Ruby from Planet Oz #1 is a comic written and drawn by Kyrun Silva with some inks by Larry Haines and coloring by Gerome Suyman Repaja. Ruby and her close-knit group of fighters are attempting to take down the Wicked Queen of the West. This is a science fiction comic with heavy influence from the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. The leading lady for this tale is Ruby, a woman who is trying to take down an evil queen and find a way back home. She is surrounded by capable combatants with their own grudges and these people are: Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and last but not least the Wizard, he is the man who raised Ruby after her arrival long ago. The story begins with Ruby on Planet Oz driving into the city where the Wicked Queen of the West’s tower is. Her arrival is noticed and she quickly comes under fire and is forced to alter her plans. This takes place in a world where our earth is real and behaving like normal. There is also a theme of revolution here. The violence here is mostly physical with some blood and light gore. The pacing is a tick slower than average as each page is giving us new and potentially pertinent information. The tone is a both angry and serious with plenty of intense moments strewn throughout. The dialogue is split between aggressively conversational back-and-forth and narration from Ruby. There aren’t any word-heavy pages but some get close. This is a debut issue that sets the scene and fills in the pasts of its many characters while giving us an intriguing and exciting sci-fi twist on a classic.

            The art here has a late 90’s/early 2000’s feel to it with some roughness and light grittiness. The color range here is very wide with a nice variety and there is a decent focus on shading. For scenery we have a rocky landscape with some rare grassier shots but the majority of this story will be in the thick of the city around these sharp and clean-looking buildings. The backgrounds either show the scene or are a color gradient with optional action lines. The expression level here is high as these characters don’t hide their emotions at all and can show many different looks on the same page. The range here goes from destructive sadness and depression to a deep rage full of vengeance. We don’t see too much happiness. The faces here tend to get big-mouthed and the overall quality can vary but you will never be confused about what they’re feeling. From guns to ships there are a lot of bright beams here. The violence is physical, constant, and bloody with some light gory moments. The action scenes flow well and have a decent panel count so we get a better grasp of the fights.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like science fiction stories influenced by the Oz series and starring a black woman with a team of people out for vengeance and violent combat along with some dramatics then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, light gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Great. Now I have to worry about flying poop.”

 

Physical Link: https://tauruscomics.square.site/product/ruby-from-planet-oz-1/10

Digital Link: https://tauruscomics.gumroad.com/l/XFxvs

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wildflowerscomic/ruby-from-planet-oz/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 16, for 66% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 4

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 3

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”