My comics’ purveyor threw one of the free Wonderful Wizard of Oz
sketchbooks into my bag a few weeks ago. I skimmed through it briefly,
and the art really caught my eye. It made me think this was going to be
a twisted reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz a la American
McGee’s Alice.

Well, I was totally off-base and incorrect about this being a
reimagining of the story in any sense (at least so far). I had already
suspected I was wrong when I saw the rating was “All Ages.” While the
art is unique and fitting for the story, it is still very much the
story we know.

I do quite enjoy the art, and I look forward to seeing more work
from Skottie Young both in this and in general. All the characters are
beautiful and have an endearing quality about them that is hard to
describe. Since the story follows the film and (I assume) the novel
closely I won’t bore you with any of the details. It’s a workmanlike
and faithful transition of the story.

If you love the novel and/or the film this is a no-brainer. If
you’re looking for something for a young reader I also think this is
one to pickup. And lastly, if you just love this type of art it’s a
great get. I’m going to continue with it for the art and so one day I
can pass this along to some youngin’.

Patrick Stedem

http://p4tr1ck.tumblr.com/post/64401046/the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-1-of-8