First Look: Wonderful Wizard of Oz #1 Variant Cover

Marvel has provided Newsarama with your first look at Skottie Young's variant cover for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #1, coming in December under the Marvel Illustrated line. The adaptation will be written by Eric Shanower. In March, we spoke with both Shanower and Young about the project, and Young told us about how he landed on the book, saying:

Skottie Young: I got a call one day from Chris with an offer for my next project following New X-Men. When he said that it was the adapting the Wizard of Oz, I almost though it was a big joke. Some people know how much I love the fantasy stories, and I never thought that would be a project I would ever get to do a Marvel. It caught me off guard a little. The funniest thing was, the night before I had friends over for a Oz marathon. We looked thru the different Oz adaptations over the years and watched Return to Oz. So to wake up the next day and get that call was strange and exciting.

I love the Wizard of Oz. I've been spending some time reading the books again, as it's been years since I've read them. But stories and worlds like Oz is where my artistic inspiration came from. Huge world of fantasy and characters that really live and breathe in your imagination. There is a reason that the Oz books have endured the test of time. They will connect with people forever.

I feel a little like I'm going to have my cake and eat it to by working on Oz. One, for six years I've worked at Marvel drawing all kinds of super-heroes, and now I get to draw a children’s fantasy tale, the children’s fantasy tale, and I get to do it at Marvel. I'm feeling pretty lucky. Stories like this are what I always hoped to do one day, my heart really lies here in this kind of world.

I'm also excited to see how much further we can take the Marvel Illustrated line. They've done a great job of reaching out and telling some stories that I think all people can enjoy in comic book form. I think bringing Eric and I together on Oz is just another step forward. Eric is Oz to me. He's been a part of that world for along time now and I'm honored to get the chance to bring this to life with him.

NRAMA: So, you’re an Oz fan and you just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to work with Eric, right?

SY: I wish I could give you the super Hollywood answer and say yes, but honestly it was the material that made me take the project. So, I was actually signed on before Eric was. I was a little nervous until he was locked in. You never know what is going to happen when you’re working on adaptations, but my mind was put to rest once Eric was on board.

Newsarama Note - the image originally shown was the cover to Wonderful World of Oz #2. The variant cover is now displayed as well as the cover to #2.