The Grimm Fairy Tales universe is divided roughly into five lands.  There is the unifying central land of Earth, the catch-all land of legend and fairy tale that is Myst, and then there are three lands built on the three classics from the literary nonsense genre – Wonderland, Neverland and Oz.  In the rollout of this broad concept, Oz had been almost forgotten, having been the long time goal of Zenescope to introduce, but it was a project that was pushed further and further back as the focus for Grimm Fairy Tales stories rested elsewhere.  Once it was introduced, it still seemed as though not enough time had been taken, as the convoluted stories were not helped by the equal lack of direction for the series.  In comparison to the standout Wonderland and the passable Neverland, Oz seemed like the evident worst of the three.

The general format for most of the Zenescope Grimm Fairy Tales properties is to introduce them in a trilogy, and The Reign of the Witch Queen represents the third in the trilogy featuring Oz.  The presentation of the characters was really nothing new and furthermore the writing and dialogue often left something to be desired as the characters were left somewhat directionless.  The first issue of this third trilogy signaled what might be a change in this performance, as the characters were given more depth and a more approachable scenario to deal with.  This second issue of the series continues that same approach as Dorothy and her allies must unite against the growing forces of the Zamora as she prepares a campaign of retribution.

While the first issue of this series laid the groundwork for a turnaround for this series, this second issue keeps that momentum going, as well as maintaining the same potential.  At the same time the breakthrough is not really there.  This is much more readable than most of what has come before in this trilogy, but equally it still feels as though it needs an extra push to get to be something closer to its two literary cousins and their adaptations into the Grimm Fairy Tales universe.  At least this keeps the action moving at a decent pace and gives the reader something more solid to grasp onto.  Whether the series manages to realize its potential remains to be seen, but it is going to be at least more entertaining than before for those that are willing to find out.

Story: Jeff and Kristin Massey  Art: Antonio Bifulco
Story: 7.6  Art: 7.6 Overall: 7.6 Recommendation: Read