OZ: FALL OF THE EMERALD CITY #3, by Zenescope on 6/19/24, puts Dorothy at the center of a deadly choice between two enemies to save Oz and the world over the rainbow.
Credits:
- Writer: David Wohl
- Artist: Eman Casallos
- Colorist: Robby Bevard
- Letterer: Taylor Esposito
- Cover Artist: Igor Vitorino (cover A)
- Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
- Release Date: June 19, 2024
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Page Count: 26
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of OZ: FALL OF THE EMERALD CITY #3:
Plot Analysis:
When last we left Dorothy and her amazing friends in OZ: FALL OF THE EMERALD CITY #2, Dorothy Gale learned Polychrome was not a beloved goddess who returned to bring peace and prosperity to Oz, but a malevolent goddess who recently escaped an interdimensional prison. When Dorothy and her allies sought out the prison to find out how to capture and imprison Polychrome once again, their trail led to an interdimensional rip on the other side of the rainbow.
In OZ: FALL OF THE EMERALD CITY #3, Dorothy Gale, Glinda, Adraste, Nicholas, and Toto examine the world over the rainbow and find the fabled Heaven of Oz a ruined wasteland. Buildings are destroyed, the vibrancy of the world’s colors is gone, and all the souls of the departed are missing.
Meanwhile, Polychrome sits on the throne of Oz but grows increasingly displeased that the Wizard and her soldiers haven’t found Dorothy. When the Wizard reports that Dorothy is over the rainbow, Polychrome teleports the Wizard and her soldiers to capture her.
Dorothy and her friends continue to search for the decimated world over the rainbow when the Wizard and his guard arrive. Before a fight can begin, the Wizard uses his enhanced magic to destroy his own soldiers and explains he needs Dorothy’s help to stop Polychrome.
The wizard magically levitates Dorothy and her friends to a cavern underneath the city where a strange device sits. The Wizard explains that Polychrome was encased in the device for centuries as the power source. When Polychrome pleaded for her freedom, she was denied. When she escaped, she damaged the device and imprisoned all the souls in her staff for their power.
The Wizard offers a plan. He’ll contact Polychrome and falsely claim he needs help to capture Dorothy. When the goddess arrives, everyone will team up to capture her and put her back in the chamber. Unfortunately, someone with skills in white magic will need to stay behind to safeguard Polychrome’s imprisonment.
The plan works, but as the Wizard suspected, a white magic practitioner must remain. Glinda volunteers to take up the duty until a solution can be found. However, Polychrome warns about the Wizard before she is imprisoned, a warning that Dorothy will soon learn she should have heeded.
Character Development:
In totality, the character work in this issue is strange. From past run-ins, Dorothy knows the Wizard is not to be trusted, and yet, the group goes along with his plan with barely an argument.
Polychrome is bad news, but entrapping her for centuries to be used as a living battery sounds too close to eternal torture, a scenario that Dorothy should have objected to or at least resisted.
Lastly, when the team part ways with Glinda, their parting is oddly friendly. Yes, they promise to get her out of it at some point, but Dorothy and her friends accept Glinda’s new status quo a little too easily.
Artwork and Presentation:
Eman Casallos’s artwork is bright, action-packed, and dramatically constructed. If the goal is to create an action/adventure comic around magic and color, we couldn’t imagine a better way to do it.
Art Samples:
Pacing and Structure:
Considering the scale and scope of the story, David Wohl keeps readers thoroughly hooked in a relatively short amount of pages. The sequence of scenes makes sense, Wohl transitions the scenes well, and the conclusion is satisfying enough with the caveat that a follow-up is coming.
That said, the speed and smoothness of the reading experience are undercut by the amount of rushing to get to the finish line. In addition to the character inconsistencies mentioned above, there’s little time to explain how the world over the rainbow works, why it requires a goddess to be trapped in a canister to run it, or how Polychome managed to escape. A lot of obvious questions don’t get answered because there are not enough pages to do it.
Thematic Exploration:
Thematically, this issue could best be summed up as “choosing the lesser of two evils.” Dorothy goes along with the Wizard’s plan when she’s almost certain it will lead to no good because she believes she doesn’t have a choice… maybe.
Final Thoughts:
(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)
OZ: FALL OF THE EMERALD CITY #3 brings the 3-part adventure to a close with twists, magical battles, and an ending that changes the status quo for at least one character and keeps the door wide open for a follow-up. Wohl’s script is brisk and engaging, but there’s more story than pages, so the ending feels rushed.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.