Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Comic Book Review: The Legend of Oz Wicked West

Welcome to another comic book review! This one comes to us from Big Dog Ink. I first met these guys at the Detroit Fan Faire back in September and I have to say that they were super nice and friendly. I know what you're thinking.."Of course they were nice and friendly. They were there to promote their product." You would think that'd be the case, right? Sadly, that's wrong. There were a lot of people there who were actually quite rude and others that just weren't great with people. Artist temperaments aside, if you want to sell product, you have to be nice to the people. These guys? Super nice. If you ever get the chance to go to a con that they're at, I highly recommend stopping by and saying hi. Even tell them I sent you..it's become a bit of a running joke to have people name drop my name as if I'm somebody.

Anyway, recently, Tom over at Big Dog Ink agreed to let me review some of their books. While I haven't received anything from their media department yet, I do have a copy of the first issue of The Legend of Oz just waiting for me to read it and since it's a brand new comic, I thought it the perfect place to start! So, let's go!

The first thing I noticed with this book was the heaviness of the cover. As someone who tends to lay things down and then the kids or the cats knocks them somewhere, I really appreciated a more durable cover than you find on some comic books. The colors, done by Kate Finnegan reminded me of the darkness in some of the old western movies. This is rather important as this Oz is just a little different than your Judy Garland Oz. It's not green and lush..it's dark, it's dusty...it's the old west in all it's stereotypical glory. Kate does a wonderful job using just the right coloring to get that feeling across.

I, for one, love this new take on an old classic. Our good friend, Dorothy, is now going strictly by her last name, Gale. Did you know that was her last name? Unless you're a big fan of either the movie or the book series, you may not have. Her faithful friend, Toto? He's now a very handsome horse. Remember the flying monkies? Ok, these ones will scare you far more than the movie ones ever gave me the creeps. Do you remember them? *shudders* In this series, they're all grown up into shape shifting gorillas! Did I mention their glowing eyes? Some serious bad voodoo going on there, folks.

The story is familiar and yet, totally new. Our heroine is still searching for the Emerald City but this time it's not nearly so easy to find as people..and other things..have been taking the gold bricks from the road. She wanders into one of those classic western towns where the only thing open is the local tavern and that's all I'm going to tell you because I promise you that if you love good comics, good writing, The Wizard of Oz and any combination of the above, this is a series that you're going to want to pick up. The best part? Going strictly by the first issue, this is a series I could let my kids read. Yes, Miss Gale is a hottie, but she's not overtly sexual. Yes, there's some violence but at their ages, my kids have seen far worse in some of the video games they play at their dad's house.

My opinion? You'll want to pick this one up. If you want to order it, you can find it via Amazon, via the Big Dog Ink link above or hunt down these guys at a Comic Con near you. I know they'll be at the one in Mesa, AZ this weekend. Just remember...tell them Katrina sent you. ;)