The Steampunk Wizard of Oz: Five Questions With Sean O’Reilly

Sean O’Reilly is one of the creative minds (with Erik W Hendrix and artist Yannis Roumboulias) behind Arcana’s The Steam Engines of Oz, currently being funded via Kickstarter as a limited edition for fans who might not otherwise find the project in the traditional comics community.Taking place a century after Dorothy Gale last left Oz, the story follows both new and familiar characters through the beloved landscape of Oz. You can see the project’s video at the bottom of the page.Fans interested in checking out the project at no financial risk before they consider the Kickstarter campaign can download the Free Comic Book Day issue via ComiXology.O’Reilly joined ComicBook.com to talk about the series, and what the sense of community that a Kickstarter campaign provides can bring to a smaller book, even if they’ve already secured a publisher.ComicBook.com: Setting the story 100 years after the established timeline is an interesting idea–and one that mirrors what Adam P. Knave is doing over in Artful Daggers. What do you see as the biggest reason to do that?Sean O’Reilly: It gave us enough distance to do something totally creative and original, but allowed us to keep some of the cornerstones of such an awe-inspiring and imaginative world.