Dorothy learns more about the magical winged monkeys when she calls upon them for help.
THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ #6
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Eric Shanower
Artist: Skottie Young
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Summary: Now that the Wicked Witch is dead, Dorothy possesses the Witch’s magic—including the Winged Monkeys. But how did the Winged Monkeys first become magical slaves? The answer involves a powerful sorceress’s love for a mortal boy and her eternal revenge for a practical joke. Then discover the dreadful truth of the Wizard of Oz’s secret identity. All Dorothy’s hopes of returning home teeter on the brink of annihilation.
Review: The denouement of the previous issue would leave a reader wondering about what’s left of the Oz story now that Dorothy has killed the Wicked Witch. The saga continues as she has to find her way back to Oz in order to claim the prize she was promised. The panels on page two show the bittersweet emotions of Dorothy and her friends. They should be happy for winning the fight, though it was purely accidental, and for freeing the Winkies; however, they are exhausted and lost. Readers can definitely feel Dorothy’s fatigue in her heavy shoulders as she is on the verge of collapse. But just then, the heroic little girl comes through with a brilliant plan!
She calls upon the Queen of the Field Mice who gives her instruction on how to use the charm of the golden cap. Dorothy does as she’s directed which means that the winged monkeys will make another appearance. The monkeys are portrayed a lot less frightening in this comic than in the 1939 MGM movie. Their physical look is a bit fearsome but since there’s soft dialog accompanying the illustrations, the monkeys come off as the anti-hero characters they really are.
Some of the soft quality comes from the flashback illustrating the winged monkeys’ history which is shown in a sepia overlaid set of panels. When one of the past Monkey Kings played a bit of mischief on a prince whose princess was a powerful sorceress, she took revenge on the Monkey King. She cursed them by placing the charm on the golden crown stipulating that the monkeys have to do whatever the wearer orders up to three times.
The story then leads the readers back to the Emerald City with its brilliant green overlaid panels. The friends are told the truth about Oz and his secrets through another series of flashback panels. The beauty of this book is evident in the use of the overlaying tones, sympathetic characters, and decent pacing.
