Writer – Steve Ahlquist
Artist – David Rey, Gus Norman
Inker – Ronn Sutton, David Lee Ingersoll
Letters – Mike Sagara

Oz, hallucinogenics and John F. Kennedy. A strange yet fitting combination that should not work, yet strangely does. It is a story that one could only find in the pages of Oz Squad, and so offbeat that it needed its very own special to contain it. Published by Millennium Publications this time around, the special goes off the rails in no time as JFK is tripping out, with the more fascinating, yet unsurprising bit in the story, that he is having an affair with Dot. For those who do not know, that would be one Dorothy Gale. Again, this is not a typical story, as the book jumps back and forth between different players, and one never knows exactly where it will go. The legendary boogeyman Baba Yaga makes an appearance, as does Lee Harvey Oswald and because of that, the Oz Squad soon get involved.

One plot point that carries over into this special is that of Scarecrow, who was last seen having a mental break and dousing himself in gasoline. He has been lying somewhat comatose for several days, when all of a sudden, he wakes up. Something is wrong, though. He seems fine. Too fine. He is like the Scarecrow of old, and that is not a good thing, as somebody who has been through that kind of trauma should not be okay, especially not this okay. Something is deeply wrong with Scarecrow as he has regressed so far into himself that he is repressing the last number of decades of his existence. Currently, the team does not have the time to look into it, and for the moment, Scarecrow, despite everything, seems to be okay, even if they know that he is not. So away they go to find Baba Yaga and stop whatever it is he has in mind, and as they do so, Scarecrow ends up making himself useful. They have to wonder, though, as do readers, just when it is that Scarecrow is going to snap, for he has to be on a clock, and they know that it could happen at any moment. The book ends on an even stranger note, for who is still alive and well? It just so happens to be everyone’s favourite president, JFK! Steve Ahlquist, author of everything Oz Squad has something in mind, yet at the end of the tale, one simply does not know what it might be, and that is a little frustrating for the reader. Still, Ahlquist and company have done a great job at creating a very intriguing universe by blending Oz with the real world and having the two intertwine over decades. Leaving it on a cliffhanger means that readers will have to stick around to find out what happens next, and that is the best thing about it all.

3 out of 5