Ozma of Oz (edition 2011)

Whenever Marvel publishes a new Oz adaptation, I MUST HAVE IT. I’m not sure how long this habit will go. There are 14 Baum books, and 40 canonical Oz books, and I suppose also that human lives have a finite timespan... But who knows where it’ll end. All I know is that for as long as they make ‘em (and they’re still just as good as the originals), I’ll keep gettin’ ‘em.

In this volume, the third one, we return to Dorothy, en route to Australia with her Uncle Henry. A storm blows her overboard, and she finds herself in a mysterious fairly land known as Ev. Here she navigates obstacles, meets up with old friends, and tries to make her way back home.

I love Shanower’s writing, taking the books and condensing them down to their most interesting parts, and the way an entire scene is summarized by a single image can be downright hilarious at times. Likewise, Young’s drawing fits the world of Oz (and Ev) to a T... err Z (and V). The characters each have their own look which suits them greatly, and while the drawings may look ragged, they really, really work.

If you love the Oz mythos as much as I do, your collection is incomplete without this Marvel literary adaptation. And keep your eyes peeled for the next volume, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, probably already available as periodicals at your local comic book store. ( )