The latest Oz readings

I got a surprise double dose of Oz this week in our comic book order. The first one was, of course, The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles: Jack & Cat Tales from the still-wonderfully named BuyMeToys.com. Jack Pumpkinhead and the Cheshire Cat are stuck in America, staying with a children's book author named Mae Mannering. They hear of a madman, found after the Jabberwocky attacked Chicago last year, in an asylum. He turns out to be the White Knight. I'll say no more, so that you can all be surprised if you choose to read it. The biggest problem with the BuyMeToys.com Oz/Wonderland Chronicles series is not only its infrequency, but that it also has several different series going on at once, all taking place in different parts of its own storyline. So it's hard to keep track of it all. Still, it's a fun take on the Oz/Wonderland crossover story (and how many of those are there now?), these guys clearly know a lot about the Oz books and aren't afraid to use characters that the general public may not have seen in the movies, and the art is good.

The surprise was in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #5. Yes, it's the comic book based on the cool new show on Cartoon Network. With a villain like the Queen of Fables, who uses magic based on classic children's books, you know there's going to be some sort of Ozziness going on. Sure enough, not only does the new story-based amusement park that springs up in Fawcett City have a yellow brick road, the Queen conjures up a troupe of flying monkeys to carry her victims to her castle. Cool stuff!

Finally, my favorite Oz-themed superheroine, Cyclone, has a small but vital role in Justice Society of America #27. She can call up and harness windstorms, she dresses as a witch, she has long striped stockings, and when we first met her, she was all excited about her college's production of Wicked. Yeah, I like this kid!