Product Description: Forget J.K. Rowling. Forget Lemony Snicket. Forget Phillip Pullman. Christopher Grahame is the premier children's author of the twenty-first century. From a handful of homespun tales told to his own children at bedtime, Chris Grahame is a publishing phenomenon. With his work translated into everything from Aborigine to Zulu, he is the cornerstone of a multi-million dollar, franchise spewing empire. Is it any surprise then that under all this pressure something has to give? Unfortunately, it's Chris's mind. Stricken by mysterious headaches and blackouts that plagued his childhood, Chris once again finds himself walking the avenues and boulevards of Castrovalva - the fantasy realm he dreamt up as a boy, to while away his recuperation. But like Chris, Castrovalva has also changed. Deluged in mud, blood, and barbed wire, war has come to wonderland. Chris tries to tell himself it's all a bad dream. . .so why can't he wake up?
Geat work of imagination! This is one of the most ingenious works of imagination and depth I've read in a long while. I highly recommend it to any fan of dark fantasy.
Our own childish evil It was a great surprise when a friend of mine bought me scarlet traces a couple of months ago. I got immediately captivated by the reinterpretation of this classic in the hands of D'Israeli and Edington. Immediately, I bought kingdom of the wicked without knowing what to expect. It was an adventurous move that paid off. The story is magnificent and with a very attractive and well done drawing. Placed in the surrealistic imaginarium of a child, the fight between a well intentioned man and his dark nemesis will have the most surprising turns and twists that will shock both their lives. If you need a good reason to enjoy reading comics, here there is the one. Do not pass it. Get your copy.
Another "You Can't Go Home Again" Story Kingdom of the Wicked is the story of a beloved children's book author who, at the height of his success, is struck down by a mysterious illness he thought had been vanquished in his sad, isolated childhood. While suffering attacks of said illness, he is transported into the elaborate storybook land he had constructed during his youthful recuperation, only to find it transformed into a hellish amalgamation of nightmare and World War I, ruled, mostly, by an evil, twisted man referred to only as 'the Great Dictator' -- a man who is his virtual twin.
Alternating between the real world and this other place during bouts of illness, said author recalls his unhappy childhood and probes the mystery of both his worsening condition and that of an imaginary escapist fantasy he had found refuge in so long before. What, if anything, does all this decay and suffering *mean*? Is it real? Did he somehow create, or stumble upon, a real place, and has his abandonment of that world led to its demise? What does it mean for an adult to go back and find his childhood in ruin, and what, if anything, can he do to make it right?
As you can see, it's not exactly unexplored ground, but Kingdom of the Wicked takes it in a few interesting directions. The grim yet edgy storybook art nicely complements the sadness and displacement felt by these abandoned childhood toys, who only truly assumed a life of their own in the absence of their creator. The Great Dictator proves an interesting character in his own right, and his relationship to Chris (the main character) is certainly original, even if it allows for a deus ex machina ending that doesn't really complete the story.
Worth a glance on a rainy day, might give your nightmares a few new images (especially if you love teddy bears).
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