Flipping Through Previews (Oz Edition)...

This is my monthly look at Previews Magazine to find all the comic book Oz stuff that Oz fans ought to know about. For a little more info on what this is all about and how to get this stuff, see this post. These items are due to arrive in comic shops in October 2005.

Oz Books

Oz: The Manga continues to be published by Antarctic Press. This series is a retelling of the Oz story in a Manga style by David Hutchison. There will be a total of eight issues in this first mini series, and they will be collected when the full series has been published. I'm quite taken with this cover, featuring the Cowardly Lion in Manga glory. This is sure to please all Oz fans, even the most hard-core and traditional.

• Oz: The Manga #5 - Order Code: AUG05 2682 - $2.99
  Previous Issues:
  
• Oz: The Manga #1 - Order Code: APR05 2602 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #2 - Order Code: MAY05 2477 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #3 - Order Code: JUN05 2744 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #4 - Order Code: JUL05 2615 - $2.99

Dorothy Gale: Journey To Oz #2 continues a story started way back in February. The painted pages of this book make for a different reading experience, but the price point may scare some people off. In addition, because the first issue came out so long ago, it may be difficult to reorder it. However, this book has one of the more interesting takes on Toto that I've seen, and any die-hard gotta-collect-'em-all Oz fan would like this one.

UPDATE: Shane Kirshenblatt of Freefall Comics has given a little more detail on why this book is late and how to get copies of issue #1. Please see this entry for more information.

• Dorothy Gale: Journey To Oz #2 - Order Code: AUG05 2832 - $7.99
  Previous Issue:
  
• Dorothy Gale: Journey To Oz #1 - Order Code: OCT04 2806 - $5.99

I'll start this one with the usual warning about this book: it contains mature themes and language, and if you want your Oz to be innocent and sweet, this is not the book for you. This is a neat retelling of Oz in a fumetti format that features a Goth Dorothy finding a robot Toto and learning about her strange past during a visit to Oz. This is from Illusive Productions, and you can get these books through your local comic book store using the order codes listed below, or directly through their website.

• Dorothy #1 (2nd Printing) - Order Code: AUG05 3008 - $5.00
  Previous Issues:
  
• Dorothy #2 - Order Code: JAN05 2840 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy #3 - Order Code: MAR05 2987 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy #4 - Order Code: MAY05 2838 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy Collection 1 (includes first four chapters) - Order Code: JUL05 2960 - $14.95

Oz-Related Books

Coming out from Alias is a book called Lullaby. This book started with a mini series of four books from Image comics in which Alice (from Wonderland) goes on a quest to Oz and runs into Little Red Riding Hood, the Pied Piper, and some other fairy tale characters. The group has yet to reach Oz at the end of the first mini, but they have met the Tinman in an unexpected form. This series is mildly recommended.

• Lullaby #2 - Order Code: AUG05 2631 - $2.99
  Previous Issues:
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #1 - Order Code: DEC04 1535 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #2 - Order Code: JAN05 1606 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #3 - Order Code: FEB05 1594 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #4 - Order Code: MAR05 1693 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker Vol 1 (collection) - Order Code: JUN05 2684 - $9.99
• Lullaby #1 - Order Code: JUL05 2561 - $2.99

Non-Oz Books

An ordinary young boy is thrown into a world of people with fantastic abilities and powers and must make his way in this strange new world. Well, that's not exactly what PS238 is about, but you could definitely write it that way. This series is strongly recommended to all who are young at heart. This book is from Dork Storm Press and the first two volumes collect the first ten issues. You should be able to reorder #11-13 if you like the book. And I expect that most Oz fans will like it.

• PS238 #14 - Order Code: AUG05 2886 - $2.99
  Previous Issues:
  
• PS238 Vol 1: With Liberty & Recess For All - Order Code: APR04 2574 - $15.99
  
• PS238 Vol 2: To The Cafeteria For Justice - Order Code: MAR05 2822 - $15.99
  
• PS238 #11 - Order Code: JAN05 2659 - $2.99
  
• PS238 #12 - Order Code: MAR05 2821 - $2.99
  
• PS238 #13 - Order Code: MAY05 2710 - $2.99

Next up is the Kid Friendly Amelia Rules #16 from Renaissance Press. I would love to give you more codes for this book, but it's been coming out a little irregularly lately. You can get the first collection on the website.

• Amelia Rules #16 - Order Code: AUG05 3084 - $2.95
  Previous Issues:
  
• Amelia Rules #14 - Order Code: JUN05 3126 - $2.95
  
• Amelia Rules #15 - Order Code: JUL05 3036 - $2.95

Last up is the very tangetially-related Grimm Fairy Tales #1 from Zenescope. This book appears to be going back to the source material, which means it's likely to be fairly gruesome. I haven't seen this book, and it only makes this list because of the fairy tale aspect. Your mileage may vary on this one.

• Grimm Fairy Tales #1 - Order Code: AUG05 3318 - $2.99

Whew. So that's it for this month's Flipping Through Previews (Oz Edition)... If you found something I missed, feel free to use the comments below to point it out. If you have any questions, also feel free to comment.

Previous Flipping Through Previews:

• Jul/Sep 2005