The OZ-Wonderland War Trilogy!

I cannot say that I'm a particular fan of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass or Frank L. Baum's The Wizard of OZ. I've read them and I have a friend who was intoxicated by Carrol's work and loved the oddity and wordplay. I don't think I've seen the Disney adaptation all the way through.  As for The Wizard of OZ, like many in my generation the annual appearance of the MGM film on TV was a big event. Myself I never much cottoned to the utter strangeness, though I've warmed to such things over the decades. Whatever I think, these two works have become infused into the very cell structure of modern society and so it's not so much of a shock when others want to play with the wacky toys that Carrol and Baum invented. Such an instance is DC's The OZ-Wonderland Trilogy which features Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew. 

This trilogy, which in point of fact is a six-issue series compressed into three extra-sized issues has the Zoo Crew swept up by the Cheshire Cat and sent to a strange world in which both OZ and Wonderland exist and both are under threat by the Nome King who has used magical power over the famous Flying Monkeys to seized control of both territories and has transformed some of the most famous characters into other objects. It becomes the mission of the Zoo Crew to partner with various denizens of both OZ and Wonderland and seek out these transformed entities and rescue them In short order they do and bring the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and Nick Chopper the Tin Woodsman, among other back to themselves and they promptly join the battle. 

There are characters such as Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and others who show up in this wild and twisty yarn as well. It's zany and runs at a brisk pace, but that said despite some really luscious artwork by Carol Lay that at times does a remarkable job evoking the classic art from the two original sources, the story is a hodge-podge that lacks any real sense of drama. Perhaps it's the curse of funny animal heroes that we know all along that real danger will not seek them  out, but in this one more than most rarely is there any sense at all of potential harm despite being chock full of so-called threats. E. Nelson Bridwell and Joey Cavalieri wrote this bombastic affair and Roy Thomas is credited with inspiring it, but with even all these veteran cooks, the meal falls flat despite some outstanding ingredients. 

 You can find this tale tucked into the back of the one and only Showcase Presents Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew volume. 

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