Dorothy Of Oz Prequel #1
Written By Denton J. Tipton
Art by Blair Shedd
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Cover by Eric Shanower
Variant covers: variant CGI character art
IDW Publishing
Release Date: March 28, 2012
Cover price: $3.99

Upon receiving my copy of Dorothy Of Oz Prequel #1, aside from obviously having a connection to The Wizard Of Oz, I was thinking of how this title sounded really familiar. Then I remembered that we covered the panel at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con for the upcoming animated film Dorothy Of Oz, which has a great voice cast with actors like Patrick Stewart, Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, and Kelsey Grammer. The animated film is based on the book of the same name by writer Roger S. Baum, who’s the great-grandson of original Oz creator L. Frank Baum.

In the animated film, everyone’s favorite gal from Kansas, the young Dorothy, returns home to her tornado-ravaged town after her magical journey to Oz and then finds a way to make it back to Oz. Dorothy Of Oz Prequel, which is the first installment in a four-issue miniseries from IDW Publishing, is a prelude to the events of the film and tells the tale of what happened in Oz after Dorothy left, which makes it necessary for her to return.

Infestation: Dungeons & Dragons #1
Written by Paul Crilley
Art by Valerio Schiti
Colors by Scarletgothica
Letters by Chris Mowry
Covers by menton3, Livio Ramondelli, Valerio Schiti, Scarletgothica
IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 15, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

My knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons comes exclusively from the 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon. I knew going in that Infestation: Dungeons & Dragons #1 wouldn’t be starring any of those characters, but I was curious anyway. What I found was about as different as you could get.

Writer Paul Crilley introduces the world of Dungeons & Dragons in a single paragraph printed inside the front cover, which pretty much set the tone for the rest of the book.