Comic Review: Ozopolis

A new comic that just came out recently was Ozopolis which is a continuation of the original Oz books. Being published by former Alias Enterprises partner, Forcewerks Productions, this first issue(which is supposedly the beginning of an ongoing series)is written by Kirk Kushin who also wrote B.A.B.E. Force and Super Teen-Topia, and illustrated by Gonzalo Martinez who also worked on Super Teen-Topia. It also features cool cover art by Sylwia Smerl.

Set sometime after the Baum books, Ozma recieves the Queen of the Field Mice as a guest who comes to her for help against some phantom wildcats that are rampaging her subjects. Ozma sends Tik-Tok, Sawhorse, and Bungle the Glass Cat to investigate because they are immune to the effects of the sleep-incuding poppies. They encounter the wildcats, which are revealed to be mechanical creatures(or "clockwork" as they say in Oz). Our heroes trail the cat-bots to a cave where they are suprised to see Mr. Tinker, one of the two creators who made Tik-Tok, and went missing years ago after making a ladder that went all the way to the moon and got stuck there. Tinker explains that he was brought back to Oz by unknown circumstances, and forced to create these clockwork cats under the order of a magical slate which issued out demands to him under the threat of destroying Ozma and her allies. The rescue mission succeeds, although it leaves Ozma and Dorothy wondering if there is connection to the evil slate and the one that the Good Witch of the North used to use. The comic ends with the revelation that the mastermind behind it is the enigmatic "Witch of Nowhere".

I personally liked this comic, as both an Oz fan and comics collector. It is a great all-ages title, and very family friendly. It follows the tradition of Dorothy being a blonde, although she and Ozma are apparently wearing more trendier fashions. Granted, it helps if you're a little more than familiar with the generic Oz stories to enjoy it. You can currently order this from the comic store, and some Ozopolis shirts from their store at Cafepress.