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We all know the story of Dorothy and her journey to find the mighty Wizard of Oz. The faithful pooch Toto, the brave Cowardly Lion, the smart Scarecrow and the gentile Tin Woodman will be Dorothy's party has she walks the lands of Oz in search of the mighty Wizard that can lead her home.

From Kansas to the Emerald City,through the yellow brick road and back again, Dorothy adventures through the land of Oz in the hope she'll be able to return no Kansas.

In 2009 Marvel started to publish Eric Shanower's adaptation of  L. Frank Baum's Oz books to comic book format. Logically this was the first.

How good is it?

There isn't much point in talking about the story itself. Its been with us for generations. Its a very good children story that can be enjoyed by anyone, any age.

Eric Shanower decided to adapt L. Frank Baum's Oz books to comic book format, and he made an excellent job with this one. The dialogue and the narration is masterfully adapted, its not hard to forget that this was not written for this format.

The love Shanower has for Baum's work is evident and it helps to make this book as good as it is. I doesn't matter if you've read the story before, you will enjoy reading it again and rooting for Dorothy to be able to get back to her uncles in Kansas.

Art wise, this book is majestic. Skottie Young's art is absolutely glorious. The cartoonish feel Young brings to this book is exactly the right tone, precisely the right color and just the right amount of sweetness. All the characters are extremely expressive.

The coloring is amazing. The difference between Kansas, the Emerald city, the flashbacks and all the other locations / situations makes them imminently identifiable be the color of the background alone.The backgrounds are very detailed. The yellow brick road alone there in all its yellow glory.

Young's art is reason enough to buy this book.

Monkeys, monkeys everywhere

I have the hardcover edition and it has many extras. The usual but very enjoyable cover gallery, some page sketches and a introduction by Eric Shanower. I usually don't talk about extras because most are not worth the notice, but in this case you should read the introduction. Its a heartfelt love letter from Shanower to  Baum's work, and it puts you in the right mood for reading this book.

Is the wicked witch home?

Big Lion scares easily

Would I recommend it?

This is a great book. I imagine L. Frank Baum would be proud when reading his most famous story in comic book format. This is truly a labor of love by Shanower and accompanied masterfully by Young's art.
If you're searching an all ages book, or even if you're not, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of the correct choices.
The story is undeniably good, the art alone is a reason to buy this book. It his highly recommended to have this on your shelf.

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About the Author - Rui Esteves

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Rui Esteves is definitely from Peru and has a blog!  Rui tries to find the good in everyone, which is difficult when he has to work for this hive of scum and villainy, but he makes do.   Rui does so enjoy graphic novels, as evident from the name of his blog:  http://readinggraphicnovels.blogspot.com, twitter handle: @RGNblog, and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rgnblog.

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