Review by Frank Plowright

Wilomina’s mother is going to have an operation, and the remainder of the family are driving to the hospital to visit before it happens. When the car breaks down they’re fortunate to find a train at least heading in the general direction, but it’s not the blessing they first assume. Wilomina is separated from her father and younger brother, and has to navigate her way through an unfamiliar version of the world where trains can fly and cats can talk. It’s because she’s in Nocturna, the place where dreams come from.

After two decades of work as Metaphrog, writer John Chalmers and artist Sandra Marrs step out from behind the alias for Wilomina. Although the art supplies a cast looking more open and cheerful than in previous works, this is still a dark fantasy for youngsters.

Wilomina moves from danger to danger at a rapid clip, initially accompanied by Mephisto the cat explaining the surroundings and the transformation Wilomina is undergoing. Change comes rapidly, but despite the background giving licence for anything and everything Chalmers tells a disciplined story of one meeting leading to the next as Wilomina learns some information and moves on.

For some sequences there’s not enough variation to the viewpoints supplied by individual panels, but there’s a fine line to be straddled when telling a story about nightmares aimed at young children, and the art maintains that balance despite some flat out bonkers moments. You could imagine the eyeballs sequence drawn very differently by Kim Deitch and serving up nightmares to a generation. Characters look puzzled sometimes, bur mostly cheerful and only rarely fearful or angry, and then not for very long. Wilomina, as much as anything, is about the impossible, and the moments of wonder captivate.

Wilomina herself charms, focussing on an end game, resourceful in overcoming obstacles delaying her route there, and solicitous of others. She’s given an additional cross to bear, but it’s sparingly used, and while her baby brother at first seems an extra handicap, a nice piece of writing ensures he has an important role.

There’s a strangely unsatisfying closing off to one character’s story in particular, but despite all else being cut and dried, there is to be a continuation, so it’ll presumably have a more satisfying resolution. Readers who’ve followed Wilomina’s journey through the Land of Dreams and Nightmares will want to be there for that.