Kickstarter Comics Sensation ‘The O.Z.’ Gets Deluxe Release From Boom! Studios
by Tony Thornley
Public domain stories have made for fertile ground for reimagining over the past twenty years, and none moreso that L. Frank Baum’s Oz. Now, one of the most interesting is getting a deluxe release from Boom! Studios.
David Pepose and Ruben Rojas’s The O.Z. is a story that hooked us right away. By exploring what would happen in the power vacuum left behind in the wake of Dorothy Gale’s original adventure, Pepose built a fascinating look at a version of the Land of Oz unlike any other. Early in 2027, the adventure is going to reach an even wider audience, as Boom! Studios releases The O.Z. in a perfect bound prestige format edition.
“Equal parts Mad Max and The Wizard of Oz, The O.Z. was a Kickstarter success story that was years in the making — and today, I couldn’t be prouder that our Ringo Award-winning series will reach a brand-new audience at Boom! Studios,” said Pepose.
“Inspired by the stories of real-life veterans from my days as a newspaper reporter, The O.Z. is an adventure that I’ve been burning to tell for nearly a decade,” he continued, “and with the incredible creative team of Ruben Rojas, Whitney Cogar, and DC Hopkins, this series remains one of the most beautiful and heartfelt projects I’ve ever worked on.”
The solicitation reads: They say there’s no place like home — but for war veteran Dorothy Gale, home is just another place that doesn’t exist anymore.
Decades ago, when a young girl said farewell to the magical land of Oz, she unwittingly plunged the country into civil war. A generation later, the name of Dorothy Gale lives on in her granddaughter, an Iraq war veteran grappling with PTSD.
When a tornado strands her in the place her grandmother once tried to save, will she be able to navigate its turbulent, magical landscape to ultimately bring peace while finding a way back home?
“Working on The O.Z. has been an incredible journey,” artist Ruben Rojas notes with enthusiasm. “Getting to bring this dark, imaginative world to life and help shape its characters has been a truly rewarding experience. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created together, and thrilled that The O.Z. is finding a new home at Boom! Studios and reaching an even wider audience.”
Pepose adds, “You may think you know the story of Oz, but this is the story of what comes next — be sure to join our Yellow Brick Road Warriors this February, and tell your comics shop to order The O.Z.!”
Check out comics superstar Jenny Frisson’s cover to the debut above, and watch for The O.Z. #1 from Boom! Studios on February 3rd, 2027.
