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

The Scarecrow has been captured by Amber Ombi and the Freedom Fighters and so begins a battle of wills between the two sides. On one is a singular and frustrating being whom everyone once called friend and on the other are many voices, each with an opinion of their own on what the Scarecrow is and what they should do with him. The only thing standing between them is Amber Ombi who knows without a doubt that the Nome King laid some sort of enchantment upon his former friend, he merely needs to prove it, though how to go about it is the ultimate question. Though he tries to reason with the straw man, he finds he is getting nowhere and it is pretty irksome, to say the least though for the Scarecrow, he at least seems to be having a bit of fun despite being tied up and held as a prisoner. There does come a moment though when the riddles that the villain speaks start to make a little bit of sense and it is here that Wonderland is first mentioned in this series, though whether readers will see any of it is the big mystery but it does make for some interesting scenarios. Stuart Kerr, Ralph Griffith and Bill Bryan do a great job telling this story, continuing straight off the previous miniseries, Romance in Rags. The Scarecrow is one of the most interesting characters in the land of Oz and even more so as one of the three Evil Kings. Even with all that comprises the storyline of the Scarecrow and the Freedom Fighters, there is still that of Scraps, the Patchwork Girl to finish up as she is still on the run from the witch Mombi and no matter how fast or far she runs, Mombi is always around the corner waiting to strike. Scraps is getting tired and worn out and Mombi continues to angrier and madder by the second, not caring now in the slightest what the Nome King wants, only knowing that she needs to destroy Scraps so that she will never bother Mombi ever again. As it is, things do not go according to plan – not like they ever really do in the land of Oz and the authors of this tale leave things to be settled in the final issue of the series, or at the very least, one would think so. This was another great issue in a series that explores a bit of the past during the beginning of the Nome King’s reign, long before those visitors from Earth would arrive to help turn the tide.

4.5 out of 5