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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

On the Road Again

Marvel Comics's adaptation of L. Frank Baum's fifth Oz book, The Road to Oz, begins September 5, 2012, with Road to Oz #1. Marvel has just released a peek at Eric Shanower's variant cover to issue #1. Shanower has obviously returned to using Skottie Young's designs for the characters in this series. The color is by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.

Readers of Baum's original book should be able to easily identify this scene where the Shaggy Man first reveals the Love Magnet to Dorothy and Toto.

All the previous entries in this Marvel Comics series - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz - have been adapted before into other media - stage, screen, recordings, comics. There have been translations of The Road to Oz with new illustrations, and Golden Books published an abridgement, but I believe this is the first time that The Road to Oz has been adapted into another medium, at least for widespread release. I suspect the picaresque nature of the plot and the load of crossover characters at the end have something to do with this lack. But if Shanower and Young's track record is anything to go on, if anyone can make The Road to Oz work in the comics medium, they can.
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4 comments:

  1. Colin Ayres British Fan Of OzAugust 1, 2012 at 12:44 AM

    I'm only aware of the colonial radio players audio radio play for Road to Oz and no other media versions.
    Of course Eric and Skottie can handle it :)

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  2. AnonymousAugust 1, 2012 at 1:26 PM

    Hope Shaggy gets some dentures in Oz.

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  3. SamAugust 4, 2012 at 3:50 AM

    I think I'll prefer how Eric did Dorothy's hair for this variant cover more than how Skottie does on his own covers and the pages . . . UNLESS otherwise.

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  4. Tommy KovacAugust 17, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    Squeal! I love that cover!!!! :)
    And that's one of my favorite books in the series.
    *Tommy*

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