When I first heard that they were going to adapt this into comic book form, I was stoked. But then when I heard that Skottie Young had been tapped to do the art, my initial reaction was "what the hell are they thinking?" This wasn't a slam against Skottie's art. If anything I was a huge fan of his. It was the style that he was famous for that had me scratching my head.

Originally, Skottie became a fan favorite on such titles as The Human Torch, Venom and New X-Men with his art being more stylize-cartoony along the lines of say, Humberto Ramos. For the titles that Skottie had worked on, this style worked extremely well. But for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I just could not see this working out for me on a personal level or for fans in general. To say I was skeptical was an understatement.

Later on as the creative team set to work in making this book a reality, I saw a couple of Promo pieces they were using to hype the book. I was stunned when I saw them. This couldn't be the same penciler. It looked nothing like his style. It was the complete opposite of what he was known for. Yes, I was very happy and satisfied at what I saw and I knew right then and there that this book was going to be something special.

So, did the book live up to the hype. Absolutely. I've read this one a few times since it originally came out and each time it gets better and better for me. His art here compliments and invites the reader into this world of characters that you will immediately bond with and care about. And my hats off to Jean-Francois Beaulieu for doing a fantastic job on the colors that compliments the art very well, giving it a very lush feel to it. And kudo's to Eric Shanower for doing a great job telling the story that goes back to the original souce material. If you're expecting a rehash of the movie version of Oz, then this isn't for you. Sorry, but no singing and dancing Scarecrow.

If any of you out there are looking for something refreshing and with a lot of charm, this is the book for you. And I think the book is very age appropriate for kids that you may want to get them started on reading. Highly recommend this to everyone. The Trade paperback collects all 8 issues of the miniseries.

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

With Making Comics, a book on how to put together your very own Comic Book, Scott McCloud has done it again. This book is the one to get if you are really serious about diving head first into the world of self publishing your own Comic's. Within' the pages here you will get a lot of practical knowledge of how and why certain shots are used and what type of panels to use when telling your stories. Scott goes into the theory of the in's and outs about all thing relating to the meaning behind a page layout. He also gives you a lot of info about Manga as well and how to go about using elements from other cultures to take your own artwork to another level.

This really is a fantastic book and should be in everyone's personal Library. I love it, and the exercises and notes at the end of each chapter will keep you busy for a long long time. You can't help but to improve your own work. The one thing this book is not, is a book about how to draw pretty pictures (i.e., Babes, Cars, Animals, etc....). There are a million other books devoted to just that. This book is about looking under the hood and understanding how things work. Highly recommend this one.

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Seal Team Six

Added Episode 1: Happiness

Half the season is almost over. What better way to celebrate that then with the Padres getting their first 3 game sweep. Sheesh.