Writers – Stuart Kerr, Ralph Griffith
Artist – Bill Bryan
Letters – Susan Dorne

At the moment, the Freedom Fighters are not in a very good place. They were recently ambushed by Mombi and the Ladies Auxillary Brigade in their own hideout and to make matters worse, a couple of them were injured and Tik Tok gave his life, what life he had, to save them. So while they feel a little down and out, it will not stop them from striking back and doing so sooner rather than later. They decide to split up, most heading towards the Emerald City while a few others seek to gain an army, one made up entirely of flying monkeys. Elsewhere, Scarecrow and the rest of the group including Kevin and Peter are also looking to head to the Emerald City so that they might take back the kingdom that was stolen by the Nome King but first they take a much-needed rest before heading off with some newfound friends. Stuart Kerr and Ralph Griffith continue to reveal bits and pieces of this darker Oz to readers and it is fascinating to see. The latest of these is the Monkey Kingdom where some of the Freedom Fighters have gone including one of the Flying Monkees who hopes to gain an army despite him being an exile as he is also the King’s son. He and the rest of his companions simply have to make it out of prison and hope that they do not get executed before making their case. Amber Ombi, ever the good soldier, just might have found a love connection or at the very least a crush in what is a fun little scene which also involves Mary from Earth. Mombi has a couple of pages to herself where it is revealed that she is also looking to make her mark in Oz, with the emphasis on ‘her’ as she believes that she should be ruling the kingdom, not the Nome King. A little bit of history is given to Peter and Kevin as they camp out for the night as they had always thought Oz a fairytale and not something that was actually real. As for those Freedom Fighters that remain, they soon find themselves under attack once more, this time by some Bane Wolves who are looking for a little something to chew on. Making this book look as exciting as it does is Bill Bryan and the man does incredible work and while looking great in black and white would be even more impressive in colour if one were to go by the covers that grace this title. With numerous plotlines going on and a mystery unfurling with every passing issue, Oz continues to get better and better.

4 out of 5