Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Graphic Novel) by Eric Shanower

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Graphic Novel) by Eric Shanower (original story by L. Frank Baum)
Marvel’s Oz Comic Series, #1
Hardcover, 216 pages
Published September 16th 2009 by Marvel
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The premiere American fantasy adventure gets the Merry Marvel treatment! Eisner Award-winning writer/artist Eric Shanower (Age of Bronze) teams up with fan-favorite artist Skottie Young (New X-Men) to bring L. Frank Baum's beloved classic to life! When Kansas farm girl Dorothy flies away to the magical Land of Oz, she fatally flattens a Wicked Witch, liberates a living Scarecrow and is hailed by the Munchkin people as a great sorceress... but all she really wants to know is: how does she get home? Collects The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #1-8.

My Review:

This book is a first in a series of Marvel Comic Oz adaptations. This first book includes comic’s number 1-8 which makes up the original book. Now if you have never read the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (review HERE) then I highly suggest it. It is pretty different from the movie. However, you could just read this. The author does a really good job at hitting all the important points. I didn’t notice anything missing.

I actually took a little longer to read this than I should because I had already read the original story and this was spot on with it. However, I love the illustrations in this book. They are done very well and I really love how the Scarecrow and Wicked Witch are drawn.  Parts that were supposed to be scary were drawn very dark and the whole time they are in the Emerald City visiting OZ every frame has a green monotone. It’s neat reading a classic like this in a graphic novel form because there are certain things that are hard to imagine when reading the written word, like the Kalidahs.

The end of the book has different covers for the individual comic books. There are also sketches of the characters and a description of how the author decided how to draw them.  I also enjoy seeing this at the end of a graphic novel/comic. I also suggest reading “Blame it on Toto” the 2 page introduction/background at the being of the book.

Do I Recommend this Book/Series?

Yes! If you like graphic novels and The Wizard of Oz then definitely read this.

Will I Read the Next Book?

Already did! Review will be up soon!

My Rating: