David Pepose is heading back to Oz one final time.
The writer behind Space Ghost, Savage Avengers, and Speed Racer has launched a Kickstarter campaign for The O.Z. #3, the oversized finale to his fantasy epic that reimagines The Wizard of Oz through the lens of war, trauma, and political upheaval. The campaign reunites Pepose with artist Ruben Rojas, colorist Whitney Cogar, and letterer DC Hopkins for a 44-page conclusion to a project that first debuted in 2020. You can read our review of the first issue here.
For Pepose, bringing the series to its conclusion has been a unique experience given how much his career has evolved since he first wrote the story.
“The O.Z. is a really special book for me,” Pepose told me. “It’s something that I started writing very early in my career, and I finished writing it back when I wrote Scout’s Honor. Because it took time to get all the finished artwork together, it was such a cool experience to revisit my script with a more seasoned perspective as a writer.”
That perspective helped shape the final issue, which Pepose revisited and refined as completed artwork arrived from Rojas and Cogar.
“The goal was to make sure our final issue was our best issue yet, but also make sure this conclusion still read consistently with the previous two installments,” Pepose said.
The series follows Dorothy Gale’s granddaughter and namesake, an Iraq War veteran who is swept away by a tornado and dropped into a version of Oz transformed by conflict. Rather than the magical land readers remember from L. Frank Baum’s classic novel, this Oz has become an occupied territory ruled by an authoritarian Scarecrow. Dorothy finds herself leading a resistance movement alongside reimagined versions of familiar Oz characters, including the Tin Soldier, the Prince of Lions, and Jack Pumpkinhead.
According to Pepose, the concept grew from a question he had about the ending of the original Wizard of Oz story.
“If Dorothy Gale killed both Wicked Witches and exposed the Wizard of Oz, she wouldn’t be leaving behind a happy ending,” Pepose said. “She’d be leaving behind a power vacuum not unlike what we’ve seen in the real world in Baghdad.”
That idea became the foundation for a new Dorothy, one shaped by military service and personal disillusionment.
“Dorothy’s background as a soldier not only gave her the skillset to make her an active protagonist with a strong sense of agency, but it also let me explore the struggles that I heard personally as a newspaper reporter interviewing real-life veterans coming back from overseas,” Pepose said.
The series has often been described as The Hurt Locker meets The Wizard of Oz, though Pepose says the emotional core has always centered on Dorothy’s search for redemption and hope after witnessing the costs of war.
“I think we often think about war in the broader geopolitical sense, but there are real human costs for everyone on the ground,” Pepose said. “Dorothy’s journey is about facing that disillusionment and guilt, and asking herself if there’s any way to find peace and redemption again.”
The finale promises major payoffs for the series’ ensemble cast, including revelations surrounding the Scarecrow’s plans.
“All of the major characters in The O.Z. each have a big payoff in our giant-sized finale,” Pepose said. “The Scarecrow has been keeping some massive secrets that will add some shocking new context to his plans of universal domination and will flip the entire narrative of The O.Z. on its ear.”
The Kickstarter campaign includes print and digital editions of the finale, catch-up tiers collecting all three issues, behind-the-scenes materials, variant covers by Ruben Rojas, Maan House, Joshua Hood, and Serg Acuña, as well as a variety of bonus items and stretch goals.
“It’s been a long time in the making, and we couldn’t be more thrilled for The O.Z. to reach its conclusion on Kickstarter,” Pepose said. “Fans of L. Frank Baum’s classic Wizard of Oz will truly love how we conclude our epic saga of The O.Z..”
Alongside news of the campaign, AIPT can also exclusively reveal one of the project’s variant covers, which pays tribute to Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín’s celebrated X-Men #80 cover. The homage reimagines the classic mutant lineup using the cast of The O.Z., placing Dorothy and her allies front and center in a nod to one of Marvel’s most memorable team shots.
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