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

As it turns out, that particular kingdom where Dorothy and the Wizard find themselves, where the companions of Oz were recently imprisoned and the one upon which the King of Ev and his men march are all one and the same. So it is that they all come to meet up and it is not under the best of circumstances as King Evoria brings news of a threat, one that some of them are already familiar with, that of an evil Straw Man, a Tin Man and a Lion. While that goes on, Wogglebug is wondering why Ozma still sleeps as her dreams find her facing the evil version of herself, something she never really thought existed or pushed so far down that she simply forgot. It is an emotional scene painted by Gary Bishop and Bill Bryan and it makes one wonder what will happen should this evil persona of Ozma take control of the comatose body that contains both good and bad. The book then goes into a recap of sorts as all the players in this game look to glean some answers as to what is going on by comparing stories and such and when done, they gird themselves for war. It was a necessary bit of flashback for those that might have missed out on earlier events but the authors of this tale do not linger and cut away to what the Evil Kings of Oz are up to and that is terrorizing the Elven Kingdom, killing and maiming and destroying. As the populace tries to flee, they are stopped not only by the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow but Hungry Tiger who is indeed quite hungry and even more surprisingly, an evil version of Jack Pumpkinhead, a figure who has not been seen in the various Oz books in quite some time. Evil or not, it is good to see Jack back among the living for if there is an evil version, there must be a good one, at least one would suppose. As the book comes to a close, it finds all of those on the side of good looking to do battle, not by choice but by circumstance and need, for it if they do not, evil will surely win the day. This was another fantastic issue that saw a lot of things going on, a few answers given but one that still has many questions remaining as many characters seen in the past still remain absent and as this story progresses, what will Oz look like when all is said and done. Bryan does an excellent job on the artwork as always and the book looks far better than it did in the last issue with the addition of Bill and Nadine Messner-Loebs on board to help with the inking while Bishop delivers one of the best chapters yet in this story. This is definitely a book that leaves one wanting more.

4.5 out of 5