I’ve got to hand it to Eisner-award winner Eric Shanower. He’s taken the mythology of L. Frank Baum, the creator/writer of The Wizard of Oz books, and turned it into a nice niche business for himself. And he does it with such loving care, that you’d think he was somehow related.

Shanower’s off to see the Wizard again in his newest project, an 8-issue Limited Series from Marvel Comics (yup, that Marvel) called The Marvelous Land of Oz. Billed as “a sequel to The Wizard of Oz” and “being an account of the further adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman” the series starts off with Tippetarius, a young boy who lives “in the country of the Gillikins, which is at the North of the land of Oz.”

Sorceress Mombi has been caring for the young, seemingly abandoned Tip, but she’s hardly a candidate for Mother Of The Year. Grumpy, cantankerous, and demanding, she treats Tip more like a servant, and she’s clearly had enough of having a child underfoot. When she takes off to buy some potions, Tip carves a pumpkin and sticks it on a wooden body to scare Mombi when she returns. But she’s too clever and uses one of her potions to bring Jack Pumpkinhead to life. He’ll be a better servant than Tip, most certainly, and she won’t need to be bothered by the boy anymore. She makes plans to use another potion to turn Tip into a marble statue for her garden. Tip believes it’s a good time to hit the road, and he takes Jack Pumpkinhead along with him – and off they go towards Oz where the Scarecrow rules the Emerald City.

The characters’ personalities are as well-drawn as the pages by Scottie Young (boosted by beautiful coloring from Jean-Francois Beaulieu), and Shanower is a master at keeping the story moving. Tip has a lot of real boy boyishness to him, and he manages to explain Wizard of Oz backstory – the book, not the movie – in a panel. Jack Pumpkinhead is a delight – not too smart and not too naïve – just a wooden guy with a pumpkin for a head who came to life on page 9. As he says in one of the comic’s best lines: “It will take me a little time to discover whether I am very wise or very foolish.”

If you only know Oz from the Judy Garland movie, you’re in for a pleasant and satisfying surprise. And if you have kids – or need a holiday gift idea for someone who does – The Marvelous Land of Oz is marvelous entertainment, especially for the 6-12 crowd. Marvel should be applauded for publishing it.

[FTC Disclaimer: I paid cash for my copy. So there.]

[Artwork: A beautiful page from The Marvelous Land Of Oz by Eric Shanower, Scottie Young and Jean-Francois Beaulieu; © Marvel Characters]