When the CSI franchise gets stretched even thinner...

Here, kids, take a look at today's Bizarro comic (while it's up) for an interesting television crossover.

Where's the Witch?

Can you guess what I've been watching a lot of lately?

Dorothy #5!

What? You mean you haven't already pre-ordered your copy of Dorothy, issue 5, from your local comics shop? Well fear not! You can go ahead and order it now through the Dorothy site.

And hey, the gang from Illusive Arts is coming to Seattle in April for this year's Emerald City Comic Con.

Latest Oz readings, plus a quick movie review

The last two Oz books I've read? First, the second edition of The Wizardry of Oz. As in the first edition, this is a terrific behind-the-scenes look at the making of the famous 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. It's more of a technical book, examining scenic design and construction, make-up and costuming, and the like. (Those more interested in the big picture would be better off with The Making of The Wizard of Oz or The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History.) The Wizardry of Oz also has as complete a list of people who worked on the movie as is humanly possible—and that's no mean feat.

The other book was the third volume in Melody Grandy's The Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy, Zim Greenleaf of Oz. This has been a terrific series, and I'm sad to see it end, as Zim Greenleaf is a wonderful character. He's a botonist-sorcerer, and Grandy has done a terrific job of not only developing him as a character, but also expanding on Oz in general. A lot of the recent Oz books just haven't seemed to quite gotten the idea of Oz, but Grandy is not only an exception, she also has a wonderful sense of what it takes to move Oz forward. I hope she can write more Oz stories in the future.

I got to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe at last the other day, and it was absolutely wonderful. Like Melody Grandy's Oz books, the makers of this movie got the spirit right. They stayed close to the book, but weren't slaves to it. The casting and production were just right, and overall I was very impressed. So why do I mention it here? I was introduced to both Oz and Narnia at practically the same time. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Hanford, read both The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to us, and let me read some of the other books in the series that she had as well. The two series are very closely linked for me, and I'd been looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time. Fortunately, my time and finances finally came together to a point where I could go just the other day. So Oz fans, if you want to see a good modern-day Oz-esque movie, go see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I think it would be a foolish idea to make a new film version of The Wizard of Oz because of the freakishly long shadow cast by the Judy Garland version, but if someone were to do it, this would be a good template of how to do it.

Finally, thanks to those who bought Halloween costumes and Christmas presents through my website's bookshop, I've just gotten a huge load of new books from Amazon.com, so I will have plenty of material for this blog for months to come!

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 April 2006.

Oz Books
This is a collection of five Eric Shanower Oz tales, The Enchanted Apples of Oz, The Secret Island of Oz, The Ice King of Oz, The Forgotten Forest of Oz, and The Blue Witch of Oz. The regular collection is 258 pages long, while the signed and numbered edition has 70 extra pages of material. If you haven't got these Shanower stories, this is the perfect time and perfect way to get the whole set.

• Adventures In Oz - Order Code: FEB06 3134 - $39.99
  
• Adventures In Oz Signed & Numbered - Order Code: FEB06 3135 - $75.00

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 #7 - Order Code: FEB06 3152 - $5.00
  Previous Issues:
  
• Dorothy #1 (2nd Printing) - Order Code: AUG05 3008 - $5.00
  
• 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
  
• Dorothy #5 - Order Code: OCT05 3073 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy #6 - Order Code: JAN06 3123 - $5.00

Non-Oz Books
Antarctic Press goes to a different world of wonder with an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland by Rod Espinosa. This should be a good book for all-ages.

• Alice in Wonderland #3 - Order Code: FEB06 2834 - $3.50
  Previous Issues:
  
• Alice in Wonderland #1 - Order Code: DEC05 2794 - $3.50
  
• Alice in Wonderland #2 - Order Code: JAN06 2838 - $3.50

Image Comics provides us with another volume of Lions, Tigers & Bears. While this series is not specifically linked to Oz, it is an all-ages book that ought to be a good read for many Oz fans.

• Lions, Tigers & Bears vol 2 #2 - Order Code: FEB06 1783 - $2.99
  Previous Issues:
  
• Lions, Tigers & Bears vol 2 #1 - Order Code: JAN06 1780 - $2.99

Archaia Studios Press is putting out a very good looking little book called Mouse Guard that might be of interest to Oz fans. It's about a group of mice whose job it is to protect their fellows from all the creatures that want to eat them. There's a nice preview on the website, so go check it out.

• Mouse Guard #2 - Order Code: FEB06 2849 - $3.50
  Previous Issues:
  
• Mouse Guard #1 - Order Code: DEC05 2813 - $3.50

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:

• Jan/Mar 2006
  
• Dec 2005/Feb 2006
  
• Nov 2005/Jan 2006
  
• Oct/Dec 2005

Comic Book Cameo

One of our favorite comic books right now is Nodwick by Aaron Williams. It's the story of a group of adventurers in a Dungeons and Dragons-style world who are always going out and finding treasures, monsters, etc. — and it's a comedy! So, in the latest issue (#31, just came out last week), the gang is looking for an old henchman who used to work for them, and they interview a number of people in town on page 2. Some of them look very familiar. I recognized Harry Potter, a hobbit, Xena, a taunting French k-nig-it from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Dirk from the old video game Dragon's Lair. But who's that in the lower right hand corner?

Aaron Williams, you are a genius. Take a look at what else he's up to at http://ps238principal.livejournal.com/. Be especially certain to check out his other comic book, PS238, about a school for superhero kids. It's easily one of the best comic books being published today, and predates Sky High by at least a couple of years...

Where's the Witch? - Belated Super Bowl Edition

It got crazy around here this past weekend, with the power going out for most of the day Saturday, then the Super Bowl party on Sunday, but I did remember to get a picture. I just haven't had a chance to put it up until now. So, here she is:

As I'm sure most of you know by now, the Seahawks lost the big game, thanks to the referees... Wait 'til next year...