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Review: Oz – Reign of the Witch Queen #4

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oz001For the most part Grimm Fairy Tales has stayed pretty close to the source material when it has come to interpreting classic works of literature.  There are often times some switches, such as making Pan into the villain, making Mowgli into a girl or turning Wonderland into a world of nightmares, but they mostly still contain the same characteristics of the world that was created by the writers of the classical fiction.  When it comes to Oz though, the script gets changed somewhat.  As the story of Oz is somewhat limited to only Dorothy’s journey along the yellow brick road, it could be said that there is a lot more which could be explored, but also in so doing, a lot more which could take it away from the original story.  Such has been the case with Grimm Fairy Tales’ take on Oz.  It has been related to the Baum’s work, but has deviated from it somewhat, changing Dorothy from simple farmgirl to sorceress in waiting, and changing the majority of the other characters from whimsical companions to scheming agents of their own prosperity.

Such is the setting for the final series of the trilogy of Oz which has gone way off the script, while also going somewhat away from the whimsy of the setting.  Both the Warlord and Dorothy’s forces have decided that they have the advantage and have attacked one another.  Although seemingly outmatched Dorothy also seems oddly at ease with the mismatch as she thinks that she has her own advantage.  This plays out through a few different locales between both Dorothy and the evil witch, although more of the action focuses on Dorothy and the Warlord.

While this might not really feel like Oz, it equally does not mean that it is very bad either.  Going off the script is fine if the creative team has a grasp on where it is going, and although this is not really a natural progression of Baum’s story, it still makes enough sense from a story telling standpoint.  The second series in for Grimm Fairy Tales’ Oz was a lot more off the mark than this series, and while the denizens of Oz have never looked like this or acted like this, it is still an interesting enough tale with a couple of twists to keep things interesting.

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

 

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Oz – Reign of the Witch Queen #2

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oz002aThe 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