The Fellowship was fortunate enough to obtain advance copy
of Viper Comics’ latest project – NIGHTMARES IN OZ. Dale Mettam wrote the story,
Courtney Huddleston did the artwork and Ed Ryzowski handled the colors.
The story begins in the past with a people of Osmann
Grove, Kansas accusing a girl named Beryl Storstap of being a witch. While being
burned on a scarecrow post in a cornfield, Beryl places a curse on them and
their descendants. Flash forward to the present – it’s Spring Break and a group
of college kids decide to go camping. That
is until flying creatures and a scythe-wielding scarecrow attack the group. Then
the ghost of Beryl Storstap appears...
Mettam’s
story has a sense of familiarity, but seems fresh at the same time. He gives an
interesting twist to the elements from the Wizard of Oz (scarecrow, flying
monkeys, the wicked witch, the woodsman, the lead female named Dee and Totes the
dog). Huddleston’s art is very impressive
and the violence is appropriate, not extremely graphic as it could have been. Ryzowski’s
colors do a great job setting the mood of this dark tale.
If
you enjoy slasher horror with a mix of the supernatural, this is your book. NIGHTMARES
IN OZ will be available digitally Halloween day via Graphicly, iVerse and
Comicxology. You can also download the graphic novel from www.vipercomics.com.