'Child Thief' darkens magic of 'Peter Pan'

Peter Pan lurks in Brooklyn, not ye olde London, in Brom's "The Child Thief."

This retelling of J. M. Barrie's original story emphasizes Peter's luring of children to join his band of Devils in Avalon (the group formerly known as the Lost Boys in a more mythologically jumbled Neverland).

"The Child Thief" follows two illustrated horror novels by Brom, an artist whose gothic images have filled comics, films and role-playing video games such as "World of Warcraft." His illustrations introduce each chapter and, unfortunately, they contain more drama, character and interesting details than the novel itself.

Brom drapes the Peter Pan story in utter darkness. An adolescent Peter trolls present-day Brooklyn for runaways, defends them from bullies and lures them to his magical island where he promises endless playtime. In reality, he's trying to bolster his child army for an epic battle with the Flesh-Eaters, who threaten the island's existence. One runaway, Nick, believes he's the only recruit to catch on to Peter's tricks.

But the original "Peter Pan" was already dark. Barrie didn't hide Peter's fickleness, ruthlessness or malice, nor Wendy's misgivings about her hero. It's an adventure, not a baby's fairy tale; step beyond the nursery and you may fall, but you also may fly.

"The Child Thief" shows Peter for the selfish trickster that he is, but it fails to show us any adventure. It's overlong and too reliant on physically describing all the festering deformities that plague Brom's pirates. It manages to be gory and bleak without really being unsettling. The epic battle turns out to be another disappointing installment in the clash between Christianity and older beliefs.

The original story continues to thrill because it's all about seduction and the subtle things to fear in a charming boy who never grows up. By focusing only on Peter's darker qualities, "The Child Thief" becomes the shadow caught in the nursery window -- limp without the boy himself.