Title: Tales from Oz
Author: Dan Wickline, Joe Brusha, & Meredith Finch
Publication Date: April 29, 2014
My Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz Review
Synopsis: Now, the most infamous Oz characters appear in Zenescope's intense, dark, and daring re-imagining of the Oz mythos. The mesmerizing and often times frightening origins of the Tin Man, The Scarecrow, Thane the Lion, and a wolf named Toto are collected together in this epic trade paperback.
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Review: I think I'm on a Wizard of Oz kick right now, because I keep finding all of these interesting new spins on the world and characters of Oz. After reading Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz, I had so many questions about the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow that I thought would never be answered. Then I saw Tales from Oz, and I was really excited!
Learning about the past of these well-known and beloved characters in the world of Grimm Fairy Tales was really interesting. Their backgrounds have hints of the original stories in them, but are still entirely new and exciting. How the Tin Man loses his heart, how the Scarecrow loses his brain, and why the Lion is so cowardly are all dealt with in magical ways. The Wicked Witches are often involved, and it was really cool to see their transformations. I also enjoyed learning more about Toto - he's not the small little terrier that he's usually portrayed as, and there's next to nothing about his background in the Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz comics. So it was nice to get to see where he came from and how he ended up with Dorothy.
The artwork was really well done in these comics, and fit the tone of the stories well. Everything is darker than the original Oz books, and the artwork definitely reflects that. I'm not sure I would recommend this for a younger audience though, because the witches and most of the other females wear very little clothing and are drawn to be sexy, so it's probably not appropriate for the younger fans of Oz to read this series. I definitely think it's geared towards the older generations.
I do with some of the stories had been a little longer and had flowed together more smoothly - I sometimes found myself having to go back a few pages to figure out what in the world had just happened or where transitions had occurred within the stories. Overall though, this was an enjoyable collection of comics that I think any fans of Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz should really read. It adds depth to the more secondary characters and allows us to glimpse their lives before Dorothy came to Oz. A 3/5.
--Ashley
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