226. The Marvelous Land of Oz by Eric Shanower

The Marvelous Land of Oz by Eric Shanower. Art by Skottie Young (Canada) - (US)
Wonderful World of Oz (2)

Pages: 200
Ages: 9+
Finished: Oct.2, 2011
First Published: Sept. 29, 2010
Publisher: Marvel
Genre: children, graphic novel, fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

In the country of the Gillikins, which is at the north of the land of Oz, lived a youth called Tip.

Acquired: Borrowed a copy through Inter-Library Loan.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

Another absolutely fabulous rendition of an OZ book by Shanower and Young.  This is actually only as far as I've read of the original novels and I am inspired to start reading them now so that I can have read the book before continuing on with the next graphic novel.  I own a gorgeous collection of the Baum books.  This story only brings back a few old friends from our first encounter with Oz namely Scarecrow and Tinman and briefly for the last chapter Glinda.  Otherwise the story centers around a young boy, Tip, an old witch whom he runs away from, Mombi, and Tip's two companions, Pumpinkhead and Sawhorse.  They set off on their own adventure to Emerald City and meet many strange people or dangerous circumstances along the way.  A jolly, rollicking fun story.

I really enjoyed Shanower's detailed essay introducing us to the circumstances under which the original book was written.  Baum's motives, his state of mind and the times in which he was living add a certain look at the story through fresh eyes with this understanding.  I really enjoyed this adaptation and will say I even enjoyed it more than the book for one particular reason, The Woggle-Bug.  The highly magnified bug who has been thoroughly educated is a conceited know-it-all who talks on and on, full of puns and word play, facetious and self-centered.  He drove me absolutely bonkers in the book!  Sometimes his dialogue would go on for more than a page and I just wanted to throttle him, not finding him the least humorous at all.  However, Shanower's adaptation, has taken him into small doses which are easy to take and I find it hard to say, but I actually enjoyed his part in the story this time.  Of course, the illustrations are pure joy.  I sincerely hope this team manages to stay together and find the time to at least adapt Baum's original 14 books if not the entire Famous Forty!