Writer – Gary Bishop, Bill Bryan
Artist – Bill Bryan
Inker – Bill Messner-Loebs, Nadine Messner-Loebs
Letters – M.O.B. Studio

The Land of Oz has been delivering a solid tale up until this point in time and this issue is no different except in one respect and that is the artwork. Still drawn by Bill Bryan, the man knows how to lay it all out and make it exciting and yet, the big difference is the fact that he gains an inker with this issue and it is the one and only Bill Messner-Loebs with an assist from his wife Nadine. It is a little shocking, to say the least as it almost looks like somebody else had drawn the book, the lines much sharper and far more defined than seen in previous issues. One does get used to it after a few pages but it would have been far preferable if it was Bryan alone doing the artwork as his style defined the title over the course of its run starting way back in Oz. Still, it is not altogether bad, it simply takes time to get used to it and by the end of the book, that which was shocking soon becomes acceptable. As for the story, the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man have been captured along with their human friends and are about to be executed unless they can plead their case successfully which seems a little hard at the moment as they are both tied up and strangers in a strange land. It seems that there are indeed beings that are out and about and terrorizing villages and that they in fact do look like those who are currently in custody. That brings readers to the most interesting revelation of the book and strengthens the tie between this title and those that came before it for it is the Three Evil Kings who roam and pillage, the alter-egos of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion. One has to assume that they exist due to the Book of Undo, which leads to another part of the issue where author Gary Bishop gives Ozma a revelation of her own and that the book might have purged all evil from the land and from within those that live there meaning the Three Kings are back as they are a very part of the allied prisoners. The rest of the book is left to Dorothy and the Wizard who are currently trying to get back home thanks to a little help from some friends and a new balloon but things, which were going quite smoothly, take a little stumble as an attack by the King of Ev is all but happening the very moment they are to leave. To put it simply, there is a lot going on in this book and that is a good thing as Bishop and Bryan continue to move everything forward in the hopes of bringing it all together at some point. Just how that will happen remains to be seen but if what has taken place is anything to go by, it should be a lot of fun finding out how.

4 out of 5