The way the issue reveals that choice is what makes it stick. First we see Cheshire return to the Madder Hatter. Then the next page takes us back to what happened inside the hou…

The way the issue reveals that choice is what makes it stick. First we see Cheshire return to the Madder Hatter. Then the next page takes us back to what happened inside the house: he spared the boy. The final panel leaves Cheshire walking away with the Hatter. His appearance has not suddenly become gentle or reassuring. The choice he made is what changes how I read him. He had a helpless child in front of him, and the child was still alive when he left. That is the moment I’m talking about when I say there is a heart underneath everything else. I do not think one act of mercy erases the rest of his history. I think it tells us that cruelty does not explain every decision he is capable of making. That is a much more interesting character to follow.