of the attack on the Corps, currently acts as a vessel for the entire archives of Worldmind, the supreme collection of knowledge and data from the universe and the key to restoring the Nova Corps. If he dies in the heat of battle, the Worldmind will be erased with him.

Now Rider must clean up the universe one distress call at a time, but when the pressure of rocketing full-speed from sector to another begins to take its toll, the Nova returns to his homeworld of Earth to recover. However, he has more to worry about with his homecoming than facing his concerned and bewildered parents. The Superhero Registration Act has been passed in the aftermath of the Civil War, which occurred while Rider was blasting his way through outer space. After hearing what is old news for the rest of Earth's heroes, Richard must choose whether to stay and join the Initiative, tracking down superheroes who are still unregistered on the streets, or continue his duty to keep peace in the galaxies, which have fallen into pandemonium, spreading violence and death. Either path leads to further encounters he never quite expected, including a reunion with a friend thought dead, the rise and fall of a second hope, and a struggle to save an endangered empire from the corrupted hands of a deadly virus.

The comic reads wonderfully and is sharply illustrated by Sean Chen, Scott Hanna, and Brian Denham. Like the often reckless but brave Richard Rider, Annihilation Conquest never loses speed and always comes packing the heat. The story never feels cheesy or excessive, and the writers create believable and genuine chemistry between the characters—especially when it comes to the close bond between Rider and the source he fights to protect, Worldmind. Not much slips past Abnett and Lanning, who aren't afraid to show the casualties and hardships of war in a universe brimming with alien life both good and evil. Plus, it quickly becomes clear that Rider's new-found powers from absorbing the whole of the Corps' energy can be both extremely advantageous and incredibly perilous and, perhaps, even a bit maddening. It's hard not to turn the pages to see where Rider lands next, as adrenaline-pumping action and an engrossing storyline fuel the smoothly paced comic in just the right proportions. Annihilation Conquest builds its foundations on drama and humor, destruction and sacrifice, forgiveness and vengeance—and when it leaves you stranded at the end you'll be begging for more.

You can find all of these trades over at the Impulse Creations shop. Know a book that deserves a place in the Showcase spotlight? Send an email to wita.gen@gmail.com with the subject line, “Showcase Suggestions.”