Broken Frontier

And suddenly there is a frightening monster attempting to scare everyone, and we have finally completed our menagerie.

Dorothy, along with her own Tin/10 Man, Scarecrow, and Toto, continues her trek through Oz. But as she is traversing the land with her little crew, she learns that she is going to have to start understanding them quicker if they are to evade all the trouble that awaits them. Because as they are traveling over the land that used to belong to the Porcelain people, she learns just how evil the Queen can be. Not to mention a seemingly ferocious monster that has not only been following them, but also seems poised to strike. Meanwhile, the Queen continues to make her own plans for how to deal with Dorothy, even if it is creating a rift in her ranks.

For an updating/re-imagining, Dorothy seems poised to reach the artistic heights of its predecessors. The writing of Mark Masterson has remained brilliant. He somehow captures the voice of a teenage girl, a formerly brilliant scientist who has lost his mind and become a "scarecrow," and a robot who has been endowed with the knowledge and memory of his creator. He creates a good sense of tension and humor in his dialogue. There is proper foreshadowing in the writing, and best of all, his pacing has remained brilliant throughout. While the story may be familiar, the way Masterson puts it together makes it all seem new again.

And, to be honest, when putting this review together I’m not sure I can come up with any more adjectives to properly describe just how impressive the artwork is. As good as Masterson’s scripts are, the artwork of Greg Mannino and Ray Boersig tops even that. The page and panel design never overshadows the brilliance of the artwork, as these guys know just what they want to show. The designs of all the characters are incredibly inventive and the story just seems to come to life under their direction. Most impressive of all is how it is all put together. It would be very easy, while using this technique, to just put all the parts together and hope they fit. But these designers go the extra route to make sure that it all fits together and that nothing stands out.

If there were one negative about this book is that due to the effort put in, one can never know when to expect a new issue. But at least the wait is always worth it.