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roboxa's review
2.0
It pains me to rate anything in the Buffy verse this low, but I was really disappointed with this one. There were just some glaring issues with this series that really ruined it for me. The main thing being that Willow says and does things in this series that seem incredibly uncharacteristic of her. Her dialogue seemed more like young high school Willow from the first two seasons of the show rather than the mature and often troubled adult that she has become. While I was reading, Willow would say something that would just strike me as being way too young and also made it seem like she was being a little blasé about the whole mission that she is on. This obviously doesn't ring true with Willow since even though she sometimes cracked a joke during tense situations, never did she make or treat events as less important than they were.
Her actions also never rang true for me. Very soon after Willow reaches this other dimension, she meets a creature named Marrak who helps her out my destroying a giant worm monster. It almost seems that immediately afterwards, Willow is willing to trust the guy with her life. To me, this seems very non-Willow. One: She is in a dimension that is obviously violent and creepy and she doesn't think to maybe wait a while to trust this thing with her plans? Come on. Two: This is so not something Willow would do. Despite being a very nice and easygoing person, Willow also knows when to put her trust in someone, and when to be weary. This situation, even to someone not as logical and smart as Willow, would set off some alarm bells and lead someone to at least be careful of what they tell this guy. Nope, not Willow apparently.
It was stuff like this that really bugged me throughout the entire series. On top of that, I wasn't a fan of the art. There were times when Willow looked a little inconsistent with the rest of the series, and there were also a few panels where the facial expressions either didn't seem to fit with the current situation or they just looked kind of off in general. The chapter break art was all right except that, in my opinion, a couple of them sexualized Willow a little more that I believe was needed. However, the section break art for part two was really nice.
Overall, this is not the best work in the Buffy universe and it probably could be skipped in the grand scheme of things. While it explains what happened between the time Willow leaves in Angel and when she comes back in Buffy, I think you can get the basic idea of what happens from the little bit of information given in those two. While some soul searching happens for Willow, it wasn't really anything we haven't seen already (Willow fighting her inner self) and wasn't really handled has well as it could have been. So, don't feel that you need to read this one to really understand Willow or anything for that matter. Maybe stuff will come up later where events in this volume come up, and then I will feel bad for telling you to skip it, but for now, it's not something to make a point of reading.
Her actions also never rang true for me. Very soon after Willow reaches this other dimension, she meets a creature named Marrak who helps her out my destroying a giant worm monster. It almost seems that immediately afterwards, Willow is willing to trust the guy with her life. To me, this seems very non-Willow. One: She is in a dimension that is obviously violent and creepy and she doesn't think to maybe wait a while to trust this thing with her plans? Come on. Two: This is so not something Willow would do. Despite being a very nice and easygoing person, Willow also knows when to put her trust in someone, and when to be weary. This situation, even to someone not as logical and smart as Willow, would set off some alarm bells and lead someone to at least be careful of what they tell this guy. Nope, not Willow apparently.
It was stuff like this that really bugged me throughout the entire series. On top of that, I wasn't a fan of the art. There were times when Willow looked a little inconsistent with the rest of the series, and there were also a few panels where the facial expressions either didn't seem to fit with the current situation or they just looked kind of off in general. The chapter break art was all right except that, in my opinion, a couple of them sexualized Willow a little more that I believe was needed. However, the section break art for part two was really nice.
Overall, this is not the best work in the Buffy universe and it probably could be skipped in the grand scheme of things. While it explains what happened between the time Willow leaves in Angel and when she comes back in Buffy, I think you can get the basic idea of what happens from the little bit of information given in those two. While some soul searching happens for Willow, it wasn't really anything we haven't seen already (Willow fighting her inner self) and wasn't really handled has well as it could have been. So, don't feel that you need to read this one to really understand Willow or anything for that matter. Maybe stuff will come up later where events in this volume come up, and then I will feel bad for telling you to skip it, but for now, it's not something to make a point of reading.
geekwayne's review
3.0
When magic disappears from our world, Willow goes in search of it in others. She teams up with a creature named Marrak, who is misshapen by dark magic.
Willow fears what dark magic can do to her, so she fights it, but she may need to call on it to return home. On the planet are all kinds of creatures, including a sort of raven creature that carries dreams. If you get hit by one, you are immediately in that dream world. Willow also runs into a bunch of fellow witches, all strange and beautiful.
Willow Wonderland has a title that I found a little misleading. It may refer to Alice in Wonderland, and there is a referential character in a small part of the book, but the rest of the book takes place on a barren planet full of some strange monsters.
Willow was one of my favorite Buffy characters, and to see her in these Season 9 issues with power and some confidence is nice. The pencils and inks by Ching and Gorder are good and there is a sketchbook at the back that goes through the creative process.
Willow fears what dark magic can do to her, so she fights it, but she may need to call on it to return home. On the planet are all kinds of creatures, including a sort of raven creature that carries dreams. If you get hit by one, you are immediately in that dream world. Willow also runs into a bunch of fellow witches, all strange and beautiful.
Willow Wonderland has a title that I found a little misleading. It may refer to Alice in Wonderland, and there is a referential character in a small part of the book, but the rest of the book takes place on a barren planet full of some strange monsters.
Willow was one of my favorite Buffy characters, and to see her in these Season 9 issues with power and some confidence is nice. The pencils and inks by Ching and Gorder are good and there is a sketchbook at the back that goes through the creative process.
the1germ's review
3.0
Started out pretty slow/silly, but ended with a great plot twist and some pretty weighty character development for Willow.
janedoelish's review
5.0
This was a surprisingly well-written mini-series (although you definitely need to be familiar with both the events of "Season 8" and - ideally - parts of the "Angel&Faith"-series in order to put this in its proper context.
Willow has always been my favourite character on BtVS, hands down. This series manages to expand upon her story without ever feeling "off". Without giving too much away, this book is about a very personal journey, and I simply LOVE the conclusion. It matches some of the ideas I had for her post-TV-series development.
Willow has always been my favourite character on BtVS, hands down. This series manages to expand upon her story without ever feeling "off". Without giving too much away, this book is about a very personal journey, and I simply LOVE the conclusion. It matches some of the ideas I had for her post-TV-series development.
marobbins's review
4.0
This was an enjoyable read, as Willow is one of my favorite characters in the Buffyverse. I can relate to the internal struggles she experiences and the tug of war between wanting to please herself versus wanting to help others. I didn't think the plot energy or the art were as strong as in some of the Buffyverse comics. But Willow's character development was well done, and I appreciated the focus on female empowerment and girl magic! Overall, this was a worthwhile read, especially for Willow fans.
roxanamalinachirila's review
3.0
Not that bad, but not that good, either. Willow goes off in search of magic and discovers many moral anvils - but not literal ones, which would have been more interesting. I liked the Wonderland approach and some of the details, but overall I'm unimpressed.
jaimiejaimiejaimie's review
2.0
I didn't enjoy this. The art didn't look like Willow, which was distracting. I found the plot to be confusing, and yet nothing seemed to happen. I'm glad I got this for free.