Adventures in Oz

Eric Shanower is a true Oz genius. He is one of the only authors I know that not only give you a written word story that is close to the original tone and feel of the Baum classics, but he lets you really =see= the stories through his wonderful art. These five stories, formerly available only as long out-of-print graphic novels, are collected together under one cover and one imprint. Formerly First Comics published these wonderful fully illustrated titles in a single issue graphic novel format, in a size (about 8 by 10 inches) that really lets you enjoy Shanower's wonderful art. "Enchanted Apples of Oz," the 1st story, takes us on a journey to see the Wicked Witch of the South and what happens when someone falls in love with her (for a while anyway... :-). The story is about Bortag and his quest for the Enchanted Apples of Oz. I won't ruin it for you, but I loved them all, especially Quox the Flying Blue Marlin. "The Secret Island of Oz," the 2nd story, takes Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and Eureka on a journey to find the Crimson Tailed Quipperug and what happens to them along the way. I think you'll enjoy the story of Knotboy and Princess Trin. "The Ice King of Oz," the 3rd story, takes us on a journey to the land of the Ice King. My favorite character was Flicker, the candle-maker, and his vital role in rescuing Ozma from a frozen fate. "The Forgotten Forest of Oz," the 4th story, tells about Nelanthe, a wood-nymph, and how she falls under the spell of the King of the Trolls, and what Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, and the Sawhorse have to do this time to save Oz. Finally, "the Blue Witch of Oz," easily one of the best illustrated, tells the tale of what happened to the Good Witch of the East and also what happened to her and her family. Oz fans will find very little to quibble with here - Eric tells these tales as though he had the ear of Baum himself - and even non-Oz fanatics will find these stories easy to read and very fun. I highly recommend buying this - especially since Shanower gives you such wonderful stories you can even read to young children while showing them what they see. A real gem to add to the crown of Oz.

L. Frank Baum's delightful Oz books have entertained every generation of readers, young and old alike, since they first appeared more than half a century ago. Indeed, so popular was the world of Oz and its myriad of colorful characters, that after his death other writers took up the task of creating more stories set in that colorful land over the rainbow. Now Eric Shanower has imaginatively written and beautifully illustrated five more stories that are combined in a large format graphic novel called "Adventures In Oz". The stories include 'The Enchanted Apples of Oz', 'The Secret Island of Oz', 'The Ice King of Oz', 'The forgotten Forest of Oz', and 'The Blue Witch of Oz'. Carrying and expanding the mythology, legendary, and fairy-tale fantasy first established by Frank Baum and enthusiastically recommended reading for ages 8 to 80, "Adventures In Oz" does full homage and credit to the growing library of Oz books, - and this time with the added visual and storytelling benefits of the graphic novel format. For school and community libraries (and dedicated Oz fans) it should be noted that IDW Publishing plans to release a hardcover edition next year that will have 70 additional pages of behind-the-scenes materials, including material from Eric Shanower's sketchbook, character designs, an essay by Eric about his experiences creating Oz comic stories, a variety of illustrations he has created for other Oz publications, short Oz comic stories, and more.

This book far exceeded my expectations. I like comics that have brilliant, bright, beautiful artwork and I have to say out of any comics I have ever read, this is by far the best. The illustrations in this book are more like book illustrations that comics. The story lines are wonderful and "fit" with the other Oz stories. The book is a high quality paperback with thick glossy pages. It is well worth the price.

From 1986-92, Eric Shanower made 5 Graphic Oz Novels (comic-like books) that told the fascinating stories of 'the Enchanted Apples', 'the Secret Island', 'the Ice King', 'the Forgotten Forest' and 'the Blue Witch' of Oz, all of which followed the adventures of Dorothy and Scarecrow with their friends, saving good people (sometimes one of them being misguided into doing bad things) from even worse people. Here, 'Adventures in Oz' is not a new story book by Eric Shanower, but a COLLECTION of ALL 5 Stories. Both the black-and-white and colour artwork for the graphic novels and other books have been rescanned by the publisher IDW Publishing, and Eric made sure that printing mistakes from the original editions would not be repeated (i.e. bits of a picture without colour) and did some minor revisions to the artwork, so therefore this book looks better than the orginal printings. The advances in the past 20 years makes the colours look far closer to what Eric Shanower originally painted than in the original printings of his Oz graphic novels - also his artwork changes from nearly good in 'Enchanted Apples' to Incredibly Fantastic and Lavish in 'Blue Witch'. "Adventures in Oz" is actually published/printed in 2 different editions: a restored all-5-stories PAPERBACK (normal, currently still available) and a Deluxe LIMITED Signed Edition (which I am the lucky owner of!! Now Sold Out, Sorry!), which not only contains the original 5 stories in one volume but also includes some new, little seen and never-before-published material, such as Character Designs, Sketches, Colour Studies, Advertising Art, Abandoned Concepts and other things (just like the final Issue "9/Epilogue" of 'Oz: the Manga') not seen in the paperback version. The section for the extra material is more than 30 pgs and Eric was very keen on adding these special bonuses. Unfortunately it does not include the Introduction to 'Enchanted Apples' by Harlan Ellison. BOTH Books have (in the following order) the same front and back cover design, Ozma & her tiny piglette on "This book belongs to", 2 red-dressed trolls, Scraps the Patchwork Girl with Toto and the Saw-Horse and tiny Flicker on the Book-Title pg, a re-scanning of the front & back cover for 'Enchanted Apples' but with 'Adventures' instead of the original title, Abatha the Blue Witch on a publishing pg, Nelanthe the Wood-Nymph with the Chapters, Eric Shanower's portrait of Ozma, "Just a word before you start", a Map of Oz (which again has the Blue East and Yellow West switching places!), Acknowledgements, 'the Enchanted Apples of Oz' story, 'the Secret Island of Oz' story, 'the Ice King of Oz' story, 'the Forgotten Forest of Oz' story, 'the Blue Witch of Oz' story (all 5 dedicated to someone special) and a colourful panel strip with the Oz characters. There are also ENDPAPERS, but both editions have different designs: the PAPERBACK has originally colourful yet b & w scanned pictures of the Famous 5 of Oz on the Yellow Brick Road

I grew up on the original Oz series by L. Frank Baum but was never terribly impressed with attempts to continue the adventures of these beloved characters -- until Eric Shanower. Shanower's artwork is evocative of the original art in Baum's volumes but even more important, Shanower captures the spirit of the books and characters beautifully. There is not a single false note in any of his portrayals. Adventures in Oz collects all of his standalone Oz graphic novels into one volume and it is long overdue. My favorite is the Blue Witch of Oz, but all of the stories are told with great love and imagination. I've long been frustrated that few studios have tried to adapt the other Oz books into movies and the few times they did we ended up with atrocities like Return to Oz. From a storytelling standpoint, I understand the dilemma -- Dorothy's not in the second boo, Land of Oz, yet it's essential to introduce key characters like Ozma. If some studio ever does solve the problem -- or just take the chance on an Oz movie without Dorothy -- their next purchase should be the rights to Shanower's Oz stories. After filming the rest of Baum's books, Shanower's stories are the next most logical and satisfying candidates.