Comic Review: Oz-The Manga

Antarctic Press came out with a mini-series by David Hutchison(check out his Deviantart page!)which is a manga adaptation of the original Wizard Of Oz book titled Oz-The Manga.

It was an 8-issue series that covered most of the first novel, although there was a special Oz-The Manga: Epilogue issue that came out afterwards shows part of the journey from Emerald City to Glinda's palace that wasn't included in the series print run, possibly because they were running short of space in the story to include it before the conclusion.

Anyway, Hutchison did a very excellent interpretation of WOZ, although he did include a few scenes that have never shown before. Some of which were Dorothy mustering up her bravery to pass by the now abandonned castle of the Wicked Witch of the East, plus a little more interaction of her with the Munchkins. Another is the introduction of the Wicked Witch of the West's manservant Nestred who looks like an evil butler. The character designs are very "mangafied". Tin Man more resembles a steam-powered Tik-Tok, Scarecrow is tall and gangly, the Good Witch of the North seems more like a Munchkin even though she's from Gillikin, the Wizard looks like a shorter Mark Twain, the flying monkeys are really winged apes, and the Wicked Witch of the West is very similar to the version of her from OZF5. This series is collected(with the Epilogue special)in a large Pocket Manga, which is AP's manga-sized graphic novels. It also spawned off an adaption of Land Of Oz that was split up into two series. It makes for a great take on the whole Oz storyline, and is guaranteed to satisfy any otaku!