The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel Illustrated)

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

Like I said in my review of Eric Shanower and Skottie Young's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the pleasure of these Marvel Oz adaptations is in getting the familiar and the new all at once: the L. Frank Baum plots I remember from childhood, coupled with dynamic new Skottie Young illustrations. In that regard, The Marvelous Land of Oz is probably the most successful of all the Marvel Oz comics. Marvelous Land has a decent plot, less meandering than some of Baum's travel narratives, with a real antagonist (or pair of antagonists, General Jinjur and Mombi) and set of goals for our heroes (restore the throne of Oz). Tip is a fun protagonist, too, an easygoing young boy with a show more good fairytale backstory (oppressed servant of an evil witch, though of course it turns out to be more complicated than that). There's some random traveling, too, of course (the bit where they end up flying over the desert has always seemed a bit arbitrary to me), but moreso than many other Oz novels, this one is about overcoming a specific problem.

What Marvelous Land has in spades are visually interesting characters: the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman return, of course, and then Baum adds Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, the Gump, and H. M. Wogglebug T.E. Each of these gives Young something to work with-- I love, for example, the way he draws the Sawhorse, as a sleek single piece of wood with these deep eyes and slightly ajar mouth that make him look like a loyal dog. The weirdness of its characters is fundamental to my enjoyment of the Oz books, and my favorite panel was one where you just see all these weirdos lined up and the Gump comments, "none of you seems to be constructed any more artistically than I am." These are books where the weird and misfits are the exalted and the clever, and in none of them is that better depicted than in Marvelous Land, and Skottie Young captures that perfectly. (Plus I love the way he draws Mombi.) show less

Eric Shanower and Skottie Young's follow-up to their adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is no less kinetic, fun, or colorful, but because it moves beyond the boundaries of the most famous Oz characters and adventures, it's at least slightly more surprising - which is good. Baum's theatrical tale of enchantments, inanimate objects brought to life and the invasion of the Emerald City is golden material for the graphic novel format, and some of the least familiar scenes from the original work - such as the consultations between General Jinjur and the witch Mombi - actually become some of the most memorable here. Baum's satirical sense of humor gets a good outing as well, with lots and lots of groan-worthy puns (which is lampshaded in show more the character of the Wogglebug).

If I have any complete, it's only that Young seems to have pulled back a little in finding new and different ways to depict the Oz characters. His Ozma is clearly based on John R. Neill's Ozma; his Sawhorse is clearly Neill's Sawhorse; his Jack Pumpkinhead, while not exactly Neill's Pumpkinhead, is dressed in precisely the same garments. That's authenticity to the text, to be sure, but it would have been nice to see Young's art push beyond those boundaries a little bit. His Tin Woodman isn't much like the description we get of the Tin Woodman in Wonderful Wizard, but he is a highly effective creation all the same. I would have liked to see a Young-styled Ozma created from a similar position of carte blanche. show less

I bought this book the day I started reading Marvel's comic adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I was not disappointed. Shanower has taken the original Baum book and mixed in a little bit of the Baum play (particularly with H. M. Woggle-Bug's lines), and has produced a book that stands up next to its predecessor without being a weaker sequel. The returning characters and true to their original form, and the new characters, designed by Young, fit the world as well as any other.

Several scenes, all of which dealing with new characters, had me laughing out loud, such as Jack Pumpkinhead meeting the Scarecrow, the Wooden Horse's self-introduction to the Gump, and the scene in which the party tries to develop a win-win solution with the show more usurping General Jinjur.

If you are like me, and are a rabid fan of Oz, then you will almost certainly love this book. I know I did, and I am eagerly anticipating the next volume, and all the rest (I hope) of the Famous Forty adapted by this wonderful team. show less

This is the second TP graphic novel in Marvel’s Oz Comics series. While I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first one, it was still a very good read and the illustration is amazing.

This story follows the second book in Frank Baum’s Oz series. We mainly follow a young boy, Tip, as he flees from the old witch Mombi to the Emerald City with his creation Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse. The Emerald City is under an attack from the all girl army lead by Jinjur. The Scarecrow doesn’t know what to do against the army and ends up fleeing, with Tip in tow, to first the Tin Woodsman’s kingdom and then to Glinda.

I read the Oz books with my mom when I was growing up. I only got 5-6 books into the series and it was a long time show more ago, so I only very vaguely remember the story from this book on. However, this was very well done. It’s an excellent rendition of it and includes most of the story, focusing mainly on the interesting parts and downplaying some of the parts that got a bit long in the book.

The illustration is amazing, I really love the style and it’s very easy to follow. The pictures are very colorful and character expressions are very well done and at times hilarious.

I really enjoyed the story, I just didn’t enjoy it quite as much because I didn’t remember the characters as well as I had in the first installment. I also missed reading about Dorothy. This 2nd installment is not as action packed as the first one either.

Overall a beautiful and amazing retelling of the second book in Baum’s Oz series. I really enjoyed it and absolutely loved the illustration. I will definitely keep reading this series. This series is highly recommended to all fantasy graphic novel fans. In fact it’s great to read with your kids too and might hold their attention a bit better than the original books. show less

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first one, the characters weren't as enjoyable or as engaging though that is most likely due to the source material though I can't say as I've never read the original book. I did love the introduction of the Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug though and would like to see more of him.

While the art style was the same the use of color was different, bolder and somehow less whimsical, I found the palate distracting this time around. My favorite parts of the book were the Highly Magnified woggle -Bug and the Mouse Queen, they seemed to capture the original sense of whimsy and creativity from the first book for me.

Again the back included additional art pages and characters sketches which were a nice show more touch.

The first book made my wish list, I'm not so sure about this one. While it was enjoyable the only pages I felt compelled to reread had the woggle-bug and Queen Mouse in them and that's not enough for me to want to buy it. Perhaps as more books come out I feel the need to have the compete set but not so far. show less

So I have no idea why this book took me over a month to read. Just like the first book in the series it's funny and filled with action and adventure. In this volume we follow Tip as he leaves his home with the witch Mombi and meets up with the Scarecrow and the Tin Man and helps Glinda the good witch reestablish the rightful ruler of the Emerald City when the Scarecrow is ousted by an arm of women. There is a very unexpected twist at the end and we get to meet some great new characters. The artwork is just phenomenal and is again very bright and colorful. The whole book has a very nostalgic feel to it that anyone would benefit reading.

So I have no idea why this book took me over a month to read. Just like the first book in the series it's funny and filled with action and adventure. In this volume we follow Tip as he leaves his home with the witch Mombi and meets up with the Scarecrow and the Tin Man and helps Glinda the good witch reestablish the rightful ruler of the Emerald City when the Scarecrow is ousted by an arm of women. There is a very unexpected twist at the end and we get to meet some great new characters. The artwork is just phenomenal and is again very bright and colorful. The whole book has a very nostalgic feel to it that anyone would benefit reading.