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REVIEW: ECPD #1
4.67/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: R
Creative Team:
Writer: Garrett Gunn
Artist: Stan Yak
Colors: Febri Ferdian
Letters and Design: Dave Lentz
Cover: Stan Yak and Febri Ferdian
Original Character Designs: Kit Wallis and Garrett Gunn
Publisher: Four Color Fiends
Ratings:
Story: 4.7 Stars
Artwork: 4.7 Stars
Cover Artwork: 4.7 Stars
Dialogue: 4.6 Stars
Mechanics: 4.5 Stars
Editing: 4.8 Stars
About the Book:
The Emerald City has fallen on hard times. What was once a beautiful city is now a shell of itself. Five crime bosses, called “The Jewels”, run the city’s drug trade. The Yellow Brick Road has that title due to the heroin trafficking taking place between Munchkinland and the Emerald City.
Detective Dorothy Gale is at her wits end. She’s questioning the life choices that have brought her to this point in her life and in desperate need of a break on the case she’s trying to solve. Her big break may have just happened. Nick Chopper has been brought in for questioning. He has information that could help bring down one of the Jewels. Chopper and Dorothy have a history that goes way back. He may be willing to work something out with her…. If Dorothy can offer him something to make it worth his while.
Reader’s Notes:
Grandma’s all time favorite movie was “The Wizard of Oz”. I completely understand. She was barely seven years old when it was released. It was the first technicolor movie she saw. With her growing up during the Great Depression, it’s not a stretch of the imagination that it was the first movie she saw in the theater. With the amount of time I spent with her growing up, she passed that love of a franchise on to me.
Oz is a beautiful, magical place with amazing characters with special powers and abilities in almost every rendition of the franchise I’ve encountered. There will be a conflict of some sort; but the setting seldom changes. David Pepose’s “The O.Z.” was the exception to the rule. Then Mr. Gunn came along and said, “Hold my beer”.
With the vehicles, grime, and crime this postmodern Oz looks like it did an episode of “Trading Places” with the Detroit we see in “Robocop”. I love the edge changing the setting gives Oz. Add the overhaul that Mr. Gunn and Mr. Wallis gave the characters…. Chef’s kiss.
Yak’s artwork on the interior pages a crucial part of what gives “ECPD” #1 its edge. This especially shines through in the depiction of the Jewels. Tattypoo looks like a dealer that got hooked on their own product and is ready to fight the world for another fix. Gloma exudes strength and is a force to be reckoned with. Prince Philador looks like he’s ready to give his enemies the very worst parts of “Deliverance”.
None of these compare to the spectacle that is Glenda. She exudes power. She also exudes severe psychosis. She’s flat out terrifying. We don’t see her much in this issue; but I am very eager to see what sort of chaos she brings Dorothy’s way.
I love the cover for this issue. As soon as I saw the artwork I thought, “What is this feeling?” It teases. It’s intriguing. It promises a break from your stereotypical Oz stories while giving us a glimpse of some of the characters we will be meeting. Well done!
This isn’t Grandma’s “Wizard of Oz”. If you want the warm fuzzy feelings while characters burst into song in a fantasy world you can watch that or rent “Wicked”. They are timeless classics that it’s hard to go wrong with.
Or, you could take a different path on the Yellow Brick Road and end up at “E.C.P.D.”. It will give you a whole new perspective on Oz. This new sense of understanding will make you popular with the people you share it with. This geek on a budget highly recommends doing so.
Thanks for reading!
Until next time, gang.
