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

Things are not going quite as planned as the companions, those being Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, Kevin and Peter, find themselves being overwhelmed by the nomes to the point of defeat. With Scarecrow having been ripped apart and the Nomes continued pressing, all seems lost and yet, somehow and with a bit of help from the ravens that Scarecrow controls, they manage to make a getaway, though not without losing one of their numbers. Elsewhere, the Freedom Fighters have come up with a plan thanks to the Queen of the Field Mice, to take the secret tunnels underneath the Emerald City straight to the palace so that they might battle the Nome King and free the land from his grasp. It is a long shot of course but it is the only thing they have at the moment until Wogglebug and the rest of the team show back up if they manage to come back. Once again, Ralph Griffith and Stuart Kerr manage to craft a very compelling tale, one that finds the inhabitants of the land of Oz no better off than they were when they began this entire affair. At the very least, they all have plans, they merely need to come together in order to make them come to fruition as separately, they seem to have no chance. Bill Bryan makes it all quite exciting with his linework, the man continually doing an exceptional job and true, his style might not be for everybody but one grows acclimated to it quite fast and the man knows how to lay out a page to make it as effective as possible. As for Amber Ombi, Jinjur, Mary and Jack Pumpkinhead, they only make it part of the way on their journey, running afoul of some giant spiders which forces them to try and retreat while back in the Emerald City, Peter has a meeting with the Nome King. Refusing to say a word about anything, the Nome King sends Peter down to the dungeons and it is there that he meets the object of everyone’s curiosity – Ozma, the rightful queen of Oz. With this issue, there was more futility given to the heroes of the book, though, at the very least, they continue to try and fight for not only their country but for what is right. The creators of the book end it all with a bit of an interesting development and it should be intriguing to see just where they take it after this. Will Peter play a big part in the liberation of Oz or is it all merely a tease? Whatever the case, it all made for a great read.

4 out of 5