The Steam Engines of Oz #1
Arcana
Story by: Sean Patrick O'Reilly and Erik Hendrix
Script by: Erik Hendrix and Sean Patrick O'Reilly
Art by: Yannis Roumboulias
Coloring by: Chandran Ponnusamy
Letters by: Amanda Hendrix
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Summary: Straight from the pages of our FCBD Preview, The Steam Engines of Oz has arrived! Find out how the Emerald City has transformed in the last 100 years as Victoria Wright and her friends plot their escape only to fall into the clutches of a terrifying threat. This re-imagining of Oz through a SteamPunk lens is a must read for fans of Oz, SteamPunk, an exciting story, and fantastic art.
Review: As you may recall awhile back, I did a review on the FCBD special of this title. And it was something I had found much to my liking. Issue 1 proves why it keeps on having me liking this take on the Oz property. Yannis and Chandran both still doing great jobs on the art and coloring. I especially like that Yannis is giving the lovely Victoria a fairly cute look and isn't going further then that. And his look for her is something I hope continues to happen. For those of you who may not have had the chance to read the FCBD special, you won't be too lost as #1 does give a nice little recap to help get new readers caught up. An older couple readers get quickly introduced to in this issue honestly reminded me of that amusing old couple from The Neverending Story. Even if this particular old couple don't bicker as much, I still really found them to be enjoyable. Since a 100 years has passed in this world, does that mean the Oz that gets mentioned in this issue is a completely different Oz? Or the Oz we all know from the movie or book?
If its some sort of a title that gets passed down as a family thing or something like that, then that would make a lot of sense and would be fairly neat. Something I hope we might get to see expanded on as the title goes on since it was talked about for a brief time in this issue. I'm not sure who did the art for the cover, but it looks fantastic. And nicely shows the readers what they are going to be in for. Which that and the art through out the book helps bridge the realities of light and dark. Making it kid friendly but also for adults at the same time. Something that gets talked about at the end of this issue. The characters themselves get something of a nasty surprise at one point as they see the results of Tin Man's Progress with the expansion of Emerald City. Results I think all of us can identify with in real life at that too. Although I loved the reaction Victoria has to seeing Butterflies for the first time. Yannis and Chandran brought those little guys to life beautifully. Amanda Hendrix's lettering skills really come into play when we get introduced to what I like to think of as the Lion Punks.
She manages to show a big difference in the lettering in the dialogue between our main cast and the Lions. Something I hope she maintains through out this book. Though I do feel Magnus will be playing a part in all this soon. But I bet Victoria wishes he had access to breath mints though! Although I imagine there could be some huge dissension between Magnus and his mate due to all the lip she showed him at some point since she seems be more about herself then having a Pack mentality. When I read this part of the comic the first time, I was honestly a little confused on how Phadrig managed to make a deal concerning Victoria. But after reading this a second time I now understand things better. I think what mostly threw me off the first time was the way Otho talks.
I honestly thought at first that once they managed to reach where they were going, they would have been in for an unpleasant surprise. But I nicely wound up being wrong in that line of thinking. And helps in keeping with the Steampunk theme this version of Oz has going for it. But boy do I got to say, the Welcoming Committee take the cake in wild looks! Even wilder then the Lion Punks! And I thought Tin Man himself had ate one too many bowls of Wheaties with the look he has in this! The creative team certainly went wild with all the new looks and I love it. I know I'm looking forward to finding out what's next, and if you have yet to read this for whatever reason. Drop what you are currenty doing and get to reading Arcana's take on Oz! You won't regret it!
5 out of 5 Stars
Arcana
Story by: Sean Patrick O'Reilly and Erik Hendrix
Script by: Erik Hendrix and Sean Patrick O'Reilly
Art by: Yannis Roumboulias
Coloring by: Chandran Ponnusamy
Letters by: Amanda Hendrix
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Summary: Straight from the pages of our FCBD Preview, The Steam Engines of Oz has arrived! Find out how the Emerald City has transformed in the last 100 years as Victoria Wright and her friends plot their escape only to fall into the clutches of a terrifying threat. This re-imagining of Oz through a SteamPunk lens is a must read for fans of Oz, SteamPunk, an exciting story, and fantastic art.
Review: As you may recall awhile back, I did a review on the FCBD special of this title. And it was something I had found much to my liking. Issue 1 proves why it keeps on having me liking this take on the Oz property. Yannis and Chandran both still doing great jobs on the art and coloring. I especially like that Yannis is giving the lovely Victoria a fairly cute look and isn't going further then that. And his look for her is something I hope continues to happen. For those of you who may not have had the chance to read the FCBD special, you won't be too lost as #1 does give a nice little recap to help get new readers caught up. An older couple readers get quickly introduced to in this issue honestly reminded me of that amusing old couple from The Neverending Story. Even if this particular old couple don't bicker as much, I still really found them to be enjoyable. Since a 100 years has passed in this world, does that mean the Oz that gets mentioned in this issue is a completely different Oz? Or the Oz we all know from the movie or book?
If its some sort of a title that gets passed down as a family thing or something like that, then that would make a lot of sense and would be fairly neat. Something I hope we might get to see expanded on as the title goes on since it was talked about for a brief time in this issue. I'm not sure who did the art for the cover, but it looks fantastic. And nicely shows the readers what they are going to be in for. Which that and the art through out the book helps bridge the realities of light and dark. Making it kid friendly but also for adults at the same time. Something that gets talked about at the end of this issue. The characters themselves get something of a nasty surprise at one point as they see the results of Tin Man's Progress with the expansion of Emerald City. Results I think all of us can identify with in real life at that too. Although I loved the reaction Victoria has to seeing Butterflies for the first time. Yannis and Chandran brought those little guys to life beautifully. Amanda Hendrix's lettering skills really come into play when we get introduced to what I like to think of as the Lion Punks.
She manages to show a big difference in the lettering in the dialogue between our main cast and the Lions. Something I hope she maintains through out this book. Though I do feel Magnus will be playing a part in all this soon. But I bet Victoria wishes he had access to breath mints though! Although I imagine there could be some huge dissension between Magnus and his mate due to all the lip she showed him at some point since she seems be more about herself then having a Pack mentality. When I read this part of the comic the first time, I was honestly a little confused on how Phadrig managed to make a deal concerning Victoria. But after reading this a second time I now understand things better. I think what mostly threw me off the first time was the way Otho talks.
I honestly thought at first that once they managed to reach where they were going, they would have been in for an unpleasant surprise. But I nicely wound up being wrong in that line of thinking. And helps in keeping with the Steampunk theme this version of Oz has going for it. But boy do I got to say, the Welcoming Committee take the cake in wild looks! Even wilder then the Lion Punks! And I thought Tin Man himself had ate one too many bowls of Wheaties with the look he has in this! The creative team certainly went wild with all the new looks and I love it. I know I'm looking forward to finding out what's next, and if you have yet to read this for whatever reason. Drop what you are currenty doing and get to reading Arcana's take on Oz! You won't regret it!
5 out of 5 Stars