Review: The Last Boy - Various Contributors

Review: The Last Boy - Various Contributors - February 2026

Oh, this one got me right in the chest

I'll be honest when I settled into my reading chair with a cup of tea and cracked open The Last Boy, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Peter Pan reimaginings are a crowded space, and my inner child was feeling a little protective. You see, Hook has been a comfort film of mine for as long as I can remember. Robin Williams' Peter Banning rediscovering his inner Pan is the kind of story that wraps around you like a favourite blanket, and any new take on this world has some very big boots to fill in my heart.

But within a handful of pages, I'd completely surrendered to it.

Writer Dan Panosian has done something genuinely brave here. He's taken the boy who never grew up and asked the question nobody really wants to answer what if he has to? Peter is still clinging to Neverland's golden days like they're a life raft, while the world around him quietly moves on without him. It's uncomfortably relatable, honestly. We all know someone or perhaps have been someone who holds a little too tightly to who they used to be.

What I adored most is the parallel story unfolding in London. Wendy Darling isn't a soft, waiting figure here. She's resisting adulthood tooth and nail, fighting against the tidy little future that family and society keep trying to press her into. Her struggle sits right alongside Peter's, and together they create this gorgeous, aching mirror  fantasy versus reality, freedom versus responsibility.

The introduction of the Phantom King as the new villain adds genuine stakes, though he does arrive a touch later than I'd have liked. Still, his presence raises the tension beautifully and forces Peter toward the kind of inner reckoning that hit harder than any sword fight.

Alessio Avallone's artwork deserves its own standing ovation. Neverland feels luminous and alive  and Captain Hook's aging, weathered face tells a whole story without a single word of dialogue. Stunning work. It gave me that same bittersweet ache that the Boo Box scene never fails to deliver.

This collection of issues one through five reads with real momentum. It's emotionally honest in ways that classic Peter Pan stories never dared to be, and it left me sitting quietly for a few minutes after the final page, mug going cold, just thinking.

If you love stories about growing up  or desperately not wanting to  pull up your cosiest blanket, maybe queue up Hook for afterwards, and give The Last Boy a read. It lingers.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uo2Gcb