Comic Review: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz(Marvel Comics)

Marvel Comics recently released a collected hardcover edition of their The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. This collects issue #1-8 of the original mini-series. It was written by longtime Oz author and artist Eric Shanower, and the art was done by Skottie Young. Shanower has created several Ozcomics through his own company of Hungry Tiger Press, including Oz Story and Adventures In Oz, as well as illustrating other Oz books like Runaway In Oz. Young has done art for Spider-Man and X-Men.

On its own, the series was a bestseller. In fact most of the earlier issues had a second printing, as well as variant covers which also sold out. There was also a special sketchbook preview that came out prior to the series. The hardcover book includes all eight issues, plus a cover gallery and sketchbook.

The comic itself is a very faithful adaptation of the original L. Frank Baum novel, so nothing much new in the story. However, the main selling point to this is the fresh take on the characters. Dorothy appears slightly more like her Judy Garland counterpart, but the rest are very updateds. Scarecrow appears like a large ragdoll, Lion is a like a giant plushie, and Tin Man is strangely modeled after L. Frank Baum. The Wizard's giant head form is truly menacing, and the Wicked Witch of the West appears like something out of a Universal Monster movie. Even if you've already gotten all the original comics, you need to get the graphic novel for prosperity. Oh, and Marvel is working with the same crew to do another comic series of The Marvelous Land Of Oz.