Review: No Place Like Home #1

From the McFarlane toys to the westernizedversion, The Wizard of Oz hasremerged in that cyclical pattern of popularity once again.  Image’s take on L. Frank Baum’s storyfocuses on Dee, a young woman who returns to Emeraldsville, Kansas after herparents die in a tornado.

Dee and her dog, Terry, meet up with old friends includingher best friend Lizzie.  Whilebecoming reacquainted, the town drunk pops in and spouts warnings in the way ablind prophet would in a Greek tragedy.

Tension builds as readers learn that Dee’s parents died fromwounds not fully explainable by twister damage.  Thomas, the aforementioned inebriated chap, is blamed for arash of bird decapitations.  Thelocal authorities subdue Thomas at the funeral for Dee’s parents.  But then Lizzie and Dee stop in a localdinner to find him in a compromising position.  And, no, the shake-weight has nothing to do with it.

I can tell you that the art’s good base on my physicalattraction for Dee.  Am I insane tofind comic book characters hot? Yes.  Nevertheless, the artdid not distract me from the story.

I’m on the fence about the writing.  By no means is it as terrible as someof the other licensed books on the market.  I also understand that this is the first issue, so thischapter has the burden of pulling we readers into this world.  My only regret was that readers knowthere’s a Land of Oz.  Will thestory transition over, or will the world of Oz bleed into this world?  I’m being anxious, but as a reader whois interested in purchasing more of these issues, I want to know how the storywill be structured.  So muchforeshadowing and allusion pays off in the slightest way.  I compare my feeling with Memorial, a book that’s unapologetically ingrained inimaginative worlds.

This is a good book because it does build tension and hintat some possibly great story elements converging throughout the nextissues.  My hope is that the peoplebehind this comic give more of a payoff in the next issue.

A solid read, but not memorable for its lack of commitmentto a departure from reality.  (fornow)

Score: 3/5

Writer: Angelo Tirotto

Art: Richard Jordan

Colors: Paul Little

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $2.99
Release Date: 2/28/12