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There’s No Place #2 (written by Scott Oliver) Now Available! $2

Hooray for qualified praise! I loved this issue, thought it was a great continuation of this series. We get to see the funeral for Glinda, Tinman trying to talk sense (or at least patience) into the lion, Scarecrow crashing said funeral with an army of crows, and, best of all, an attack by those famous flying monkeys. So why only qualified praise? Simple. This book, #2 of a three part series, came out in 2005. As of today, 8/24/07, #3 still isn’t out yet, or at least nowhere that it’s accessible online that I could find. Meaning that, fun as this book was, it doesn’t mean a damned thing unless this series gets wrapped up, and the sooner the better. Sorry to be a jerk about it, but after 6 years of doing this website I’ve had all the dangling series that I can take. As a whole, this series has some serious potential, for fans of the old Oz books or the movie (and people who have somehow never heard of either), as it’s a dark reimagining of these fairly simplistic characters. This issue in particular has some revealing conversations between the lion and the Tinman, as both are fleshed out in a big way and even the Scarecrow, mass murderer that he is, becomes a bit of a sympathetic character. So, a plea to the creators: finish what you started, realize the potential with this story that you’ve built up with these first two issues, and let me praise this whole series unreservedly.

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There’s No Place #1 (written by Scott Oliver) Now Available! $2

So what happens after the end of The Wizard of Oz? Scarecrow has his brains, Tinman has his heart, and the lion has his courage. Then what? This three issue series seeks to answer that question, or at least posits a pretty interesting theory. Scarecrow, it turns out, has plenty of knowledge but very little wisdom on how to use that knowledge. The story begins with Scarecrow, after trying to explain his philosophy to the Munchkins, deciding that the direct approach is the best way to go and ends up killing almost everybody in the village. The Tinman, who is trying to plant two trees for every one he cut down before he got his heart, learns of this and decides to look up his old friend the lion. The lion has turned into a bit of a beast, seemingly happy to solve every problem with violence now that he’s no longer a coward. Mixed into all of this is the damage that Scarecrow did to Emerald City in his time as ruler and Glinda’s efforts to set things right. It’s a fascinating concept, if a bit difficult to see the actor who played Scarecrow in the movie going on a major killing spree. Well worth a look, especially if they can keep this up for the next two issues. $2