OZ: KINGDOM OF THE LOST (COMIC REVIEW) – WAS THIS MEANT TO BE A JOKE?
Oz: Kingdom of the Lost is the new Zenescope series that has recently hit the shelves, continuing their tale that is loosely based in the classic L. Frank Baum novel series The Wizard of Oz. Even from the cover you can see how different an angle Zenescope have taken with the source material.
The plot itself revolves around Dorothy and the Scarecrow (who has been named Bartleby) investigating the Tin Man’s disappearance and a giant mysterious tunnel in the middle of the Emerald City. The story is a continuation from previous Zenescope “Oz” titles, but it isn’t a big problem if you haven’t read what came before. Partly because the characters all blurt out exposition about past events and also because every single event is so cliché riddled that you can roughly guess at all the important events and milestones the characters have been through.
The tropes, both in narrative, dialogue and visuals are such a barrage it felt like it was meant to be funny. But it isn’t a joke, or a parody, there aren’t even internal jokes between the characters. Just insipid sarcastic quips. The whole production takes itself so seriously it makes the hackneyed elements more uncomfortable and irritating. Overall it feels like it is reimagining Wizard of Oz as a 90’s superhero comic, with high-fantasy trappings. Two genres well known for their plethora of shallow stereotypes and predictable action.
Similarly every single character is drawn from one of three body types, the men are either buff and broad, or lanky and fit, and the women are all willowy and sexy. The dialog feels flat and formulaic, and is often repeating something that the panels clearly showed or was inferred by previous dialog.
I can’t see anything that was added by describing what was drawn.
The problems don’t even really stem from its differing from the source material. There are some very good adaptations of Wizard of Oz and other similarly old works that have changed a hell of a lot more than Zenescope has. The problem is this comic feels lazy. The story and dialog has no depth, and the whole thing is so shallow that there is no sense of emotion to get invested in.
Seriously, if this was actually played for laughs, I’d probably have enjoyed it.
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