Reviews

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Eric Shanower

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starburns's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I absolutely loved the graphics in this book, but I felt the diagolue was a bit forced. It was awkward and at times took away from the awesome imagery. I did like that this version of The Wizard of Oz followed L. Frank Baum's version and not the movie. I can see many children reading this and being surprised by how the story flows. I think this is a great way to reintroduce a classic to children that don't want to take the time to read the true story (BUT they really should read the original before reading this).

bugaboobear's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The story is one we all know, but the art! Skotty Young did such an amazing job with these characters. I am obsessed with the Tin Man's mustache. The art choices were so delightful, I could see myself reading this over and over just for that.

ama_reads's review

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4.0

Loved most of the illustrations.

banana83854's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars- I really enjoy Skottie Young's art. It'ss pretty unique and fun.

matt4hire's review

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5.0

I've always had a less-than-satisfactory relationship with the Wizard of Oz. The musical was always expendable to me, and I'd never been interested enough to read the books.

But then this came out, and Skottie Young's art was amazing in it, and I kind of just had to read it, especially since it was based on the books (which I was wholly unfamiliar with). And...it just works SO much better. The story isn't as easy as it was, and there's more depth, with the characters becoming actual characters, rather than just simple archetypes. So really excellent stuff.

Plus, like I said, Young's art is simply amazing.

joshgauthier's review

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4.0

I picked up this book solely for Skottie Young's art, and I was not disappointed.

Having never actually read the Oz novels, I can't speak how this adaptation compares to the source material--though I get the impression it is pretty close. I don't have strong feelings on the story itself. There's a lot of childhood nostalgia associated with the film, but the books are their own thing in a lot of ways--darker, wilder, sillier. I had not problems with the story overall, and it was interesting to encounter pieces of it that have been largely forgotten by popular culture.

But the real triumph of this adaptation is in the art. I am a huge fan of Young's work. His illustrations here are cartoonish and whimsical in perfect accompaniment to the story, but with a definite creepiness at times that is also well suited to the content. Young brings the tale to life with excellent flair and detail, bringing his own flavor to the characters in a way that also feels true the basics of who they are.

This book is a visual delight, especially for those who enjoy Young's artistic style.

tacochelle's review

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5.0

I read the original book, and being a amateur cartoonist myself (and by amateur, I mean absolutely horrible, but still trying for some reason) I wanted to read this and admire others work. Eric Shanower and Skottie Young do an amazing job of telling the story, it felt like reading the book for the first time all over again. Being able to see exactly what I read before made each part more cheerful, more darker, or more of whatever else this story had. The one thing it needed was marking the 8 parts of the story as it was released. It was hard to tell the scene changes because they happened so suddenly, there was no chapters, it just suddenly changed. Despite that, I enjoyed this a lot, and will read the other adaptations when I can.