Wow. What a fresh, colourful, action-packed, dynamic, magical, and heartfelt comic! I'm surprised I'd never heard of it until the day I happened to see it on the very small comics shelf in the children's section in my local bookshop - this deserves to be a universal, well known success!
'Neverlanders' reimagines and expands on the classic 'Peter Pan' story, and subverts many expectations. How it crafts its twists and characters - and its twists on the characters and the 'Pan' elements - is awesome and awe-inspiring. Because of its violence and light swearing - and swearing that's censored, via Tinker Bell - I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to children. Maybe twelve years and older.'Neverlanders' contains some great, wonderful and unforgettable characters, like the "lost ones" on earth, who are big city homeless kids in a found family, initially living in a junkyard before being magicked away to Neverland by a Lost Boy to fight in a war (yup). My absolute favourite has to be Bee, the "mom" of the group and the most disadvantaged in society - a Black girl in poverty - who becomes the main hero. Her growth and interactions with familiar - and surprise - characters are poignant, made more apparent as the comic progresses. No doubt she's a badass, and the right amount of protective of her family. Then there's Justin, the "dad" who is an overprotective and stubborn white boy who becomes a loose cannon; Luz the ladybug girl and healer (makes sense when you read the comic); Felix the joker and shadow (ditto); and my second fave lost girl, Gracie, the cutest, most adorable little girl ever. This darling (no relation to the Darlings) is awesome in her being simultaneously innocent and action-oriented. Her ultimate ambition is to be a lizard. Enough said.
Tink as a bald, swordfighting, foulmouthed fairy is amazing. It makes sense, actually, since she's always been vicious, temperamental and unorthodox. The mysterious old man mentor, Robb, is similarly fantastic, once his identity is revealed.
In the spirit of following the original 'Peter Pan' tale while adding updated twists, there are also pirates, mermaids, goblins, dragon myths, a talking female crocodile named Agatha, a healing tree, a lost shadow, and loads of imaginative and colourful settings in Neverland (yet no Indians, or any indigenous tribes, which, historically, is most likely for the best). There's no end of adventures for these kids, and the reader doesn't have to be made privy to them in great detail, only in single panels at most, when they are not part of the main (pirate war) plot. That the magical areas are present, and any adventures had in them are left to our imaginations, is enough.
I recommend 'Neverlanders' with vigour. It is really that good. Prepare for fun, action and heart!
Final Score: 4.5/5
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